Living Myth

In this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade talks about the "inner initiate," the part of us that is ever willing to take a new step that can lead to a transformation of our life. After connecting the inner initiate to the Muses, Meade reveals how the ideas and images that he finds most compelling come from the Otherworld as the primary source of inspiration. Following the thread of inspiration leads to a description of liminal space as the betwixt and between realm where both awakening and transformation can occur.
 

Liminality appears as "a betwixt and between place of radical uncertainty and not knowing; but also as being on the edge of becoming." Not knowing where the world is going, not knowing what the future will be like, can be troubling and even defeating. Yet, the place of great uncertainty can also be seen as the edge of becoming where a genuine transformation of life becomes more possible.
 

It was while realizing that the heart is the most liminal of all places that the title of the new book appeared as The Heart of Transformation. "The heart I'm referring to used to be known as the heart within the heart; not the heart as a physical organ, but the age-old sense of the spiritual heart, the mystical heart that burns with the flames of passion, that lights up with the spark of inspiration, but that is also the heart as center, as the place where the opposites meet; the heart as the place of illumination and as the dwelling place of inner unity."
 

Secretly, our own hearts are continually incubating and imagining a greater sense of life. When the heart within our heart finds ways to open, we become more capable of love and more able to act as vessels through which creative and healing energies can enter this time-bound world. The subtitle of the new book, Personal and Cultural Renewal on Earth leads directly to the sense that in transforming our own lives we join nature, which is always in the process of transformation and renewal. In awakening to this deeper, inner, more genuine sense of self, we help awaken something in the world as well.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can preorder Michael's new book "The Heart of Transformation" and join him on October 1 for a free online event that brings to life key themes from this book.  
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You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 735 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
 
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

This episode connects ancient ideas of rites of passage with the need for both transformation and healing on many levels of life. An old idea from the process of initiation states that before the journey begins, you own the journey. But, once the journey has begun, the journey owns you. Both collectively and individually we are in the midst of a journey that we don't own.
 
 
Ancient wisdom and initiation practices involved the secret of letting go of what holds us back, even if it protected us early in life. Like a long-lived snake, we grow by letting go of who we thought we were and by shedding skins imposed upon us as well as those we choose to hide within. We are being called to understand a radical mode of transformation in which letting go of old forms and old attitudes becomes necessary both for psychological growth and for reimagining cultural life.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can learn more about the theme of transformation in Michael Meade's new book "The Heart of Transformation" that is available now to pre-order.
Learn more and purchase at store.mosaicvoices.org
 
 
You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 730 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
 
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack.
Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

In this episode, Michael Meade explores how when the world seems to make no sense, myth can make the most sense. Stories of renewal of the Earth can help us see the world with different eyes and create new contexts for facing the threats of climate change and stopping ecological degradation. Myth has a redeeming function as stories become vessels of imagination and inspiration that can open new ways to see the world.
 
 
Imagination has a way of lighting on truths that reason cannot find. Imagination can reveal inner dimensions and hidden resources in our individual and collective lives and in the world. Mythic narratives can inspire greater imagination and creativity in all fields of endeavor while helping to heal the gaps between nature and culture.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 730 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
 
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

In this episode, Michael Meade talks about the second adventure in life and the challenges of following the path of the soul in the modern world.  Touching on themes of gratitude, joy and the genius of the soul, and weaving together poetry and psychology, Meade suggests that we have little choice in the end; either we follow the dream that calls us to a greater life and become bigger and enter life more fully, or else we accept a diminished life and resign ourselves to a smaller way of being.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 725 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
 
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

"When the world seems to lose all sense and meaning, it is usually 'mythic sense' that is missing," says Michael Meade in talking about the vital language of myth. Without a sense of mythic imagination, the world can seem more random and be more overwhelming. Myth is not about the facts of the matter, but about what matters most to us. He suggests that myth is the inside story of the world we live in, and we are each and all mythic by nature.
 
 
Hearing a story awakens the mythic story living in each of us and places us in a "mythic condition" that reconnects us to the core imagination and living story at the center of our soul. Meade shows that being touched by myth carries us to the center where the world is always ending and always beginning again.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 720 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.
 
Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.