Culture is such a beautiful thing.
The world has a host of mythology and cultural and spiritual origins.
Stories that came from before colonization often have a striking amount of overlap between cultures, even from across the globe.
While the rise of organized religion, classes, and colonial powers may have made many of us forget our roots, we can still learn from the magic of their stories.
One Comox group is all about sharing the ancestral heritage many of us have lost, appreciating the cultural distinctions, and finding the common threads that connect us all.
The Mythology Club gathers monthly around a cozy fire at Green Haven Farm to look into the layers of understanding, teachings, and magic of myths.
As non-Indigenous folks in Canada, many of us have lost touch with where we really came from. And our recent ancestors, in a lot of cases, were trying to make Indigenous folks abandon their cultures as well.
By examining the heritage of all the group members, they’re building further respect and appreciation for all the collective histories and stories we’ve lost.
“As settlers on this land, we recognize the importance of searching within our own origins for a culture worth living for, that we may come to the table of reconciliation free from the hunger of spiritual poverty,” the group states.
“We will find, remaining within these old stories, whispers of profound beauty that touch our deepest longings, nourish our souls, and offer us guidance towards a life of reverence and reciprocity.”
Poetic, to be sure—but coming together to appreciate all of our different forgotten histories has the potential to be both entertaining and profoundly healing.
All ancestral heritages are welcome and encouraged.
Presently, most of the myths the group are looking into are from Indo-European origins. “In an attempt to uncover the remaining vestiges of an intact, land-based culture and spirituality, indigenous to that landscape.”
Each month, they send you a myth, via email and posted on the discussion thread, to read prior to the gathering.
“Together, we can grapple with the mysterious similarities between a myth from Moldavia in central Europe and a myth from the Tzutujil Maya, in Guatemala. Or how stories from the British Isles share threads with the old Nart Sagas of the Caucasus Mountains,” the group said in a Facebook posting.
Bring a chair, drink, and snack and dress warmly. Contributions of firewood are gratefully received!
Drop-ins are welcome. Folks read through the myth together at the beginning of each session.
Enjoy a winter of story-sharing!
