Soul Studies is a new series of podcasts where I read excerpts from books that are currently inspiring me. In this episode I read from the first chapter of Rollo May’s 1975 book “The Courage to Create”. It struck me as a book that feels incredibly relevant to our cultural moment, particularly on the topics of despair, cultural divides and ideological fanaticism.

“People who claim to be absolutely convinced that their stand is the only right one are dangerous. Such conviction is the essence not only of dogmatism, but of its more destructive cousin, fanaticism. It blocks off the user from learning new truth, and it is a dead giveaway of unconscious doubt. The person then has to double his or her protests in order to quiet not only the opposition but his or her own unconscious doubts as well.”

Rollo May (1909-1994) taught at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and was Regents' Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An influential psychologist, he was the best-selling author of Love and Will, as well as the author of The Courage to Create, Man's Search for Himself, The Meaning of Anxiety, and Psychology and the Human Dilemma.

If you enjoyed this episode and want me to continue sharing work I find in the course of my Soul Studies, please let me know!

Email me: [email protected]
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Website: brianjames.ca

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This is the third and final episode in a series that pays tribute to the poet, teacher and activist Robert Bly, who passed away on November 21 of this year.

That was Robert you heard at the top of the podcast, from the excellent film A Gathering of Men with journalist Bill Moyers. You can find the full video on the Medicine Path YouTube channel.

In this episode I speak with his old friend and colleague John Lee, who worked alongside Robert for many years leading men’s groups around the US. John is an early pioneer in the men’s movement and has worked for over 30 years teaching workshops on recovery, emotional intelligence, anger management and emotional regression.

John has been featured on Oprah, 20/20, Barbara Walters, The View, CNN, PBS, and NPR. He has been interviewed by Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and dozens of other national and international magazines and radio talk shows.

Personally, John’s work has helped me better understand some of my own emotional issues, and his down-to-earth wisdom continues to help me in my relationships to my wife, family, friends and clients.

In our conversation, John shares some deeply personal stories about his time with Robert, from the time he first met him as a young therapist in the 1980s up until Robert’s gradual decline into dementia.

Please join us as we share some laughs and shed a few tears remembering the man John is proud to call his mentor, colleague and friend — Robert Bly.

Website: https://johnleebooks.com/

Topics: robert bly, poetry, men’s work, writing, mentorship, elderhood

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

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This is the second in a series of podcasts that pay tribute to poet, activist and author Robert Bly, who died a few weeks ago.

That was his voice you heard at the beginning of the podcast, reading the 15th century Indian poet Kabir and accompanied by live musicians. I think that little excerpt gives you a feeling for Robert’s spontaneity and humour, qualities that he helped awaken and nurture in today’s guest.

In this episode I speak with storyteller and mentor Michael Meade, who spent many years working side-by-side with Robert as part of the mythopoetic men’s movement. Michael was a central figure in that scene, bringing his deep knowledge of myth, story and initiation to the gatherings. 

In our conversation Michael shares what it was like to work so closely with Robert, the ways in which they learned from each other and how they ended up parting ways. I’m so grateful to Michael for sharing these personal stories and reflections, because they offer some great insights for anyone involved in any kind of mentorship, leadership or men’s work.

So please, pull a chair up to the fire, lean in, and listen as Michael Meade pays tribute to his old friend, mentor and colleague Robert Bly…on the medicine path.

Website: http://mosaicvoices.org

Topics: robert bly, poetry, men’s work, writing, mentorship, elderhood

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

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Poet, activist and men's work pioneer Robert Bly died on November 21 at the age of 94. This is part one in a series of conversations with some of the people who knew him intimately.

Martin Shaw is an acclaimed teacher of myth and author of numerous books including his latest, Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass. He founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University, and is director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK.

He has introduced thousands of people to mythology and how it penetrates modern life. For twenty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with at-risk youth, those who are unwell, returning veterans as well as many women and men seeking a deeper life.

Website: http://drmartinshaw.com

Topics: robert bly, poetry, men’s work, writing, mentorship, elderhood

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

•••

Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
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Edward Tick PhD has been has been working to heal the invisible wounds of war and violent trauma for over forty years and has led pilgrimages to Greece and Viet Nam for the past 20 years.

He has published many books and articles on healing veteran’s PTSD, including the award-winning War and the Soul, and his 2001 book The Practice of Dream Healing is a classic in depth psychology, offering the most comprehensive modern account of ancient Asklepian dream healing practices and the Western origins of medicine and psychotherapy, and their applications to holistic healing today.

Trauma specialist Peter Levine calls Ed’s audio program Warrior’s Return: Restoring the Soul After War “A masterpiece from one of our wisest elders for understanding the complex dimensions of war trauma.”

Ed's website: http://edwardtick.com 

Topics: dreams, dream healing, shamanism, war, trauma, PTSD

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

•••

Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
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On this episode I welcome back Jungian therapist and shamanic practitioner C. Michael Smith, founder of Crow’s Nest Shamanism and author of Jung & Shamanism in Dialogue.

