Carole’s presentation is called “Valentines and Inner Shrines: The Visual and Linguistic Mythology of the Heart”
As we set out on a quest to encounter and explore the heart’s musicality and muscularity, as well as its appearance in myths old and new, we will discover that the heart has a mythos all its own. Although the anatomical organ is hidden away, it nevertheless shines forth like the gods of old in their glory. From ancient Egyptian amulets to medieval manuscripts, from iconic paintings to the ubiquitous love emoji, recurring images of the heart are always on display. Our everyday conversations are replete with words and phrases that act as oracles for the heart’s deeper mysteries. We’ll follow the pathways, clues, and guideposts of signs and symbols, and like many of our heroes and wanderers, from Odysseus to Mulan to Bilbo, we’ll return home, which (as we know) is where the heart is.
About Carole
Carole Wallencheck is a Certified Life-cycle Celebrant® (Celebrant Foundation and Institute), a Certified Group Eco-Therapy Guide (Lake Erie Institute), and a Poetry as Healer Guide (Institute for Poetic Medicine). Often seen exploring the museums, wooded parks, and cemeteries of Northeast Ohio, watching the waves of Lake Erie, or with a gothic novel in one hand and a cup of English Breakfast tea in the other (and possibly a chocolate croissant at her side), Carole has been called “a great heart detector,” “our resident soul poet,” “The Heart-keeper,” and “deliciously mischievous.” She sees the Pattern beneath, behind, and beyond the pattern, and always, always, seeks the Source, the Story, the Soul.
To hear Carole’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.