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!
legends Archive
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Miskitu Stories: ‘Crazy Sickness’ and the Duendes of the Wild
Posted on June 12, 2019 | 4 CommentsAs outbreaks of "crazy sickness" continue to afflict Nicaraguan Miskitu towns and villages, we revisit the story of the Duhindu of Kambla, or how the community overcame their first case of this "culture-bound syndrome," blamed on the dark supernatural forces out of the wild bush. -
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. -
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. -
Goethe’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”: Power Over Wisdom
Posted on August 13, 2014 | 2 Comments"The Sorcerer's Apprentice," an ages-old fairy tale interpreted as a poem by Goethe, made famous today by Disney's "Fantasia," illustrated the dangers of power over wisdom, and the risk of human creations getting out of control. -
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. -
Bear Witness: First Nations Protect Grizzlies in British Columbia
Posted on December 31, 2013 | 1 CommentA documentary film, Bear Witness, chronicles the efforts of Canadian Coastal First Nations to protect grizzly bears from sport hunters on the British Columbian coast. -
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." -
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." -
Maya Deren: Divine Horsemen Dance the Living Gods of Haiti
Posted on June 1, 2012 | 4 Comments"Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti" journeys into the world of the Vodoun religion, communing with the drums and loa rituals, made by avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren between 1947-1951. -
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. -
Caribbean Garífuna: Masked Warriors Dance into the New Year
Posted on April 27, 2012 | 19 CommentsThe masked dance ritual called Wanaragua, takes place as part of the New Year's celebration among the Garífuna villages on the Caribbean Coast of Central America. -
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. -
Swimming into Xibalba: Secrets of the Maya Underworld
Posted on March 24, 2012 | 4 CommentsThe BBC documentary swims deep into the mythological underwater world of the "cenote sagrada" of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. -
Hopi Legend: Koyaanisqatsi and World Destruction
Posted on May 25, 2011 | 10 CommentsThe Hopi curse of Koyaanisqatsi marks the total disintegration of the life of harmony and balance. The subject of a 1982 tone poem of modern day environmental devastation by Godfrey Reggio, also shown in the mythological destruction of the ancient Hopi city of Pivanhonkyapi. -
Chumash Legend: Hole in the Blanket
Posted on May 2, 2011 | 7 CommentsThe world covered in a blanket of darkness, the rock, plant, and animal people found through cooperation and council to give thanks for the goodness of Mother Earth and Grandfather Sun, and let the light shine down.
