Myth Matters

Send Catherine a text Message "But people must be taught lessons. Without them, none of them will ever learn. People are dreams and awkwardness and gawk. They prick their fingers Bleed and snore and drool. Politeness is as quiet as a grave, Unmoving, roses without thorns. Or white lilies. People have to learn." -- excerpted from "Observing the Formalities" by Neil Gaiman Our myths and old stories play a complicated role in our personal and collective evolution. On the one hand, they ar...

Send Catherine a text Message The Norwegian fairy tale of "Tatterhood" begins as many stories do, with a kingdom that lacks something essential. Each of us lives in a fairy tale kingdom or two, in an orderly system of protocols and social rules that structure both outer and inner worlds. The stability of the kingdom is important. And yet, the structure eventually outlives its usefulness. The old order stagnates, degrades, and loses meaning. The boundaries are too tight and the space fee...

Send Catherine a text Message "We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars. "-- Jack Gilbert from "Tear it Down" This episode revolves around a Hindu story, "The King and the Corpse," about a king who spends a long night with a talking corpse and realizes a profound truth. This is one of my favorite stories, rich in metaphor, humor, riddles, and insight. I don't want to spoil it for you so I'll simply say that I've worked with this story several times and always find something u...

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 joy. The warrior's approach is to say 'yes' to life: 'yea' to it all."-- Joseph Campbell How do you stay engaged with the creative potential of this time? How can you participate to bring something positive, necessary, unprecedented, into our constantly evolving world? These questions are in the forefront of my mind. I'm intrigued by Campbell's emp...

Send Catherine a text Message The end of a year and our seasonal holidays invite evaluation, reflection on what the future holds, and longing for some type of renewal. A fresh start. A clean slate. Restoration. A new green world. The Grimm fairy tale "The Goose Girl at the Well" is not a holiday story and yet, the symbolic language of transformation and value, of what truly matters in a good life, speak to the concerns and longings of December. Like many fairy tales, characters in this ...