In this conversation we look at the topic of shadow work from both the Jungian and shamanic viewpoints and offer some personal examples of how the shadow shows up in our relationships, the realm of spirituality and personal development, and in the culture at large.

I really enjoyed my first conversation with Michael, and wanted to have him back to offer his perspective on some important topics that come up in personal development and shamanic work. He does a great job of bridging the psychological and shamanic perspectives, and has a lot of experience walking in both worlds which makes him quite unique as a Jungian and as a shamanic practitioner. If you’re not already familiar with Michael, I recommend that you go back and listen to that first episode (MPP74) if you’d like to know more about his background and work.

Michael's website: http://crowsnestshamanism.com

New Shamanic Breathwork workshop: http://vimeo.com/ondemand/shamanicbreathwork

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

Topics: jung, shamanism, plant medicine, ayahuasca, psychology, shadow

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

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Use code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

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Jeremy Narby is a Canadian-born anthropologist and bestselling author who became an early pioneer of ayahuasca research while living with the Ashaninka people of the Peruvian Amazon in the 1980s. He works as Amazonian projects director for Nouvelle Planète, a nonprofit organization that promotes the economic and cultural empowerment of indigenous peoples. Jeremy is perhaps best known as the author of The Cosmic Serpent which was published in English back in 1999.

His new book, Plant Medicines: Ayahuasca, Tobacco and the Pursuit of Knowledge, which he authored with Shawi indigenous elder Rafael Chanchari Pizuri, presents a cross-cultural dialogue that explores the similarities between ayahuasca and tobacco, the role these plants play in indigenous cultures, and the hidden truths they reveal about nature.

I’ve been a fan of Jeremy’s work since reading The Cosmic Serpent a number of years ago and it was a real pleasure to speak with him about the two plant medicines that have been most integral to my own healing journey. We discuss the scientific and shamanic views of these two important plant teachers and begin to imagine a Western animism that could help restore our kinship with the more-than-human world.

If you’d like to join the conversation and help support the podcast, please considering becoming a member of the growing Medicine Path tribe at patreon.com/medicinepath. You can also follow me on Instagram @revealingthesoul. I love hearing from listeners, so please feel free to reach out on social media or email me at [email protected]

Topics: psychedelics, ayahuasca, tobacco, plant medicine, shamanism

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
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Use code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

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Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over three decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft.

Growing up in the Britain of punk and then rave culture, Julian immersed himself in the philosophy and techniques of magic. His journey into group ritual practice began within the Western Esoteric Tradition when he was 16. Since then has worked in ceremony with practitioners from many different lands and lineages.

Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and a Trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. He facilitates psychedelic ceremony, as well as providing one-to-one psychedelic integration sessions and support. In 2017 he published the celebrated book Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony.

Today Julian is the author of books, essays, journals and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. He sees his work as part of the process to help re-imagine an earth-centered, non-dogmatic, open-source spirituality. He shares his practice through mentoring, workshops, online teaching and retreats.

Julian's website: https://julianvayne.com

Topics: psychedelics, magick, healing, therapy, community, culture

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
Single Donation: http://ko-fi.com/brianjames
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Use code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

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Bill Plotkin, Ph.D., is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and agent of cultural evolution. As founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute in 1981, he has guided thousands of seekers through nature-based initiatory passages, including a contemporary, Western adaptation of the pan-cultural vision fast. Previously, he has been a research psychologist (studying non-ordinary states of consciousness), professor of psychology, psychotherapist, rock musician, and whitewater river guide.

In 1979, on a solo winter ascent of an Adirondack peak, Bill experienced a call to adventure, leading him to abandon academia in search of his true calling. Bill is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche; Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche and most recently, The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries. He has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Topics: soul, initiation, mythology, archetype, adulthood, mentorship, elderhood

Website: http://animas.org

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
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Use code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

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Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling Care of the Soul and twenty other books on spirituality and depth psychology that have been translated into thirty languages. He has been practicing depth psychotherapy for thirty-five years. He lectures and gives workshops in several countries on depth spirituality, soulful medicine, and psychotherapy.

In his latest book Soul Therapy the New York Times bestselling author of the classic The Care of the Soul addresses the needs of those providing soul care to others—therapists, psychiatrists, ministers, spiritual directors, teachers, and even friends—sharing his insights for incorporating a spiritual or soulful dimension into their work and practices.

Thomas’ website: http://thomasmooresoul.com

Topics: therapy, soul, Greek mythology, James Hillman, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Patricia Berry, Rafael López-Pedraza

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Music: Royal Fern by Green House (https://green-house.bandcamp.com)

Support the Podcast:
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Coaching & Books: http://brianjames.ca
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Use code MEDICINEPATH or link below for 15% off the Shamanic Yoga series: https://vimeo.com/r/334h/MFJHQkFEVk

Support the podcast by making a small monthly contribution. https://plus.acast.com/s/medicinepath.

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