Myth Matters

“Perhaps the greatest stories are those which disturb us, which shake us from our complacency, which threaten our well-being. It is better to enter into the danger of such a story than to keep safely away in a space where the imagination lies dormant.” -- N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain

What are these stories that disturb us, and why would you venture into the danger zone of such a story?

When you think about "a disturbing story," you may think about stories of brutality and destruction. Terrible truths. 

And yet, stories that shake us from our complacency, as Momaday says, aren't necessarily stories about horrible things. They are stories that take us out of the world that we know, the comfortable world that we've constructed out of the materials provided to us. Stories that challenge our expectations and assumptions, even contradict what we believe is true. 

A story that disturbs may open our hearts to needs and forms of suffering that we didn't know existed, or didn't want to admit exist. It can also open us to possibility, reveal illusions, and call us to live with more creativity, compassion, and freedom.

In this episode, I tell a Celtic fairy tale called "The Lass Who Went Out at the Cry of Dawn." It has the power to shake my complacency, and may do the same for you.

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This entertaining Ashanti story about the trickster spider Anansi reveals the threads between story, imagination, and possibility.

Who controls the stories that we tell, and why is it important to reach beyond our personal experience to hear the stories of those who are different from ourselves?

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This episode includes a series of Sufi teaching stories that address change, loss, and renewal, and the power of story to shift our perspective and life the spirit.

Includes Nasrudin and the man with the sack, Fatima the Spinner, Nasrudin and his neighbor, and one of my favorite poems by Rumi, "The Guest House."

"With its concentration, among other things, on awareness and psychological balance – “mindfulness”, if you like – Sufism is a natural antidote to fanaticism." -- Jason Webster

Click here  to read Webster's interesting article in The Guardian, "Sufism: ‘a natural antidote to fanaticism’"

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This is the fourth and final episode in the 4-part series on the Sumerian myth of Inanna. We've crossed into the new year in the meantime, and this mixing of beginnings and endings felt appropriate for this myth and for these times.

What is the difference between a "beginning" and an "end?" What binds the realms of the Great Above and the Great Below? What is the shared reality of Inanna and her sister Ereshkigal, and Dumuzi and the rest of us mere mortals, for that matter?

I hope you enjoy the story. thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...

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The ancient Sumerian story of Inanna's descent to the underworld is an iconic myth about a psychological and spiritual journey of great significance. There's loss and suffering in this story. And there's a return to new life. Feels like a fitting end to 2020, and this season of Myth Matters

A belated happy solstice and hurrah to the dawning age of Aquarius! Wishing you a safe and happy holiday. See you in 2021.

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In this episode I tell the second part of Inanna's story, the courtship and marriage between Inanna and her honey man, the shepherd Dumuzi. I've always delighted in the description of their courtship and the way it captures the excitement and hesitation that is part of falling in love and discovering the power of your sexuality. 

At the same time, I bridled at the need for such a powerful goddess to marry and make her husband king. But is this merely a patriarchal degradation of a figure who rules heaven and earth? Or is their union, expressed in the language of a fertile and creative earth, a metaphor for the immanent divine? For the eternal spark in every life and material form that supports our own existence?

If so, is there a way for their coupling to translate into a lived experience for us today, distant as we are from the image of a holy couple who seed each other to sustain the earth? I turn to the opening pages of Lab Girl by geobiologist Hope Jahren to aid in this reflection.

Until next time, please take all precautions to protect your health and that of others. Every life is too valuable to lose.

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"Symbol systems cannot be simply rejected, they must be replaced. Where there is no replacement the mind will revert to familiar structures at times of crisis, bafflement, or defeat."  --Carol Christ

The corruption of the old forms, of old institutions and ways of thinking, continues to be revealed. The need for a new paradigm, myth, or metaphor that carries new values is clear. This involves working with our mythological inheritance, to reclaim or renew truth in the images and stories that inspired our predecessors, and sort through to find what is of value in the present.

This is the first in series of four programs exploring the Sumerian myth of the goddess Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth. What might Inanna offer to our times?

Thanks for listening, and keep the mystery in your life alive.

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"Imagination is destiny." James Hillman

Your greatest gift in times of change is your imagination. What is your vision? Are you ready to live it?

In this episode, a story about the Hopi creatrix Spider Woman and a poem by Diane di Prima offer inspiration to feed your imagination and creative power.

" history is a living weapon in yr hand
& you have imagined it, it is thus that you
"find out for yourself"
history is the dream of what can be, it is
the relation between things in a continuum..."

-Diane di Prima, excerpt from "Rant"

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This Hindu story, "The King and the Corpse," is one of my favorites, rich in metaphor, humor, riddles, and insight. 

A king spends a long night with a talking corpse and realizes a profound truth. No spoilers-- so I'll end on this note: you may also learn something about the power of story to teach, transform, and awaken.

I hope this story provides you with a few sweet moments of respite and reflection. Take good care of yourself in this liminal time of the year (Halloween, Samhain around the corner) and remember that you are not alone.

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In the last podcast, we talked about the crisis of a life of "nothing but" and the inherent dangers in what C.G. Jung called "the one-sidedness" of Western consciousness. The overly rational person is psychologically crippled, and vulnerable to what is repressed in the unconscious. This is also true of cultures, and we are living with the ills and effects of this one-sidedness right now.

So, how do you become a healthier person, and a better citizen in a saner world? You learn to live the symbolic life, decolonize your soul, liberate your consciousness, and keep the mystery alive.

It doesn't take a lot of time or money or specific expertise, and you don't have to "believe" in anything. You don't need to go on retreat or take a leap off the deep end. You don't have to give up facts and buy the woo-woo. Opportunities are all around, every day, to cultivate a soul-full perspective and a different type of attention, to cultivate what James Hillman called " a poetic state of mind."

I'm joined by writer, poet and colleague, Rohini Walker, who lends her insight to this episode. Rohini is the Editor and Creative Director of Luna Arcana, an arts and literary print publication based in Joshua Tree, CA, and much more. She mines myths and metaphors, and like me, is a perpetual student in the arts of soul. I am so grateful to Rohini for being part of this podcast.

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Email Catherine at [email protected]
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Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
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