Myth Matters

Send Catherine a text Message“The Church says: the body is a sin.Science says: the body is a machine.Advertising says: The body is a business.The Body says: I am a fiesta.”― Eduardo Galeano, from Walking Words 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. Ripe in every sense, Inanna engages in a passionate and symbolic union that celebrates physical desire, renews the life cycles of nature, and expresses the creativity  and eros of the cosmos. Her myth illuminates the sacredness of embodied experience and the transformative power of creative union, and challenges traditional dichotomies between spirit and matter.  Inanna invites us to reconsider the sacred through the lens of wholeness, integration, and reverence for life in all its forms.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageIn the first days, in the very first days, everything needed was brought into being and the goddess Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, took her place in the center of the Sumerian pantheon. This myth was recorded at the beginning of history and describes a pivotal time in human civilization. We're reckoning with the developments of this time, today. Inanna's myth can help us find a place-- as individuals, communities, and countries-- in the transformation that's currently underway. This is the first in a four-part series.Thanks for listening!Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text Message"We need joy as we need air." Maya AngelouJoy. Joy is my motivation, my desire and object in sharing some poetry with you in this episode. Joy---gladness, pleasure, delight, and rejoicing. Joy, a very precious freedom.How can you, how can we, build our capacity for joy? The belief that suffering alone lends you depth and nobility seems pretty common, and I wonder about this. Is familiarity with hardship sufficient to grow in compassion and resilience? Or does joy expand our humanity and understanding of life as well as lift us up? There are valuable clues to these questions in poems, the fruits of a poet's devoted attention. I have 13 poems for you, a baker's dozen of poems that speak about or gesture toward, joy.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageThe final episode in a three-part exploration of the mysterious Baba Yaga, a scary crone in Russian and Slavic fairy tales. Who or what is she? The fairy tale "Finist the Bright Falcon" opens up some interesting possibilities.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageThe Baba Yaga is a complex and scary crone in East Slavic and Russian fairy tales. She's a face of the earth goddesses and the fierce wildness of nature.Are some of us meeting the Baba Yaga right now?  There's a lot of chaos right now as institutions, laws, and norms of behavior that order our societies are attacked. Chaos that has a parallel in escalating natural disasters and other earth events. Is this a collective initiation? What might we see if we understood this time as an initiation through forces much greater than the actions of a cabal of greedy sociopaths?These are scary times and they are ripe with opportunity. There's no avoiding it. Let's make something beautiful.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageWelcome to episode one of the new (7th) season of Myth Matters! A new year and a time of change. Is this, as some say, the time of the wise, elder woman, the time of the crone? The Baba Yaga is one face of this archetypal energy.This episode is the first of two about the Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is a complex and multifaceted figure in Russian and East Slavic fairy tales. She's a scary crone with roots in the pre-Christian pagan goddesses that we now call "mother earth," and expresses the warmly maternal dimension of nature and the fierce wildness. She seems to be full of contradictions. She holds the key to the mysteries of life.Here we explore some of her complexity through the three of her many stories: "Baba Yaga and the Kid," "The Step Daughter and the Step Mother's Daughter," and "The Geese and the Swans." Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text Message“These lofty words are an antidote for anyone sickened by extremism's poison.” Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Sholeh WolpéThe Conference of the Birds is an epic poem from the 12th century written by Sufi poet Farid ud Din Attar. The poem tells the story of a group of birds and an arduous journey to find a mysterious king. Renowned for its depth and beauty, the Conference of the Birds is an allegorical teaching about the spiritual path to self-realization that offers insight into the communal nature of a solitary quest.  Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageEndings, loss, and uncertainty. Fears of a catastrophic future. Many of us are living with this right now or wondering how to. How to act. How to participate.Perspective and guidance can be gleaned from myths and old stories. They are a poetic record of life in a world where catastrophe happens. A world in which people have at various times, felt that everything was falling apart or that the world might even end.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text Message"It is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception and compassion and hope." –Ursula K. LeGuin This episode revolves around the Welsh myth of Cerridwen and the Birth of Taliesin. I've worked with this story a number of times. It comes to mind this time of year because Cerridwen is both a goddess and a witch, and this story includes potions, cauldrons, shapeshifting, and poetry. A different theme emerged for me this time in response to our collective uncertainty and questions about action, control, and faith.I hope you find something of value in this meditation.