The myths of the aboriginal Australians have always held a lot of power for me, particularly the idea of the Dreamtime, or the Dreaming. The Dreamtime is the sacred landscape in which the world was created, and they believe that it exists in parallel to the “regular” world, accessible at any moment through myth and ritual. Each bush, rock and animal in the landscape is sacred, and has it’s corresponding image in the Dreamtime. When I think and write about myth as metaphor, this particular notion has a lot of resonance for me. By holding their myth and ritual space so close, the Aboriginal tribes keep the Earth, as well as their lives, in sacred time. I don’t know the Aboriginal words for these concepts, but in Greek we have the words “kairos” and “chronos”, for “sacred time” and “clock time”. When we’re in Kairos time, one might say that we’re in the Dreaming. We’re in the place made sacred, and become sacred ourselves, if only for a little while. This is why I believe it’s so important that we honor our creative time, our prayer time, our time in nature. Anything that brings us into the Dreaming is enriching and deepening the sacred aspects of our lives, and must be treated respectfully, even ritualistically. When Anne Lamott tells us in “Bird by Bird” to create a ritualized, sacred space to do our writing in, even if it’s just a small corner of our kitchen or bedroom, she understands the way that the creative aspects of our lives deserve to be honored.
Taylor Swift’s Temple: Celebrity Worship and Archetypal Energy in a Social Media Age
Last week I had the privilege of presenting a paper at the annual Popular Culture Association national conference, held here in Seattle. My paper, which had the same title as this blog post, was on a phenomenon I've been noticing around celebrities for the...
On Showrooming Amazon Books
This blog has been intentionally quiet for the past few months, as I work on finishing my novel and my book on myth and creativity. However, I had a little adventure last week, and I'd like to share it with all of you. As I'm sure many of you know, behemoth internet...
On Truth, Lies, and Critical Thinking Skills
In our family we talk a great deal about both science and myth, which reflects the interests of my husband and myself. Our children, two boys ages 8 and 6, have thankfully developed a deep curiosity about both subjects, which keeps things lively in our home, to say...
Allison, this is wonderful. “kairos” time I didn’t know. The imagery would fit nicely into some running themes in my senior class. 🙂
There are so many issues that should be considered in dealing with myths and legends – good to se you are considering the big picture