7. Ashes, and the King Who Came Home

Kalliope's Sanctum

"Ashes, and the King Who Came Home," is a short prose-poem-tale, written last August 2019 (and first shared on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/sylvialinsteadt). It is a reflection and weaving of many threads, both personal and mythic, that were pressing strongly on my psyche at the time. It is about the great wound to the masculine in our culture, and a poetic dream-exploration of its roots; a tragedy that is so deep sometimes it is hard for me to speak about, for it makes me weep. I use The Handless Maiden fairytale as a frame in this story, as told by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, with the King, the Devil, the Messenger, revealing some old wounds and patterns. There are other threads too-- of the underworlds that came with patriarchy. It felt right to share in this moment, this week, this time on our Beloved Earth, with so much loss and so many wounds of all kinds being pressed up to the light to be cleansed, to be loved, to be healed. It's big work. It's exhausting work. It's courageous work. I hope this tale-incantation prayer can bring a bit of sea-salt to cleanse the wound, even if it stings, and then honey. AUDIOBOOK mentioned in this episode- https://www.soundstrue.com/store/theatre-of-the-imagination-volume-one-3635.html PODCAST ART: Catherine Sieck PODCAST MUSIC: Giannis Linardakis (Cretan lute, traditional) PODCAST SOUND EDITING: Simon Linsteadt ABOUT THE PODCAST: Welcome to Kalliope's Sanctum, a biweekly story podcast hosted by writer Sylvia V. Linsteadt. This podcast is dedicated to Kalliope, primordial and first Muse of epic poetry and ecstatic song in ancient Greece. This podcast is a place of sanctuary for her oldest stories. It is a return to the wild garden, to the spring, to the ground of being & the source of inspiration in the Earth. Here, we honor Kalliope as Muse of Earth. Here, you will find some of the stories beneath the stories of Old Europe: short fictional/poetic pieces written and read by Sylvia that explore elements of indigenous Old European mythology, with a focus on pre-Hellenic (pre-Patriarchal) Greece. Come sit with us in the honeyed light, among the ripe pomegranates, in Kalliope's sanctuary, where the stories that arise directly from the ground of being and lifeforce can still be safely told and celebrated. Come lean against the sun-warmed stones, with the fragrance of propolis & myrrh in the air, and the trees heavy with autumn quince. This is the garden before the fall, a sanctuary for all hearts in this time. Join us, and be revived. ABOUT SYLVIA V. LINSTEADT: Sylvia V. Linsteadt is a novelist, poet, scholar of ancient history, myth and ecology, and artist. She divides her time between California & Crete, where she is currently working on a novel set in Minoan times. Her published fiction includes the middle grade children’s duology The Stargold Chronicles— The Wild Folk (Usborne, June 2018) and The Wild Folk Rising (Usborne, May 2019)— Our Lady of the Dark Country, a collection of short stories (January 2018) and Tatterdemalion (Unbound, Spring 2017); her works of nonfiction include The Wonderments of the East Bay (Heyday 2014), and Lost Worlds of the San Francisco Bay Area (Heyday, Spring 2017). Website: www.sylvialinsteadt.com/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/sylviavlinsteadt/ Newsletter: tinyletter.com/sylvialinsteadt