MICHAEL MEADE on Cultivating Mythic Imagination [ENCORE] /270
Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Michael Meade, originally aired in June of 2019. The crises of cosmological, mythological and psychological disconnection from nature, from ourselves, and from each other may drive us to places of darkness and suffering; and yet there is great potential in that darkness to interact with creative energy. Retracing meaning through archetypal myth offers an opportunity to understand the great challenge of our time to heal the planet from its wounds, and to refresh our dominant worldview with one based on connection and imagination. This week, journey into Michael Meade’s expansive vision of awakening ancient meaning for the individual and collective consciousness.
“When the planet is in this much trouble, we are in the dark night of the soul of the planet itself, then we are strangely closer to the seeds of imagination that can be used to reinvigorate life and possibly heal…”
Photo of Michael Meade
Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn’t End, The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul and editor, with James Hillman and Robert Bly, of Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artists, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.
Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn’t End, The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul and editor, with James Hillman and Robert Bly, of Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artists, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.
Michael and Ayana discuss topics such as the power of creative imagination and the promise of youth, the danger of hyper-individualism, pretentious heroism, and obsession with newness. Michael explores the relationships between wounds and dreams, chaos and beauty, youth and elders. Hear Michael’s rich meditation on his own journey of initiation and the archetypal ground of ancestors, as well as the power of retelling stories. Even as the age of technological dominance erodes our connections, Michael Meade offers us guiding threads to answers awaiting in our own ancient consciousness.
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Duck Lake Road” by Izaak Opatz.
For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.