Standing on the Grave of Gods

Everyone has a first dance with mythology at some point. For many it’s a retelling, or an encyclopedia of gods. Mine was DK’s Encyclopedia of World Mythology, which exposed me to the wide world of Norse, Celtic, Japanese, Semitic, and Egyptian gods. But it wasn’t until 2012 when I took a research trip to Ireland that those gods became more real for me: a place where these weren’t mere stories of far-away times and places, but stories woven into the landscape itself. I visited Bru na Boinne, home of the Dagda, Aengus, and the river goddess Boann, and I’ve stood on the mound-grave of Eochid, last king of the Firbolgs.

It was there, standing on the grave of gods, that mythology became something else for me. It became a way to embrace humanity’s shared love of storytelling, the universal connection we all have with one another and the places we call home. From that single trip to Ireland, Godyssey fermented in my head for nearly a decade until 2020, when I decided to launch the podcast just before the global pandemic. And since then, my initial theory has proven out: these are stories we all feel connected to, helping us understand one another and love the whole of our world as our own.

That’s what Godyssey is: a love letter to history, spirituality, and our shared humanity.