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text Message“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”― Joseph CampbellWe began an exploration of some important questions in the last episode. Questions about our allegiance to the inner world and the concerns of our outer life in the material world, as the demands of these realms often seem to be in conflict with each other. How well do we understand the relative weight and power of these worlds? How they inform and enrich the other? What is involved in our choices? A fairy tale called "The Nixie in the Mill Pond" was our way into reflection on this topic. This is part 2 of the story and our reflection of these questions.  Make a deep dive into story----Step Into the Fairy Glen details and registrationA self-guided journey into story and soulNovember 1st- November 15thTap into the power of story to live your symbolic lifeFollow your bliss"He who looks outside, dreams; he who looks inside, awakens."  C. G. JungSupport the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageTo what do we owe greater allegiance, our outer life in the material world of human conventions, or our inner life and the requirements of soul? I explore this question through the lens of a fairy tale called "The Nixie in the Mill Pond,"  collected by the Brothers Grimm. This is a big topic and a fascinating story with many twists and turns so I'm devoting to episodes to it. This is part 1." Sometimes a man stands up during supperand walks outdoors, and keeps on walking.."--Ranier Marie Rilke translated by Robert BlySupport the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageHow we imagine our lives is how we live our lives, and mythologies provide the images and ideas in this process. But images of the human in the dominant myths-- as sinner, dominator, or world destroyer-- aren't guiding us toward a bright future. What are the alternatives?How about an ingenious, improvising jack-of-all-trades, the "bricoleur"?There is no "Myth of the Bricoleur" as far as I know and yet, the bricoleur and the act of bricolage can be found in myths and stories around the world. And once you know what this is, I think you'll see the bricoleur at work everywhere today. You may even be one.The human as bricoleur jack-of-all-trades offers a different way of understanding and engaging with the personal and cultural transformation currently underway. I hope you enjoy the episode!Support the Show.Email Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageHow we imagine ourselves is how we'll be. And where do we receive these images of the human? They're in our myths.In this episode, I take a look at three images in the myths of the dominant culture that determine how many of us see ourselves and how we live: the sinner, the king of the animal kingdom, and the world destroyer/ parasite. Are these images useful today? How do we find and live into alternatives?I'm joined by the insightful Dr. Craig Chalquist (see bio below) in an exploration of these questions. Many thanks to Dr. Chalquist for his rich contribution to the conversation!Much more could be said on this important topic. I hope you find this a helpful.  Craig Chalquist is academic director of the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation program at National University. He holds a PhD in Depth Psychology and another in Psychology and Religion. His most recent nonfiction book is the second edition of Terrapsychological Inquiry. He also writes speculative fiction and is working on a trilogy of novels dealing with how humanity will face events sixty years from today. Visit his website Chalquist.com.Support the Show.Email Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageSifting through options to make a decision is something that each of us has to do at some point. When our choice is part of a creative process in work or life, in the arts or our psychic terrain, it can be very difficult. Something new will come into the world. Some type of transformation will take place. We're deeply invested in the outcome and there may be consequences.The dilemma posed by the need to make a choice is a common feature in the tests and tasks faced by characters in fairy tales. The nature of the choice and the way it is accomplished in these stories provides useful metaphors for considering our present situations and the challenges posed by creative choices.Support the Show.Email Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text Message“We would do well… to think of the creative process as a living thing implanted in the human psyche.”  --- C.G. Jung (1922) Collected Works 15We often say that every person is inherently creative and yet doubts and fears of inadequacy are common. Many of us hesitate to make any claims to creativity and feel it is lacking in our lives, or question the value of our creative processes and the outcomes.In this episode I offer a perspective on this dilemma with the aid of a fairy tale called "The Three Feathers"  and The Red Book by and C.G. Jung.Support the Show.Email Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Send Catherine a text MessageApple's ad for the new iPad has evoked some very strong reactions, reactions that illuminate old links between image, metaphor, myth, and our collective notions about creativity and the creative process. The current cultural conversation is a good starting point for reflection on  some commonly held images of creativity and the way these images shape our creative process and the value we place upon it.This is the first in a series of episodes that will explore the central importance of image and imagination in all of life. How we imagine our lives is how we live them.Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive...Support the Show.Email Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

