In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "The Morrígan and Cú Chulainn" from Irish mythology's Ulster Cycle. The story is from oral tradition but was first written down as early as the 8th century. It's a tale about what happens when we refuse alliance with necessary forces, with strong themes around the masculine and the feminine.

A seventeen-year-old warrior defends Ulster alone against an entire army. The Morrígan - goddess of war, death, and fate - appears offering her love and alliance. He refuses her, believing he needs no help. She opposes him in battle, appearing in three hidden forms. He wounds her, then unknowingly heals her whilst offering kindness to an old woman. Years later, she washes his armour before his final battle - a prophecy of death.

This story speaks to anyone carrying everything alone, anyone facing a threshold moment, or anyone who believes accepting alliance would weaken them rather than strengthen them.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "Baldur and the Mistletoe" from Norse mythology - a tragedy about how our attempts to control fate often create the very conditions we fear, and what happens when the Warrior archetype remains in shadow.

Baldur, the most beloved of all the gods, begins having prophetic dreams of his own death. His mother Frigg travels through all creation, securing oaths that nothing will harm her son. She overlooks only the mistletoe - too small, too insignificant to matter. The gods celebrate Baldur's invulnerability by throwing weapons at him, until the trickster Loki discovers the overlooked plant and places it in the hands of Baldur's blind brother. One throw, and the light goes out forever.

This story speaks to anyone who has tried to protect against every danger, anyone carrying unintegrated shadow that acts unconsciously, or anyone living with a loss that will not be restored in this lifetime.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "Psyche and Eros" from Greco-Roman mythology. This story offers a map of the soul's journey from unconscious to conscious, from mortal to divine. It explores the themes of divine union of masculine and feminine, wholeness, and integration.

Psyche's beauty provokes a goddess's jealousy, leading to a mysterious marriage, a forbidden lamp, and four impossible tasks. With help from ants, reeds, eagles, and towers, she descends to the underworld itself - only to fail at the final test and discover that some rescues require love.

This story speaks to anyone who has undergone wounding in order to bring light to darkness, anyone facing tasks that seem impossible, anyone who feels held back from genuine connection, or anyone who still believes they must be perfect to be worthy of love.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns of individuation and sacred marriage, and four practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "The Crane Wife" (Tsuru Nyōbō) from Japanese folklore. This is a tale about the cost of hiding who we really are, and the courage it takes to face truth even when it threatens everything we believe we have.

A young man rescues a wounded crane from a hunter's trap. Soon after, a beautiful woman arrives claiming to be his wife. She weaves magnificent cloth that brings wealth, asking only that he never look inside the weaving room whilst she works. When he finally looks, he discovers his wife is the crane, plucking her own feathers to weave the cloth, her body raw and wounded from the sacrifice. Once her true form is revealed, she must leave... not because he violated a boundary, but because the relationship was built on what each of them kept hidden, on conditions that couldn't survive contact with reality.

This story speaks to anyone who has given themselves away to prove their worthiness, anyone who has hidden their true nature convinced it wouldn't be enough, anyone who has chosen not to look too closely at what they suspect might be true. It offers medicine for recognising when we're disposing of our natural gifts in favour of what we think we need to give, when we're complicit in avoiding reality, and why facing truth - however painful - is the only path to genuine connection.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen - a beloved tale about a boy whose heart freezes when splinters from an evil mirror lodge in his eye and heart, and the girl who journeys through winter to bring him back.

This story speaks to anyone who's has been close to or loved someone whose heart has frozen; anyone who has watched parts of themselves turn cold and critical; or anyone seeking to understand how fear distorts perception and what it takes to restore warmth.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing how the demon's mirror may represent fear's distortion, why connection to higher realms saves us when coldness attacks, and whether Kay and Gerda represent two people or two parts of ourselves seeking integration. Plus three practical integration exercises to help you recognise your own splinters, find the warmth within and around you, and discern when devotion is sacred versus self-destructive.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore the Haudenosaunee creation story of Sky Woman - a profound teaching about how life emerges not through force or individual power, but through receptivity, community, cooperation, and the willingness to both offer and receive help.

Sky Woman falls from the Sky World, pregnant and carrying seeds as she descends into a world of only water. Birds catch her, Turtle offers his back, and little Muskrat sacrifices everything to bring earth from the depths. Through their combined gifts - and through Sky Woman's receptive wisdom and generative dance - the land itself is created. This is why North America is known as Turtle Island.

This story speaks to anyone who struggles with asking for help, anyone trying to force solutions rather than receive them, anyone who feels they must do everything alone, and anyone who wonders if their small offering matters. It offers medicine for moving from isolation to healthy interdependence, from control to cooperation, and from self-sufficiency to co-creation.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "Raven Steals the Light" from the oral traditions of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast - a story about how consciousness itself entered a world kept in darkness.

Before there was light, an old man hoarded it in nested boxes, keeping it even from his daughter. But Raven - transformer, trickster, chaos-bringer - finds a way in through cunning and transformation. He becomes a hemlock needle, then an unborn child, then a beloved grandson, until finally he seizes the light and releases it to the world through accident and necessity.

This story speaks to anyone frustrated by systems that hoard knowledge, anyone bringing consciousness to what's been kept in darkness, anyone discovering that transformation requires working through relationship rather than force, and anyone learning that awareness spreads not through control but through release.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore "Vasilisa the Beautiful" from Alexander Afanasyev's collection of Russian fairy tales - a profound feminine initiation story about intuition, ancestral wisdom, and the resources we carry within us when facing the impossible.

A young woman loses her mother but receives a magical doll that helps her survive her cruel stepfamily and complete impossible tasks set by the fearsome Baba Yaga. Through trusting her inner wisdom and claiming her mother's blessing, Vasilisa transforms from powerless girl to sovereign queen.

This story speaks to anyone who has felt powerless in the face of cruelty, anyone who doubts their inner resources, and anyone facing impossible tasks and wondering how they'll survive.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

Send us a text

Support the show

Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies