Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
WilderUtopia celebrates world culture with a frame of environmental sustainability. Our inspiration sources from ethnically-based indigenous arts, myth and storytelling, as well as dance and music, played out in the rituals, customs, and traditions of the many peoples of the planet.
In the highlands of Guatemala, a rich tapestry of myths and legends has been woven into the cultural fabric of the K’iche’ Maya people. Central to this cultural heritage is the Popol Vuh, a sacred text that offers a profound glimpse into the creation of the world and the epic tales of heroism that followed.
Our EcoJustice Radio guest, Deborah Small, along with Rose Ramirez and the California Native Plant Society, have made the award-winning documentary Saging the World to raise awareness and call for action around the protection of white sage.
Join our EcoJustice Radio guest, Jennifer Lee, Northern Naragansett Grandmother, bark basket maker, and culture bearer, Board Member of the Nolumbeka Project, as she provides histories, insights and perspectives of Native Peoples of the Northeast.
Marvin Swallow paints “images of time before and after the moment,” whispering sacred stories of the beauty and mystery of creation. What has emerged through his art is a unique and powerful contribution to the growing genre of Sacred Art.
Here we re-tell the creation myth of Ch’ujtiat from the Ch’ol People. Stories director Gabriela Badillo’s 68 Voices, 68 Hearts, a series of one-minute animations that preserve indigenous Mexican stories with narration provided by native speakers.
The following story from 19th Century Venice, Italy, is similar to the “Bluebeard” folktales from France, regarding the dangers of female curiosity about forbidden chambers and how questioning patriarchal rules can open the door of truth. This mythic jaunt takes another route about when the Devil married three sisters and how the third sister managed to rescue the other two from the fires of Hell. Italo Calvino also published another variant of this story in 1956, called Silver Nose.
The Kraken, a mythological super-squid or legendary massive octopus from the depths of the ocean, known to destroy ships, also has some significant scientific basis for its existence. Here we share an encounter with this magical sea monster in an excerpt from Jules Verne’s ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’.