My guest today is Bill Plotkin, PhD, a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute.

Bill has led thousands of women and men through nature-based initiatory passages, and is the author of number books, including Soulcraft, Nature and the Human Soul, and Wild Mind.

In our conversation today, we discuss his recent book The Journey of Soul Initiation, which distills decades of his insights into human development and the mythopoetic relationship between humanity and ecology.

We explore the Five Phases of what he calls The Descent to Soul, including Preparation

Dissolution, Soul Encounter, Metamorphosis, Enactment. We compare his model and the significant differences between Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, along the challenges of navigating through each stage of development.

And finally, Bill names the blessing and burden it is to take on one’s own unique ecological niche, and how this invites us to become visionary artisans of cultural evolution.

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