June Events For Myth Lovers
Mermen images used with permission from the seasonal ornament maker December Diamonds. John William Waterhouse’s painting A Mermaid is in the public domain.
Virtual Events
On Tuesday June 1, Derek DelGaudio will speak with Neil Gaiman about his exploration of the fictions we live as truths.
On Wednesday June 2, the WNYC book club will discuss Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles.
On June 2, learn how Mexicans use masks to morph into fantastical and idealized representations of mythical figures.
On June 3, learn about the unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters in New York City.
On June 3, the Lost Souls of Saturn will “combine music, storytelling, and technology to create a unique, immersive performance environment” inspired by the Cloisters.
On Saturday, June 5, take an online class about Ukrainian mythology. $60.
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin’s illustration for The Tale of the Three Tsar Divas and Ivashka, the Priest's Son by AS Roslavlev is in the public domain.
On June 5, learn why astrologers interpret their charts based on the mythological influence. $55
On June 6 at 2 pm EDT, the Morgan Library will present a sneak peak about its exhibition on Enheduanna, the first writer identified by name in human history, as well as the mythology of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, which is scheduled to open this fall.
On June 8, learn about Hakomi, an expression of an old Hopi language that translates as the ancient question of “who are you in all these many realms?” The psychotherapist Ron Kurtz drew upon the concept in the 1970s to develop a method of Somatic Psychotherapy and Mindfulness-Based Assisted Self-Discovery, which combines buddhist and taoist principles with modern neuroscience. 40 euro.
On June 9, watch an online panel featuring Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne, Claire Andrews, author of Daughter of Sparta and Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch’s Heart, moderated by Nicki Salcedo, Georgia journalist and author.
On June 9, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan will tell stories about mythical pets and show you how to make fantastical tin foil sculptures.
On Thursday June 10 at t 1:30 pm EDT until 3:30 pm, you can take a class in which you will learn about mythology through both writing and drawing. Suggested donation.
On Thursday June 10 at 11 pm EDT, learn about Akhenaten, Nefertiti, & Tutankhamen: The Conflict Of Monotheism & Polytheism In Ancient Egypt.
From June 11-June 13, the online conference AnimeNEXT takes place.
On June 17, learn about the goddess of Babylon. In the first century CE, a beautiful, lustful woman astride a seven-headed beast appeared in the Book of Revelation. In 1909, the Whore of Babylon, Mother of Abominations, re-appeared in the Algerian desert before the British occultist Aleister Crowley. Today, she signifies ego-death, eroticism, and transgressive feminism.
William Blake’s The Whore of Babylon is in the public domain.
On June 24, learn about the duality of dragon mythology. Are they friends or foes? Why and how has this changed?
From June 25-27, the Tennessee-based literary science fiction conference LibertyCon will take place online.
On June 30 learn about the myth and magic of Baga Yaga, the wicked old witch of many Slavic fairytales. $20.
Recurring Virtual Events
Starting May 1 until November 22 at 7 pm U.K. time, twice a month you can attend Fairy Tales and Therapy: “group discussion spaces exploring fairytales and mythology stories to expand our understanding of individual and collective psychology.” £17.50
If you would rather be in France right now, view a selection of thematically-themed works from the Louvre online, including the 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.
World Events
"Myth.Slide1.16" by c.a.francese is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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.
U.S. Events
From June 18 - June 20, Magic City Con will take place at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham - Wynfrey Hotel in Alabama. Yes, really. They say face coverings are required, but mention nothing about good luck.
Readercon, a conference in Boston for readers and writers of science fiction, takes place virtually July 9-11, 2021.
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, no longer takes place August 25-29, 2021. Instead, it will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC on December 15-19, 2021, with both virtual and in person components.
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
Sergey Panasenko-Mikhalkin's Sphinx and Oedipus is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Starting June 3, you can get Butter Beer at the new Harry Potter-themed store and bar at 935 Broadway near the Flatiron Building.
On Saturday June 5, check out the mythological art at the Brooklyn Museum and then party at its first outdoor First Saturday, which will be LGBTQ-themed. Reservations required in advance.
Until June 27 check out the Museum of the Moving Image’s exhibition on Jim Henson (including a Skeksi puppet from The Dark Crystal!). After that you can see Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey until September 26.
Until October 31, you can see Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition Cosmic Nature, which features monumental sculptures such as “I Want to Fly to the Universe” at the New York Botanical Garden.
You can play outdoor trivia at Parklife (Littlefield’s outdoor venue) in Gowanus/Park Slope every Tuesday at 7:30 pm. (Even if it isn’t mythology trivia, that should be nerdy enough for y’all.)
Miss going to the movies? Watch a socially distanced one outside with your friends at Sidewalk Cinema on Thames Street in Brooklyn.
Watch a string quartet perform the soundtracks from movies such as Aladdin, the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and more in candlelight at the Mondrian Hotel Terrace. Tickets available on different days.
Check out the images of buddhas, bodhisattvas, tantric deities, protectors and more at the Rubin Museum’s Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room.
Marcantonio Raimondi’s “A Bacchanal”. CC01.0 Public domain.
