What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol and Story

A collection of essays, stories and reminiscences, many of which were first published in the US magazine "Parabola". The essays are often reflections on the themes of myth and The Heroic Quest, The Black Sheep, The Foolish Young Son, drawing on a lifelong immersion in world mythology. Ranging from Hindu creation stories through Celtic legend and the "Dreamtime" of the Australian Aborigines to Central European tales of wicked fairies and miller's daughters, the author sets out her faith in the poetic truth of these fables. Interspersed are memories of her Australian childhood, of the friendships she formed as a young woman in Ireland with AE and Yeats and of her stay on an American Indian reservation where she was driven about by a surly cowboy.