Hi everyone. I'm Josh, and this is The Emerald,

currents and trends through a mythic lens.

The podcast where we explore an ever-changing world and our lives in it

through the lens of myth, story, and imagination.

The Emerald.

All that's happening on this green jewel in space. When I was in 11th grade anthropology class, my teacher, John Glendening, read us an excerpt from a book by James Missioner.

I don't know if you remember James Missioner's books. They were very 1980s. They all had one-word titles like space and Poland and Alaska and Centennial.

And somehow I always associate them with airports. Well, in Missioner's book The Source, which is about human origins,

he offers a scene in which a neolithic protagonist named UR

goes on a quest to find something very rare and precious.

With a sudden rush, Ure sprang at the dead tree,

climbed far up its side before any bees detected him,

and with strong hands began tearing away rotted portions of the trunk. The passionate sound of bees springing into action assured him

that there was honey to be found. So before the bees could swarm to drive him from their treasure,

he tore down into the heart of the tree until he felt the honeycomb.

Then the bees struck.

Fifty, a hundred flew at his face, covered his hands, tried to find his soft parts.

They stung him and died with their bodies distended, but his numb hands kept tearing at the

comb, bringing out luscious chunks which he threw to the ground below.

Finally, when he could scarcely see, he slid down from the tree,

killing hundreds of bees as he fell.

Only then did he start brushing the fiery creatures from his face,

...