"Well, that's the trick: the sudden unexpectedness inside the over-known." --- Heather McHughWhat type of mood does the word "poetry" evoke for you? Do you associate poetry with the profound and weighty? The concerns of the soul and the seriously sacred? I rarely look to poetry for a laugh and I wonder why, when there are many brilliant moments of humor to be found there. In celebration of National Poetry month, here are ten or so humorous poems from Roald Dahl, Billy Collins, Carol Ann Duffy, and others.I'm joined by poet and songwriter Rags Rosenberg, a longtime friend of Myth Matters who adds a few of his thoughts and poems to the mix. Thank you Rags!I hope you enjoy the episode and please share your favorite poems of the moment with me! Thanks for listening.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Fate and free will, and the longing for purpose and prospect of destiny that hangs somewhere in-between. How do these forces shape our lives? Do we play assigned roles in a cosmic plan or make it all up as we go?These questions weave through many myths and stories. What answers do we find and how can we live with the questions?Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

 “A yogi sees Me in all things and all things within Me.” Krishna in the Bhagavad GitaThe Bhagavad-Gita is an important Hindu teaching story embedded in the Mahabharata, an astonishing epic poem. Astonishing for its length- 100,000 verses-- and for its beauty. Astonishing for the complexity of the social and spiritual world constructed in the poem and the exploration of the moral dilemmas we face while attempting to live our lives correctly. In this episode, I take a look at the Bhagavad-Gita with the help of Gabriella Nagy, an embodied yoga instructor and yogic life skill guide. Gabriella has a deep love for this story and far more understanding of the text. I'm grateful for her guidance through some of the puzzles the Gita presents and hope our conversation aids your reflections.GABRIELLA NAGY is an embodied yoga instructor and yogic life skill guide who has practiced yoga and mindfulness since high school. She believes that yoga ultimately is the science of inner transformation and the first step is to purify our hearts so that we can see clearly. Her unique teaching approach which she calls “yoga of awareness” is named to honor the main yoga that Krishna teaches in the Bhagavad Gita.Her classes support spiritual seekers longing to embrace yoga as a life skill and cultivate balance and strength on the mundane level as well as on the subtler realms.Gabriella lives on the sandy beach of Baja California, Mexico with her multimedia artist husband and their four-legged chihuahua children Merlin and Maya.You can find Gabriella at: www.yogaofawareness.comInstagram: @yoga.of.awarenessSupport the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Last Monday, February 26th was Tell a Fairy Tale Day. I began preparation for this episode with the intention of telling  you a fairy tale, perhaps one that was connected to the holiday. This process opened up reflection on the necessity of a well-developed imagination to meet life challenges in a creative and satisfying way, and the role fairy tales play in cultivating this capacity. In fairy tale language, some of these life challenges could be called "ogres,"  the people and forces that hoard the gold and will eat you up, take your life, if they can. Ogre is a pretty good metaphor for some of the challenges that we meet. And, of course, an ogre appears in the story in this episode.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

