Round the Herne

 A reflection on Jung's notions around the Dark Mother archetype and the ideas added by those who came after him (such as Marie-Louise von France, Dorothy Bloch, and Daniella Sieff). This is chiefly for the Suffolk Jungian Circle, who are discussing the topic at the end of the month, but it may well also interest a wider audience.

 The River Styx of Greek mythology is referred to by some ancient writers as the "Dread River of Oath", a suitably poetic image to inspire a few thoughts on the symbolism of both goddess and river within Greek religion and the nature of oath making.

 A meander through the topic of history, story, and pseudohistory - partly inspired by reading Gore Vidal's book "Julian" about the life of the Emperor Julian. I highly recommend the book and really liked the epistolary style, with the alternation between the Emperor's own autobiography and two querulous old philosophers who knew Julian and spend the book bickering with each other about how accurate the autobiography actually is. I did think about making an audio recording of Vidal's book, but at 479 pages I doubt anyone would want to listen to something that went on that long.

 This is my telling of part of the longer myth about the young Theseus' journey to Athens to meet with King Aegeus. In this part of the story he encounters the brigand Sciron who has a rather murderous foot fetish. At some point I might try recording the entire story of the journey as a single piece. Might be a useful performance piece for any large gathering with very patient audiences. If there is a moral to this traveller's tale it is "do unto others what they try to do unto you"!