Myth Matters

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 feels too small. Because life = change.

Something new, something radical, is needed to catalyze a necessary renewal.

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"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 useful, and I was compelled to share it with you when it began to haunt my consciousness once again.

I think you'll see why after you've heard it. 

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"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 emphasis on joy, and the suggestion that joy is part of the "warrior's approach." But I wonder what being a "warrior" might look like and if it's a useful image/role for me. 

I brought these questions to a Buddhist teaching story called "The Tigress Jataka" and share the story and my reflections in this episode.

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

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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 story undergo transformation through encounters with enigmatic forces that reveal deeper truths.

What does "The Goose Girl at the Well" hold for you?

This is the final episode of 2025. Thank you for your attention and support of Myth Matters, and thank you for being you! Best wishes for a peaceful year end. See you in 2026.

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“He who runs after two hares will catch neither.” Japanese proverb

Feelings of emptiness, lack, greed, dishonesty--- are any of us immune from this experience? The number of stories that revolve around this problem suggest a near universal need to meet this challenge.

We commonly associate greed with an insatiable need for more and more money, but one can be greedy for all types of things: food, love, power, attention, sex, status, books, time, even spiritual knowledge.  This Japanese story is one that appears in similar forms in other traditions. It offers a lens for reflection.

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The existence and importance of other worlds populated by other beings, non-human beings, is consistent across mythological traditions. Today, the dominant culture has a difficult time accepting these stories and yet we continue to tell them.

We continue to need them. 

In this episode, I share the Celtic story  "The Adventure of Bran" and reflect on what stories like this might offer.

“And there seems never to have been an uncivilized tribe, a race, or nation of civilized men who have not had some form of belief in an unseen world, peopled by unseen beings. In religions, mythologies, and the Fairy-Faith, too, we behold the attempts which have been made by different peoples in different ages to explain in terms of human experience this unseen world, its inhabitants, its laws, and man's relation to it."  --- W.Y. Evans-Wentz

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"We are all taking everything that we've learned from the past, and we're reformulating what we want to do with that and how we want to live. And so, one of the ideas that's embedded in that, for me, is that when you're in this period of history, like we are now, with AI and with the digitization of everything and with the resurgence of a fascist movement, everything is up for grabs. 

You know, anything can happen, and that's the whole point really, that we have agency in this moment to affect what direction things are going to go in, as bricoleurs." --- Rags Rosenberg

A special interview episode with poet and performing songwriter Rags Rosenberg. Rags writes what he calls mythopoetic folk rock in the tradition of songwriter poets he admires: Leonard Cohen, Bob, Dylan, and Tom Waits. 

His latest album Song of the Bricoleur speaks about myth and our ongoing myth-making. We talk about artistic identity and guiding images, the role of the artist in dark times, and "making it up as we go."

In times of profound cultural change, we're all bricoleurs. 

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"Leaving home" is an interesting metaphor for the call to significant change. This episode is a reflection on intention, uncertainty, and how myths can help us listen to the soul and find clarity around the risks and purpose of the journey. 

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

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In this episode, we take a look at the fairy tale "The Valiant Tailor" or the "The Brave Tailor," collected by the Brothers Grimm. Honestly, I almost dismissed this story as a bit too silly and I didn't like the tailor much at the outset. 

But what you don't like about a story can be a good prod to look more closely...

The tailor's adventures opened reflections on trickster strategies, courage, and the power of imagination. All useful bits to put in your pocket when you're ready to leave home.

Special thanks to Gary Diggins for granting me permission to include his story about leaving home in this episode.

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“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”-- Joseph Campbell

In this episode we explore the mythic theme of leaving home as a central part of answering the call to transformation. Drawing from myths such as Inanna’s Descent, Valemon the White Bear King, Psyche and Eros, and The Odyssey,  we reflect on the symbolic and literal meanings of “home,” and how leaving it often initiates deep personal change.

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Email Catherine at [email protected]
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