We have an ever- increasing wealth of myths and stories, fueled by new discoveries and ongoing mythmaking. There are also dominant myths and stories, and dominant ideas about myths and stories, that limit the usefulness of this inheritance and the possibilities we entertain. In the last episode, I turned to the Hero's Adventure, a mythic pattern articulated by Joseph Campbell,  to reflect on some of the many ways that we can hear a call to a new life. A bigger life, a life of purpose.In this episode, I pick up the hero's adventure once again to consider the final phase of the process, what Campbell called "The Return." This final phase is essential to the image of a hero as a person who serves the community, and yet it rarely receives much attention.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

It's only January and 2024 already feels like a year of consequence. Crazy weather and climate change, war, elections, ideological, religious, and cultural conflicts, and Pluto's move into Aquarius, heralding a long underworld journey of transformation in our communities, social contracts, technology, idea of service, and visions of freedom.What role might mythology and myth-making play in the cultural and personal changes underway? Are our inherited narratives an obstacle to overcome or an aid in imagining the future?These are questions I take up in this episode as an opening meditation on endings and beginnings in 2024. Thanks for joining me in this reflection. I'd love to hear from you if this opening foray sparks thoughts in response.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

The solstice will soon be upon us, followed by the arrival of a new year. A time of endings and beginnings. Reckoning.  This passage through winter darkness here the in northern hemisphere leads me to Norse mythology and my fascination with the god Odin.Odin is a god who lives with the prophecy that his world will end and he will die. This is an unusual combination of themes, one that imbues Odin with an approachable humanness and sparks my curiosity about the quest for wisdom that defines him. Odin's efforts didn't prevent the end of his world. And yet I suspect the god felt his quest was worth the cost. Is there a parallel in my life? In yours? This could be a fruitful reflection as 2023 and Season 5 of Myth Matters come to a close. I hope you find something of value in the stories and many thanks for making Myth Matters part of your mythic journey.Warm wishes for a glorious holiday season and keep the mystery in your life alive.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

"I am destined to die either by a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog; it is the will of the gods. Then let me go forth and follow my heart's desire while I live.".2023 is drawing to a close. "The Tale of the Doomed Prince,"  a fairy tale found in ancient Egyptian papyri from 1550 BCE or so, is an interesting companion to year end (year round?) reflections on what you're doing with your life. Are you following your heart's desire?Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

The existence of monsters, alongside gods and goddesses, is a distinguishing feature of myths, fairy tales, and legends. Defeating a monster is often the test of the hero, the act that makes that individual a hero. And yet, life is full of challenges and dangers. There are plenty of opportunities for various forms of heroism in this everyday world and ordinary reality, right? Do we need monsters? Or, are monsters relics of an archaic world view, evidence of a time when people often misunderstood the world around them and feared the boogie man?Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

The season around Halloween and Samhain is a liminal time when shadows grow and lengthen in the world and psyche. The old Celtic stories of poet warriors and fairies feel especially potent to me right now, so I'm dipping back into the collection Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens for this story offering. "The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran" is rich in metaphor, humor, and insight, and also provides a launching point for reflection on the different types of interpretation we bring to myths and the nature of a mythic sensibility in these times.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

Sedna is the goddess mother of the sea, marine animals, and the underworld in the myths of the Inuit people, an indigenous Arctic culture. This episode is an exploration of variations on her origin story, and some of the questions and possibilities Sedna raises in this time of climate change and fundamentalism.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

"I went out to the hazel wood,Because a fire was in my head,And cut and peeled a hazel wand,And hooked a berry to a thread.." ---from "The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats The Salmon of Knowledge is a mythical creature in Irish folklore associated with poetry and knowledge of deep truths. Any person who ate a bit of the fish would become wise and know the essence of all things. Which leads one to wonder: what is the nature of this wisdom? The Story of Tuan Mac Cairill suggests an answer to this question. I love this story and hope you enjoy it too.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

“Dogs are our link to paradise.” -- Milan KunderaSometimes a "little" detail in my day triggers thoughts about my mythic orientation and brings stories to mind.This episode began with a short news story about a dog. Which led me to a Jicarilla Apache creation myth and an Irish legend about Fionn MacCool.These stories remind us of the enduring bond between humans and dogs, and what they teach us about loyalty, empathy, and joy. How they help us be better humans. And love.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

