Introduction

Like many American children, I was raised on the myths and fairy tales of Europe -- on stories of wolves lurking in the woods, boys who pull swords out of stones, girls who travel on the backs of bears or swans or the fierce North Wind.

I never out-grew these "children's" tales; rather, I seemed to grow into them, discovering their hidden depths as I grew older -- for just as nightly dreams reflect the realities of our waking life, the symbols to be found in folklore and myth (the collective dreams of entire cultures) provide useful metaphors for the journeys, struggles and transformations we experience throughout our lives.

So deep was my love of folklore and myth that I went on to study the subject in college, and it was there I learned that historically these tales were for adults, not children. 

Although I then spent a decade working in the publishing industry in New York City, I found myself repeatedly drawn to the British Isles (where so many of my favorite tales came from) -- and eventually I settled down in a small country village in Devon.

But then a curious thing happened. One winter I visited old friends who had moved to the Arizona desert -- a place that couldn't be more different from the rain-drenched moors of Devon.

I lost my heart to the desert too -- with its vast blue skies and sage green hills, its cactus and coyote choirs. It too was filled with ancient stories: not only Native American tales but Mexican lore and cowboy yarns and the transplanted myths of immigrant cultures from all around the world, a distinctively American "melting pot" of ancient folkways and stories.

For almost twenty years now I've divided my time between my home in Devon and a winter retreat in the Arizona desert. Both places provide me with the inspiration for my work.  Through these powerful landscapes, I've come to understand how the land itself shapes mythic imagery -- and how, as an artist and writer, to let the land speak through me with its own voice.

Why are so many of us enspelled by myths and folk stories in this modern age? Why do we continue to tell the same old tales, over and over again? I think it's because these stories are not just fantasy. They're about real life. We've all encountered wicked wolves, found fairy godmothers, and faced trial by fire. We've all set off into unknown woods at one point in life or another. We've all had to learn to tell friend from foe and to be kind to crones by the side of the road. . . .

Our lives are our mythic journeys, and our happy endings are still to be won.

      

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Photography credits: James Ravilious (1939-1999) and Edward S. Curtis (1868 - 1952).  Wallpaper design: Br'er Rabbit" by William Morris (1834 - 1896).