Myth in the Mojave

Afflatus: Greg Gilbert’s Poetry for the Love of All

18 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“Writing is a way of thinking. When I compose poetry, the refining of language, the rhythms and compacted structures and the resultant shaped and ca...

Curiosity, Presence, & Poetry: An Interview with Caryn Davidson

04 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses.” AristotleWe celebrate National Poetry month with this special edition interview wi...

To Hell and Back: The Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

21 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“It was an adventure much could be made of: a walkOn the shores of the darkest known river…” ---Mark Strand, from “Orpheus Alone”The Greek m...

Love for the Underworld Journey

07 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“Everything changes and no thing abides.” HeraclitusI’ve devoted the last two podcasts to the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, and the conn...

Initiation, Innocence, and Soul

19 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast, I return to the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone to reflect on the soul’s longing for depth, meaning, and experience, and the v...

Demeter and the Groundhog

07 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How can one summarize a myth as profound as the one I offer you this week? The Homeric Hymn to Demeter gave rise to the Eleusinian mysteries, a poten...

Leaving Home and Letting Go

11 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“A myth is an image in terms which we try to make sense of the world.” Alan WattsMany stories, old and new, begin with someone leaving home. This ...

Siblings and the Seven Ravens

27 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“I had no idea that the gate I would step through  to finally enter this world would be the space my brother’s body made.”From “The Gate”...

The Twelve Brothers and Threads of Destiny

13 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The fairy tale “The Twelve Brothers,” collected by the Brothers Grimm is the story of brothers and sisters, murderous kings, evil queens, and ench...

Six Swans and the Power of Silence

29 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Seasonal darkness is an invitation to move inward, to do the deep soul work that proceeds all meaningful outer action or personal growth. The holiday ...

Nothing is Wasted: Fatima, the Spinner, and the Tent

18 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“It takes a long time to learn that nothing is wasted. It takes a long time, and a lot of suffering usually, to understand that there is more to lif...

Tasting the Honey

03 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Outrage can be valuable spark for action in these trying times and yet there is another beautiful resource available to us as we endure the collective...

Practice In the Real World: The Gentle Heart Jataka

06 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“Flying has it uses but walking on the ground is not as easy as it looks from up here.” Rafe Martin, from “The Gentle Heart Jataka”Some days, ...

Life Path Mysteries and Meeting Baba Yaga

23 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward.” Soren Kierkegaard.How do we become who we are meant to be? What lends a life...

Homer's Odyssey: Book 11 the Underworld Journey

26 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Book 11 of The Odyssey, Odysseus tells the Phaeacians how he followed the strong advice of the goddess/sorceress Circe and made a journey to the un...

Homer’s Odyssey: Book 10 & Circe

12 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

At the turning point in his journey, Odysseus and his men land on the island of Aeaea and meet the enchantress Circe. This is my paraphrase of Book 10...

Circe: Witches, Power, Heroes, and Braids

28 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Circe, a secondary goddess in ancient Greek mythology, is best known as the sorceress in Homer’s Odyssey who turned the men into swine and later hel...

Looking Foolish & Percival’s Quest

31 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What if looking foolish, mistakes and regret are essential to living your purpose?This famous Arthurian tale provides an interesting backdrop to quest...

Not Your Little Mermaid Part 2 of 2

17 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 2nd of two podcasts devoted to telling and exploring the fairy tale of "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen. We reach...

Not Your Little Mermaid Part 1 of 2

03 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Millions of little girls (and many boys and adults), fell in love with Ariel, the mermaid in Disney’s popular movie, based on a fairy tale by Hans C...

Moon of Many Petals: A Conversation with Artist Poet Cindy Rinne

19 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“Sometimes I dream of hearing the wind.” From "Edges," Cindy RinneWhen the figures in a series of images that she was creating asked Cin...

Dian Sousa on Poetry, Truth, Marvels, & Praise

05 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“Pay attention to what rises up in you.” Ranier Marie RilkeDian is a former Poet Laureate of San Luis Obispo and co-founder of SLO Code Pink. She ...

Hera, Greek Goddess of Marriage

22 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Marriage is a tricky proposition. Many of us long to be part of the “perfect couple” at the same time we fear such a union. In his essay, “Hera,...

The (Mythopoetic) Power

08 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

"Electrifying! Shocking! Will knock your socks off! Then you'll think twice, about everything."   ―Margaret AtwoodCan a novel about ...

As Above, So Below: The Big Dipper & the Greek Myth of Callisto

22 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Big Dipper is part of the constellation commonly known as Ursa Major, the Great Bear. In this program I tell the Greek myth of Callisto (who is th...