"I don't think the meaning of life is what we're seeking. I think it's an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have residences within our own innermost being in reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive." -- Joseph Campbell, The Power of MythThe meaning of life isn't what we're seeking? Isn't meaning what makes life worthwhile, at least, or especially, from the perspective of a depth-psychological-mythologist?In this episode, I take up these questions and Campbell's claim with the aid some stories found in his book Myths To Live By.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

"Rationality and logic can be spiritual." -- Alan Lightman, Mr. gThe antagonism between Western science and myth/religion has shaped human history and continues to obstruct the quest for a holistic understanding of existence. In Myths to Live By, Joseph Campbell outlines the conflict and offers solutions to the modern dilemma. Science will provide new metaphors, he explains.I wonder about the reconciliation of science and religion and what forms this might this take. This led me to Mr. g, a novel by Alan Lightman.  Lightman is a theoretical physicist who has served on the faculty at Harvard and MIT.  In his novel he combines science, theology, and moral philosophy to tell a creation story that is mythic, if not technically a myth. Through the eyes of the cosmic creator Mr. g,  we witness the birth of the universe and the wonders of scientific evolution, from galaxies and stars to the emergence of life on a small planet.I hope you enjoy this gloss of the book and are inspired to read it too.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

The Babylonian Enuma Elish, also known as The Seven Tablets of Creation, is one of the oldest surviving creation myths. The story narrates the epic battle between the god Marduk and the primordial goddess Tiamat, which resulted in the creation of mankind and the establishment of an enduring order in heaven and on earth. No one alive today "believes" in this myth. The cuneiform tablets containing the poem were lost for centuries. Nevertheless,  Marduk exerts considerable influence over the world-dominating cultures today. In this episode, I tell you the myth, provide some historical context, and consider the role it has--and might yet-- play in the ongoing creation of cultureSupport the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.comBuy me a coffee. Thank you!

How did all of this-- what we call reality, the universe, the earth, life, begin? What do you think? This question is a primary motivation for our ongoing myth-making. Despite all the tools and technologies, the origins of the cosmos, life, and human beings are still a mystery.In offering us an explanation of our creation, these myths offer a perspective on human nature, purpose, and social organization as well. Your inherited myths influence how you live and what you value, even if you spend little time consciously thinking about them.So, let's spend some time thinking about them.This episode is a brief survey of some creation myths from around the world that illuminate the variety and implications in the answers that humans have developed to answer the question of  beginnings.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

The proper way to be a father or mother, questions about who can father or mother, and what these parental roles mean are contentious topics, ripe for creative reflection and renewal. Myths about fathers and fatherhood contain images and meanings that shape society and family life. They're a key part of this cultural conversation.The fathers in myths and fairy tales exert influence over us whether or not we believe in them or know the specifics of the stories. In this episode, we take a look at the Christian God the Father, Zeus of the ancient Greek pantheon, Odin from Norse mythology, and a couple of fairy tales dads. Happy Father's Day! Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

Our appreciation of mythology as a symbolic language is central to the contemporary relationship to myth. As people bound to a psychological view of the inner life, myth as metaphor is the key to understanding the old stories. And yet, myth is more than metaphor.The elements in a story, the specific animals, plants, and features of the land that are named in a given story, are more than artistic details. Investigation into the scientific as well as the mythic biography of these elements can result in discoveries that enhance your appreciation of the story and expand your original insights.In this episode, our exploration of the stinging nettles in "The Wild Swan" takes us further into the world of the story and a psychology of craft for today."Working so slowly by hand is transformative, bringing up different conceptions of time and questions of what constitutes value." --  Dylan Howitt , filmmaker, "The Nettle Dress"Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

On the surface,  "The Wild Swans" is a fairy tale about cursed brothers who are saved by their sister.  This is a common motif. Closer examination led me to consider the creative power of words and of silence, and how we use and are used, by both.I hope you enjoy the story. Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

