003 | PAUSE FOR POSSIBILITY

What is possible when we enter into chosen relationships with others? That question will be answered in this episode through the re-telling of the story “The Two Friends”. Xolani will speak about who Esu is and we’ll explore what it means to “reckon” with Esu in a grounded, practical way! ✨CONNECT https://www.instagram.com/bluebottletree ✨CITATIONS Cosentino, D. (1987). Who Is That Fellow in the Many-Colored Cap? Transformations of Eshu in Old and New World Mythologies. The Journal of American Folklore, 100(397), 261–275. https://doi.org/10.2307/540323 Gates Jr., H. L., & Tatar, M. (Eds.). (2018). Making Sense of the World: Stories, Wisdom, and Contradiction In The Annotated African American Folktales (pp. 85–160). essay, W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

“The Magic Do-All Ax” gets the Blue Bottle Tree treatment! Xolani re-tells the tale and speaks on the consequences we face when continually moving from urgency. Without disposing our main character, we’ll examine what may have informed his actions and how we might be influenced by the same things. Finally, we’ll re-imagine what magic truly is and how we can bring it into our lives. SOCIAL MEDIA: @BlueBottleTree - https://www.instagram.com/bluebottletree SOURCES: - Gates Jr., H. L., & Tatar, M. (Eds.). (2018). Defiance and Desire: Flying Africans and Magical Instruments In The Annotated African American Folktales (pp. 163–195). essay, W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. - Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. Vintage. - Wynter, S. (2003). Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation—An Argument.

In this episode, Xolani re-tells a famous Anansi story “How Wisdom Came Into the World”! We then dive into the journey Wisdom has taken since the so-called Enlightenment period and ponder what it would take to reclaim ancestral wisdom in this day and age. SOCIAL: https://www.instagram.com/bluebottletree STORY: How Wisdom Came Into the World SOURCES: Morrison, T. (n.d.). The Site of Memory. In Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir (2nd ed., pp. 83–102). essay, William Zinsser. Young, J. (2008). “Of Moses, Mules, and Men: Zora Neale Hurston and the Politics of Folk Art.” Obsidian, 9(1), 9–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44489273

Welcome to the Blue Bottle Tree Podcast! This is our introduction episode, I speak about the inspiration behind this offering, how to interact with it, and what you can look forward to in each episode. Thank you for joining us on this journey! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/bluebottletree