labyrinth Archives - Fates and Graces Mythologium

Allison’s presentation is called “The Archetype of Dionysus and the Heart in Balance: Following Ariadne’s Red Thread”

Ariadne’s path through her own story provides a wonderful archetypal resonance of the loving and growing heart. Her myth begins in the court of her father, where she is treated as an object to be owned and traded for wealth and power. Her partnership with Theseus allows her to escape, and he captures the heart of her youth, then leaves her behind on the beach in Naxos, allowing her to meet and marry Dionysus.

This paper will examine the labyrinthine turns of her journey, and the heart guidance that allowed her to move from a place of stasis governed by the toxic masculine into a place of balance and wholeness in her marriage with Dionysus. The archetype of Dionysus holds a beautiful balance between masculine and feminine energies, and between love and ecstasy. Ariadne’s journey provides wonderful guidance for modern women on how to achieve such a balance in our own lives, whether partnered or not.

About Allison

Allison Stieger, M.A., is a writer, speaker, coach, and workshop leader, focusing on the movement of archetypal energies in modern life and working with women on how to understand and change their narratives. She lives in Seattle with her husband of 20 years and two teenage sons.

To hear Allison‘s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register

Kathryn’s talk is called “More Than”

Our first dimension begins with either/or, and our second expands to both/and. I suggest there is a third dimension, the more/than.

Imagine either/or as one black circle and one white circle. Both/and connects these separate two into a mandorla whose eye sees into both, and thus begins one’s awareness of the other. When we evolve to the more/than 3D, the yin/yang tajitu, our consciousness shifts again to a mystical statement of unity, an entanglement that promises to better understand our connections to each other, our environment, and our cosmos.

Mythologists compare a shift of consciousness to walking a labyrinth instead of a maze. Whereas a maze is a bunch of spots that are not connected, seeming like a random play for survival, a labyrinth lays out a path of organized dots to invite contemplation. The drama of twenty-first century life challenges us to survive and to contemplate. But we require more than that to thrive and evolve. When we mythologists remember Plato’s nous and Heraclitus’ flow, Teilhard de Chardin’s omega point and Thich Naht Hanh’s interbeing, we begin a conversation that entangles them all and invites. Let’s also conjure Iain McGilchrist.

About Kathryn

Kathryn has lived for over 30 years in San Luis Obispo, home of the Slo Transit Company, the Slo Real Estate Development Company, and the Slomotion Film Festival, and she likes it more each day. She is finishing a novel (slo-style) about reincarnation through history.

To hear Kathryn’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference and retreat for mythologists and friends of myth, held July 29 – 31 via Zoom in the Pacific time zone.