In The World's Wife, Carol Ann Duffy offers myth poems that are also myths for today in the form of a poem.  These poems converse with old myths and stories AND they are stories in themselves.  They display a deep appreciation for the poignancy of these tales, and a wicked, dark humor. I love them. As the title suggests, Duffy tells her myths from the perspective of the women who are largely silent in the older and more popular versions. This episode includes a handful of my favorites from the collection, accompanied by a bit of background about the relevant myth or fairytale.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

April is National Poetry month!Myth and poetry have a long, shared history. In fact, our oldest known myths are poems. Have you ever wondered why this might be?I suspect the intuitive rightness of myth as poetry springs from the ancient understanding of the sacred power of the word. In this episode, we explore the creative power of speech with the aid of a handful of contemporary poems that reference myths. These poems also give us a chance to plumb the questions at the heart of these myths.I hope you find a poem, a poet, a thought, a moment in this podcast that inspires or provokes you. As Jeanette Winterson says: " [...] a poem is like a shot of espresso – the fastest way to get a hit of mental and spiritual energy."Thanks for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive.Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

The Greek goddess Athena was a warrior, the patron of cities and mentor of heroes, clear-eyed, practical, and strategic. What was her great power? She was the goddess of Reason.Yes, the ancient Greek patriarchy, a model of misogyny, imagined "reason" as female. This being myth, there's plenty to unpack and contradicts abound. This episode is your invitation to meet Athena and reflect on the conundrums she presents. She's present today and she's at work--- in what form and to what end, I wonder?Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

Myth has an interesting and complex relationship to history. Myth is part of the historical record of our species, and part of the history of a given people. And myth shapes history. Myth gives rise to the beliefs and point of view that create our world, determine the present, and influence the future. This blending of myth and history can lead to important revelations and new understanding, and it can create blind spots. I started thinking about this after watching the movie "The Woman King," inspired by the warrior women of Dahomey, the Agojie. Visiting Europeans called these women "Amazons." I talk about the movie (no spoilers), Amazons, and some of the twists and turns of myth and history. This episode gestated with me a while and I learned a few things putting it together for you. I hope it gives you food for thought and enhances your appreciation of the movie (which I encourage you to see:)).Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

The freedom to love and individuality. The difference between spiritual love and carnal love. Love for the self and love for a beloved. The fear and fascination elicited by those who don't fit conventional categories and definitions.Hans Christian Andersen was probably not thinking about these ideas when he wrote his fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," at least not with a conscious agenda. And yet this story about a mermaid, a figure with a long mythological history, offers an interesting opportunity to reflect on these themes.This original version by Andersen is not Disney. It might surprise you. The story doesn't offer solutions  but it may launch valuable personal reflection into your beliefs about who and how to love, and how you value your love relationships. Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

A new year is a time of beginnings and possibility. A fresh and hopeful creativity infuses our aspirations. This is a good time to make conscious choices about the sources we turn to and the images we hold, as we form our goals, predictions, and hopes for the coming year.According to the ancient Chinese zodiac, each year in a 60-year cycle has a particular character, set of opportunities, and challenges. 2023 is the  year of the Rabbit. What is the quality of the year of the Rabbit, and how can this inspire us in 2023?Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

Yes, Christmas is grossly commercial, a taint that touches other year-closing holidays as well. And yet this time, and these traditions, have deep mythological roots that connect us to important gifts of the spirit. The mythic figure of Santa Claus reveals the tangled history of our year end aspirations and need for community. I hope this snapshot of some of his origin stories adds interest and inspiration to your holiday season.Warm wishes for a wonder-filled season. See you in 2023!Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

