In this episode of the podcast I am speaking with scholar and translator Kristin Mathis about the Orphic Mysteries and the Orphic Hymns. Amongst other things we talk about her early childhood in Borneo, her study of the wisdom traditions of the Ancient Mediterranean, how she began to translate the Orphic hymns during Covid, the ‘language of the birds’, the knowledge hidden in the hymns, the use of music, song, poetry, dance and smells and all of your senses, some background on the Orphic tradition (which was way before Plato), how the Orphic hymns honor all of the different goddesses, gods and aspects of nature. Kristin also shares her Orphic Hymn to the Stars and the Hymn to Hermes.
A Brief Bio
I had the good fortune to spend my childhood in 1970s Borneo, where I was exposed early on to indigenous lifeways and deep, vibrant animist ways of being in the world. In fact, that early richness of experience meant that I spent most of my teen and adult years in the U.S. trying to find ways to integrate that deep early learning with my own inherited ancestral practices.
I was fortunate to receive scholarships to attend Brown and Princeton for my undergraduate and first part of my graduate education. While I was there, I studied with the following scholars of classical history, ancient magic, anthropology, and religion: Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Hans Dieter Betz, Glen Bowersock, Peter Brown, David Carruso, Joseph Dan, David Frankfurter, John Gager, Moshe Idel, Dirk Obbink, Elaine Pagels, David Pingree, Stanley Stowers, Froma Zeitlin, & Slavoj Zizek, among others.
to find out more about Kristin follow the link
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