This Korean folktale about a woodcutter who discovers that a tiger is his long lost brother is a story about a relationship transformation: from one of hunter and prey, to one of intimacy and kinship characterized by interdependence, reciprocity and mutual respect. It is about recognizing and embracing the other within, the wild within the Self.
Read MoreSedna: Gift from the Salt Womb
Sedna is an Inuit folktale about how unimaginable pain can be transformed into our greatest gift to others. Though Sedna drowns at the hands of her father, she transforms from the role of victim, to the mighty goddess of the underworld who births all life. Complex, fallible and real like each one of us, Sedna is a deeply lovable character in a heartbreaking tale that offers up ancient wisdom that wakes us up, like the salty spray of an ocean wave.
Read MoreCaribou Sky: Bringing in the Light
Reflecting on the gift of a folktale that draws loosely from several stories from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and indigenous Sami folklore: the Goddess of the Sun is pulled by a herd of caribou that transforms into a bear, as she makes her way across the horizon and brightens the sky.
Read MoreSelkie: Coming Home to Oneself
An ancient folktale from the Faroe Islands, Scotland, Ireland and Iceland about a seal-woman, or Selkie, who loses her pelt, and how she finds it again. Though this story is ancient, it still speaks deeply to the lived experience of those of us who offer our time and energy to others at sacrifice of something vital to us whether it is a love, a dream, or the potential to develop, and how important it is to reclaim it.
Read MoreThe Wisdom of Herring
The annual migration of herring up the Mystic River, Massachusetts, tells a story about resilience, persistence and trust in intuition. An ancient wisdom arises from the soft splashes and flickers of silvery blue gray, it is the landscape speaking reminding us to persist amidst challenges. In the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, ethnobotanist and bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, “The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness.”
Read MoreThe Bird Woman Inside Us
Whether it is winged deities like the Hindu apsaras; airborne Christian mystics; Islamic Sufis; or the Greek Goddess Athena with her Little Owl, there is a consistent association between birds and a sense of fierce and powerful womanhood and femininity across cultures and geographies. In what small ways can we reclaim our power, rebel like these bird heroines, and embody the energy and spirit of wild birds?
Read MoreThe Jade Rabbit & the Lady on the Moon
An ancient Chinese folktale about the Jade Rabbit on the Moon. . .a story about two estranged lovers, Houyi and Chang-e, and how contradictions are the very nature of truth and how important it is to cultivate a capacity for nuance and duality and master the art of living with opposing truths.
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