Mastodawn

#230 – The mythology of the bear, and Bryon gets apocalyptic

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4V23wwGV82kf7OKYWIDPNl?si=b2a84d32123c4c91

An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Browsing through either puts you in contact with our best stories and, with the Taschen book, some of our best artwork.

Next, I read Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) apocalyptic poem Darkness from 1816. You can read more about the volcanic eruption that inspired poem, and produced the “year without summer,” here.

Finally, I read a few passages on revelation and the religious experience from the rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist Abraham Joshua Heshel’s (1907-1962) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.

The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I’ve also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.

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Daily Record & Sunday Mail - Scottish News, Sport, Politics and Celeb news [Unofficial]5d ago

Monster in the shadows: Inside the mind of World's End Killer Angus Sinclair

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/monster-shadows-inside-mind-worlds-37125725

Tim Miller May 11

#229 – Mother Earth and myths of mining and agriculture

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3EPWiaXRg2ns5NlY3bZMZS?si=988d1102da1b4bf4

An episode from 5/11/26: Tonight, I read passages on what the discoveries of agriculture and metallurgy meant for human beings, as reflected in the mythologies and rituals and stories that grew up around them. These passages are taken from sections 12 and 15 of Mircea Eliade’s History of Religious Ideas, Volume 1: From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries.

After Eliade’s rich catalogue of stories and beliefs that came out metallurgy, I read a few passages from the Hebrew Bible—Isaiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, Proverbs, and finally Job—where metallurgy is discussed literally and as metaphor. Here, metallurgy becomes a symbol of transformation imposed by God on backsliding humanity, as well as enduring symbol of wisdom and understanding.

Email me at [email protected].