Myth in the Mojave

Ensoulment is a film is about finding your true self and how to connect to the feminine without losing the masculine. It’s about the challenge facing men and women today, to live a full and satisfying life as a complete (ensouled) human being.

This documentary film weaves an animated journey into the inner life of Loris (created by award winning animator Patrick Smith) with commentary and insights from an impressive list of experts and academics with roots in Jungian psychology—including Dr. James Hollis, whose books are on my shelves. Ensoulment has received a Golden Palm award at the International Film Festival of Mexico and recently won the Grand Jury Prize at the Barcelona International Film Festival.

In this interview, Loris talks about the major themes in the film and a few of the things that she learned along the way. 

For more information about the film and to watch the trailer visit Ensoulment at http://www.ensoulmentfilm.com/

“When there is no judgment present, what is alive in you? What wants to be lived inside of you?”

Support the show

“We live in a world “which in some respects is mysterious; things can be experienced which remain inexplicable; not everything which happens can be anticipated. The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole. For me the world has from the beginning been infinite and ungraspable.” – C. G. Jung

C. G. Jung developed the term "synchronicity" to describe the common experience of "meaningful coincidence." Studies of synchronicity are unsettling some of the powers that be and raising questions about the integrity of scientific inquiry. 

Gary Bobroff, chief instigator and organizer of the Matter and Psyche: 2014 Synchronicity Symposium in Joshua Tree, CA, talks about synchronicity and the upcoming symposium. He provides a little background for the concept of synchronicity and shares his thoughts about why this could be a game-changing event. 

Gary Bobroff is author of Crop Circles, Jung, and the Reemergence of the Archetypal Feminine. For more information about Gary and his work, visit http://gsbobroff.com/.

Support the show

“I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”–Shakespeare “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year---and it marks the beginning of our return to the lingering darkness. Many people across time and cultures believed that the invisible world behind our familiar material plane was particularly accessible at this time. This meant that you could communicate with your ancestors and other members of the spirit world, as well as elves and fairies.

This idea is often pooh-poohed these days, as a relic of a less sophisticated time. But is it ridiculous to believe in fairies? Or are we taught to ignore or discount experiences that are rare and/or difficult to describe?

In this program I explore this question a bit, aided by a scholarly work on the topic, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. I also tell the story, “The Fairies of Merlin Craig” and a few anecdotes about folks who befriend fairies. These and other Scottish folk tales can be found at www. compassrose.org. 

Support the show

All of us are looking for something at some point in our lives. You might be searching for love, truth, wholeness, or self-realization. Myths and fairytales can teach us a lot about the quest and they follow a similar pattern. Even the story of how Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha. 

In this program, I tell the story of how Siddhartha became enlightened and draw a few parallels between his journey and fairytales like “Valemon the White Bear King.” 

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

Support the show

This program includes Part 2 (that’s the ending) of the Norwegian fairy tale “Valemon the White Bear King.” Here is the central question: Where do you enter this story? The details that grab your attention provide the clue.

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

Support the show

A Norwegian fairy tale similar to “The Maiden King” and to “Psyche and Eros,” in the archetypal nature of the metaphors and narrative structure. Much may be revealed when you listen to an old story like “Valemon the White Bear King”  and allow yourself to be drawn in.

I particularly love this story for the image of the white bear, and the reversal of gender roles…. but don’t let me give too much away. 

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

Support the show

In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell shared one his best known and most widely used ideas— the mythic pattern of the Hero’s Journey—, which has led some of us to ask about the Heroine and to wonder about Campbell’s views of the feminine.

We received one answer to this question, in the form of recently published book titled Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine, edited by Dr. Safron Rossi. This book is part of the ongoing work of the Joseph Campbell Foundation to organize and publish Campbell’s scholarship on a wide range of mythological topics.

I had the good fortune and privilege of talking with Dr. Rossi about Campbell’s view of the divine feminine and the possible significance of this book for our time. She also shares her insight into Campbell and the transformational energy of the divine feminine.

Support the show

"The Maiden King" is another classic Russian fairy tale that features the Baba Yaga, only this time the hero is a young man named Ivan who is assisted in his quest by the Baba and the magical Firebird.

The Baba Yaga is a dangerous crone who has no patience for the naive and stupid. She is a guardian of the mysteries of life and death and maybe a face of the Great Mother Goddess herself--- and all of us must meet her and pass her tests to become mature human beings.

MITM theme music by Travis Rosenberg. Thanks to Radio Free Joshua Tree for providing MITM a home on internet radio-- and thank you for listening!

Support the show

In the Russian fairy tale “Vasilisa the Wise,” a dying mother gives her little daughter a doll and tells the girl to turn to it for help and comfort. The doll’s guidance turns out to be essential, which raises the question: what is the doll?

When C.G. Jung was a boy, he carved a little manikin out of wood, dressed it in a wool coat, and kept it in his pencil case. He developed a set of rituals around the doll and the thought of it comforted him. The manikin personified his secret connection to psyche and the life-force. Jung describes his experience in Memories, Dreams, Reflections. “No one could discover my secret and destroy it,” he writes. “I felt safe, and the tormenting sense of being at odds with myself was gone.”

Jung’s experience and the tale of Vasilisa speak to the importance of the symbolic life, an imaginative connection to psyche that enables us to move forward in life. Maybe this story will motivate you to experiment with a “doll” of your own.

Support the show

Poetry is the language of our time. It is a verbal excavation, digging us into and under that which is inarticulate, that which cannot be said but can be felt, that which cannot be stated but can be conjured. Poetry is a form of revolution. It arranges our thinking, our perception, our dialogue. It takes us out of the literal so that we can see what is real.”     Eve Ensler

How do you open your heart, feed your soul, and challenge your mind in a matter of minutes? What can break up the concrete of our habitual perception and turn our trusty assumptions on their head?

A poem.

In this program we explore the relationship between the poetic form, language, and truth, and celebrate the power of poetry to subvert conventional assumptions and dogmas. I read some of the poems that are moving me right now, including:

Poetry by Pablo Neruda

King of the River by Stanley Kunitz

Split the Sack by Rumi (trans by Coleman Barks)

Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye

Annunciation by Marie Howe

Against Certainty by Jane Hirshfield

Meditation at Lagunitas by Robert Haas

Support the show