Strawberries in January: Marouckla and the 12 Months

08 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The myths and fairy tales that we’ve inherited from anonymous sources in days long past can inspire alternatives for the future. This podcast includ...

The Silvery Moon

04 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“What is there in thee, moon! That thou shouldst move my heart so potently?” KeatsFull moons super moons, blood moons; these lunar events at the o...

The Season of Letting Go

14 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“I want to feel both the beauty and the pain of the age we are living in … I want to possess a light touch that can elevate darkness to the realm ...

Truth in a Dark Time: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “Vasilisa the Wise”

30 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In “A Ritual To Read To Each Other,” the poet William Stafford writes, “Though we could fool each other, we should consider---lest the parade of...

Cerridwen and the Cauldron of Inspiration

02 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A Celtic myth for Samhain, the annual descent into the deep darkness and the season of sleep, which lasts until the Winter Solstice. Everything that d...

Meeting the Baba Yaga and "Vasilisa the Wise"

19 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Will the chaos and conflict, the emerging truths and challenges of these days, result in cultural transformation and renewal? Or will we settle into a...

The Robber Bridegroom

06 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do we become aware of nefarious, destructive aspects in the psyche and handle them successfully? The fairy tale “The Robber Bridegroom,” colle...

Frogs, Transformation, and the Three Feathers

21 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What frogs can teach us about transformation and “The Three Feathers,” a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.Support the show

Trust in Life and Jumping Mouse

07 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Each of us comes into the world with the longing to fulfill our promise, to realize the potential inherent in our existence. But how do we find and me...

Solar Eclipse of the Heart

24 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A reflection on the “Great American Solar Eclipse” and the lion heart of Leo, intertwined with the Egyptian myth of Sekhmet, a South African story...

Reciprocity and The Boy Who Fed Eagles

27 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

My telling of this story is based on a version collected from the Tlingit-Haida people of Southeast Alaska, a place relatively few of us know well. Ye...

Coyote and the Shadow People

17 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This program contains a telling of a Nez Perce story about love, life, death, and the Trickster in Mythic Time. Thank you to Archie Phinney, a Nez Per...

Cosmic Order, Constellations, and Navajo Stories of the Stars

29 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do you experience the transcendent in your daily life? The night sky is a portal into the mystery for me, especially in the summer months when the...

Wonder Woman: Panacea or Possibility?

15 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Movies are shared stories about life and the world that reflect our collective fears and desires, beliefs and values. Even fantasy films like Wonder W...

The Wild Man & Iron John Part 2 of 2

18 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“Down, down deep into the well that is my own source…”e.g. wisePart 2 of the  fairy tale “Iron John,” about a mysterious wild man, a boy, a...

The Wild Man & Iron John Part 1of 2

04 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“We sense there is some sort of spirit that loves birds and the animals and the ants—perhaps the same one who gave a radiance to you in your mothe...

Revelations From the Edge Poetry Reading Part 2 of 2

20 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“The palpable sense of mystery in the desert air breeds fables, chiefly of lost treasure.” Mary AustenThe desert is an archetypal landscape, the t...

Revelations From the Edge Poetry Reading Part 1 of 2

06 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“You should not see the desert simply as some faraway place of little rain. There are many forms of thirst.”  William LangewiescheThe desert is a...

Homeland Security

23 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this program we explore questions of homeland and security, hospitality and love, with the aid of Odysseus, Ovid, and the Good Samaritan. Can we cr...

In Service to Life: The Egyptian Myth of Isis and Osiris

09 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The ancient Egyptian myth of the goddess Isis and her husband, the god Osiris, is a story about renewal and resurrection, and the necessary partnershi...

True Ugliness and the Loathely Lady

09 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“In a dark time the eye begins to see,I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;I hear my echo in the echoing wood—“----Theodore Roethke,  from I...

The Lindworm

26 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A Norwegian fairy tale about a king and a queen, a witch and a maiden, a dragon, and a prince in a “once upon a time” kingdom, that holds a potent...

Speaking Truth: The Gangamala Jataka

12 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor RooseveltHow can we each tell the truth as we see it? This important question fa...

Larger Fields of Time: The Norse myth of Loki and the Death of Balder

08 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

“Just to live is holy. To be is a blessing.” Rabbi Abraham HeschelIn this program we use the Norse myth of the trickster Loki and the death of Bal...

Beauty and Love in the Shadow

24 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Here are 4 ideas and 11 poems to help you stay connected to the beauty of the world and strengthen your resolve to love what you love in the face of w...

The Wise Crow Jataka

10 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

“From now on, never cease to investigate the truth. Take nothing on hearsay, but examine all till you are sure that it satisfies the demands of your...

