The Crane Bag Podcast

Down we go, down the roots of this bright flower-loud world into the depths of the winter kingdom ruled by Hades himself. "The glacier knocks in the cupboard / the desert sighs in the bed / and the crack in the teacup opens / a lane to the land of the dead." So wrote the poet W.H. Auden, and by cracks and brokenness we learn who we are-- though the journey might also involve cattle-rustling, a mouthy youngster and the invention of the lyre. Let us go!

Princess Draupadi and the five sons of Pandu confront the limits of their powers in a wilderness alive with magical beings, rakshasas, and speaking trees in this episode of "The Mahabharata" as brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

www.JayLeeming.com

www.Patreon.com/StoryJL

Performance storyteller Jay Leeming brings to life the Indian epic of the Mahabharata through music and the power of the spoken word. In this part of our story the Pandavas encounter powers greater than any they have encountered before; non-human powers who school them in humility and weakness. Along the way they meet the monkey god Hanuman, the sage Parashurama and the ageless seer Markandeya who gives them a glimpse of the end of the world.

www.JayLeeming.com

www.Patreon.com/StoryJL

Princess Draupadi and the five sons of Pandu leave their kingdom behind and begin their thirteen-year exile in the forest; the vast epic of the Mahabharata, brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, brought into the here and now by storyteller, poet and musician Jay Leeming.

Who's that stepping out of the bonfire? It's Draupadi, the princess who will change the world permanently and forever; who will witness the end of the third age of time and will even get to laugh hysterically for a few brief and beautiful moments.

Darkness and fire and the tree at the center of all things: storyteller Jay Leeming brings the Norse creation myth to life through music, story, and the power of the spoken word.

Deeper into the forest we go, tracking the story of the wizard-like teacher Drona to its source in water and in fire.

Why do the gods do what they do? What's up with all the weeping and washing in the Odyssey, and can baking five cakes in one day get us some answers? Poet Bethany Dixon and I sat down on a summer's day to explore the feminine characters of the Odyssey, and the result is a wide-ranging exploration of gender, the divine, and the good trouble of being alive.

A blind king, a visit to the king of the fishermen, and yet another hunting trip gone wrong: it's part two of the epic of the Mahabharata, as brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming. 

A plunge into the mythic cosmos of the Mahabharata, an epic story in which the destinies of gods and humans intertwine and the roll of a die decides the fate of an entire kingdom.

A king without a queen marries a river goddess who then does a few monstrous things; that's the news straight from the start of the Mahabharata, a beautiful Hindu epic in which gods and humans mingle in both lovely and destructive ways. 

It's tough being a sage who lives forever, especially when the world crashes and burns and you're left crawling through an apocalyptic wasteland; but in that darkness there are still surprises to be found. A cosmic legend of murk, hope and mangoes from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, as told by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.

Theater director Sam Buggeln talks with performance storyteller Jay Leeming about myth, theater, the supernatural, and bringing the Odyssey to the stage.

Part two of the Welsh story of "Branwen, Daughter of Llyr," brought to life by performance storyteller Jay Leeming.