In these two stories from the Housa people, "The Lizard in the Fire" and "The Half Giantess," a son encounters the Great Feminine in the world. In each story, a youth leaves home and comes upon something completely strange. The encounter separates him from all that he has known, and the separation provokes an initiation into understanding how the Feminine is embodied in the world. With an initiation, something grows from that which has died. These old African tales carry this idea directly, the way it is carried on in nature, the way it is with animals in the wild places: what dies feeds what grows, what grows consumes something else. Between boyhood and manhood a fire must be crossed. After each story, Michael discusses the images and the ways they relate to the world today.
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