An Array of Utopian Flowers
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The Literary Labyrinth of Stephen T. Vessels
Posted on November 27, 2022 | No Comments - Indigenous Voices from the Northeast: Past, Present and Future
Posted on November 26, 2022 | 1 Comment - Microplastics Are Everywhere: What’s The Risk?
Posted on November 22, 2022 | No Comments - Solving the Climate Crisis Through Global Soil Health with Didi Pershouse
Posted on November 20, 2022 | No Comments - Visionary Art of Lakota Sundance Chief Marvin Swallow
Posted on November 14, 2022 | 2 Comments
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WilderUtopia in 102 Languages
‘Medicine Walk’ Featured in SBLitJo
Santa Barbara Literary Journal released ‘Bellatrix: Volume 3’ in June 2019, which among adventurous fiction, poetry, essays, and lyrics, features an excerpt of Jack Eidt’s psychic-animism fiction, Medicine Walk. Buy the book!
Myth Archive
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Behold the Kraken, Destroyer from the Depths of the Sea
Posted on July 1, 2020 | 1 CommentThe 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'. -
Miskitu Legend: The Mangoes of the Dead
Posted on May 28, 2019 | 3 CommentsA story from the Nicaraguan Miskitu People about the mango trees planted to feed the dead in the cemetery, and the fear of stealing the ripe fruits. -
Mythological Journey to the Aztec Underworld
Posted on October 10, 2018 | 2 CommentsIn Aztec cosmology, the soul's journey to the Underworld after death leaves them with four destinations: the Sacred Orchard of the Gods, the Place of Darkness, the Kingdom of the Sun, and a paradise called the Mansion of the Moon. The most common deaths end up on their way to Mictlán with its nine levels, crashing mountains and rushing rivers, and four years of struggle. This pantheon of gods and goddesses and the expanse of the 13 Heavens provides the cultural basis for the Day of the Dead customs and celebrations. -
The Underworld, Rebirth and Renewal with Ceres and Proserpina
Posted on June 29, 2018 | 1 CommentIn ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. The following myth tells how her daughter Proserpina was abducted by the ruler of the underworld, forced to become his wife, but with Ceres' help, she watches over the springtime growth of crops and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth or renewal. -
Hopi Survival and the Supernaturals: Revenge of the Kachinas
Posted on November 26, 2017 | 3 CommentsHere is a retelling of the Hopi story, The Revenge of the Katcinas (Kachinas or Katsinam). To grow crops and survive in their mountainous desert, the Hopis understand the necessity for proper devotion to the supernatural powers, known as the Kachinas, who embody the spirits of living things and also of ancestors who have died and become a part of nature. When the people fall out of favor with the supernaturals, disaster results. -
Hindu Epic ‘Mahabharata’ in Balinese Shadow Theatre and Dance
Posted on August 14, 2017 | 3 CommentsThe timeless brilliance of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, illuminated by the mysterious art of Balinese shadow theatre, enacted to the percussive metallophones of traditional gamelan ensembles. -
Journey of Grandmother Rain – World Creation of the Wixáritari (Huicholes)
Posted on March 10, 2017 | 5 CommentsHere we re-tell the story of Takutzi Nakawe, Grandmother Rain, and how the world was created, according to the Wixaritari (Huicholes) of the Western Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. -
Myth: The Crow Who Visited the Land of the Seven Cranes
Posted on January 30, 2017 | 3 CommentsThe original lands of the Crow or Apsáalooke peoples were east of Yellowstone National Park in Montana/Wyoming, the Absarokas, across the Basin to the Big Horn Mountains, and southeast to the Wind Rivers. This story, recounted to anthropologist Robert Lowie at the turn of the 20th Century, reveals the esoteric visionary experience of a young Crow, and his interest to visit the Land of the Birds. -
Shadow Trickster Trump Betrays Populism, Absconds With…
Posted on November 19, 2016 | 1 CommentShadow-Trickster Donald Trump, preaching revolutionary change and unending prosperity, emerged from the shadow of hatred and aggression, and now proceeds to install one of the most repressive, socially regressive, selfish, greedy, and racist US Presidential Administrations in generations. It must be resisted, but with a trickster spirit. -
Aztec Myth: Quetzalcoatl Rescues Humanity in the Land of the Dead
Posted on December 11, 2014 | 4 CommentsPart of the Mesoamerican myth of the origin of people, where Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, descends into the Land of the Dead, Mictlán, to rescue the bones of humanity and bring them back to life. -
