Under a Fig Tree

These free monthly newsletters arrive in your inbox on the first Sunday of each month. They are a collection of musings and poetry and an accompanying audio recording of me reading them to you. They’re also where I first share news of upcoming courses, events, and other teaching. The latest updates are below. To receive my weekly Sunday essays and audio recordings, along with full access the archive, you can upgrade your subscription below.

(c. 380–350 BCE), discovered in an Iberian tomb near Baza in southern Spain. Carved from limestone and once brilliantly painted, she likely served as a funerary figure, her throne containing a cavity that held the cremated remains of the deceased. Whether she represents a noblewoman, priestess, ancestor, or goddess remains unknown, but she stands among the most remarkable expressions of the sacred feminine to survive from pre-Roman Iberia.

And so it begins. I’ve just brewed a strong cup of coffee, and a sleeping kitten purrs away happily in my lap. It feels significant to be beginning this new series on the Solstice.

Hello friends. Just a quick one from me today before we crack on with the new series on Sunday. When I began writing Before Olympus, I never imagined quite how many people would end up reading it. Since the series started six months ago, more than two thousand new readers have joined this publication. It’s been very special to see the readership grow around these questions on the deeper roots of the Western imagination.

The lower half of a woman’s body intertwined with a bison-man and a lion, Chauvet Cave, France, c. 30,000 BCE © Bradshaw Foundation Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Over the past six months, I have been exploring the pre-Olympian roots of the Greek gods in my Before Olympus series. It has become my most widely read piece to date, and it has been wonderful to watch the readership grow around these questions.

The Ochre Papers Issue #4 THE OCHRE PAPERS is a space for readers to go deeper into the themes I explore here. As you read, questions may rise—curiosities, challenges, or echoes of your own experience. This column is where you can bring them. Think of it as a gathering place for deeper inquiry and dialogue. You can ask me anything, and I’ll choose some of your questions to explore publicly in these pages. Your questions have already been funny, moving, unexpected, and profound.

Reflections on BEFORE OLYMPUS, my latest substack series The ruins of Ephesus, June 2025 Listen via audio: 0:00 -12:32 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. I’m not sure how I came to write about the gods. In a revealing interview with music journalist and songwriter Paul Zollo, Leonard Cohen was asked about the art of songwriting. ‘If I knew where good songs came from,’ he said, ‘I would go there more often.’ He continued: ‘It’s a mysterious condition.

A mythopoetic journey tracing the major Olympian figures back through the Bronze Age, the Minoan world, Neolithic Eurasia, and the deep animistic cosmologies that shaped early humanity. Each week unwinds a familiar figure until only their oldest root systems remain. Hermes depicted in the black figure pottery style wearing the winged sandals. Credit: Katolophyromai / Wikimedia Commons Hi friends, My essay on Hermes got long, so I divided it into two parts.

These free monthly newsletters are sent directly to your inbox on the first Sunday of every month. They are a collection of musings and poetry with an audio recording of me reading them to you. Please scroll down for all my upcoming online courses and event announcements. To receive the weekly Sunday essays + audio, and access my full archive, you can upgrade your subscription below. The women of Amphissa, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1817 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.

A mythopoetic journey tracing the major Olympian figures back through the Bronze Age, the Minoan world, Neolithic Eurasia, and the deep animistic cosmologies that shaped early humanity. Each week unwinds a familiar figure until only their oldest root systems remain. Arthur Evans’ reconstruction of Minoan monkey fresco, Akrotiri, 1700-1500 BCE Hi, friends.