Myth & Fairy Tale Podcast: How Stories Shape and Change Our Lives

In this episode I'm exploring the idea or the ethos of "punk," delving into the spirit of the word itself, what it means for us, and where we go to find it. I imagine the idea of punk as being an underground movement, primarily. This corresponds with mythic ideas of depth and the underworld. Punk as an idea and as a movement presents an adverse response to the values and ideas of our upperworld lives, where we live and work. Whatever directions our upperworlds are moving, along with whatever ambitions we ourselves have planted there, the punk impulse wants to move into the opposite direction. In the middle of one of the most tumultuous and chaotic moments in the history of our species, the idea of punk may provide as with an answer to the darknesses of the upperworld other than fear or despair. It shows us, rather, its own form of darkness down in the depths, where we remember our roots, and perhaps where we must look to in order to reclaim our own humanity in a world where hatred, division, and the will to power over all others feels like it is winning the day.

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., humanity has now embarked upon a new Promethean fantasy of the soul. It has also opened up a new "Pandora's Box," with which we now have the tools and the power to make ourselves, the human race, obsolete. Amongst the very real existential crises and challenges this new technology potentially brings to our daily living, the quesiton of where soul is to be found is perhaps more prescient and vital than ever. An exploration of the Anima Mundi, or "soul of the world," may have something to teach us about how we can bring soul back, not just to our own species, but to the earth and all its various inhabitants as well. We will explore why soul, which can only be discovered in the imagination, is something that cannot be replicated or replaced artificially...and why this is where our hope lies. Join me for Part #2 of this 2-Part series on A.I. & The "Anima Mundi."

With the advent of Artifical Intelligence, or A.I., humanity has now embarked upon a new Promethean fantasy of the soul. It has also opened up a new "Pandora's Box," with which we now have the tools and the power to make ourselves, the human race, obsolete. Amongst the very real existential crises and challenges this new technology potentially brings to our daily living, the question of where soul is to be found is perhaps more prescient and vital than ever. An exploration of the Anima Mundi, or "soul of the world," may have something to show us about how we can bring soul back, not just to our own species, but to the earth and all its various inhabitants as well. We will explore why soul, which can only be discovered in the imagination, is something that cannot be replicated or replaced artificially...and why this is where our hope lies. Join me for this 2-Part series and A.I. & The "Anima Mundi," and welcome to Part #1.

Through the lens of James Hillman's theory on archetypal psychology, I explore the phenomenon of "fundamentalism" as a psychological one, primarily. Arguing that this is an aspect of a monotheistic vision of the soul, I explore the implications of its cultural, religious, and political impact on the world, and how this relates to the rise of an authoritarian impulse we are currently witnessing worldwide.

As a species, we humans traditionally do not handle paradoxical tensions well. Whether in the individual human soul or in relationship to each other, our failure to understand the wisdom of certain tensions and learn how to balance them well inevitably leads to war. History bears all the scars of our repeated cycles of war and peace (or breaks from war). We live in a moment of history where unbridled power, cruelty, dehumanization, and a collective insanity are exerting themselves in a way that is overwhelming, violent, deadly, callous, and indifferent. In this episode I explore the aspects of power and eros, what each of them has to offer us, and why these two energies are diametrically opposed to each other.

Philosophers, theologians, and storytellers alike have been grappling with the phenomenon of the 'Self' since time immemorial, trying to describe what it is and what it is not. We all experience the paradoxical sensations of both separateness and unity. The Tale of the Half-Man is an exploration into what happens when part of a unified whole chooses to separate itself and make itself a distinction. In the case of this story, taken out of a chapter of my book, "The Fire That Never Dies: Dragons of the West," and retold here; it is envisioned within the context of a paradoxical tension between the archetypal energies of the "Divine Femine" and "Divine Masculine," and how the tension between the two offers us many choices on what to do with it, and the implications of those choices.

In this final chapter of my religious deconstruction journey, I talk about how my relationship with the faith and religion of my past looks and feels today, particularly in the context of tumultuous social and political upheaval in the United States. I acknowledge both the gifts I have received from the faith and religious community of my past, as well as a continued and growing anger and frustration in the face of the rising popularity of Christian Nationalism. I also express my raw and candid thoughts about the institutions that have seeded and nurtured the obsession to replace liberal democracy with religious theocracy and oligarchy, such as the Religious Right and the Moral Majority in America. Originating in the early 70's, they have together formed a religious/political super PAC, and have been the vehicle for neo-conservative think tanks such as Focus On the Family and the Heritage Foundation, the group responsible for the drafting of the "Project 2025" document/manifesto.

As my religious deconstruction story continues, I come full circle to the memory of my father, David, where nearly 20 years after his death I find an opportunity for inner reconciliation and peace. With the help of a good friend to walk me through a healing ceremony out in the wild deserts of Southern California, I find forgiveness, healing, redemption, and release. This episode concludes with a song...the only song I have ever written about my father directly. It walks through all the complex emotions I've had in relationship to him over the years. The children's voices at the end of the song are my own lovely children, recorded when they were much younger than they are today!

In this episode I recount the years where I was getting ready to graduate from college but having little to no direction as to where to go in life and what to do next. A serendipitous chain of events in my senior year of college opened the door to an unexpected pathway which led me to go to graduate school where I studied to become a therapist. This proved to be a frutiful time of personal, spiritual, and educational enlightenment and renaissance for me, and I still recount those years as some of the most fulfilling and illuminating of my life to date. In this period, new questions were appearing to me I had not yet considered, but were compelling for me to follow and unpack. Many discoveries I made during this time contributed to my ongoing journey of deconstruction in ways I had not yet anticipated.

In this episode my story resumes around my early college years and the particular struggles I was having and developing around that time. Having covertly lost my faith in the church of my upbringing and my larger faith in God beginning to erode rapidly, I set out to look for answers and the truth beyond the familiar confines of my religious community; outside the borders of its theological tenets, assumptions, and presumptions. Giving myself the gift of this freedom did come with a cost. I had left my community and its various safety nets behind. This episode concludes with a prophetic dream I had that helped me to open the doors to my own sense of self-efficacy and confidence in ways I had previously been unable to develop.