The Myth Pilgrim

Hi friends!! 🍃🧜😄 After many requests, here's a special episode addressing questions around the suitability of Harry Potter for Christians. This episode discusses (i) how Christians relate with alleged occult and magic content in fiction (ii) debunks unhelpful rumours about Harry Potter (iii) the place of spiritual discernment when engaging with any secular content (iv) some practical considerations for parents regarding literature. *Note - this episode contains spoilers!*

Full transcript of this special episode is available on the website 

What does yielding to the Holy Spirit look and feel like? This episode we follow Pocahontas, whose relationship with the Wind and the River provide wonderful reflections on the Spirit in our own lives! Veni Sancte Spiritus! 

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Excerpt from episode: "What is abundantly clear from the promise of both Jesus and the witness of the Acts of the Apostles is that the Holy Spirit is central to the life of a Christian. The Holy Spirit is the way Jesus continues to be present with us, and to be baptised Christian is to be plunged into the very life of the Spirit – both within our hearts and in our actions! He leads us, teaches us, convicts us of sin, brings us into relationship with others. Indeed the Spirit enables us to do the very works of Jesus – greater works – if we have the faith to ask for it! So to begin to give us a sense of what this might look and feel like, I thought I’d borrow Pocahontas. Because, this story features her relationship with both the Wind character and the River, both of which are biblical images of the Holy Spirit. And like the Spirit, they are subtle enough to miss if you’re not looking. But from the start, P lives very attentive to the Wind, and like the Spirit being breathed into Adam’s nostrils in Genesis, she almost seems to breathe it in, drawing her life from it and allowing herself to be immersed in it." 

Music acknowledgments:

• Dana Piano, for piano rendition of "Colours of the Wind" 
• Vesislava Todorova for cello rendition of "Colours of the Wind"
• Sam Yung Official for instrumental of 'If I never knew you" 

Why does Tolkien cite Mary as his primary inspiration for "beauty both in majesty and simplicity"? Deepen in your own love for Mother Mary this episode! Reflect on her example, her mission and her power. Be amazed at the way Marian theology permeates the entire The Lord of the Rings.

Full Transcript of episode available on website

Piano music this episode thanks to Keys of Peace:
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Excerpt from episode:
"When a Jesuit friend once wrote to Tolkien regarding how Mary-like so many of his characters were, he replied: “I think I know exactly what you mean … by your references to Our Lady, upon which all my own small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded.” Wow, that’s high praise for Mary! Now this is not at all saying that characters like Galadriel or Eowyn were meant to directly symbolise Mary, or be a caricature of her. No. Tolkien’s genius is that he is able to infuse his faith across many characters and themes, so much so that his Catholicism permeates his work, saturating it with divine grace. As philosopher Peter Kreeft once commented: it’s actually hard to name what isn’t Catholic about The Lord of the Rings. It makes up such an essence to his story that it becomes imperceptible, maybe a little like how Jesus is so much in the essence of the Eucharist, that he becomes imperceptible!" 

Are fear and love compatible ways of knowing Jesus? Why is "The fear of the Lord the beginning of all wisdom" (Prov 9:10)?  Allow Narnia's majestic Aslan, the king "who is not safe, but good" deepen your desire for holy fear! Let literature's greatest Christ archetype lead you to encounter the living God! 

The final passage mentioned in the episode where Lucy meets Aslan in "Prince Caspian" (C.S. Lewis):

