Mythic Mind Fellowship
The Inkwell
Essays and reflections from the Mythic Mind Fellowship
Friends,
This is the Inkwell, where the Fellowship sets down in writing what we so often talk about aloud. Here you'll find essays on Tolkien and Lewis, Kierkegaard and the psyche, and the games and stories that carry old truths into new worlds, written by me and by friends of the Fellowship.
Members can also hear many of these essays read aloud in Inkwell Readings. Follow one of the threads below, or browse every essay and see what catches your eye.
If something here stirs a thought of your own, feel free to leave a comment or become a member and submit your own piece.
Andrew
10 essays3 writers7 read aloud for Fellows and Companions
Newest in the Inkwell
The Sickness unto Death: Kierkegaard on Despair and the Self
Andrew Snyder8 minute read
Most people in despair do not know it. Kierkegaard shows where our most fundamental decisions place us, and why the opposite of despair is not happiness but faith.
Read the essay: The Sickness unto Death: Kierkegaard on Despair and the Self
Vittore Carpaccio, The Vision of Saint Augustine, 1502. Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice.
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Threads to Follow
Some essays are written to be read together. Begin at the first and follow the thread.
Fall 2026 season: Exploring the Psyche
Kierkegaard and the Psyche
Three essays on anxiety, despair, and the self, in the order they were written.
- 1The Necessarily Christian Psychology of Søren KierkegaardAndrew Snyder, 3 minute read, read aloud for Fellows and Companions
- 2What Is Anxiety? Kierkegaard and the Psychology of FreedomAndrew Snyder, 3 minute read, read aloud for Fellows and Companions
- 3The Sickness unto Death: Kierkegaard on Despair and the SelfAndrew Snyder, 8 minute read
Middle-earth
Tolkien’s Legendarium
An invitation to the Silmarillion, then two studies from its darkest and most hopeful pages.
- 1Why You Should Read The SilmarillionAndrew Snyder, 4 minute read
- 2Arda Healed, not Arda UnmarredJack Keoseyan, 10 minute read, read aloud for Fellows and Companions
- 3Day Shall Come Again: Providence and Tragedy in Tolkien's Children of HúrinJack Keoseyan, 6 minute read
Secondary worlds
Games as Sub-creation
Tolkien’s idea of sub-creation brought to the worlds we play in, then a long look at one classic.
- 1Video Games as Sub-CreationAndrew Snyder, 6 minute read, read aloud for Fellows and Companions
- 2When the Sword Leaves the Stone: An Ocarina of Time ReflectionMax Holtman, 7 minute read, read aloud for Fellows and Companions
Standing on their own
- Mythic Mind: The Next ChapterAndrew Snyder, 2 minute read
- A Review of the BBC's That Hideous StrengthAndrew Snyder, 7 minute read
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Every Essay
The whole Inkwell, newest first. Every essay is free to read.
Showing all 10 essays
2026
Andrew Snyder8 minute read
The Sickness unto Death: Kierkegaard on Despair and the Self
Most people in despair do not know it. Kierkegaard shows where our most fundamental decisions place us, and why the opposite of despair is not happiness but faith.
Andrew Snyder3 minute read
What Is Anxiety? Kierkegaard and the Psychology of Freedom
There is no getting around this: you are making decisions. The only question is whether you are making decisions that integrate you into a defined self, or decisions that betray your human spirit in despair.
Read aloud for Fellows and CompanionsFind it in the Cosmos: Thulcandra
Andrew Snyder3 minute read
The Necessarily Christian Psychology of Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard, the so-called “Father of Existentialism,” is one of the most misunderstood thinkers of modern history.
Read aloud for Fellows and Companions
Jack Keoseyan6 minute read
Day Shall Come Again: Providence and Tragedy in Tolkien's Children of Húrin
The Children of Húrin is incongruent with much of the rest of Tolkien’s legendarium; and a new reader, first picking up The Silmarillion, will often be struck at how dark the tale is.
Max Holtman7 minute read
When the Sword Leaves the Stone: An Ocarina of Time Reflection
As we approach the release of the remake for this 1998 Nintendo classic, I aim to examine the game’s symbolic significance and its relevance to our contemporary culture.
Read aloud for Fellows and CompanionsFind it in the Cosmos: Saturn
Andrew Snyder2 minute read
Mythic Mind: The Next Chapter
It is time for Mythic Mind to turn the page and begin its next chapter.
Read aloud for Fellows and Companions
Andrew Snyder7 minute read
A Review of the BBC's That Hideous Strength
In 2025, BBC put out an audio drama adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength. This is one of my favorite books, so I was naturally excited about the prospects here. I wanted this to succeed.
Read aloud for Fellows and CompanionsFind it in the Cosmos: Thulcandra
Andrew Snyder6 minute read
Video Games as Sub-Creation
Are video games an unhealthy escape from responsibility and real-world achievements, or might they serve some real-world good?
Read aloud for Fellows and CompanionsFind it in the Cosmos: The Primum Mobile
Andrew Snyder4 minute read
Why You Should Read The Silmarillion
Whether you have read the books or only seen Peter Jackson’s movies, the odds are that you have at least a basic familiarity with The Lord of the Rings.
Jack Keoseyan10 minute read
Arda Healed, not Arda Unmarred
In this essay, I hoped to use this text of the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth to demonstrate the degree to which Tolkien’s fantasy is foundationally Christian and points to the mysteries of our salvation.
Read aloud for Fellows and CompanionsFind it in the Cosmos: The Empyrean
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Inkwell Readings
Essays read aloud, in a private podcast feed for Fellows and Companions.
Add the feed to any podcast app and listen on a walk, a drive, or by the fire. In the list of essays, the ones marked Read aloud for Fellows and Companions have a reading.
7 essays read aloud so far
Hear one free: A Review of the BBC’s That Hideous Strength, read aloud
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Write for the Inkwell
The Inkwell welcomes essays from members of the Fellowship.
Members can share their writing for possible publication in the Inkwell from the Fellowship Hall.
Writers in the InkwellAndrew SnyderMax HoltmanJack Keoseyan
Join the Fellowship
Fellows and Companions hear Inkwell essays read aloud, take every Academy course, and join the live gatherings.
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