Mago Academy, in partnership with Ubiquity University, offers an MA, a Ph.D., or an MA/Ph.D. online programs in Creatrix Studies. Creatrix Studies established by Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang draws extensively from her research on Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of Mago, the Creatrix).
Creatrix Studies has executed a series of academic and general projects including the S/HE Journal (S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies), the Creatrix Studies Online Conference (2024, 2025), and the Creatrix Studies Online Forum (September, December, March in 2024 and 2025) in collaboration with Mago Work volunteer scholars and researchers for over the past decade. And Mago Academy is supported by Mago Books (https://magobooks.com) and Return to Mago E-Magazine (https://magoism.net).
Words of Invitation from Founding Faculty Members
Creatrix Studies is for those who are called to pursue the fundamental questions of one’s life and the human life in general through the systematic studies of the Cosmic Mother at the graduate level. There is yet to be the surprising truth to be told to moderns: the Matriversal (of maternally perceived universe) Reality of WE/HERE/NOW. In OUR reality, humans are only the collaborator of the whole led by the Natural World headed by Cetaceans (Whales). We invite you to discover with us how the Cosmic Music (the ninefold creative force of the Matriverse) embraces ALL as the progeny of the Great Mother (Nine Magos). If you ask some of these questions seriously, Creatrix Studies programs are here for you: Where and how do I learn more about the divine nature of whales/dragons/serpents? How do I break out of divisive ideologies that surround myself and my loved ones? What is the pre-patriarchal world like? How do we overcome hierarchical dualism (such as humans vs. deities or women vs. men)? How do we dismantle the patriarchal mindset and white supremacy? What is the ultimate destination of feminist spirituality? Is there any way to bring peace to my life, the human world, and the planet Earth? What liberates the human mind to encounter creativity and alliance with ALL else? How can humans and cultures stop war and live in peace? Where do we get the intellectual/spiritual power to heal individuals, cultures, and the planet? How can humans live harmoniously with non-human beings? How do I not get burned out from social activism? Feminist approaches and non-Eurocentric critical thinking are the necessary navigation tools in arriving at the matriversal consciousness of the Great Unity of ALL in the Creatrix.
The MA, Ph.D., and MA/Ph.D. Degree Programs in Creatrix Studies
Creatrix Studies developed by Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang offers students versatile lenses to explore pivotal insights shed in primary and secondary sources of materials, which are available but largely marginalized, if not prohibited, in contemporary mainstream academic studies. Dr. Hwang herself has created a scholarly field, which she names Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of Mago, the Creatrix) for over the past two decades. Mago is the Korean/East Asian word for the Cosmic Mother or the Creatrix. Hwang maintains that Ceto-Magoism is the pre-patriarchally originated matrix bequeathed by Shaman Queen Mothers of the ancient world across cultures and remains demonized, if not mystified, as the sea-monster/dragon/serpent in the world’s major religions.
Students through MA and Ph.D. Creatrix Studies are encouraged to explore their own thesis through transdisciplinary and/or comparative approaches. They are invited to experience intellectual/spiritual guidance through the process of their own research activities, which can be applied in creative and innovative projects as well as self-healing and building self-identity. Creatrix Studies brings its researcher home within oneself.
Creatrix Studies courses may be taken for a degree program or a continuing education program.
Contact Dr. Hwang for inquiry or consultation (magoacademy@gmail.com)
or submit Contact Information here.
Sept-Dec 2025 Creatrix Studies Courses
Ceto-ecofeminist Spirituality (2 Credits)
Course no: 103
Instructor: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. with guest speakers
Patriarchal Usurpation of the Great Goddess (1 Credit)
Course no: 401
Instructor: Helen Benigni, Ph.D.
Wisdom of Mary Magdalen (1 Credit)
Course no: 402
Instructor: Judy Grahn, Ph.D.
Virtual Mago Whale Pilgrimage to Korea I (1 Credit)
Course no: 301
Instructor: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
Restoring the Magoist Calendar (13 Months 28 Days) I
Course no: 302
Instructor: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
For details, read Courses.
Overall Courses
Core Courses
Introduction to Creatrix Studies (2 Credits)
Magoist Cosmology (2 Credits)
Ceto-ecofeminist Spirituality (2 Credits)
Matriarchal Histories and Practices (2 Credits)
Ceto-Magoist Soteriology and Patriarchy (2 Credits)
Methodology (1 Credit)
* For a Ph.D. degree, the Methodology course may be replaced with an elective course.
Elective Courses
Patriarchal Usurpation of the Great Goddess (1 Credit)
Wisdom of Mary Magdalen (1 Credit)
Archaic Roots of Spiritual Rituals and the Mother/Bear Worship (1 Credit)
Female Divine in Myth, History, and Culture (1 Credit)
Creatrix and Mothers: Thealogies of Birthing (1 Credit)
Women’s Sacred Texts (2 Credits)
Virtual Mago Whale Pilgrimage to Korea I to III (1 Credit for each level)
Restoring the Magoist Calendar (13 months 28 days) I to III (1 Credit for each level)
Mago Halmi Skirt-Creation Folklore and Toponymy (1 Credit)
Whale Bells: Whale Songs in the Land (1 Credit)
Ninefold Sonic Numerology: The Cosmic Music and the Creatrix (2 Credits)
Ceto-Magoist Origin of Korean Muism (1 Credit)
Ceto-Magoist Perspective in K-Culture (1 Credit)
Patriarchal Misrepresentation of Ninefold Sonic Numerology (1 Credit)
Reading the Budoji Part 1 to Part 9 (1 Credit for each part)
Special Themes in Matricentric Cosmology (1-2 Credits)
Special Themes in Nature-based Spiritual Practices (1-2 Credits)
Special Themes in Matricentric Societies (1-2 Credits)
Independent Study (1-2 Credits)
** All courses are subjected to modification without notice.
For details, read Courses.
