The Golden Bough by David H Keller

David H. Keller was an American author known for his contributions to science fiction and pulp magazines during the early 20th century. He was born on December 23, 1880, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Keller pursued a career in medicine and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a medical degree in 1903. He worked as a general practitioner, specializing in the treatment of mental disorders.
Despite his medical profession, Keller had a strong passion for writing. He began his literary career by submitting stories to various pulp magazines, where he gained recognition for his unique blend of science fiction, horror, and fantasy elements. Keller's writing often explored psychological and sociological themes, displaying his background in medicine and his interest in human behavior.
In 1928, Keller published one of his most famous works, a novella titled "The Revolt of the Pedestrians." The story depicted a future society where automobiles ruled, and pedestrians were marginalized. It was highly regarded for its social commentary and futuristic vision. Keller continued to write and publish numerous short stories, novelettes, and novellas throughout his career, earning him a dedicated following.
One of Keller's notable contributions to the science fiction genre was his series of short stories featuring the character T.H.E. Cat. T.H.E. Cat, an acronym for The Human Electro, was a scientist with the ability to transfer his consciousness into different bodies. These stories often explored ethical and philosophical questions related to identity and consciousness.
Keller's writing career slowed down in the 1940s and 1950s as he faced personal and financial challenges. He struggled with health issues and experienced difficulties in finding publishers for his work. Despite these setbacks, Keller's influence on the science fiction genre remained significant, as his stories often delved into psychological and societal aspects that were ahead of their time.
David H. Keller passed away on July 13, 1966, in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, leaving behind a legacy as an early pioneer of science fiction and a writer who explored the human condition through his imaginative tales. While his work may have been overlooked by mainstream literary circles, Keller's contributions to the genre continue to be appreciated by science fiction enthusiasts and scholars who recognize his unique voice and forward-thinking ideas.
#pagan #thegreatgodpan
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[@katiedouthwaite5479]

Didn't know how to send a message otherwise so I hope you see this! I'm a RMN with ADHD too (from Yorkshire) and I just wanted you to know you that you have really ignited my love of reading and wanting to write stories again ❤️. I absolutely love what you do and how you do it!! Thank you so much for putting your time out this way, I love to hear you can cut down your hours now, definitely earned it. I listen between my community crisis visits and it certainly helps to get my attention and distract from the work we do ❤️. You have a fantastic soothing accent, I love the voices you do as well! I'll get on patron asap but for now just know you're really appreciated and have such a talent ❤️❤️ hope shade and the pups are well!! All the best to you and yours X

[@ClassicGhost]

ah sounds like we have a lot of experiences in common! listening between crisis visits lol!

[@andrealee3901]

Sending healing prayers. 😢❤

[@waltercook4868]

Deep story, deep comments. Lots to discuss. You took us very deep this time. In the end, I agree with you, find the middle way and I will add, and all that implies. Whether traveling on the road less traveled or not, life is difficult.

[@DestinyKiller]

There's a quote I've always loved on an episode of the X- Files where Scully remarks that her father, a Navy man, always taught her to respect nature because it has no respect for you. And I've always thought that sums it up pretty well

[@juliecavanagh7399]

Wow, this story is a gem! A beautiful, dark gem... Thank you so much!

[@ClassicGhost]

You made my day

[@soundsilence2604]

Of course, I've never met your Sheila, but as you describe her, she's too level headed to ask you to drown the car. lol I enjoyed the focus on the natural world and Romanticism in your interpretation of the story. We can combat the natural world, but we'll never conquer it. Storms will rage, and black bears will steal our cupcakes (worth a Google). My mind called to a return to The Garden. Like Adam and Eve, the couple enjoyed a carefree life. But like her predecessor, the modern Eve still wanted more. Chasing moon beams cost both Eves (and Adams) their lives.

[@ClassicGhost]

that is a great interpretation! i missed that one but i think you’re right !

[@DreamingCatStudio]

Yes Pan holds a fascination-chaos as god. Have you read William Morris’ News from Nowhere? Also Mervyn Peake’s The Gormenghast Trilogy? They sprang to mind as possible examples of the genre you were describing.

[@cobrachicken07]

Amazing story with excellent narration. Thanks!

[@mariameere5807]

Love this picture wow Tony! This was a f ing FABULOUS tale and the most unbelievable thing in it, remember I see spirit’s and so did my gran not mum they terrify her because she saw her mum after she died to say she was out of her wheelchair and no longer had Alzheimer’s and at 5 I saw her too that night but I didn’t understand this gift/curse she spoke of because I had no experience of death! But the reason this is more unbelievable than anything else you have written is because of the man letting his good car go off a cliff! Lol 😂 I had an ex that used to kiss his car good night when he thought we were not looking out the window!! Oh that brings back funny memories! Thank you so much for another great job! 🕯🕊🤍🕊🕯

[@jessisage4708]

Killer thumbnail art! The story was awesome as always, but the realistic look of her is terrifyingly wonderful!

[@Boogie_the_cat]

By the way, nice thumbnail choice. It definitely caught my eye. And since I've read Frazier's Golden Bough, I clicked!

