Day 1 July 30/31
Our Life: Cross the Threshold to WE/HERE/NOW
Self-Guided Ritual created by Wendy Stiver
A. What is a threshold?
A threshold takes us from one place to another as we
Enter a room
Reach a boundary
Start a new experience
Find the edge
However we define threshold, it means that something new is about to BEGIN and we are going to be CHANGED in the process of this NEWNESS.
B. Today we begin a celebration of the Magoist Cosmogony. We will cross the threshold into the Home/Womb/Tomb of the Great Goddess as we experience the Ultimate Reality of WE/HERE/NOW.
The beginning of the Great Goddess is still becoming, and we are part of HER STORY. “S/HE IS HERE/NOW telling us the STORY of WE. That is the source of our metamorphosis.” [Hwang, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia, p. 181].
For 9 days, we will use poetry, music, creative writing, meditation, dance, art, storytelling, and sharing to deepen our journeys into ourselves, and into the realm of the feminine divine.
Each day will begin with poetry, because to quote Audre Lorde,
Poetry is not a luxury for women….it is a vital necessity of our existence. It
Forms the quality of light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward
Survival and change…Poetry is the way we help give name to the
nameless so it can be thought [in Aptheker, (1989), p. 32]
In primeval times, women were one with
the sun and truth of all-being.
Now we are like pale faces moons who
depend on others and reflect their light.
Women, please let your own sun, your
concentrated energy, your own submerged
authentic vital power shine out from you.
…………………………………………………
Woman, when you paint your own
portrait, do not forget to put the golden
dome at the top of your head.
Raicho Hiratsuka, one of modern Japan’s first feminists [1911] Quoted by Bettina Aptheker in Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Con-Sciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience. (1989) P. 157.
C. Meditation Experience [plan to spend 10-15 minutes ]
Each of us brings a unique story, a unique song to this sacred space. Starhawk teaches us that we get to really know the Goddess through our interactions with the natural world. Eyes open to observe, ears open to listen, we ask Mago to teach us the ways of HERE/NOW. The earth is sacred.
For this Meditation Experience, you need to go outdoors if possible. If you can remove your shoes, please do so. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees lightly bent. Take some long, deep breaths and feel yourself relax. As you relax your upper body, let your feet make a strong connection with the ground; experiment with digging your toes into the dirt or grass if you are barefoot.
Keeping your eyes open, imagine that you are like a tree. You can extend roots into the earth from your feet and the base of your spine. Notice how this feels as you send your roots down into the earth.
Feel the fire energy deep in the heart of the earth. Breathe some of that energy up through your roots, into the base of your spine and your belly. Feel the energy rise up through your spine, up into your arms and hands and through the top of your head. You are a tree– wave your arms and hands in the breeze. You are strong, grounded in the earth, receiving energy from the sun (or moon) on your leaves. Breathe it in. Draw it down into your belly. You are filled with the energy from the sun and the fire energy from the earth, you are grounded in earth’s strength and power. You are one with the earth.
Experiment with moving your feet around, take a few soft steps to see how the grounding sensation stays strong.
Now prepare to release your grounding connection. Thank the earth for this moment. Thank the sun for the warmth and the energy to strengthen you. Thank the air for moving your branches and cooling your leaves. Thank the water for making life possible. And thank the earth for giving your strength and teaching you how to feel calm and present with eyes open. You can return to this state of calm, centeredness any time you want– even with your shoes on in the middle of the city, by imagining roots growing from your feet down into the earth to ground and strengthen you.
Prepare to walk away, blessing this sacred space.
[meditation based on Open-Eyed Grounding in Starhawk’s The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2005)]
If you want, take a few minutes and journal about this experience.
D. Closing thoughts from Iyanla Vanzant
MEDITATION is not hard. MEDITATION is necessary.
Everything I need or need to know is available to me in stillness.
When I am still, the power of the Divine is active.
If I want to be activated I must plug in.
In stillness there is knowing.
[One Day My Soul Just Opened Up, (1998), p. 49]
Blessed Be, and So Be It.
Daily Themes
- Day 1 July 30/31
Our Life: Cross the Threshold to WE/HERE/NOW - Day 2 July 31/Aug 1
See Interconnectivity of all inter-cosmic beings in HER - Day 3 Aug 1/2 (Inter-continental Video Meeting 1)
Transform from within
- Day 4 Aug 2/3
Honor Life in all forms - Day 5: Aug 3/4
Restore Mother-Daughter Bond - Day 6: Aug 4/5 (Inter-continental Video Meeting 2)
Celebrating Cross-cultural Nine Female Symbols
- Day 7: Aug 5/6
How Does Nine Numerology Work? - Day 8: Aug 6/7
Charting Our Mother Time, the 13 Month 28 Day Calendar - Day 9: Aug 7/8 Lammas/Imbolc or Ipchu立秋/Entering Fall (Inter-continental Video Meeting 3)
Homage to the Magoma (Mago and Goma)
Mago Academy hosts 2018 (5915 Magoma Era) Year 1 Nine Day Mago Celebration! Our celebration will mark the first year of the Magoist Calendar (13 month 28 day gynocentric calendar). We began the New Year on the new moon of the last December Solstice according to the Magoist Calendar. We are to commemorate nine days, the ninth day marking the 9th month the 9th day, which is also Lammas/Imbolc or Ipchu立秋/Entering Fall. Anyone can join us and welcome!
Dates July 30/31-August 7/8 (the 9th month the 9th day in the Magoist Calendar given the variation of time zones)
Theme Proclamation of WE/HERE/NOW, the Return of the 13 Month 28 Day Calendar
Planning Committee Wendy Stiver and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang
Method We will provide nine guidelines for rituals and readings. We have about 3 video meetings on the 3rd day, the 6th day and the 9th day via Google Hangouts. Times to be determined between 10AM to 6PM PST. If you want to participate, please fill out the below form. (Participants must provide a Gmail address to which you will be notified shortly. Actual invite will be sent to you 10 min before the session on each day. If you are new to Google Hangouts, please enter the conference room 10 min prior to the session. You will be invited to a Google group conversation. Please say hello to all in the chat window.)
Learn more about the Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A).
References
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang. The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia (2015).
Bettina Aptheker. Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Con-Sciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989).
Starhawk. The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2005).
Iyanla Vanzant. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (1998).