This episode revolves around a Czech fairy tale that you've probably never heard of but I suspect you'll recognize some of the motifs. The story raises some interesting questions about the nature of abundance and what's necessary to the life of our "kingdom," the kingdom of our inner world and the outer society.

Fairy tales speak to us about common life experiences and psychological processes. They also convey cultural values, and the needs and concerns of particular times and particular places. I think the themes and messages that show up in story after story also tell us something about our collective aspirations. I hope you finds something useful in this story.

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“Epic shows us again and again the pattern of moving from the old myth to a new, carrying everything of value with it as it goes.” -- Louise Cowan

Christopher Nolan's film version of the ancient Greek myth The Odyssey has been big news. Written down by "Homer" some 3-400 years after the destruction of the city of Troy, The Odyssey is a mythic account of rise of Greek civilization after the collapse of the Bronze Age Mycenaean kingdoms.

It's an old story about ancient times. A blast of the past. And, it always has been. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks heard the myth and remembered their history. They were looking back, recalling a pivotal time of change. A time when notions of honor, order, and the right way of being and living together were redefined.

When we read or watch The Odyssey today, we're stepping into this lineage. Many of us see myth as entertainment, and there have been centuries of cultural change. Still, I wonder if the lasting resonance of The Odyssey reveals the power this story continues to hold and explains the big response to Nolan's movie.

We are, after all, living in a time when notions of honor, order, and the right way of being and living together are being redefined.

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"It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, that then when we no longer know which way to go, we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings." ---- Wendell Berry

The situation that Berry describes is a creative edge, the place where the known meets the unknown, where what is and has been realized and understood fades into the possibilities of what is yet to be.

Two questions arise for me in contemplating this creative edge. Where do we look for guidance? Or rather, what are we in conversation with when we reach the edge of knowing? And what is a good way to court this guiding source, energy, inspiration, or wisdom?

The nine Muses of ancient Greece and their mother, the Titan goddess Mnemosyne, offer some ideas.

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

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Email Catherine at catherine@mythicmojo.com
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