[@martas9283]

Great story! Your thoughts on the more romantic take on Nature remind me of the long gone Dutch author Frederik van Eeden. Around 1898 Frederik and some like-minded souls started a kind of commune (the Walden Colony), to live closer to nature and mostly 'off the land'. The story I loved so much when I first heard it was that Frederik would regularly take a barefoot walk into town to buy a bag of biscuits, munching fresh biscuits on his way back to Walden. Which I get completely, I think we can all agree that Nature abhors an empty biscuit tin almost as much as a vacuum..

[@ClassicGhost]

I didn’t know of him. Lovely story. aid heard of Walden but wasn’t very clear what it was. Thank you

[@tammyb8742]

This is giving me great things to think about. I think wild animals are in the moment, they are present, they don't overthink and they accept and surrender. I feel things that don't move like trees, rocks, maybe even a sloth lol, are the great contemplators, even more so than humans but they do it un- neurotically. For the longest time I wanted to come back in my next life as a tree so I could sit and observe and contemplate but now I think I want to come back as the wind.

[@cobrachicken07]

❤

[@trilllllify]

Perfect for this stormy night! Thanks as always Tony, you're a gem

[@terrymitchell2533]

Thoroughly enjoyed thank you 👍🥂

[@_SoBored]

Wow. A wonderfully written story. I loved the alliteration and repetition he uses as well as the very ending. And as always, your performance was perfect. Thanks again.

[@tricivenola8164]

I'm with you. I'm all into the mystic Tolkien woods, but Little Tootsie toddling off to the pool with her widdle silver salver makes me slightly ill. The demand that her husband drive the car off the cliff could only have been made by someone who never went without to make car payments or heard the word "No." Like so many of us who left the pool and learned to live in the real world.

[@evelanpatton]

🎶🎵“Your Moms alright, your dads alright, they just seem a little weird…”🎶🎵 remember…THANK YOU! For your brilliance & consistent contribution to sooo many of us unknown folk out here. We are blessed by your gifts!🎉

[@martiwilliams4592]

Amazon is the most freightening environment of all... . Terrifiying. Thank you, Tony.

[@sonnetlikely]

I think I hear pages turning and that’s wonderful. Thank you!

[@ClassicGhost]

yes. it was a paper copy

[@davidwhelan1545]

Great story, well narrated. Reminds me somehow of wassailing in the orchards of Kent!🤟🇬🇧

[@CLCinflorida]

Fantastic Story, except for the End, that Sucked 👏👏👏👍👍👍

[@stellajames6936]

Loved this story thankyou! 😊

[@rosiemcnaughton9933]

Always...beware of pipes...😱 Heeding them never ends well...

[@clevelandplonsey7480]

Fantastic post-discussion! Authentically superb

[@hathorearthfyre]

Great story, how the Gods are roused at times, to play cruel games against mankind.

[@lzeph]

Oooo just in time for afternoon chores! Thank you so much!

[@martinmucha4858]

What a great story, both in style and content. And excellently performed. Thank you so much

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Thank you. I needed a story to relax to this evening, and you put in a lot of work narrating these stories for us. I don't enjoy all of them but that's life. I just wanted to show my thanks for the work you do. I'm living under the poverty level, so this is the best I can do (I have to feed my cat too).

[@dwellerofthedark]

I finally got a minute between writing the music and draft of my new novel- ‘For the Love of a Phantom’-to check out your reading of ‘The Golden Bough’ Tony. It’s a tremendous reading of a classic. Great job as always!

[@martiwilliams4592]

Where nightmares originate---horrorfull. Masterful narration and commentary as always. Thank you, Tony.

[@Suggest_Me_Books]

This was a fantastic story! Thank you for reading! I can’t open books like I used to, but I can always turn on an audiobook. This is my happy place!

[@Kernowcornwall]

Great channel!

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you!

[@Story-Voracious66]

Well! That sounds like a really bad hair day! Honestly Tony, from memory, your story 'The Grysdale Wedding ", was better. The imagery was lush, I'll give him that. Geese and goats are so much more dynamic than sheep and chickens. But the ending left me flat. It seemed that he became bored with writing this story so finished it off with "and they all died." Ho hum! You did better to glean so much from between the lines. You are a true scholar sir. Take care Tony. 🙋🔻🇦🇺

[@gerardkiff2026]

Sad story but thank you

[@edf777]

Thank you sir..😊❤

[@dorthonian]

Thank you! 👍🏽

[@joanieann6179]

Thank you, Tony. Good analysis. 👍

[@clarewilde972]

as a fellow (post-)Jungian, I loved this. So numinous, full of images, beautifully written. brilliant choice, thank you

[@eowynriya1988]

Pan has always fascinated me.. Even as a child...... ❤

[@ClassicGhost]

The Pan within!

