A Temple Wild Podcast
Tears of the Sun: Helios, Phaethon, the Heliades, and Other Ancient Greek Solar Myths
Today, on the Winter Solstice, I introduce you to the Greek gods of the Sun — the Titans who gave birth to the radiance of the celestial bodies and the prophetic wisdom that the Greeks believed came from their light. We also learn about the Sun’s connection to the Underworld, grief, and mourning, and meet the plants sacred to the Sun god Helios.
Dionysos and the Vines
Today, we encounter Dionysos through the lens of his most sacred plants, the Vines — specifically the Ivy, Grape, and Rough Bindweed. We also talk about wine, entheogens, and consciousness-altering brews of the ancient Greek world; the Maenads who danced into ecstatic union; as well as some of the places, mountains, and other herbs sacred to the god of divine madness.
Containing the Wild Flame: Ancient Greek Fire Myths
After the devastating Greek wildfires of 2021 — in which over 100,000 hectares of Pine forest burned in two weeks alone — I became curious about the ancient Greeks’ relationship to wildfire — and fire, in general. What sorts of stories do they have to share with us about the power of flame? What Greek gods and myths have arisen from the ashes of their interaction with the element of Fire? And, of course, which plants, trees, and aspects of the Greek landscape are intimately linked to those burning stories?
Daphne and Apollo
In this episode we discuss the myth of Daphne and Apollo. Daphne, whose name actually means Bay Laurel in Greek (Δάφνη), was a nymph of ancient Greece who, while running from Apollo’s advances, was transformed into a sacred tree of prophecy and ritual cleansing. In one story, she is the beautiful daughter of the River Peneos in Thessaly, and in another version she belongs to the River Ladon in the Peloponnese. But it is her connection to Mount Parnassos and the oracular Bee nymphs which is to me the most interesting, as it links her quite intimately, as we will see, with the Pythia — that ancient Oracle of Delphi.