Living Myth
Mosaic presents Living Myth, a podcast with Michael Meade, renowned mythologist and storyteller. Meade presents mythic stories that offer uniquely insightful and wise ways of understanding the current dilemmas of the world we live in. Living Myth proposes that genuine solutions to the complex and intractable problems of our world require both transcendent imagination and cohering, transformative narratives.
Episodes
Ep. 497 - Finding Unity in a Divided World
As tensions and conflicts in the outer world continue to escalate, fears and anxieties intensify inside each of us. Increasing polarization leaves us deeply uncertain about the future as well as increasingly disoriented and further divided against each other. While the poles of a polarity appear to be irreconcilable opposites, they can also be seen as parts of a hidden unity waiting to be
Ep. 496 - A Feather from the Golden Self
This episode begins with a fairy tale in which a wondrous tree grows in a palace garden at the center of a realm. The tree at the center produces golden fruit; but each night a golden apple mysteriously vanishes. The culprit turns out to be a golden bird that drops a shining feather before also disappearing. The rest of the tale involves searching for various elements that represent the golden se
Ep. 495 - Creativity, the Muse and the Dark Times
In this episode, Michael Meade talks about the various ways we can find and connect with our creative muse. He brings surprising insights into practical ways of being creative and the good news that everyone, artists and non-artists alike, has a muse. Creativity is a force larger than ourselves that wants to flow through us, be expressed by us and be given to the community around us. Meade sh
Ep. 494 - The Treasure Hard to Attain
In this episode, Michael Meade tells an old story about a man whose dreams call for him to go on a long, challenging journey to find a hidden treasure of gold. The story suggests that the treasure we desire most hides where we would never choose to go on our own. Bringing a dream to life requires that we truly change and that can awaken our deepest fears and strongest resistance. Symbolica
Ep. 493 - Following Pathless Paths
This episode begins with the idea that each person has a unique story that seeks to unfold from within their soul. If a person is lucky or adventurous or devoted, they will typically find a path that aligns with their inside story. If they follow that path far enough, they will come to a place where there are no footsteps and the only way forward involves what is called the pathless path. Taking u
Premium Episode 180 Excerpt - Stories of Healing and Renewal
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade looks at the growing polarization, conflict and uncertainty in the world and considers how we are living within a "re-creation myth," a period resembling ancient creation stories in which darkness, division, and chaos precede renewal. Creation myths from many cultures describe the world emerging from darkness and separation, implyi
Ep. 492 - Tigers Medicine and the Soul
"Regardless of the conditions of the outside world, we are each here to transform our own lives from the inside and become a full expression of our unique soul." So says Michael Meade when he talks about one of his favorite stories, The Tiger's Whisker. This episode of Living Myth includes a full telling of the famous tale of a woman who must face a living tiger in order to cure what ails her so
Ep. 491 - Two Stories that Change the World
In this episode, Michael Meade considers how there are always two stories going on in life. The ongoing drama of what we call the world and the story of the individual soul trying to awaken to a life of meaning and purpose. The two stories are secretly related and become more intensely connected and dramatic during times of upheaval and radical change. When the way we have been taught to view lif
Ep. 490 - Facing Fate, Finding Destiny
In this episode, Michael Meade explores how each soul born bears a personal story that involves natural gifts intended to be given and an original agreement of the soul that includes an inherent sense of purpose in life. At the same time, each family has fateful issues and inherited plotlines that strongly affect the dependent and defenseless child. The good news is that at each critical time in
Ep. 489 - Rituals to Transform and Renew
This episode considers how until modern times, people have relied on ritual practices to heal the wounds of culture, draw upon the renewing energies of nature and rejuvenate the life of both individuals and the community. Ritual gives a place for constricting attitudes to loosen, for emotions to flow and for the reservoir of genuine hope to renew. Creative rituals can help release the burd
Ep. 488 - Finding Hope in Times of Despair
People increasingly question whether there is any hope for the world at this time. In this episode of Living Myth, Meade suggests that it is the nature of hope to become lost, before being found at another level of life. In the myth of Pandora, hope only appears after all possible troubles have been unleashed upon the world. There is a deeper sense of hope that can arise when "all hope is lost."
