Myth Matters
Welcome to Myth Matters, a thought-provoking exploration of myth in contemporary life and the intersection of myth, creativity, and consciousness. Host Catherine Svehla PhD. shares her knowledge of mythology and depth psychology to find insight and explore possibilities. Member of the Joseph Campbell Foundation MythMaker℠ Podcast Network.
Learn more at www.mythicmojo.com and keep the mystery in your life alive.
Episodes
124 episodes
Flying Together: The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud Din Attar
“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 At...
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Season 6
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Episode 16
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41:09
Catastrophe: What myths show us about the way of the world
Endings, 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 ...
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Season 6
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Episode 15
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36:29
Effort, Uncertainty, and Cerridwen's potion
"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 t...
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Season 6
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Episode 14
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29:47
Allegiance to the Inner Life: The. Nixie in the Millpond part 2 of 2
“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 in...
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36:55
Allegiance to the Inner Life: The Nixie in the Mill Pond part 1 of 2
To 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," ...
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Season 6
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Episode 12
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42:59
The Bricoleur
How 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...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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30:50
Shifting Images of Human Being with Dr. Craig Chalquist
How 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 ...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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57:12
Making creative choices in art and life: 3 fairy tale variations
Sifting 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 com...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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34:53
Creativity: An Inner Alchemy of feathers and toads
“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...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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30:33
Myth and Images of Creativity (Beginning with the new Apple ad)
Apple'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 g...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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37:03
National Poetry Month: Humor and the unexpected turn
"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 assoc...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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43:29
Fate, free will, and 3 Swords
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 th...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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27:04
The Bhagavad-Gita and yoga of awareness with Gabriella Nagy
“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-...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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45:43
Fee-fi-fo-fum: Outwitting the Ogres in Life
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 o...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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37:12
The Problem of the Return and the End of the Hero's Adventure
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 ...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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37:12
Answering the Call of 2024
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 transf...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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31:28
Endings and Beginnings: Odin's Quest for Wisdom
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 wit...
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Season 5
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Episode 20
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28:42
Living your heart's desire: The Tale of the Doomed Prince
"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,"&n...
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Season 5
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Episode 19
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30:04
Beowulf and why we need Monsters
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 ...
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Season 5
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Episode 18
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40:28
Mythic Sensibility: The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran
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 collectio...
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Season 5
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Episode 17
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38:54
"Those Who Live Beneath Us": Sedna the Inuit Woman of the Sea
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 possibili...
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Season 5
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Episode 16
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26:31
The Story of Tuan Mac Cairill and the Salmon of Knowledge
"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 ...
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Season 5
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Episode 15
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41:21
Mythical Bonds: Dogs, Kinship, and the Irish tale of Fionn and the Birth of Bran
“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. ...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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38:21
Churning the Cosmic sea: Joseph Campbell, meaning, and the rapture of being alive
"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 actual...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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19:48
Myth, science, and the creation story: Mr. g by Alan Lightman
"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.
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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34:06