Sarabha-miga Jataka, The Noble Stag, Retold by Margo McLoughlin
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…
Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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…
Ceremony, an Aztec myth, By Fray Juan de Torquemada and Translated by David Johnson
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
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
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
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
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…