"... But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but Lucy never thought of that. She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not. She rushed to him. She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.
"Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan," sobbed Lucy. "At last."
The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath came all round her. She gazed up into the large wise face.
"Welcome, child," he said.
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
For a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak. But Aslan spoke.
"Lucy," he said, "we must not lie here for long. You have work in hand, and much time has been lost to-day."
"Yes, wasn't it a shame?" said Lucy. "I saw you all right. They wouldn't believe me. They're all so——"
From somewhere deep inside Aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.
"I'm sorry," said Lucy, who understood some of his moods. "I didn't mean to start slanging the others. But it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?"
The Lion looked straight into her eyes.
"Oh, Aslan," said Lucy. "You don't mean it was? How could I—I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? Don't look at me like that ... oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?"
Aslan said nothing.
"You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right—somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?"
"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."
"Oh dear," said Lucy.
"But anyone can find out what will happen," said Aslan. "If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out."
"Do you mean that is what you want me to do?" gasped Lucy.
"Yes, little one," said Aslan.
"Will the others see you too?" asked Lucy.
"Certainly not at first," said Aslan. "Later on, it depends."
"But they won't believe me!" said Lucy.
"It doesn't matter," said Aslan.
"Oh dear, oh dear," said Lucy. "And I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you'd let me stay. And I thought you'd come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid."
"It is hard for you, little one," said Aslan. "But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now."
Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.
"I'm sorry, Aslan," she said. "I'm ready now."
"Now you are a lioness," said Aslan. "And now all Narnia will be renewed. But come. We have no time to lose."
He got up and walked with stately, noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come: and Lucy went with him, laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane. The trees parted to let them through and for one second assumed their human forms completely. Lucy had a glimpse of tall and lovely wood-gods and wood-goddesses all bowing to the Lion; next moment they were trees again, but still bowing, with such graceful sweeps of branch and trunk that their bowing was itself a kind of dance.
"Now, child," said Aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, "I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone."

Excerpt from episode:
"...Today’s episode will have a different sort of feel, because today is very much about a personal encounter. It’s often been said that the character of Aslan – that great kingly lion - is one of the best portrayals of Jesus Christ in any work of fiction. Those of you who are familiar with the books will probably agree that every scene with Aslan is profound and moving, and depicts what a real encounter with Jesus of Nazereth would actually have been like. Over and against more popular portrayals of Jesus today as just a nice guy or moral teacher, Aslan – like the real Jesus of Nazareth- just cannot be categorised in any box. He is at once compassionate and ferocious, friendly, and yet kingly. When Susan Pevensie asks Mr Beaver whether Aslan was safe, Mr beaver replies "Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” So it goes for the real Jesus Christ, and it is for this reason that Aslan gives us plenty of material to explore a very forgotten idea in Christianity today: the fear of the Lord. ‘Fear of the Lord? – what does that even mean...?" 

Isn't Christianity about a 'personal relationship' with God? Why also the Communion of Saints? Let Moana's voyage expand your spiritual horizons! As she grows to appreciate the bigger story she is part of, discover how Love flows between the barriers of life and death, time and space! 

Links to the two scenes mentioned this episode:

Grandma's stingray 

Moana's ancestors 

Episodes excerpt: "...This scene is beautiful on so many. Firstly, it demonstrates that true love transcends the barriers of life and death, of time and space. While the story of Moana obviously doesn’t explore concepts like heaven and judgement, it does demonstrate how relationships are eternal, how love can freely move between the tiers of heaven and earth. Likewise, while our communion of saints begins here – in the church militant, it extends far beyond that, into the church triumphant. The membership of Christ’s body is truly cosmic." 

This episode explores three ways Sauron's Ring is particularly active today: (i) the influence of the media (ii) division within the church and (iii) hyper-individualism. Learn to recognise how we can all fall sway to the Ring, but more importantly, how to be free of its power! 

Excerpt: "In Catholic-Christian theology, evil is both an exterior reality and an interior reality, something both out there, and inside us. The genius of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is that he is able express evil in both these external and internal forms. For example, Sauron is clearly an evil that’s ‘out there’ in the world, raising up an army, seeking to dominate Middle Earth through Mordor, Isengard and beyond. On the other hand, Sauron’s Ring also seeks to bring about evil, but more from within the characters. Subtly and seductively, it corrupts it’s wearer’s noblest desires, while at the same time amplifying the evil that’s already within. It turns loyal human princes like Borimir into bickering traitors, and peace-loving hobbits like Smeagol into thieving murderers ...."

Here's a link to that Brian Holdsworth video regarding the navigation of divisive church matters. 

During times of temptation and desolation, St Ignatius of Loyola's 'Discernment of Spirits' offers us some timeless principles. How well do you know them? Explore the sly techniques The Emperor uses to seduce Anakin to the Dark Side, and learn to recognise - and defend against - the Enemy working in your own life!