[@tzaph67]

Thanks for this Tony - I really enjoyed both the story and your reading. I’m definitely going to look out more of this guy’s work. A couple of things struck me. The first was the role of pipes - the musical pipe that seemed to bring death through the surrender of self to ecstasy and the plumber’s pipe which despite good intentions of the husband helped to hasten death anyway by mechanically piping away the water of the dark pool. I was also struck by the mistletoe and how as well as being a parasite that only grows on certain tree (oak, apple, hawthorn and ash I think, but could be wrong) was said to represent male fertility because of its likeness to sperm - holly with its red berries, the colour of menstrual blood, represented female creativity. There’s a lot more to unpick, but they were the two things you hadn’t mentioned that first occurred to me. I’m not sure if I like the ending or not, but I think I do. I think it’s showing us that these forces are real and humans who mess with them are doomed - a bit like modern humans and the Environment. Thanks lots💚xx

[@lyndabrennan4560]

Yippee, can't wait to for this story, thank you Tony 💙💛💚

[@scottfree2248]

Never trust a Satyr.🌙💀🌠

[@ClassicGhost]

well said

[@Low_Carb_Or_DIEt]

Wonderful reading and story! Thank you! As per the driving yhe car over the cluff, in the words of Luttle Britain, "If you LOVE me, you'll do it!" LOL ❤️😆

[@davidwhite7294]

Naaah man, thats as far as i,d have gone. l,d have driven her straight to the funny farm 😂😂😂😂

[@Low_Carb_Or_DIEt]

@@davidwhite7294 LOL

[@mikefischbein3230]

That was soooo good!

[@edf777]

👌 👏 wow 👌

[@amandalee215]

Lovely Friday night treat thank you Tony

[@meganmcnelis7136]

Very thought-provoking! Thanks for the description of the Romantic movement--I never pieced it together that way. And having grown up in Pennsylvania, I can see Keller's inspiration of thick pine forests hiding within reach of civilization. Just last year when I was visiting there, I felt that I could pull off the interstate highway where I was driving and walk into the forest to get lost for days. Given that Keller would have grown up hearing about women's suffrage, I felt like some conservative ideas from the time period were surfacing in this story: Is it wise to let women decide where they can live or whom they can love, etc., even if they feel so passionately about it? And in the year of publication, 1934, this was a discussion in popular culture, too. Hollywood was portraying independent women in film, and "screwball" comedies were emerging in which women had the opportunities and attitudes usually reserved for men.

[@gillrippingale1173]

First tale I've listened to for a few weeks ( busy in the garden!) and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Absolutely fascinating and intriguing story... Even more I loved your commentary! 😊

[@t34_guy90]

thanks for that 😀

[@robynmarler1951]

I liked it that Pan's mother didn't approve.

[@norayoder3189]

AAhhhMazing❣️🙏🏻❣️ 42:23

[@JennyLane8666]

Tony, my good sir... Is there any way you could give us a teensy teaser in the description letting us know the plot of the story in the video? I love learning about the author but due to memory issues, I'll often get a fair long way into the story before I realize I've heard it already haha

[@ClassicGhost]

+Jenny Lane i think there is. i the last i’ve done that but i’ve got out of the way of it recently.

[@hawthorne1504]

Can you narrate a midsummer eve (St John’s Eve) ghost story?

[@ClassicGhost]

who wrote that one?

[@hawthorne1504]

@@ClassicGhost I don’t know it there is one, but if there is I thought you would know! Someone told me it’s supposed to be a spooky time of year, like Halloween.

[@alisonkirkland6132]

@@hawthorne1504 I think the eve of any holy day can be, in theory. Ghost stories are told on Christmas Eve, and the story of Dracula kicks off on St. George's Eve.

[@hawthorne1504]

@@alisonkirkland6132 Interesting

[@applthorn]

Reminds me of some stories by Saki -- The Music on the Hill, Gabriel-Ernest

[@ClassicGhost]

yes. i see the similarities

[@kathrynbeetham5308]

The shears (sword) is a symbol of power. The husbands need for control over the woman (symbolising his own unconscious shadow) is played out, he puts the shears between them, trying to divide himself from his own unconscious shadow, but by denying it and cutting himself off from it, its greater power kills him. ....that's my take anyway.

[@ClassicGhost]

I like this. Keep em coming

[@evazauner]

der ehemann tut mir nicht leid. er hat sein ende selber herbeigeführt. eine tolle geschichte, ich habe mit der frau mitgefiebert!

[@ajcbng8289]

Yes. She's dangerous. Still, no. 😂😂

[@shelleymarquis2887]

Wonderful story, wonderfully read. I've a fondness for the presence of female worshipers in stories of Pan and Bacchus. To me they represent a lost awareness of female freedom and connection to divine power. Lost to male dominated Christianity, no offence, don't go nuts folks. History tells us pagan men were reluctant to lose their female deities having an instinctual understanding that it takes two to make a world. It's extremely significant that THE woman in Christianity is a virgin. Sex is power....over men and vice versa, virginity lacks the essential female power. In National Velvet, the girl gets to win the Grand National (disguised as a boy) but must, must be robbed of victory and revealed by fainting from the "excitement" and falling from the saddle after clearing every jump. Pulese, and the beat goes on. 😬