Day 2 July 31/August 1
See the Interconnectivity of all Inter-cosmic beings in HER
Self-Guided Ritual created by Wendy Stiver
A. What does it mean to be interconnected within the Magoist Cosmogony?
We live on the Earth, within the solar system, in Mago’s World. Stronger telescopes find new planets and distant stars, we fear for our own fragile planet. Is the creation of the universe complete? Is there still a cosmic symphony singing new stars into existence?
Are we alone in this vastness? Mago, can you tell us our story? Tonight, look out at the stars and listen for Mago’s answer.
We are Mago’s clan, WE/HERE/NOW. We are ONE. We are connected through time and space.
B. Poetry
A Meeting from Miryam of Nazareth: Woman of Strength & Wisdom
By Ann Johnson (1984), p. 111-113
Today we gather.
Meeting together to consider
where we stand
and who we are.
We come to order ourselves
into a new sense of order according to our progress
from the last gathering to this one.
Be with us, O God,
in this space and time
as we affirm and shape the changes
in our understanding of the Way.
We desire not to fly apart
in garish fantasy of vision
but rather to move the boundaries
that we have set before
in order to encompass and embrace
the living and breathing growth
of each and all….
Each step along the way we clear the stones and obstacles
Healing and refreshing each other.
We listen openly to each tale of travel and
hear each one’s proposal for the time ahead….
In this your presence,
we meet to order ourselves anew,
to consider where we stand and who we are.
Today we gather.
Simone Schwarz-Bart’s novel The Bridge of Beyond tells the story of the village of Fond-Zombie on the island of Guadeloupe, and its people. One of the elders, Queen Without a Name explains:
Picking up a dry branch [the queen] started to draw a shape in the
loose earth at her feet. It looked like a spider’s web, with the threads
intersecting to make ridiculously tiny little houses. Then, all around,
she drew signs resembling trees, and, pointing with an ample gesture
to her work, said, “That’s Fond-Zombie.”
Seeing my surprise, she explained tranquilly:
“You see, the houses are nothing without the threads that join them
together. And what you feel in the afternoon under your tree is nothing
but a thread that the village weaves and throws out to you and your cabin.
Schwarz-Bart (1982), translated from the French by Barbara Bray, pp. 84-85.
Quoted in Bettina Aptheker, Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s
Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989), pp. 241-242.
“Woman Work” by Native American poet Paula Gunn Allen
Some make potteries
some weave and spin
remember
the Woman/Celebrate
webs and making
out of own flesh
earth
bowl and urn
to hold water
and ground corn
balanced on heads
and springs lifted
and rivers in our eyes
brown hands shaping
earth into earth…
“All of us remembering what we have heard together-
that creates the whole story
the long story of the people”
Leslie Marmon Silko, Storyteller.
Both the above excerpts were quoted in Aptheker, Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989).
C. Meditation
Yesterday we shared a meditation on Open-Eyed Grounding as a way to connect with our Mother Earth, with practice we can ground and center even if our feet are wearing high heels and standing on the 15th floor of a corporate skyscraper.
Today we will return to Starhawk’s wisdom to learn about interconnectivity, and about how we are not just connected to each other WE/HERE/NOW, but with our Ancestors and all who came before and all who will come after us.
To prepare for this meditation, go outdoors to a safe place where you can comfortably sit for 15 minutes or so without interruption.
You are surrounded by the miracle of air. Air is life. The air we breathe is a gift from Gaia, from the Great Goddess, from the forces of nature perfected over millennia. And the molecules of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, just like all elements on our magnificent planet, can be neither created nor destroyed since that first moment of creation.
Now close your eyes, and simply breathe,
Breathe in with gratitude to the ancestors and with appreciation for the great creative powers of life.
Breathe out with love, as a conscious gift back to the green world.
This air , in this moment, originated billions of years ago. This air passed through the lungs of dinosaurs, and mammoths, and the earliest human being, and great teachers, and Jesus and Buddha and Hildegard. You are breathing the same air that passed through her lungs, his lungs, sharing inspiration and wisdom.
Breathe in with gratitude, breathe out with love.
Is there a question that troubles you? An issue that seems hopeless?
Just breathe in, taking in the creative power of the ancestors, of life, asking that you receive power to infuse you and help transform your issue.
Breathe in with gratitude, breathe out with love.
Breathe in, acknowledging you emotions–sad, happy, troubled, hopeless, whatever they are. Keep breathing into them, and trust that you can shift the energies around them, and open the space for inspiration to come when you are ready
Breathe in with gratitude, breathe out with love.
Continue to breathe as long as it feels right. When you feel ready to stop your Breath Meditation, open your eyes and look around you. Thank the air for giving you life. Thank the ancestors and all beings who have come to you today. Hold all present, including yourself, with love and peace.
When you are ready, thank the spot you have been sitting in for sheltering you, and leave.
Blessed be, and so be it.
Based on Starhawk, (2005) The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature. P. 85.
D. Closing
One day my soul just opened up
And things started happenin’
things I can’t quite explain
I mean
I cried and cried like never before
I cried tears of ten thousand mothers
I couldn’t even feel anything because
I cried ‘til I was numb.
One day my soul just opened up
I felt this overwhelming pride
what I was proud of
only God [Goddess, added] knows!
Like the pride of a hundred thousand fathers
basking in the glory of their newborn sons
I was grinnin’ from ear to ear!
One day my soul just opened up
I started laughing
and I laughed for what seemed like forever
wasn’t nothin’ particularly funny goin’ on
but I laughed anyhow
I laughed the joy of a million children playin’
in the mud
I laughed ‘til my sides ached
Oh God [Goddess, added]! It felt so good!
One day, my soul just opened up
there were revelations, annihilations, and resolutions
feelings of doubt and betrayal, vengeance and forgive-
ness
memories of things I’d seen and done before
of places I’d been, although I didn’t know when
there were lives I’d lived
people I’d loved
battles I’d fought
victories I’d won
and wars I’d lost.
One day, my soul just opened up
And out poured all the things
I’d been hiding
and denying
and living through
that had just happened moments before.
One day, my soul just opened up
and I decided
I was good and ready!
I was good and ready!
to surrender
my life
to God [Goddess, added].
So, with my soul wide open,
I sat down
wrote Her a note
and told her so.
Gemmia L. Vanzant, in One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant (1998), pp. 9-10
If you wrote a note to Mago, what would you tell her? Take some paper, pencils, markers, pens, or whatever media you want, and write or paint a note to Mago. Be creative– you can work on this project for the entire celebration if you want to.
Blessed Be, and see you tomorrow to explore Transformation from Within.
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
Ann Johnson. Miryam of Nazareth: Woman of Strength & Wisdom (1984).
Bettina Aptheker, Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989).
Starhawk. The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2005).
Gemmia L. Vanzant. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant (1998).