The Roots of Everything

The "hero's journey" is essentially male; what is the female equivalent? Today we explore archetypes in folk stories, mythology, Orthodoxy, and pop culture alike. Why are these archetypal stories about girls still resonant, and what can they tell us about feminine virtue?

The religious conversation about "headship" and "submission" in marriage is confused by our modern narratives about oppression, power, and secular equality. But what if I told you that the fundamental element constituting hierarchy was love?

PARENTAL ADVISORY: This episode may contain some adult themes. Masculine and feminine are constantly portrayed in the Bible and mythology as fundamental aspects of the cosmos: creator and creation, heaven and earth, Yin and Yang, husband and wife. How do these dynamics work, and what happens when they go wrong?

Before we can begin to have the conversation about the role of women in culture or religion, we need to go back to the basics on sex and gender, because a female is not merely a biological reality; the feminine is one of the cosmic, enchanted elements of being itself.

Everyone knows that Tolkien started the fantasy literature genre, but it wasn't the fantastical that made it special; it was his moral, imaginative framework, especially in contrast with later disenchanted fantasy stories like Harry Potter.

In the transition from newspaper to radio to film and TV, the Western world transitioned to picture-thinking, the most powerful force in shaping our imaginative framework. Movies become profoundly influential, and Star Wars becomes a cultural phenomenon.

The early fathers of science had grand visions for the domination of the earth and the future utopia, but it isn't until the 20th century's pop culture that their ideas become firmly implanted in the imaginative framework of Westerners.