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“The universe is a continuous web. Touch it at any point and the whole web quivers.” ― Stanley Kunitz

I always dedicate the April episodes of Myth Matters to poetry as a way to celebrate National Poetry month here in the United States. This year, I'm turning to the work of Stanley Kunitz.

Kunitz received nearly every honor bestowed upon a poet in this country. His work is a marvelous blend of deep feeling and philosophy, and clear observations of the natural world. He lived to be a 100 years old and was lucid to the end; the writing from his later years is beautiful and wise, marked by his earthy eroticism and fascination with the mysteries.

Poetry is a valuable tool and resource in this time of cultural transformation, a source of truth, inspiration, and companionship, and a doorway into inner calm. I hope you enjoy this episode and if you have a favorite poem or poet, please share them with me!

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"But people must be taught lessons. Without them, none of them will ever learn.
People are dreams and awkwardness and gawk. They prick their fingers
Bleed and snore and drool. Politeness is as quiet as a grave,
Unmoving, roses without thorns. Or white lilies. People have to learn."

-- excerpted from "Observing the Formalities" by Neil Gaiman

Our myths and old stories play a complicated role in our personal and collective evolution. On the one hand, they are conservative carriers of social values that impede change. On the other, they are tools for de-conditioning and vehicles for liberation.

The role they play depends on the perspective we take and the interpretative lens that we bring to them. We inherit our myths and we're taught how to receive them.

This episode is an exploration of this idea, a thought experiment using a fairy tale that you may know, "Briar Rose" AKA "Sleeping Beauty." I found something new in this story and hope that you do too.

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

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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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