Chumash Story: Seeds of Creation and the Rainbow Bridge
Posted on May 12, 2014 | 11 CommentsHutash, the Earth Mother, created the first Chumash people on the island of Limuw, now known as Santa Cruz Island. They were made from the seeds of a Magic Plant. -
Shoshone Myth: Wolf Challenges the Euro-American “Iron-Man”
Posted on March 13, 2014 | 2 CommentsNorthern Shoshone Myth on how the Wolf, father of the native people, defeated the white-man's father “Iron-Man,” documented by Robert Harry Lowie in 1909. -
Miskitu Legend: Journey for Love into the Afterlife
Posted on October 20, 2013 | 2 CommentsA story from the Miskitu People (Miskito) of Caribbean Nicaragua, about a man who follows his beloved wife into the afterlife. -
Mohegan Story: Healing of the Forest Little People
Posted on September 26, 2013 | 5 CommentsThis Mohegan story about the benevolent nature spirits, called the Makiawisug, illustrates the spiritual potency of the Native universe, and the healing necessary to face the invading Pilgrims and their fear of the Antichrist. -
Ashanti of Ghana: How Spider Obtained the Sky-God’s Stories
Posted on July 31, 2013 | 15 CommentsAnansi, the trickster from the folktales of the Ashanti of West Africa, takes the shape of a spider who goes to the sky god to buy his stories to share with the world. Anansi's stories would become popular through the African diaspora all over the Caribbean and southern US. Here is an animated retelling called "Anansi and the Stories of the Sky God." -
BaVenda of South Africa: How Animals Got Their Color
Posted on July 30, 2013 | 1 CommentThe BaVenda (also known as Venda), a Bantu tribe living in Southern Africa, tell a traditional myth about how the meerkat gave all the animals their special colors. -
La Loba: Wild Woman, Luminous Wolf
Posted on May 15, 2013 | 16 CommentsClarissa Pinkola Estés tells the story from the deserts and mountains of Northern Mexico about a wolf woman, a collector of bones, who resurrects the wild spirit of life from the depths of the Underworld. -
Popol Vuh: The Ancient Maya Dawn of Life and Overcoming the Forces of Awe
Posted on July 23, 2012 | 11 CommentsThe Popol Vuh (Maya K'iche' for "Council Book" or "Book of the Community") features a creation myth, the Dawn of Life under the spectre of a flooded world, followed by the epic mythological stories of two Hero Twins: Hunahpu (Blow-gun Hunter) and Xbalanque (Young Hidden/Jaguar-Sun) as they confront the Lords of Death and Disease in the underworld caves of the "Place of Awe." -
Mythology of the Crow: Love Trials of the Magic Buffalo Wife
Posted on May 23, 2012 | 5 CommentsAn Apsáalooke Crow man falls in love and has a child with the magical Buffalo Woman, which requires him to prove his love and devotion to her and her Buffalo Nation. -
Aboriginal Dreamtime: The Rainbow Serpent
Posted on April 12, 2012 | 9 CommentsThe Aboriginal Australian Rainbow Serpent meanders snake-like like a river across the landscape, sunlight reflecting the spectrum of colours. He inhabits permanent waterholes and controls precious oils and waters. -
Chumash Stories: Julie Tumamait-Stenslie Speaks at Ojai
Posted on January 4, 2012 | 6 CommentsVideo: Chumash elder and storyteller Julie Tumamait Stenslie told myths and legends from her Ventureno Chumash tradition at the Ojai Foundation. -
Tonantzin Transforms into Our Lady of Guadalupe
Posted on December 17, 2011 | 1 CommentPart II of the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe, part of the Spanish colonial appropriation of the Aztec Earth Mother Tonantzin: The future St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin explained to the Bishop of Mexico City how the Virgin appeared to request a temple be built at Tepeyac in her honor. -
Virgin of Guadalupe: The Apparitions of An Aztec Goddess
Posted on December 14, 2011 | 2 CommentsA Mexican Indian Catholic convert experiences visions of an obscure Aztec goddess, Tonantzin, challenging his faith. Thereafter the goddess becomes associated with the Virgin Mary in post-Spanish-conquest church. -
Chumash Sky and Earth Deities and Cosmological Rock Art
Posted on October 20, 2011 | 10 CommentsDepicted on high mountain cave pictographs, the Chumash saw the stars as powerful, competitive sky beings that affected human life and the balance of the universe. -
Bear Dancing into Autumn: Hunting the Big Dipper
Posted on September 5, 2011 | 1 CommentIn a blending of an Iroquois and Cree legend, with autumn approaching, four brothers had the same dream for four nights. They saw a vision of themselves tracking and killing the monster bear. Believing the dream to hold the truth, the brothers followed it into the sky.