See website for all resources mentioned for this episode: themythpilgrim.com 

Welcome to Narnia! This episode, we do philosophy with Plato and theology with St Therese of Lisieux. We will explore the ideas of truth, reality, and why Jesus insists that only children can enter the Kingdom of Heaven ... and Narnia!

Excerpt: "Today is our first venture into one of the greatest series of children’s books of all time – C.S. Lewis’ the Chronicles of Narnia. Now there could be an entire podcast series just on Narnia; so rich is it Christian symbolism, and so insightful is the mind of C.S. Lewis. So many Christian themes all the way from creation, the Fall, redemption, sin, Kingdom of God, salvation, truth, judgement etc. are all represented within the pages of this 7 part series. So what I plan to on the Myth Pilgrim is to gradually chip away at the series a theme at a time, or even a section of a theme at a time. Today we’ll explore the theme of spiritual childhood, by wrestling with one simple question: why is it that out of the four Pevensie children it was Lucy the youngest child who discovers the wardrobe into Narnia? And why does it always seem to be Lucy who first notices Aslan – the great Christ like Lion - before any of the older children? With the help of Plato and St Therese, we will illuminate the question posed in our introduction: why Jesus insists that we become like little children. Ready?"

In this special release episode, guest speaker Fr Dave Tremble MGL weaves together The Ugly Duckling, the Passion of Jesus, and his own story. Locate your own story within the Suffering Servant’s, and explore the topic of shame under a new gaze. 

Recommended books by Dr Brene Brown

• The Gifts of Imperfection
• Daring Greatly
• Dr Brene's TED talk "The power of vulnerability": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

Excerpt from episode: "In her bestselling book The Gifts of Imperfection, Dr Brene Brown describes shame as always involving a social context. Shame is not just as one of many bad feelings we have, but the feeling of being unworthy of belonging, of other people. Shame isolates us from community. Now this is bad enough when it’s just between people, but even worse when shame isolates us from God … making us feel unworthy of him. Okay so that’s the bad news! What’s the good news? Well… the good news, or the bearers of good news today will be our guest speaker, one Fr Dave Tremble ably assisted by a little duckling" 

Have you ever considered how the spirit of The Lion King weaves beautifully with the spirit of the Bible? 25 years later, the story still touches us deeply and satisfies our deepest longings. Explore the themes of the Father's love, exile, baptism, identity and vocation ... and the threading together of two of the greatest stories ever told!
 
Excerpt from the episode: "Jesus of course is the biblical exemplar of everything I just said. Have you ever noticed that this Mufasa apparition scene looks suspiciously like the baptism of Jesus? In both scenes, the father’s presence is made manifest thundering in the heavens, both scenes take place above a significant body of water, in both scenes the son’s truest identities are affirmed by the Father, and in both scenes the sons are commissioned to reclaim the kingdom home that was rightfully theirs! Wow! And if Jesus own vocation flowed out of his being a beloved son of the Father, how much more would that same truth apply to you and I today! Dear friends, ask your Father today, who am I … who have you created me to do be… and let the rest take care of itself. Whether we are conscious of it or not, I believe this scene in particular stirs our post-Christian culture. For we have today drifted quite far from this Christian understanding of identity and vocation. No longer possessing the knowledge of a loving Father who created us, we instead tie ourselves in knots trying to discover our own identity, to forge our own identity from scratch, desperate to be both authentic and yet to be the same as everyone else. Sadly, we today have it all backwards, believing that our identity flows from our vocation, and that our self worth is tied to ‘what we do’. We forget that our identity and worth are already given to us, and that a loving Father cares more about our decisions than even we do ourselves. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Lion King stirs us and moves us and reverberates in the caverns of our culture. For the tender echo of Mufasa’s "remember" is not just an invitation for Simba … but an invitation for our culture that has forgotten who we are and the glory that awaits us." 

(Note - covers of original Disney music were used in this episode: 'This Land' and 'King of Pride Rock' are covers, while a snippet of the original 'The Circle of Life' used. Original composer is Hans Zimmer)