Myth in the Mojave

The folk tale is the primer of the picture-language of the soul.”  — Joseph Campbell

The story of “The Fisherman and His Wife,” collected by the Brother’s Grimm, is often explained as a parable about the consequences of greed. But is the sole subject and lesson in this story, or is something deeper going on? A fisherman goes down to the sea and catches a flounder, who claims to be an enchanted prince… and this stirs the ambitions of the fisherman’s wife…

Listen to the story and see what you discover in the depths of this stormy sea.

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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 receives magical help from a pair of elves. But when he thanks them they disappear, never to be seen again.

Was gratitude a mistake? Listen to the story and find out what this has to do with creativity.

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening! 

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

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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 the creative spark, he made objects of value and beauty despite—or maybe as a result of— his brokenness.

What can we learn about the creative process from ancient myths? Join me for an exploration of this question with special guest mythologist and author, Allison Stieger.

Allison writes, lectures, and coaches people in the use of myth and the creative process. She has a master’s degree in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute and is the founder and director of Mythic Stories Education. Allison is currently working on her first book, Mythic Creativity: What Myth Can Teach Us About Our Creative Lives and is passionately interested in the intersection between myth, creativity, innovation, and culture.

Learn more and contact Allison about her coaching and lectures at https://mythicstoriesconsulting.com/

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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 expect to find our gifts. But the story of “The Old Thief and the Plum Seed” shows us the value in bringing forth what is buried, and of finding the gold in the darkness.

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

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“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. Only chance can speak to us. We read its messages much as gypsies read the images made by coffee grounds at the bottom of a cup.” Milan Kundera

The weekend of Sept 12-14th was the first annual Synchronicity: Matter and Psyche Symposium. It was a very rich event, combining perspectives from science, psychology, the arts, and archaeology. I brought Mythic Coyote to the event to help us answer the question: how can we consciously engage with the phenomenon called synchronicity?

Our experience of synchronicity belongs to the mythic dimension of our lives. The mythic dimension is where matter and psyche, visible and invisible, what we typically call inner, and outer- meet, reflect, shape, create, converse. What we call “mythology” is the narrative and artistic form that we have given to our experience of this exchange.

In mythic dimension we might call synchronicity “opportunity,” and we might say that someone who notices, uses, harmonizes with the power of synchronicity has “smart luck.” This leads us to a character  called the Trickster, and here in the Mojave, trickster is Coyote… who the Chemeheuvi’s call “Mythic Coyote.”

In this program I talk about Mythic Coyote and tell the story of Coyote and Buffalo Bull.

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“Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.” Bodhidharma

What is your relationship death? Do you ever think about it or wonder what–if anything—will come next?

The film "Death Makes Life Possible" considers these questions from a wide range of perspectives, bridging culture, science, and healing to show us how engaging with the topic of death and dying in a deep and meaningful way informs the way we live our lives. Although death is our common human ground, people have many different ways of thinking about dying, consciousness, and the prospect of an afterlife.

Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, President Emeritus and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, wrote and co-produced Death Makes Life Possible with Deepak Chopra. In this program Marilyn talks about the film and our evolving cultural conversation about death and dying. 

Marilyn is a leader in the field of consciousness studies. Her research focus is, among other topics, personal and social transformation and mind body medicine. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Worldview Enterprises, serves on the board of Pacifica Graduate Institute, and is also a Senior Scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center, where she focuses on health and healing.

To watch a trailer and learn more about the film, visit www.deathmakeslifepossible.com.

Fore more information about Marilyn and her work, visit www.marilynschlitz.com.

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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 knowing. Your heart knows what is happening in your life before your brain. You can literally “follow your heart” to a more positive way of living.

The science of Heart Math has uncovered important connections between the sensory capacity of the heart, positive emotions, and your ability to make good decisions. Stephen has taken these discoveries, along with his understanding of the geometry behind the Quantum Healing Codes, to create the Scalar Heart Connection process. 

The awareness and mathematical structure of this process is profound but it is easy to use and practice for yourself.

Stephen has a doctoral degree in natural health and studied bioresonance in Germany based on the principles of Oriental Medicine. He is the author of three books: Scalar Heart Connection, The Heart of Health: the Principles of Physical Health and Vitality, and Quantum Healing Codes, and lectures extensively on the subject of the mind-body connection. He also conducts workshops in the area of physical health and emotional well-being.

To learn more about Scalar Heart Connection and try the process on-line, visit www.scalarheartconnection.com

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“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 by tentative step along their gossamer threads, into an increasingly intimate conversation with our lives and embodiment of our soul’s values until we find ourselves anchored in a meaningful life.” —Toko-pa

Sometimes called a “midwife of the psyche,” Toko-pa has been working with dreams for over 15 years.  Her approach to dream work is influenced by the work of Jung and grounded in the mystical tradition of Sufism in which she was raised.

She will be speaking at the Matter and Psyche Symposium in Joshua Tree.

In 2001, Toko-pa founded the Dream School from which hundreds of students have now graduated. She wrote Awake and Dreaming, a documentary series for Vision TV and has been interviewed by CNN News and BBC Radio. In this program she talks about the dream as a gift from the invisible world, a connection to the inner divine, and a pathway to the unique, instinctual self that belongs in this world.

You can learn more about Toko-pa and her work at www.toko-pa.com 

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“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 the essence of life. But can you handle it? Are you affirmative enough in your relationship to life to say ‘yea’ no matter what happens?”                                —Joseph Campbell

One of the functions of mythology is to help us establish our relationship to life, to provide the context and meaning for experiences of all sorts. According to Campbell, a life-affirming mythology is one that makes room for both the joy and sorrow in life and treats them both as inevitable.  

In this program I tell a Blackfoot myth about the buffalo that Campbell often used as one example of a life-affirming mythology. It provides a way for people to accept all of it—death and killing and the fact that life feeds on life— and find beauty, sacredness, and connection.

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

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