Erick DuPree's Blog, page 3

Murasaki Shikibu: Invitation to Court, Tale of Genji & Death

Women of high status lived in seclusion at court and, through strategic marriages, were used to gain political power for their families. Despite their isolation, some women wielded considerable influence, often achieved through competitive salons, dependent on the quality of those attending. In 995, Michinaga’s two brothers Fujiwara no Michitaka and Fujiwara no Michigan, died, leaving the regency vacant, Michinaga quickly won a power struggle against his nephew. Michinaga sent Shōshi, his eldest...

Murasaki Shikibu: An Early Life & Heian Japan

"I wish I could be more adaptable and live more gaily in the present world- had I not had an extraordinary sorrow- but whenever I hear delightful or interesting things my yearning for a religious life grows stronger."

Murasaki Shikibu's life encompasses the dual personalities of the Heian period, the Golden Age of Japan 794-1185 CE. Murasaki's legacy as the author of The Tale of Genji became requisite reading for scholars as early as the 12th century, and she is likened to the plum blossom for he...

5 Voices on Welcoming Solstice

“This is the solstice,” Margaret Atwood once wrote, “the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath.”

Many know Solstice as the retreat and return of the sun, the “Sol” that canonically fits so well within many Pagan and polytheist wisdom traditions. Whether it’s our great god’s death to be reborn or the Goddess’s deep descent to return anew, we have centuries of myth and lore to e...

Men And The Goddess: An Anthology Revistied

I have always known I would return to Finding The Masculine In Goddess' Spiral, an anthology I edited in 2015. I was unsure how it would manifest, or when, but I knew it would. To understand why I have decided to republish the work, give it a new name, make it free and accessible on many lending services, and donate any revenue from sales- it's important to share why it did not succeed.

Almost ten years ago I thought it would be interesting to have an anthology that centered men’s voices in Godde...

Uncovering the Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon

The Pillow Book, or Makura no Sōshi, has the distinction of being likely the most widely read of all classical Japanese literature.¹ Written by Sei Shōnagon, The Pillow Book is unlike The Tale of Genji by contemporary, Murasaki Shikibu, in that it issuccinct and accessible. One can easily read it at leisure. The Pillow Book allegedly comes into being through the happenstance of gifted paper² and for centuries, it has been prized for the witty and at times acerbic portraits that Sei Shōnagon pa...