Epicycles

Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin

Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin

Margo McLoughlinApr 28, 201910 min read

A Deer Hunt. c.1775 from Kotah, Rajasthan, India. Pigments on paper Once the Bodhisatta was born as a deer. He grew up to be a magnificent stag—a Sambar, the largest of the many kinds of deer that roam the forests…

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Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson

Fray Juan de TorquemadaJul 26, 20182 min read

Tezcatlipoca from the Codex Borgia They say that after the birth of the Fifth Sun, when the Gods had sacrificed themselves to get the Sun moving in its daily course, that their disciples walked about sadly…

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 and Izanami has been adapted from two traditional sources of…

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 moon above. You would have thought that he had everything…

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 up behind it, but with a splash, it tumbled into…

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.…

Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin

Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin

Margo McLoughlinApr 28, 201910 min read

A Deer Hunt. c.1775 from Kotah, Rajasthan, India. Pigments on paper Once the Bodhisatta was born as a deer. He grew up to be a magnificent stag—a Sambar, the largest…

The Christmas Angels, by Risa Levenson Gold with Artwork by Jean Zaleski

The Christmas Angels, by Risa Levenson Gold with Artwork by Jean Zaleski

Parabola EditorsApr 29, 20154 min read

By Risa Levenson Gold with Artwork by Jean Zaleski It was a bitter cold, rainy December twilight in Manhattan several days before Christmas. I was waiting in the persistent drizzle for…

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…

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race, by Anonymous (West African)

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race, by Anonymous (West African)

Parabola EditorsApr 11, 20162 min read

Again and Again Anansi Tried To Climb the Tree There once lived, in Fanti-land, a man named Father Anansi. He possessed all the wisdom in the…

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…

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…

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Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson

Fray Juan de TorquemadaJul 26, 20182 min read

Tezcatlipoca from the Codex Borgia They say that after the birth of the Fifth Sun, when the Gods had sacrificed themselves to get the Sun moving…

The Awakened Eye, by Frederick Franck

The Awakened Eye, by Frederick Franck

Frederick FranckApr 2, 20183 min read

Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926): An Orchard in Spring, 1886 I was five years old. My mother and a friend I was expected to address as “Aunt”…

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…

Two Stories, by Mullah Nasr Eddin

Two Stories, by Mullah Nasr Eddin

Parabola EditorsDec 7, 20163 min read

Mullah Nasr Eddin Mullah Nasr Eddin, or Hodja Nasr Eddin, is a legendary Turkish teller of tales, a sort of wise fool, to whom all sorts…

Zen Moments, by Pamela Travers

Zen Moments, by Pamela Travers

Pamela TraversJul 22, 20153 min read

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall We sit on our heels on the tatami, the Japanese woman and myself, telling…