March Events For Myth Lovers
Jacques Stella’s Angels Adoring the Sleeping Christ is in the public domain.
Virtual Events
On March 3 at 7:30 pm EST, learn about “A Newly-Discovered Winery At Jezreel, Israel, And Its Bloody Biblical Connections,” which include events that brought down the House of Ahab such as the death of Queen Jezebel.
On March 3 at 7 pm EST, learn about origins of astronomy and astrology in Mesopotamia, where the signs of the zodiac were invented.
From March 4- March 25, Catland Books will have a class every Thursday at 7 pm EST about the Norse deities. Learn about everything from the feminine aspects of the pantheon to confusion around how to classify Loki.
Every Friday until May 7, kids aged 5-8 can take an online course at the Met on world mythology. $175. Scholarships available.
Starting March 9, take four-part, online Tuesday night course on how to read Mayan hieroglyphs. $175.
On March 11, learn about the myth and magic in ancient Mesopatamia, which ranged from colossal, human-headed winged bulls at gateways to clay tablets inscribed with incantations.
From March 11- April 1, take part in a four-part series immersive course in which participants explore their own personal archetypes with Carol S. Pearson.
From March 11- April 15, draw from folktales, pop culture and mythology to craft empowering new narratives about your life in an immersive workshop. $180.
On Tuesday March 16, watch the online puppet show Colors of Krishna’s Love, which will tell of Krisha and a popular story of Holi, the Indian festival of spring.
On March 17 at 7 pm EST, Jessica Olson will present her debut novel, Sing Me Forgotten, a YA fantasy, gender-swapped retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. She is joined in conversation by Adalyn Grace, author of All the Stars and Teeth.
The lobby card for the 1925 American horror film The Phantom of the Opera is in the public domain.
On Wednesday March 17 at noon EST, learn about the life, culture and legends of the ancient Celtic peoples.
On March 17 at 8 pm EST, watch family oriented Celtic theatrical storytelling, feats, fire, illusions and visual magic tricks. $20-$25.
On March 23 at 7 pm EST, Aiden Thomas will present on his new book Lost in the Never Woods, a YA retelling of Peter Pan, in conversation with author Marissa Meyer.
Edward Mason Eggleston’s 1934 painting The Paradise of Peter Pan is in the public domain.
On March 25 at 3 pm EST, Namina Forna will have a talk about her new epic fantasy young adult novel The Gilded Ones, which draws from West African culture.
Melissa Madara, a witch, storyteller, & herbalist and co-owner at Catland Books, will explore the mythology, history, and science of 10 poisonous plants on March 26 at 7 pm EDT.
On March 29 at 5 pm EST, learn about the ways the human body was understood in ancient Italy, and the ways divinities might be invited to intervene in it.
Recurring Virtual Events
If you would rather be in France right now, view a selection of thematically-themed works from the Louvre online, including (in my opinion) the best ones in the Sully Wing, which includes major works of Greek and Egyptian art such as the Venus de Milo.
Moulage d'Aphrodite, dite Vénus de Milo is in the public domain.
Take an online course with Stanford research scholar Adrienne Mayor in which you will “uncover the natural origins of stories about dragons. . .; ponder whether the Amazon horsewomen-archers of myth existed; consider the dilemmas of using poison weapons in myth and ancient historical times; and marvel at robots and other science fiction tales from the time of Homer.” $120.
Take an online mini-course about Rome, seeing how it exists not only in brick and mortar, but also in the realm of ideas, and through the eyes of locals and visitors. Topics will include Rome’s urban and architectural development, as well as its representation in maps and artworks from across the city’s exceptionally long lifetime. $99.
On Sunday mornings, Krista Lea will present an online meditation class that uses sound, aroma, poetry, and goddess mythology to focus on the archetype of the Divine Feminine. Tickets $11
The NY Mythology Group, which is associated with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, holds presentations and discussions about mythology related topics ranging from the Greek goddess Hecate to Carl Jung. Their events usually take place on Tuesday evenings at 8 pm EDT, and have been online since the pandemic started.
BSFW, or Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers, meetings take place mostly online currently, but pre-pandemic were in the homes of writers mostly in Brooklyn but also on occasion Manhattan or Queens. Check out their calendar on meetup to attend their numerous writing workshops, social gatherings, meetings with editors/agents/authors, book clubs, and more. The group includes many published writers and has its own audio fiction magazine, Kaleidocast. If you post about your fetish for Olympian gods on their Facebook group feed, they (probably) won’t judge.
EREWHON BOOKS, a publisher focusing on novel-length works of speculative fiction: science fiction, fantasy, and related genres, holds readings usually on the second Thursday each month virtually for now and in a pre-apocalypse world at its high ceilinged office of many windows in Manhattan.
Fantastic Fiction at KGB is a monthly speculative-fiction reading series held on the third Wednesday of every month virtually for now, and in a pre-apocalypse world at KGB Bar in Manhattan. Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel host the event. As one might expect from a communism-themed bar, admission is free.
The NYC Greek Myth & Classical Lit Meetup meets every third Thursday of the month at the Cloister Cafe in the East Village to discuss the work of mostly long dead authors (e.g. Aristophanes, Dante.) The group has existed for more than a decade, so the long-term participants have already earned their unofficial classics PhD’s, and we already know that anybody who would do this for fun is as hip as a person can get.
The virtual exhibit Guiding Spirits: The Radical Witches and Women of OPUS presents materials highlighting explorations of mythological witches and the occult and supernatural underpinnings of depth psychology.
World Events
"Myth.Slide1.16" by c.a.francese is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Finncon Postponed until 2021
The International Association for Comparative Mythology’s 14th conference, “Death and Migration in World Mythology” takes place in Mexico City and has been postponed until June 7-11, 2021.
Worldcon is scheduled to take place in Washington D.C. on August 25-29, 2021. You can buy your ticket for their convention here.
U.S. Events
Readercon, a conference in Boston for readers and writers of science fiction, takes place July 8-11, 2021.
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, takes place August 25-29, 2021 in Washington D.C.
The conference Anime Los Angeles 17 has been postponed for a year. Instead of this month, it will take place from January 6-9, 2022, in Long Beach California.
New York City Events
On March 4, watch the light show “Digital Fairy Tales: Water Stories" projected on the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo from dusk to 10 pm EST. View them from from the Pearl Street Triangle with a hot drink in hand.
Miss going to the movies? Watch a socially distanced one outside with your friends at Sidewalk Cinema on Thames Street in Brooklyn.
On March 6 at 11 a.m. EST, BRIC ArtFP artist Emily Oliveira exhibit “I Saw God and She Wasn’t Made of Money,” will showcase embroidery, quilting, beading, and rug tufting influenced by mythological elements ranging from Chile’s Colectivo Arpilleras Memorarte to Star Trek.
On various Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays starting February 2021, you can enjoy a 90-minute psychedelic cocktail menu with the Mad Hatter in an immersive Alice in Wonderland experience. $65. Reserve in advance.
Look at paintings in a Met Museum exhibition that capture the Ramayana, an epic narrative composed by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around the fifth century B.C. Or check out Arte del mar ("art of/from the sea"), which explores the artistic exchange around the rim of the Caribbean Sea before the sixteenth century, including objects rooted in mythological narratives.
Check out the images of buddhas, bodhisattvas, tantric deities, protectors and more at the Rubin Museum’s Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, which is open again with timed entry tickets for social distancing.
Marcantonio Raimondi’s “A Bacchanal”. CC01.0 Public domain.