The Conference of the Birds

27 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

“Behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal or a window opening on something other than itself. ” ― Antoin...

Bring Your Fire

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel like your contribution to the world is too small? That you should do more, know more, or be better equipped to address the problems o...

The Emperor’s New Clothes

08 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This popular fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen is frequently seen as a tribute to the truth-telling power of an innocent child, a child with whom ...

A Cure for the Titanic: Feed the Birds

25 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

“I turned. And there it was: a bright green parrot with a red beak perched on the ledge of the bird feeder.” Tista Sen, “How a Bird Feeder Reviv...

The Power of Names, Seeing, and the Titanic

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

"We do not have to live as if we are alone." Wendell BerryThe names that we have for things can be labels and replacements for what "is...

Huge is Ugly, Battling the Titanic Today

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The gods of the ancient Greeks personify dynamics in the world and the human psyche that are active today. The titanic is experienced as a longing for...

The Titanomachia: War of the Gods

14 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the ancient Greek creation myths, as set down by the poet Hesiod, there was a great war between the Titans, who were the first generation of gods, ...

The Tao of Trickster Coyote and Chuang Tzu

16 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The word “tao” means “way” and refers to the cosmic order and the way of being, the way of life. Anyone who understands and lives the Tao is i...

On Not Being a Hero

01 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It often seems that images of the hero and the active stance that implies is the only acceptable model for a person who wants to be responsible and su...

Trickster Coyote Makes the World

14 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Tricksters are important figures in many mythologies around the world. They embody the ambiguity in the core of human experience and show us, over and...

Maleficent & the 13th Fairy

30 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We commonly evaluate fairy tales on the basis of the role models they provide, especially for girls and young women. One example is the cultural conve...

The Princess Mayblossom Part 2 of 2

16 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Princess Mayblossom is a young woman who takes her future into her own hands. Many of us applaud this energetic determination in a character who is of...

The Princess Mayblossom Part 1of 2

02 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

If you think that all fairy tale princesses can do is wait for the right prince to kiss, you need to meet Princess Mayblossom. She is cursed by an ang...

The Sumerian Myth of Inanna Part 5 of 5: Turning Your Ear to the Ground

27 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The goddess Inanna begins her descent to the Underworld when she turns her ear to the ground. This is a unique way to begin such a journey, and it is ...

The Sumerian Myth of Inanna Part 4 of 5: Dumuzi’s Dream

13 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

How do feminine and masculine create together and transform each other? What is the nature of true partnership? What gifts do we give to the men and w...

The Sumerian Myth of Inanna Part 3 of 5: Underworld Rules

30 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ereshkigal has agreed to let Inanna leave the underworld but there are strict rules about this that must be followed. Will someone else have to take h...

The Sumerian Myth of Inanna Part 2 of 5: The Descent

16 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most important skills we can develop is the art of descending into the underworld.  The Sumerian myth of Inanna is an interesting meditati...

The Sumerian Myth of Innana Part 1 of 5: Queen of Heaven

02 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most important skills we can develop is the art of going down; of slipping into the darkness or feeling our way into the underworld. It’s...

Marta Becket, Solstice, & Shining Your Light

19 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

On the eve of the magical, mystical winter solstice let’s pause to consider the call to let your/our light shine with the aid of a little bit differ...

Apocalypse and the Middle of the River

21 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes you turn on the news or get on-line and what you read makes you want to rage or cry. So much suffering, hatred, and destruction... Is this a...

Quetzalcoatl & the Day of the Dead

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

From around the world and across time, experiences of the unseen realms and the beings that populate it come down to us in the form of religion, myth,...

Raven Steals the Light

17 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this program I tell a couple of stories about the Trickster Raven drawn from the Haida tradition in British Columbia. Like Coyote, Raven is present...

The Shadow & Chiron the Wounded Healer

03 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Chiron is a figure in Greek mythology who is best known as “the wounded healer.” He is often evoked in astrological readings as the personificatio...

Holy Fools, uncertainty, and beginner’s mind: Viddhi Kooshmandam

12 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

This is a beautiful and frightening world. It’s no wonder that so many of us long for certainty, for principles and concepts and moral ground that d...

Following Mythic Coyote

08 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

 “When we study other people’s myths and rituals we may do so out of pure intellectual curiosity, to see what they believe in and do that we do n...

Reading as an Act of Contemplation with Dr. Dennis Slattery

01 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“I remember Alan Watts asked me one day, ‘Joe, what kind of meditation do you do?’ I said, “I underline sentences.” — Joseph Campbell In ...

