Story Medicine

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "The Binding of Fenrir" from Norse mythology, as told in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda... a story about what we do with the things we fear, and what it costs us.

The gods learn that Loki's three children will one day bring them harm. The serpent is cast into the sea, Hel is sent below, and the wolf is raised among the gods, fed only by the brave Týr. As the wolf grows, the gods try again and again to bind him. When their trickery finally works, it is Týr who pays the price and the gods face the inevitable.  

This story speaks to anyone holding down something that keeps on growing, anyone whose efforts to prevent what they fear seem to bring it closer, and anyone living through the collapse of a life they had carefully built.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, an exploration of the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "The Black Bull of Norroway" from Scottish tradition: an old tale about a young woman who goes out to seek her fortune and the long road she must walk to become herself.

The youngest of three sisters is carried away by a great black bull she is terrified of, who turns out to feed and protect her. When she loses him through a simple movement, she is left to wander alone, serve seven years to a blacksmith, climb a hill of glass, and claim her own fortune. 

This story speaks to anyone whose life has taken a shape they wouldn't have chosen, anyone who has had to let go of something that once carried them in order to stand on their own feet, and anyone doing long, patient work with no sign yet that it's landing. 

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore Princess Bari, a narrative shaman song from Korean tradition that is still sung over the dead in Korea today.

A king throws away his seventh daughter because she is not the son he longed for. Years later, when he and his queen lie dying, only that discarded daughter will make the journey to the land of the dead to fetch the water of life that could save them. 

What she finds there, and what she chooses to become on her return, turns the one who was cast out into the guide who walks beside every soul.

This story speaks to anyone who has ever felt cast aside or like an outsider, anyone carrying a part of themselves they were once told had no place, or anyone learning to author their own life after a verdict someone else handed to them.

The episode includes the story told in full, an exploration of the medicine it carries, and three practical integration practices to help you embody it.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore The Four Dragons from Chinese folk tradition: a story rooted in a relationship between dragons and the rivers of China stretching back at least three thousand years, and carrying medicine about what happens when the structures we depend on fail us.

Four ancient dragons, playing high above the Eastern Sea, look down and see a land in drought and a people dying. They petition the celestial Emperor for rain, and he promises it but fails to deliver. Ten days later, the people are eating clay. The dragons look at the vast sea around them, take the water into their mouths, and make it rain. The punishment is severe. And their final act is to become the rivers of China, flowing without ceasing long after the Emperor's court has been forgotten.

This story speaks to anyone who has ever waited for permission to do what's needed, anyone who has felt the pain of an authority that no longer serves those it governs, and anyone who has weighed the cost of acting but not the cost of standing by.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis exploring the senex and puer archetypes, the symbolism of water, and the concept of the anima mundi - the soul of the world - and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore the story of Chiron from ancient Greek mythology. This is a story about what can be made from the most difficult of beginnings, and what it means to be carried through life by purpose.

Born into violence and abandonment, Chiron is raised by Apollo and Artemis. He goes on to become the greatest teacher in Greece, training heroes including Achilles and Asclepius. When an incurable wound leaves him trapped between unending agony and immortality, he retreats to his cave, and emerges with a final act that is the fullest expression of everything his life has been.

This story speaks to anyone carrying a wound they aren't sure what to do with, anyone who holds others through difficulty and wonders whether they are truly equipped to do so, or anyone searching for the thread of meaning that runs through their life... including its hardest parts.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore the Hawaiian epic of Pele and Hi'iaka. This is a story about two sisters who embody two of the most powerful forces in human experience: fire and devotion. 

Pele, the volcano goddess, falls in love in a dream. Unable to travel to her lover herself, she sends her most beloved sister Hi'iaka on a long and dangerous journey across the Hawaiian islands. Hi'iaka sets out faithfully, battles supernatural forces, reunites a dead man with his soul, and holds to her promise every single day... even as the terms are broken around her. 

This story speaks to anyone who has put their whole heart into something and found the outcome was not what they hoped for, to anyone who recognises the potential for consumption or destruction in the intensity of passion, or anyone trying to find the balance between fire and tending in their own life. 

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine. 

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is one of the oldest stories ever written, pressed into clay tablets over four thousand years ago, and it still carries medicine that feels just as relevant today.

Gilgamesh is the mightiest king in the world... and the most alone. When the gods send him an equal - the wild man Enkidu, made of earth and water - his life transforms. But the friendship that follows doesn't complete its work, and when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh sets out on a desperate quest to conquer death itself. He travels to the ends of the earth. He fails. And in that grief and in that failure, the medicine he needed all along finally lands.

This story speaks to anyone who has ever pursued achievement, legacy or busyness to avoid sitting with grief. Anyone who has contacted a part of themselves that needed integrating, and found it took over rather than found its proper place. And to anyone waiting to be fully present until things are different than they are.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, an exploration of the medicine it may be offering, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody that medicine.

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Today's episode is released on Nowruz, the Persian New Year. This is an ancient celebration that has marked the arrival of spring across the Persian world for thousands of years. The Shahnameh, from which today's story is drawn, has been recited and celebrated at Nowruz for centuries. To anyone celebrating today: Nowruz Mubarak.

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore Zal and Rudaba from the Shahnameh, the great national epic of Persia drawn from oral tradition and written more than a thousand years ago by the poet Ferdowsi. It took him 30 years to write. This is a love story set against forbidden bloodlines, a child raised by a mythical bird, and a birth that could only happen through ancient wisdom the court didn't possess.

A warrior's son is born with white hair and abandoned on a mountain, where he is raised by the Simurgh: a vast, ancient bird who holds the seeds of all possible futures. When he returns to the world and falls in love with a princess from an enemy lineage, two families, two kingdoms, and a king must be persuaded that what looks problematic is actually the origin of something the world desperately needs. And when ordinary knowledge runs out, it is the wisdom carried from the outside - in a single copper feather - that delivers what nothing else could.   

This story speaks to anyone who carries something that feels unwelcomed by the world or themselves, anyone who senses potential in what has been overlooked or dismissed, or anyone seeking to understand more about love and union. 

The episode includes the complete story told in full, a depth psychology exploration of the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration practices to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk 

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This is a short introduction to Season Two of Story Medicine: a moment to mark the beginning of a new season.

It includes reflections on the experience of launching Story Medicine and making Season One; as well as the sharing of exciting news about the show's growing international reach, and two new developments for Season Two: a move to fortnightly episodes, and the launch of the Story Medicine Circle - a small, regular Zoom group for listeners who want to work through the integration practices together, in community. 

The first full episode of Season Two follows at 7:30am on Friday 20th March 2026.

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In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore Mwindo from the oral tradition of the Nyanga people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a living epic about the son a father tried to destroy, and what that son became because of it.

Mwindo is born already singing, and already carrying the symbol of his purpose. His father seals him in a drum and throws him in the river. What follows is a journey through the underworld, a confrontation in the sky, and a homecoming that refuses revenge.

This story speaks to anyone still carrying a wound from those who should have welcomed them, anyone who has wondered whether an ordeal has made them or broken them, or anyone learning what it means to hold the difficult parts of their story without being defined by them.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk 

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Register your interest in the online Story Medicine Circle: www.joesummerfield.co.uk/story-medicine-podcast