Ep. 487 - Creativity and Resiliency in Times of Chaos
This episode of explores how as the world becomes a more chaotic and conflicted place, turning to creative practices can help us find ways to settle and center and grow a greater sense of self and soul. Throughout the ages, meaningful practices have served as primary pathways for psychological and spiritual growth, as well as for finding moments of wholeness and inner unity. Traditional ro
Ep. 486 - Uncertainty, Vulnerability and Meaningful Change
To be alive at this time means to be present as many familiar patterns simply dissolve. One major crisis quickly replaces another, so that both collective and personal levels of uncertainty grow day by day. It turns out that uncertainty is a powerful energy that makes us feel deeply vulnerable as well as susceptible to more intense levels of anxiety. It is also true that what shatters familiar
Ep. 485 - Under the Spell of Power and Greed
This episode begins with the ancient tale of the Titans, the mythic giants who wreaked havoc at the beginning of civilization and arise again when human cultures become power driven and chaotic. For the Titans, nothing is sacred except excess, immediate satisfaction of greed and being insatiable when it comes to power and dominance. Titans were also called the strainers, as their excess of hubris
Episode 484 - Changing Life by Finding Spirit and Making Soul
This episode of begins with the idea that the world we used to know is gone and we have not found a footing in the world that is trying to emerge. That leaves us in a state of uncertainty and in the midst of multiple levels of tragedy. In that sense, we are in a collective rite of passage that seeks to awaken the spirit of humanity and stir the creative depths of our souls. However, if we cannot
Episode 483 - When Things Fall Apart, Our Souls Can Awaken
This episode of Living Myth begins with the idea that we keep finding ourselves in uncharted waters in terms of the future of the planet and in unmapped territories in terms of human culture. The increasing pressures and uncertainties in the outer world create an inner tension that can only be relieved through a change of awareness coming from within us. In order to avoid overwhelm and fin
Episode 482 - To Not Abandon Ourself
Clearly, we are living in radical times when almost everything can be taken to the extreme. We find ourselves in uncharted waters when it comes to the future of the planet and in unmapped territories in terms of human culture. In the midst of great uncertainty any moment can lead us to feel anxious, isolated and abandoned. Life must be lived forward, but often can only be understood in loo
Premium Episode 175 Excerpt - The Redemptive Power of Soul
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade discusses the inherent longing for redemption and how it can be experienced as a life-seeking process rather than an end-of-life event. He explores the archetypes of creation and apocalypse, reframing the latter as an expression of the dynamic of collapse and renewal. Part of renewal involves connecting to vertical imagination, that
Episode 481 - The Path of Dreams
In this episode, Michael Meade tells an old story of someone who follows a dream that leads to being stripped down and stuck, before it unfolds a path to healing and wholeness. Bringing a dream to life means changing everything and change is most often accompanied by fear and resistance. Meade suggests that living a dream requires the courage to cross not only where others fear to go, but also to
Episode 480 - A Reminiscence Bump vs. the Eternal Youth Within
This episode begins with the contemporary psychological theory of a "reminiscence bump" which attempts to explain why we remember certain songs and events from our youth, while forgetting most other things. The theory includes the idea that our sense of identity comes from an internalized story that we construct to make sense of our life. Michael Meade contrasts this kind of mainstream psychology
Episode 479 - Living with Emotional Upheaval
This episode of Living Myth focuses upon the extreme emotions generated by the war in Iran and the many other conflicts and divisions in the current world. Michael Meade addresses the increasing flood of raw emotions that we are all subjected to and what psychologists are now calling "political depression." Although political depression can present the same sense of hopelessness and despair as tr
Episode 478 - Medicine of the Deep Self
In this episode, Michael Meade examines how collective fear and overwhelm can knock the ego off balance and lead to stress and despair. Since the world will not settle soon, the unity and wholeness so sorely missing in the outer world must be found within us. As things fall apart the "knowing self" within moves closer to the surface, seeking to become more conscious to us. Despite the trou
Episode 477 - Living with a Whole Heart
