Magical Turtles and Mystical Swords: Twin Legendary Kings from East and West

Remarkably, Great Britain and Vietnam have a shared mythology surrounding a mythical King, a mystical lake, and a magical sword. The mythologies surrounding King Arthur and King Lê Lợi are so astonishingly similar, it is as though they are woven together with a silk thread into belonging with each other. In our disenchanted and divisive world, a synchronicity like this - if we allow it to be our guide - invites us to consider the mystery and interconnectedness of the world. These twin mythologies weave us back into relationship with the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World.

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Singibis: Ancient Wisdom on Confronting the Bully

Singebis is an ancient Ojibwe winter folktale about a beloved folk hero and wild grebe whose perseverance, courage, resilience, and loyalty in the face of Kabibona'kan, Winter Maker, shows us we can do the same in the face of adversity. This story asks us to reflect on what kinds of Kabibona'kans do we face in our lives today that threaten to divide us from others who might be our friends? This folktale reminds us we all have the capacity to tap into our inner Singebis, find our inner trickster, and remind ourselves that even a little wild bird can outsmart the Winter Maker!

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Boreal Bears and Feral Females: Twin Bear Folktales from East and West

The Norwegian folktale “East of the Sun West of the Moon” and the Japanese (indigenous Ainu) folktale entitled “Crescent Moon Bear” are folktales featuring fearless young women who dare to engage in greater intimacy with a bear whether it is marrying a bear, or having the courage to pluck the whisker of a bear. Both involve traversing a formidable boreal forest landscape to save their husbands from a “spell”. These folktales are so strikingly similar in theme and shared values, giving voice to their parallel nature deepens our sense of interconnected history, and rekindles a feeling of belonging to a shared storied boreal landscape, weaving together people, bears, ancestry, stories and hearts. . .

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Baba Yaga: the Autumn Witch and the Power of Letting Go

October is a vitally mystical and folklore-rich time of year, a between and betwixt season of transformation characterized by the changing colors of the leaves and filled with heroes and heroines who symbolize our own transformative potential. One such folk heroine is the quintessential enigmatic wilderness witch Baba Yaga: a courageous crone who dares to dance with the dying and also the mystical old mother who midwifes new life. She resonates with the spirit of Autumn telling us we can be beautiful as we let go of our old selves to make room for what is waiting to emerge, vibrant and gold . . .

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The Spirit Wolves of Tengger: The Wild Wisdom of the Divine Enemy-Teacher

In the heart of the Mongolian grasslands wolves and sheep herders once lived in harmony with each other. Though wolves were regarded as an "enemy" and often killed and ate the sheep these nomadic herders depended on for their livelihood, wolves also modeled strategies of survival that herders adopted enabling them to live for generations in the harsh landscape. Like the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang, the story of Mongolian wolves is a spiritual one about living in harmony with our greatest fear, learning from our greatest enemy, and ultimately developing enough consciousness to recognize the divine-enemy-teacher residing within each of us.

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Plants, Magic and Power: Folklore's Storied Plants Wield Their Quiet Power

Whether it is a giant beanstalk, benevolent flowers, wise herbs, sacred birch goddesses or mossy coats, many ancient folktales remind us how our ancestors lived in harmony with plants, relying on them not only for sustenance but also for healing, protection, wisdom, empowerment and inspiration. Ancient plant folktales encapsulate wisdom and teachings passed down through generations, reflecting the roles that flora and fauna have played for our survival, cultural identity and in the mythic imagination, often intersecting all three.

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Fox Woman: The Shapeshifting Woman at the Threshold Between Worlds

Fox Woman, also known as Kitsune in Japanese folklore, is a shapeshifting trickster character who resembles the elusive, clever fox from the wild. Although this folktale comes in many different variations and her story is told in many tongues, what they all have in common is a trickster character who shifts between human and fox, sometimes androgynous, living in multiple worlds, questioning the order of things through her mischief, playfulness, wit, deception, magic and defiance of authority. The tale of Fox Woman is almost always makes visible the tension between the need for order, and its reinvention.

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