Myth in the Mojave

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 over again, that life is a dynamic and often messy process, and that creation is ongoing.

Tricksters have many names and guises. In North America, many Native American groups call him Coyote. Trickster Coyote has a special relationship to human beings. Some say that he created us, or at least created and organized this world on our behalf. He's given us a perfectly imperfect home.

I love sitting with Coyote's stories because they are often funny and also puzzling. I also find them useful tools for meditating on the Judeo-Christian world view that I inherited, a world view and creation story that I've spent decades dismantling in an attempt to rejoin nature and come into communion with my fellow beings. I find more truth and joy living in the posture of "all my relatives" then notions of dominance and exploitation.

I know lots of people feel as I do, but honoring the longing to belong to the world again and figuring out how to live that desire takes more than well-articulated ideas and theories. Intellectual awareness must be married to feeling and heart wisdom, and the imaginal world must shift too. Stories activate us on all of these levels. They give us new ways to think and feel and imagine our reality.

This is why I tell Trickster Coyote stories. I don't pretend to own them or fully understand them or the traditions that birthed them. I come to them asking to be educated, to be opened up to a different way of being in the world.

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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 conversation between the films Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, which reinterprets the character and meaning of the wicked fairy. 

The conscious reworking of this story is important but fairy tales say more than we intend. Has our attention to gender and role models obscured the essential message behind the 13th fairy? Who is she and why do we retell her stories?

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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 often presented as passive and almost invisible in her own story. Men are usually the ones depicted as the movers and shakers, the heroes, the folks who take life by the horns.

But the story isn't over yet, and I wonder if our attention to gender--important as it is in this patriarchal culture--- might blind us to a deeper, different message about fate and how destiny unfolds?

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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 angry fairy and spends a number of years locked up in a tower, but this handling of familiar motifs contains some surprises.

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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 moment that this ancient story really comes alive for me. 

In the past 4 programs I have told the story of this Sumerian goddess to you. In this program I share some of my personal reflections on this story and the image of deep listening. Tune in to find out how you can make your soul journey with Inanna as your guide.

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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 women we accept as lovers and spouses, and these aspects of our own being? 
 
In Part 4 of the myth of Inanna, king Dumuzi is confronted by demons from the underworld, and his fate offers one perspective on these questions. Click here to listen to Dumuzi's Dream, the final episode of the myth of Inanna.

Happy Valentine's Day ... and keep the mystery in your life alive!

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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 her place, and if so, who?

Part 3 of 5 in the telling of the Sumerian myth of the Goddess Inanna and her journey to the underworld.

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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 meditation on that process and it’s a story that has stood the test of time.

In Part 1 I gave you the backstory on this passionate goddess. In this episode we make the descent with her. She’s going to visit her sister Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. I wonder what kind of time they’ll have together.

Every culture has an image of that “other” place, the place that is not hospitable to life as we know it. The Sumerian underworld is dusty and dry. There is no beer there! 

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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 a life-changing psychological/spiritual journey that we all make at least once, and it’s part of the annual round of existence. 

We need good stories to help and guide us, and the Sumerian myth of the descent of the goddess Inanna is one of the best.

In part 1 (this program) I introduce you to the goddess Inanna and provide some of her back story.

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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 different story– the life story of dancer and artist Marta Becket and the Amargosa Opera House.

The Winter Solstice is a good time to consider the significance of our cyclical journey through the cosmos, and reminds me that everything–every new life, idea, or work— begins in darkness. I find inspiration in Marta Becket’s story and share it with you in the hopes that it sparks something beautiful and gives you the courage to let your light shine.

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