In a Certain Kingdom
The Story of Nikita the Tanner
In our second dragon-themed tale, Kiev the great city's perfect existence is darkened by a terrible dragon. It promises not to destroy the city, but only if the people offer it a beautiful maiden once a month. Finally, it's the princess's turn. Her only hope of avoiding a terrible death is a humble tanner living in obscurity outside the city. But he wants to have nothing to do with dragons... In the analysis section, Deacon Nicholas offers some thoughts about how evil can emerge in reality, and how the good stories explain the emergence of evil not only in metaphorical terms, but in actual ones. Turns out that not only are fairy tales comforting, but they may be indispensable if we want to avoid the emergence of evil in our own lives.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
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About
There has been a lot of discussion recently on the Orthodox internet about the value (or lack thereof) of storytelling, especially considering the opinion among certain Christians that any kind of fiction is spiritually dangerous. This podcast provides a spiritually and culturally enriching answer to this valid concern. Each episode has a two-part structure. Part one is a retelling of a Slavic fairy tale or myth and part two is an analysis of the symbolic structure of that story and how it helps people relate more correctly to the real world and to the reality of the material and spiritual life.