Whatever your ancestry, wherever your people had deep roots, winter was the time for storytelling. To gather together inside, stay warm, relax, and learn together. Winter stories in particular, are stories about the mysteries that bind our earthly world to the other worlds. Stories about the bridges between the visible and the invisible. Stories of the uncanny. They are myths about the beginning times, when everything came into being and found its rightful place. Stories of the mythic times that bear on today. Raven is one of these mysteries who has been with us from the very beginning of our storied existence. In this episode, I tell a couple of Haida stories about Raven based on material collected by Robert Bringhurst. Raven is often associated with winter and the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. Raven teaches us how to go into the dark to bring forth the light. Support the showEmail Catherine at drcsvehla@mythicmojo.comPost a positive review on apple podcasts! Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com

“In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to ask questions.”  -- Mary OliverThe Arthurian legend of the knight Perceval and his quest for the grail was written by the French Romantic poet Chrétien de Troyes, who reworked Celtic legends and British history. The story includes King Arthur, his knights, and a number of unlucky damsels, but the mysterious loathly lady is the key.Support the show

In this Norwegian fairy tale, the queen makes a mistake.That's not the whole story.  There's also a dragon.  And an opportunity to reflect on our fallibility, the tendency to blame, our story inheritance, and the empathy we might develop through imaginative engagement with what angers and disturbs us.I hope you enjoyed the story.Support the show

I recently overhead an exchange between a little boy and his mom. The subject was witches and magic. Which got me thinking. Magic involves perception, changes in the way we see and the manner in which things appear. Magic, like myth, is now a matter of "belief" when it could be practice.  This episode revolves around a Russian fairy tale called "Vasilisa the Wise." On one level, this is a story about a young woman and a witch called the Baba Yaga. On another level, it's an invitation to think about magic. The magic and the mystery that we are in, by virtue of being alive.Support the show

“Loving is an authentic psychological task, the most demanding there is, just because it activates in us new ways of knowing ourselves.'" --- Aldo CarotenutoThe myth of Eros and Psyche can be read as a myth of initiation orchestrated by the goddess Aphrodite, a personification (or archetype) of love, sexuality, and beauty as enlivening powers that bring us into relationship with someone or something in particular. The story tells us something about the demands of this type of love, and what is required to express and live it. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the transpersonal energies and patterns that shape human life and comprise our destiny.Support the show

“I have always thought of a myth as something that never was but is always happening.”-- Jean Houston, The Possible HumanEros and Psyche, or Cupid and Psyche to the Romans, a marvelous old myth about love, soul, and what's required to unite the two. Apuleius included this story in The Golden Ass (also called The Metamorphoses) from the late 2nd century AD, drawing on ancient Greek sources.I've worked with this story many times. I often feel that I am living some part Psyche's journey, or turning to a moment in the tale that presents the perfect metaphor for the task at hand. Sorting seeds. Sending up a prayer in the form of tears. Lighting a lamp to dispel an inner darkness. Lately, I'm hungry for the active relaxation in the space of story and the insights that arise without effort. Perhaps you are too. Hope you find something wonderful and mysterious in this story. I'll  unpack some of the themes and reflect on this myth in the next episode. Thanks for listening.Support the show

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” — Maya AngelouWhat can we do when we are motivated by love?I recently had the great good fortune to see the Broadway production of "Hadestown." This inspires me to revisit the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, to explore of the power of love to sustain and inspire us. Support the show

The hero is a central figure in our myths and stories. The hero can often provide inspiration or comfort. These stories can help us find our courage or feel a bit more powerful. The image of the hero is also a burden. Hero narratives in the dominate culture have combined with modern myths of the individual and individualism to paint a picture of the solo actor, the person who battles against enemies or the odds alone. The hero we imagine today, feeds the terrible loneliness of our time. And yet there are alternatives, and these can even be found in stories that have been framed or reshaped as hero narratives. The fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty," also known as "Briar Rose," is one example.Lots of storytellers and crafters of story, psychologists, and cultural commentators are engaged with our notion of the hero today, but the role of the hero in our stories and in our lives is something that each of us needs to consider. How does the powerful influence of the hero image and heroic rhetoric affect you? How does it shape your expectations of yourself, of other people, and of life? Support the show