In this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade considers the current global challenges and emphasizes the importance of living from a place of wholeheartedness. He reflects on the symbolism of an open heart and how facing personal fears contributes to living a life of meaning and purpose. Woven through this episode are poems from Rumi and William Stafford about the need for transformation and the
Episode 476 - Resistance to Change
This episode considers the problem of resistance to change from psychological and mythological viewpoints. While we are facing radical changes that threaten both nature and culture, we are also challenged by the dilemma of human resistance to change at both personal and collective levels. The issue is not simply a lack of commitment to change. Rather, resistance arises precisely where we have the
Episode 475 - How Stories Heal and Make Us Whole
Michael Meade explores how stories enable us to understand the world and our place in it. Mythic narratives weave the divine and natural realms together in ways that become antidotes for our anxieties and fears. To be modern can mean to have fallen out of story or to be living in opposing stories as many people believe at this time. Yet, stories are how we understand our lives and how we make mea
Episode 474 - Fear of Change
There are certain, critical moments that say directly to us: You must change your life. Collectively, we are in a time when great changes are necessary; yet the idea of truly changing is too fearful for most people. On this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade tells a surprising story from ancient India in which a fearful tiger suddenly awakens to its true inner nature and becomes transformed.
Episode 473 - Finding Guidance in Your Life
Michael Meade reflects on how, if we are able to stop and listen more deeply, we can connect with subtle sources of wisdom and guidance. He shares his experiences of receiving guidance that has taken the form of dreams, birds and animals, an inner voice and the realm of myth and story. Essential to the practice of hearing these vital messages is both an embrace of humility and a willingness to s
Episode 472 - Moments of Truth
This episode begins with the recent shooting in Minneapolis in which an intensive care nurse named Alex Pretti was shot ten times by ICE and border patrol agents. There are fateful occasions when a tragic event becomes a moment of truth for both individual life and the collective meaning and core values of a culture. Michael Meade suggests that: "We are now, and may be for some time, in a collec
Episode 471 - The Importance of Creative Practice
On this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade turns to the realms of art and practice as ways to avoid overwhelm and find coherence in an increasingly chaotic world. Since the world will not settle soon, the unity and wholeness so sorely missing must be found within us. Fortunately, as fears and uncertainty grow, a balancing imagination and healing energy tries to awaken within our souls. The cr
Episode 470 - Lifting the Veil
This episode begins with the differences between paradigm shifts that replace old theories with new ones and a shifting of the archetypes that can transform all levels of life. The origins of apocalypse involve an archetypal shift that begins with a period of chaos and collapse before it leads to creation and a renewal of life. The initial phase of an apocalyptic period also involves a "lifting
Episode 469 - World Upside Down
This episode looks at the shocking beginning of the new year in which the U.S. government invades Venezuela, extracts the sitting president and announces that it will be "running the country" that has the largest reserve of oil in the world. A dream that follows what appears to be the dissolution of the international order, that has mostly prevailed for the past eighty years, depicts the confusi
Episode 468 - The Soul's Great Adventure
Michael Meade explores how the soul's great adventure tries to surface throughout life, so that any moment can become a true turning point if we leave the maps that others have made, follow the soul's original calling and enter life more fully and more meaningfully. He suggests that ultimately it involves a "gnosis," a deeper way of knowing that uncovers our inner resources and reveals the unique
Premium Episode 163 Excerpt - Know Yourself, Change the World
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade explores how resiliency amidst adversity is a hallmark of genius and an essential capacity for navigating a rapidly changing and confusing world. What we need now is the courage to follow our genius all the way to where it would lead us. When enough people awaken to the inner meaning and purpose in their lives, a collective shift o
Premium Episode 151 Excerpt - Pathways to the Center
