Kelea was the beautiful sister of Kawao, king of Maui who, at the age of twenty-five, succeeded to the sovereignty of that island. Brought up in the royal court at Lahaina, Kelea was uncommonly beautiful. But she never cared about marriage. She loved the water and became the most graceful and daring surf-swimmer in the kingdom. Frequently, when the waters of Auau Channel surged wildly under the south wind, Kelea would plunge into the sea with her surf-board, and ride the waves that those who watched and applauded her were half-inclined to believe that she was the friend of some water-god, and could not be drowned.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/03/13/a-prophecy-came-to-life-the-story-of-kelea-the-surf-rider-of-maui/

The ancient Greek historian Thucydides once wrote, “Human nature is constant”. An election is a messy process and something that we have tried to get right for thousands of years. In some ancient Greek city-states, election by lot was a method of choosing public officials. It was used especially in the Athenian democracy, from which most information about the practice is derived. This practice provided the regular turnover of officeholders. As a result, for better or worse, the operations of government were not in the hands of experts, but in the hands of the people.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/09/25/how-to-win-an-election-lessons-from-an-ancient-roman-rebel/

Most European giants are represented as being evil and cruel. The term “giant” and the reputation for cruelty derives  from the Gigantes of Greek mythology, who were savage creatures with men’s bodies and serpentine legs.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/07/12/book-talk-giants/

A beautiful girl, Psyche, is born after two older sisters. People throughout the land worship her beauty so deeply that they forget about Venus, who is supposed to be the most beautiful being ever. Jealous, Venus plots to ruin Psyche. She instructs her son, Cupid, to pierce the girl with an arrow and make her fall in love with the most hideous man alive. But when Cupid sees Psyche, he shoots himself with the arrow instead.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/02/29/cupid-and-psyche-love-cannot-live-where-there-is-no-faith/

In English djinns are called genies, a name that came indirectly from the same ancient Semitic root “GNN” (meaning concealment or invisibility) as the Arabic word “djinn”. From this root the Romans got “genius”, referring to a guardian spirit of a person or place. In PreIslamic Arabia the djinns were often worshipped much as the Romans worshipped their “household” gods – they were considered to be the protective and helpful gods of a person, family, household or location – the “genius” of a person or place.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/07/05/book-talk-djinns/

In Plato’s Symposium (c. 385–370 BCE), Socrates mentions that, in his youth, he was taught “the philosophy of love” by a woman named Diotima, a priestess from Mantinea. She taught Socrates the concept of love as a means of ascent to contemplation of the divine, arguing that the goal of love is immortality, either through the creation of children or beautiful things. This is an ancient concept. So ancient, in fact, that there are many love stories that were so great that they gave birth to changes in the world and new knowledges that we take for granted today.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/02/07/the-firsts-of-the-world-greatest-ancient-love-stories/

In Plato’s Symposium (c. 385–370 BCE), Socrates mentions that, in his youth, he was taught “the philosophy of love” by a woman named Diotima, a priestess from Mantinea. She taught Socrates the concept of love as a means of ascent to contemplation of the divine, arguing that the goal of love is immortality, either through the creation of children or beautiful things. This is an ancient concept. So ancient, in fact, that there are many love stories that were so great that they gave birth to changes in the world and new knowledges that we take for granted today.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2020/02/07/the-firsts-of-the-world-greatest-ancient-love-stories/

Dragons or large serpent-like creatures are so common in mythology and folklore that we should suspect that there are some grains of truth behind them that we have lost sight of - something more than just imagination and fairy stories. Modern dragon lore is mainly fantasy - few of the people who write about them have ever encountered even one little dragon. Apart from occasional tales of sea serpents no reliable reports of dragon sightings have reached Euroamerica in the past eight hundred years, but early in the seventeenth century some European naturalists were still writing about them as if they were common knowledge.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2021/06/28/book-talk-dragons/

Because to Christianity’s prominent influence in Western society, the book of Genesis have left a lingering demonization of snakes in the Western culture. However, serpents act as important symbols in many world cultures and not all of them symbolize evil. In Ancient Greece, nonpoisonous snakes often roamed freely in temples dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine as they interpreted snakes’ ability to shed their skin as a type of regeneration and thus a symbol of healing. The Norse god Jormungand, known as the Midgard Serpent, is also considered a cosmic serpent as he circles the world with his body. In the Hindu tradition, Shesha is a cosmic serpent and the king of all Nagas. Shesha holds the universe in his hood. Nagas occur in Buddhist lore too. One story tells of a Naga named Mucalinda sheltering Buddha from a storm as he meditates in a forest.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2019/07/05/the-loving-serpent-the-legend-of-madam-white-snake/

Because to Christianity’s prominent influence in Western society, the book of Genesis have left a lingering demonization of snakes in the Western culture. However, serpents act as important symbols in many world cultures and not all of them symbolize evil. In Ancient Greece, nonpoisonous snakes often roamed freely in temples dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine as they interpreted snakes’ ability to shed their skin as a type of regeneration and thus a symbol of healing. The Norse god Jormungand, known as the Midgard Serpent, is also considered a cosmic serpent as he circles the world with his body. In the Hindu tradition, Shesha is a cosmic serpent and the king of all Nagas. Shesha holds the universe in his hood. Nagas occur in Buddhist lore too. One story tells of a Naga named Mucalinda sheltering Buddha from a storm as he meditates in a forest.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://martinifisher.com/2019/07/05/the-loving-serpent-the-legend-of-madam-white-snake/