Trimesters
1st Trimester: Jan through March (Jan Trimester)
2nd Trimester: May through July (May Trimester)
3rd Trimester: Sept through Nov (Sept Trimester)
Break months: April, August, December
Founding Faculty
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D., founder
Judy Grahn, Ph.D.
Nane Jordan, Ph.D.
Helen Benigni, Ph.D.
Founding Advisors
Dianne Jenett, Ph.D.
Stephanie Mines, Ph.D.
Graduate Tuition Basics
MA in Creatrix Studies: Total Cost $17,000
– Cost of Mago Academy Certification = $12,000
– Cost of Ubiquity University Education: Creative Journey to Dissertation Course + Dissertation Writing (with Major advisor) + Admin Costs for Ubiquity = $5000
PhD in Creatrix Studies: Total Cost $24,750
– Cost of Mago Academy Certification = $9,750
– Cost of Ubiquity University Education: Creative Journey to Dissertation Course + 2 Core Courses (Chartres In-person/Virtual and Great Books) + Dissertation Writing (with Major advisor) + Admin Costs = US$15,000
Combined MA/PhD in Creatrix Studies: Total Cost $26,350
– Cost of Mago Academy Certification = $9,750
– Cost of Ubiquity University Education: Creative Journey to Dissertation Course + 2 Core Courses (Chartres In-person/Virtual and Great Books) + Electives for eight credits + Dissertation Writing (with Major advisor) + Admin Costs = US$16,600
Creatrix studies program Faculty
Program Faculty
founder
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
Dr. Hwang is the founder of Mago Academy and the field of Creatrix Studies. She is a born poet, student, and advocate for Life of ALL and has encountered Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of the Creatrix) through her doctoral research on Mago, the Cosmic Mother/Creatrix. Dr. Hwang received an M.A. and a Ph.D. degrees in Religion with the emphasis on Women’s Studies. To support her research on Magoism (the Way of the Creatrix), she enrolled in an M.A. program in East Asian Studies and specialized in Korean Buddhism. Authored, edited, and published many books and essays by Mago Books and the peer-reviewed academic journal, S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies, and Return to Mago E-Magazine.
founding faculty
Judy Grahn, Ph.D.
Judy Grahn, Ph.D., is an internationally known poet, writer, and cultural theorist. An early LGBT activist, she is also a foremother of women’s spirituality, and a professor who co-directed MA programs at two colleges in the Bay Area. She has published seventeen books and received many awards, including a Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award for literature and social activism, a Pen Oakland award for excellence in literary criticism, two American Book awards, and two awards from the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology. An award in her name, “The Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award,” was established in 1996 by Triangle Publishers.
Founding faculty
Nane Jordan, Ph.D.
Dr. Nané Jordan is a Creatrix Studies scholar, birth-keeper, interdisciplinary artist and educator, with a background in lay midwifery and community social work. Nané’s eco-birthing scholarship is rooted in maternal wisdom traditions of birth, where her work on mother-led, ecstatically-oriented, physiologic birth and the maternally gifting role of placentasadvances new understandings of birth in experience and care as central to human thriving. Nané was a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Paris 8, France. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of British Columbia, and an MA in Women’s Spirituality from New College of California. Nané facilitates community women’s circles and co-founded the artist collectives Gestare and Ma Whales. Her publications include Placenta Wit: Mother Stories, Rituals, and Research.
founding Faculty
Helen Benigni, Ph.D.
Helen Benigni (Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania) is a published author and Professor Emerita in English at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia. For several decades, Helen has been teaching classes in Comparative Mythology with an emphasis on Goddess studies. Her books are The Myth of the Year (University Press of America, 2003), The Goddess and the Bull (University Press of America, 2007), and The Mythology of Venus (University Press of America, 2013). Helen’s research with the Hellenic Studies Center in Washington D.C., her many trips to ancient sites, and her collaborative efforts with scholars in mythology, astronomy, archeology, and art have led to her discovery of the presence of the Goddess in the night sky and the continued renewal of the Goddess in contemporary times.
founding Faculty
Kaarina Kailo, Ph.D.
Dr. Kaarina Kailo is a cosmopolitan activist, politician, self-made artist and researcher. She has worked as professor of Women’s Studies at Oulu University, Finland, at the Finnish Academy, and has held women’s studies positions at Concordia University, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Canada. She has published hundreds of articles on the gift economy/imaginary, Bear and Great Mother Worship/mythology, the woman who married the bear, sauna and sweat lodge healing, Finno-Ugric ecomythology, modern matriarchal studies, healing from gendered violence, Jungian philosophy, on the gender impact of neoliberal austerity politics, ecofeminism, goddess mythology, Finno-Ugric mythology, gender and Kalevala, Indigenous worldview/theory, Northern women’s culture and literature, societies of peace (matricultures), Jungian and Freudian theories of creativity, anti-racist theory and practices, gender and future studies.