Day-to-Day Dante: Exploring Your Personal Myth with Dr. Dennis Slattery

25 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“This poem is the most sophisticated exploration of anything I’ve ever read, of the way that the soul moves; complexly, and slowly, and with deter...

Myth, Murder, and the Other in South Carolina

27 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“He who tells the stories rules the world.” Hopi proverb   On June 17, 2015, nine black Americans were murdered during a Bible study at Emanuel...

The Sumerian Myth of Gilgamesh Part 3 of 3: Journey to Utnapishtim

25 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

This program is the third and final episode in my telling of the ancient Sumerian myth of Gilgamesh, the hero-king of Uruk. Gilgamesh was two-thirds g...

The Sumerian Myth of Gilgamesh Part 2 of 3: Destiny Fulfilled

13 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey to the Country of the Living and the great cedar forest in pursuit of lasting fame and glory.They also have a fateful enc...

The Sumerian Myth of Gilgamesh Part 1 of 3: The Creation of Enkidu

06 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The myth of the god-king Gilgamesh is one of the oldest literary works in the world, dating back to 2100 BCE. Yet the actions and psychology of this t...

The price of transformation: the Greek myth of Artemis and Actaeon

30 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The Greek myth of Artemis and Actaeon is supremely simple or deeply mysterious depending on how you choose to read it. Is this a moral teaching about ...

Desert Dweller: A Conversation with poet Cynthia Anderson

25 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“In the hour of deep black, when sleep blurs the edge of time, the Milky Way spills into space like salt, a pillar of light to see by.”from “...

Poetry and the Myth You Are Living: A Conversation with Phillip Rosenberg

18 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“God is everywhere; in the lampshade and in the worn, brown carpet.” Phillip RosenbergIn Memories, Dreams, Reflections, C.G. Jung describes his de...

Percival’s Quest for the Grail Part 3 of 3: The Fisher King

04 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Our minds, bodies, feelings, relationships are all informed by our questions. What you ask is who you are. What you find depends on what you search fo...

Percival’s Quest for the Grail Part 2 of 3: The White Rose

28 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

“What is it we are questing for? It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an advent...

Percival’s Quest for the Grail Part 1 of 3: Leaving Home

14 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What is the purpose of your life? Is there some promise, gift, or need that you are destined to fulfill?  These questions lie in the heart of the mys...

Ensoulment & the Quest for the Feminine with Loris Simon Salum

07 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

My special guest this week is Loris Simon Salum, writer and director of the award-winning documentary film Ensoulment: A Diverse Analysis of the Femin...

Sleeping Beauty?: The Tale of Briar Rose

15 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Western culture has a love-hate relationship with fairy tales. They are trivial entertainment, guilty pleasures left over from childhood, and they are...

The Fisherman and His Wife

14 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The folk tale is the primer of the picture-language of the soul.”  — Joseph CampbellThe story of “The Fisherman and His Wife,” collected by t...

Gratitude, Creative Gifts, and Being in the Flow: The Shoemaker & the Elves

06 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

This week on Myth in the Mojave: "The Shoemaker and the Elves" by way of the Brothers Grimm. An honest shoemaker falls on hard times and rec...

Birth of Taliesin

11 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

A meditation on creative inspiration inspired by a story from the Welsh tradition, found in the Mabinogi.Support the show

Mythic Models: Hephaestus, Creativity, and Brokenness with Allison Stieger

25 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Cast off and crippled, the Greek god Hephaestus is the master craftsman and a patron saint of human culture and creativity. As god of the forge and th...

Finding Gold in the Darkness: the Old Thief and the Plum Seed

18 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

We generally look for solutions to our problems in what we consider to be our strengths and the light aspects of our character. This is also where we ...

Dr. Catherine Svehla: Mythic Coyote and his Dance with Synchronicity

20 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

“Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. O...

Death Makes Life Possible: A conversation with Dr. Marilyn Schlitz

23 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

“Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.” BodhidharmaWhat is your relationship death? Do you ever think about it or wonder what...

Listening to the Wisdom of Your Heart with Stephen Linstead

09 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this program I talk with Stephen Linsteadt, the founder of Scalar Heart Connection®, a simple process that connects you with your heart’s innate...

Toko-pa Turner: Belonging and the Dream

02 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

“Belonging spins itself out from the center of the Self in the form of dreams and synchronicity. These living images call the dreamer forward, step ...

Life Affirming Mythologies: Blackfoot myth of the Buffalo Dance

26 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

“Life isn’t meant to be happy. That’s not what it’s about. Ah, the damage that is caused by that attitude. All life is sorrowful. Sorrow is th...