Myth Matters
Episodes
April fools
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"April 1st is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are the other three hundred and sixty-four days." ...
Eternity in an Hour: Urashima Taro
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageTo see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in...
Stories that Disturb Us
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“Perhaps the greatest stories are those which disturb us, which shake us from our complacency, which threaten our well-...
A world without stories and the trickster Anansi
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThis entertaining Ashanti story about the trickster spider Anansi reveals the threads between story, imagination, and pos...
Shipwrecks, Donkeys, and Holy Fools
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThis episode includes a series of Sufi teaching stories that address change, loss, and renewal, and the power of story to...
Dumuzi's Dream and the Regions of Kindness (Inanna myth 4)
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThis is the fourth and final episode in the 4-part series on the Sumerian myth of Inanna. We've crossed into the new...
Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, episode 3 in a 4-part series
24 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThe ancient Sumerian story of Inanna's descent to the underworld is an iconic myth about a psychological and spiritu...
Inanna and Dumuzi: Her Honey Man (part 2 of 4)
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn this episode I tell the second part of Inanna's story, the courtship and marriage between Inanna and her honey ma...
Quest for New Metaphors: The Sumerian Myth of Inanna part 1
28 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"Symbol systems cannot be simply rejected, they must be replaced. Where there is no replacement the mind will revert...
Imagination and Hanging by a Thread
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"Imagination is destiny." James HillmanYour greatest gift in times of change is your imagination. What is your ...
The King and the Corpse
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThis Hindu story, "The King and the Corpse," is one of my favorites, rich in metaphor, humor, riddles, and insi...
How to escape the "nothing but"-- practices and gifts of the symbolic life with Rohini Walker
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn the last podcast, we talked about the crisis of a life of "nothing but" and the inherent dangers in what C.G...
Once Upon a Time and the Crisis of "Nothing But"
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"Everything is banal, everything is 'nothing but;' and that is the reason that people are neurotic. They a...
Mythic Animals: wonder and shadow in the Other
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"Our identity is shaped not only by our differences from the Others but in the alchemy by which assimilating them in...
The Roaring in Your Ears
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"I’ve been terrified every moment of my life—and I never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do...
Two Jatakas: A thought experiment in bodhisattvas and heroes
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThe popular image of the hero is ripe for reflection. In this episode, I share two Buddhist teaching stories (jatakas) th...
Women, Power, and the Right to Speak Out
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"We moms are often underestimated. But we're stronger than we're given credit for. So what do you say, wil...
Heroes, Buddha, and How to Read a Myth
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageCultural and personal transformation begins with conscious evaluation of value systems and the stories that express and p...
Allies: Being One and Finding Them Through Soul
20 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThe old forms are dissolving. I find myself thinking about allies--how to be an ally, and also, where are my allies? Thes...
Soul and Your New Story: Stepping Into the Fairy Glen
22 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageWhat do you do when the old ways don't work anymore? When the roles that you've played, and the activities that...
A moment of respite: Clever Manka
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageHere we are, two weeks further into this process, a process that few, if any of us, can define, a collective transformati...
Creativity, Faith, and the Turning Tide
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is no bett...
Meanwhile, The World Goes On
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message"Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile, the world goes on..."--Mary Oliver, "W...
Drinking the Waters of Life, and the five sons of King Eochaid
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageYou and I are living through huge changes. My day to day is a roller coaster ride through grief and fear of loss, to joy ...
Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in jo...
Loki and Chaos in a Quantum Cosmos
28 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageMyths of the Norse god Loki combine with understanding of the quantum cosmos to offer insight into the necessity of chaos...
Finding Perspective As Things Fall Apart
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageHow can a thoughtful person think, in a useful and creative way, about the seeming insanity of many politicians and the t...
The Valiant Horse and the Soul Life
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageAre we solitary and relatively powerless egos in a mechanical world, or do we belong to a community of seen and unseen Ot...
Thieves, Tricksters, and Golden Plums
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn the last podcast I told you the fairy tale of “The Three Feathers” and talked about the connection between gratitu...
The Trapdoor to Gratitude
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“we are saying thank you and wavingdark though it is”--- W.S. MerwinThe wise ones tell us that true gratitude, gratit...
Gilgamesh Part 3: Crossing the Waters of Death
15 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“Here is the epic of the fear of death.” Ranier Marie RilkeThis program is the third and final episode in my telling ...
The Sumerian Myth of Gilgamesh Part 2: Humbaba and the Cedar Forest
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn part 2 of this 3-part series, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu venture into the sacred cedar forest to confront the dem...
Gilgamesh Part 1: The Creation of Enkidu
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageThe Sumerian myth of the hero-king Gilgamesh may be the oldest story in recorded history and yet, his quest for meaning i...
Perceval: Wandering in the Wasteland
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn the last podcast I told you the beginning of the Arthurian legend of Perceval and his quest for the grail, written by ...
Life is an Adventure: Perceval's Grail Quest
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else&ap...
The Greek God Pan: Nature or Human Nature?
06 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“Tell me Muse, about the dear son of Hermes, the goat-footed, the two-horned, the lover of the din of revel, who haunts...
Wandering Aengus and Singing the Swan's Songs
22 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageWhat is the source of creative ideas and guiding visions, and how do they come to us? How do our creative ideas change an...
Reciprocity and Right Relationship: Reflections on “The Queen Bee”
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageFairy tales are inherently subversive. If you sit with one, if you think about what puzzles, delights, or infuriates you,...
Taking Flight: The Conference of the Birds
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“These lofty words are an antidote for anyone sickened by extremism’s poison.” AttarThe Conference of the Birds is ...
Poseidon and the Best Laid Plans
11 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“I sing of the great god Poseidon, mover of the earth and fruitless sea […] god of the deep, shaker of the earth […...
Fate, Free Will, and Being Human: Insights from the Greek Myth of Oedipus
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageIn the Greek myth of Oedipus a king tries, unsuccessfully, to avoid fulfilling a horrifying prophecy. He doesn’t escape...
Knowing Thyself: The Greek Myth of Oedipus
14 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageHow do you come to know yourself? What does this mean and how is this task accomplished? Most importantly, do you really ...
Artemis and Your Place in the Family of Things
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageWhen the moon shone, Artemis was present, and beasts and plants would dance.” Karl KerenyiAn exploration of Artemis, ...
Moonstruck with Selene and Hecate
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text MessageSummer is almost here, bringing warm nights perfect for stargazing and communion with the moon. A full moon rises here in...
Love and Beauty: The Greek Myths of Aphrodite and Eros
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send Catherine a text Message“Without warningAs a whirlwindSwoops on an oakLove shakes my heart.” ---SapphoIn this podcast I share some of the an...