I started this substack as a location, separate from my monthly newsletter, to house my more politically-oriented writings. It seemed like a good idea at the time; I believed I had valuable things to say. But since making it I found an almost instant disinterest in all things political. Well, everything is political in one way or another so I guess what I mean is the presentation of what is commonly considered “politics”.
I'm exhausted by the lies, fake news accusations and counter-accusations delivered as a constant barrage by people on both sides of the current (i.e. never-ending) debate. It's Mainstream Media + Big Pharma + Billionaire Techies + hard-core Liberals versus a varied assortment of comedians, jesters, journalists of integrity (not quite an oxymoron yet) and those on the extremes of both the political right and the political left. Hard to know who to listen to, what to believe, and how to even care, let alone how to contribute to the conversation. I’m starting to think that personal stories, fairy tales, myths, folklore, fables and scripture might be altogether more meaningful. After all, there is a story for all situations. We just have to look for it.
The content of folklore is metaphysics. Our inability to see this is due primarily to our abysmal ignorance of metaphysics and its technical terms.’
— A. K. Coomaraswamy
I spent 2020 exploring stories for reframing, 2021 reflecting on scripture, and 2022 reading the news and engaging in political discussion. The latter experience was by far the most empty, the most hopeless, and the most angst-ridden. In 2023 I shall turn once again to mythology. If there is such a thing as truth, it is not to be found in debate, nor through a reductionist approach to reason, and since Science acquired its upper-case S and became a dogmatic religion we cannot turn there for help either. Truth, if it exists at all, will be found in myth. But there it is hidden, and will only emerge, holistically and triumphantly, when we immerse ourselves in it, (re)discover the connections, the forgotten dangling threads, and weave the stories back into our present day reality. We have forgotten so much, and only story will redeem us now.