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Blustery late winter nights are perfect for retelling old stories. Tonight we listen again with new ears to the ancient story told in the 'hymn of the pearl' and explore how old myths and folktales can weave such powerful tales if we just allow them tell their own stories.  

Journal entry:

15th February, Wednesday

“An old moon leans back against the dawn.
 Gulls scythe and cry
 Between street lamps and traffic noise.

Chaos above and chaos below.
 But between the concrete
 There is green.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I retell the story of the quest for the pearl which is based on the ancient Syrian (possibly Indian) song, ‘The Hymn of the Pearl’.

You can find the text in English here: The Hymn of the Pearl.

The song is part of a much longer late second/early third century gnostic text, the ‘Acts of Thomas’. You can read the full text here translated into English from the Syriac: The Acts of Thomas. 

With special thanks to our lock-wheelers:

Mary, Arabella, and Stephen.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

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I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.