Epicycles

The Moon is Like a Boyand the Sun is Like a Girl 

The Moon is Like a Boyand the Sun is Like a Girl 

Maia ZelkhaMay 1, 20234 min read

And God created the two great luminaries… the great light… and the small light. —Genesis 1:16  Originally, the sun and moon were created of equal size, but the moon protested, and so God made it smaller. —Midrash Rabbah But He…

The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot

The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot

Nartana PremachandraApr 26, 202312 min read

Everything is finished before it has happened, everything is finished before it has happened…. The young girl in red sang to herself. Carrying a butter-yellow pot, she shielded her eyes from the blossoming sun and looked out into the graceful…

Out of the Box: How Raven gave light to the world

Out of the Box: How Raven gave light to the world

Leslie HebertOct 30, 20223 min read

Before I gave birth to the child, I lived alone with my father in a cold world of eternal night.  Outside the door of our longhouse a thick blackness covered the earth. It was so dark that when I took…

Healing Water Goddesses

Healing Water Goddesses

Betsy CornwellJan 31, 20215 min read

Water is crucial to all life on Earth, and from the earliest records of human history we have venerated its healing and regenerative powers. It is no surprise that many healing water deities are goddesses: the life-giving, wellness-nurturing properties of…

Suvannavanna Hamsa Jataka: The Golden Swan

Suvannavanna Hamsa Jataka: The Golden Swan

Margo McLoughlinMay 1, 202024 min read

Prologue Long, long ago, in the far distant past, the Bodhisatta was born as a swan.1 He grew up to become the leader of a great flock of swans. They were known as the Dhatarattha clan. Their feathers were the…

O My Country!, A Maghreb folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty

O My Country!, A Maghreb folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty

Anne TwittyApr 29, 20183 min read

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art. King Salomon knew the language of all living creatures, and all obeyed him, especially the birds. One day this great…

The Brave Little Parrot, Retold by Rafe Martin

The Brave Little Parrot, Retold by Rafe Martin

Rafe MartinJan 31, 20174 min read

Anonymous | Buddhist Long ago, a little grey parrot lived in a green forest. She was a happy bird, and loved to fly. One day a dark storm hovered over…

Izanagi and Izanami, a Japanese myth, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith

Izanagi and Izanami, a Japanese myth, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith

Paul Jordan-SmithMay 27, 20184 min read

Searching the Seas with the Tenkei (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図 Tenkei o motte sōkai o saguru no zu). Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880-90 (MFA, Boston). The story of Izanagi…

Ave Maria, by Jenny Koralek

Ave Maria, by Jenny Koralek

Jenny KoralekJan 29, 201612 min read

Vincent Van Gogh, Pietà (after Eugène Delacroix). 1889. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam As the following passage begins, Jesus of Nazareth, here called Yeshua, is suffering on the…

The Thanksgiving Prayer, Adapted from the Mohawk

The Thanksgiving Prayer, Adapted from the Mohawk

Parabola EditorsNov 24, 20166 min read

Illustration by John Kahionhes Fadden THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER Adapted from the Mohawk by John Stokes and David Kanawahienton Benedict The People Today we have gathered and…

The Unasked Question, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith

The Unasked Question, Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith

Parabola EditorsJun 9, 20175 min read

From The Boy’s King Arthur, 1922. N.C. Wyeth Anonymous | Medieval European “AND WOE TO HIM who failed to ask the question burning in his heart.…

The Demands of the Way, by Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch

The Demands of the Way, by Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch

Tcheslaw TchekhovitchMay 17, 20174 min read

IN THE EARLY 1920S during the Bolshevik Revolution, Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch, a young officer in the army of the Tsar, settled in Constantinople. Haunted by the barbarity and violence of war,…

Ring of Wisdom, a Sufi Parable, Retold by Anne Twitty

Ring of Wisdom, a Sufi Parable, Retold by Anne Twitty

Anne TwittyMay 19, 20182 min read

Babur Receives a Courtier by Farrukh Beg c. 1580-85. There was a king whose kingdom stretched from east to west, from the sea below to the…

The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot

The Lazy Girl and the Butter-Yellow Pot

Nartana PremachandraApr 26, 202312 min read

Everything is finished before it has happened, everything is finished before it has happened…. The young girl in red sang to herself. Carrying a butter-yellow pot, she shielded her eyes…

Hagoromo, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence, translated by Kai Lawrence. Art by Kumiko Lawrence

Hagoromo, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence, translated by Kai Lawrence. Art by Kumiko Lawrence

Kenneth E. LawrenceJan 31, 20185 min read

Illustration by Kumiko Lawrence Attributed to Zeami Motokiyo | Japanese Noh Retold by Kenneth E. Lawrence Translated by Edward Kai Lawrence Art by Kumiko Lawrence A…

Tsunemasa, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence with Artwork by Kumiko Lawrence

Tsunemasa, Retold by Kenneth Lawrence with Artwork by Kumiko Lawrence

Kenneth E. LawrenceApr 29, 20175 min read

Artwork by Kumiko Lawrence Attributed to Zeami Motokiyo | Japanese Noh Retold by Kenneth E. Lawrence Translated by Edward Kai Lawrence Art by Kumiko Lawrence When…

The Way of the Householder, Retold by Rama Devagupta

The Way of the Householder, Retold by Rama Devagupta

Rama DevaguptaNov 1, 201710 min read

Photograph by Hans Eiskonen Anonymous Hindu Long, long ago in a holy forest, there lived a young ascetic named Kaushika. Because he had renounced the worldly…

Suvannavanna Hamsa Jataka: The Golden Swan

Suvannavanna Hamsa Jataka: The Golden Swan

Margo McLoughlinMay 1, 202024 min read

Prologue Long, long ago, in the far distant past, the Bodhisatta was born as a swan.1 He grew up to become the leader of a great flock of swans. They…

The First Tears, an Eskimo folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty

The First Tears, an Eskimo folktale, Retold by Anne Twitty

Anne TwittyMay 10, 20182 min read

Photo by Steve Halama One day First Man went out seal hunting along the seashore. He saw many seals. He chose a seal, and carefully crept…