The Labyrinth of the Heart — Daniel Cohen

In these retellings, Daniel Cohen draws on ancient myths, ballads and tales with an insightful new twist, telling them against the conventional grain to act as a critique of men and society. His stories teach us much about ourselves, providing new insights into gender roles, especially those involving heroism today. We have a real need for magical champions, but not male heroes who dominate. Daniel reveals heroes who relate. These stories address men's relationships with women and each other, and their role in the natural world. They are designed to support men in using their talents and strengths to heal rather than harm, to find new and non-oppressive ways of behaving. The insights of feminism and Goddess spirituality shine through the stories. To Cohen, stories form a prism through which we see the world. We define our lives by the stories we tell ourselves and each other about our childhoods, friends, work, ambitions, and hopes. It is not the world of facts, he says, which gives us meaning, but the world of imagination, making stories supremely important. But his depth of understanding of the world brings to his tales many fine details that other storytellers might miss. Old stories, says Cohen, have great power, because they relate to matters that have remained important through many changes in society. That is why they have survived. Public stories help define our culture, telling us what is permissible and what is not, what and who are admired, and how we wish to treat each other.By changing the stories we tell we can change our understanding and behaviour.