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade explores how even in the darkest times, the inner abundance of the soul is ever nearby. The problem is that the pathways to our inner inheritance and instinctive vitality are blocked by received ideas and an over-adaptation to early life conditions. The rigid attitudes of our ego or little-self make it difficult to connect to the im
Premium Episode 116 Excerpt - The Subtle Ground of Imagination
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade explores how inside of each of us is a mostly hidden, mostly golden and mostly eternal image and aspect of being similar to the gold that is buried in the Earth. In seeking out this inner gold, we meet egoic resistance and must find ways to break the ego's shell to tap the deeper wisdom within. Along the way, part of what opens this
Premium Episode 108 Excerpt - The Salt of Inner Wisdom
On this excerpt from a premium episode, Michael Meade follows a myth from ancient Ireland and weaves together cosmology, psychology and philosophy in order to open the soul's vision and catch the fish of wisdom. Rather than being abstract knowledge, "embodied wisdom" is shown to be both immediate and eternal, both spiritual and soulful. You can hear the full episode and receive additional podcas
Premium Episode 104 Excerpt - Complexities of Life
On this excerpt from a premium episode, Michael Meade talks about key issues that affect transformation in our lives. He considers core complexes in family and culture and wades into the territory of deep emotions. The word complex is trying to point out that when we have a particular kind of interior trouble, the issues are complex. Deep down, we all want to change, he says, and each crisis and o
Premium Episode 97 Excerpt - The Stars Know Your Name
On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade considers how when the certainty of the world collapses around us, the danger of cynicism, isolation, and becoming numb inevitably increases. In looking for antidotes to these feelings of overwhelm and separation, he draws on themes and ideas including cosmology, genius and our inner gifts and wounds. If you would like to hear the
Bonus Episode - Premium Podcast #37 - The Language of Truth
On this bonus sharing of the latest premium podcast, Michael Meade begins with a poetic response to the deadening language that at times dominates the discussion about impeaching the President. What begins as a critique of the speech being used to defend the politics of big lies turns into a lament for the loss of language able to carry the truth of the human heart and soul. A procession of poems
Premium Episode 23 Sample - Inner Eyes of the Soul
This excerpt from the latest premium episode offers samples from the new audio book Awakening the Soul, along with expanded content and spontaneous commentary by Meade. The book sample focuses on the chapter "Inner Eyes of the Soul" which includes a story of an orphan left behind by his tribe, who then unexpectedly has a radical awakening experience that leads to a vision that affects everyone in
"Awakening the Soul" Audio Book Sample
We are pleased to announce that Michael Meade's latest book "Awakening the Soul" is now available as an audio book. Here is a sample from this newly released title. The audio book can be purchased as a download or CD at mosaicvoices.org/audio. Members of the Living Myth Premium Podcast can save 30% on this title and all other offerings from Michael Meade and Mosaic. Learn more and become a memb
Premium Q&A Episode 6 Excerpt - The Two Agreements of the Soul
On this excerpt from the latest Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade answers questions about the soul posed by listeners. One question is "what is the meaning of the original agreement of the soul?" Another is "why is this first agreement so important that it is indelible in the soul?" Using ancient stories about the origin of the soul, Meade offers a compelling commentary on the soul's wa
Premium Episode 15 excerpt - The Song Coming Through
On this excerpt from the latest Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade reads selected poems from The Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart, the renowned anthology edited along with Robert Bly and James Hillman. The recording includes reflections on the surprising dynamic of creating the anthology along with commentary on the importance of poetic inspiration. This is the first part of a Living Myth Pre
New Podcast Offering - Living Myth Premium
Hey Living Myth listeners, thank you for being a part of this podcast. We wanted to let you know about the Living Myth Premium Podcast, a new offering from Mosaic that gives members access to additional content beyond the free weekly edition of the podcast. Go to mosaicvoices.org or livingmyth.org to learn more and become a member. Your membership helps grow Living Myth and ensures we are able t
Episode 1 - Why Myth, Why Now?
Michael Meade introduces the role of myth in making sense of our complex and challenging world and he answers the question "Why Myth, Why Now?".
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