The Mystic Cave

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

We might think of the desert as a wasteland, a place devoid of life. But that's not how Richard LeSueur sees it. He's spent over thirty years not only studying the wilderness of the Middle East but leading pilgrims out into its vastness for overnight excursions. He knows that in the silence and apparent emptiness of the desert, the richness of one's own spiritual journey can only rise to the surface. After all, it was the wilderness that turned Jesus from a carpenter's son into the Son of God.

To see the topics covered in this conversation and their time markers, click on the Chapters tab above.

To learn more about Richard's pilgrimage tours: https://pilgrimroutes.ca
To contact Richard directly: [email protected]

Recommendation: "Letters from the Desert" by Carlo Carretto; Orbit Books, 1982. 

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

Becoming reacquainted with the natural world seems daunting at first. We've lived so long indoors, amusing ourselves to death with things that go Ping!, we've almost forgotten what it's like to be part of nature, how to be, what to do.

Michael Trotta, with whom I spoke last fall about myths and fairy tales, agreed to return to The Mystic Cave to give me a hand. A survivalist teacher and personal coach, Michael walked me through a program of reentry. First, I had to lose my busy brain with its grand delusions of communing with coyotes and talking to trees. But then, as I learned to still myself, nature did begin to approach me, but not like I'd imagined. Deeper.

Topics:
For a breakdown of the topics we covered in this conversation and their time markers, just click the “Chapters” tab above.

Episode Links:
Michael's web site and podcast on myths and fairy tales: https://www.storymischief.com
Lynn Trotta's web site on nature-based wisdom and guidance: https://www.lynntrotta.com
The previous Mystic Cave episode that introduces this topic: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1577227/episodes/10468817-into-the-wild-ageing-nature-and-a-horse-named-jackson

Resources:
Michael's book: "Sit Spot and the Art of Inner Tracking" by R. Michael Trotta; Sagefire Institute, 2013 (available on Amazon) 

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

I had started to think that my Nature Boy days were over. For one thing, I wasn't a boy anymore. And Nature seemed a lot less friendly than it used to, perhaps even malevolent. So why go out at all? Except, that way death lies. A slow death, my body atrophying by degree.

But Nature has begun calling to me anew, as if we weren't through with each other yet. In fact, my spiritual path "on the other side of church land" might be leading me, not just beyond the walls of the church, but right back out into the natural world, which I never should have left in the first place. This is the story of a spiritual journey ... into the wild.

Credits:
All sound effects during the interludes reproduced under Creative Commons 0 Licence, with the exception of Interlude #3: "Outro a12" by Setuniman on FreeSounds, Attribution Noncommercial Licence; and "Record Scratch" by luffy on FreeSounds, Attribution License.

Photo by David Billings on Unsplash

Resources:
The Animas Valley Institute: https://www.animas.org
Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth; Sierra Club, 1988
Bill Plotkin, Soul Craft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche , New World Library, 2003
 ____________, Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, New World Library, 2008
____________. WildMind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, New World Library, 2013
____________. The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries, New World Library, 2021

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

Hope is sometimes harder to define, out here "on the other side of church land," but it's not hard to find. At Easter, in church services across the land, worshipers joyfully rise to sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!" as if that's all the hope we really need. Meanwhile, among those of us who feel less sure about what Jesus' resurrection has to do with the rest of us, we look instead, not to some eventual rising from the grave, but to the seeds of new life hidden deep within this mortal frame, even within death itself. In this episode I speak with poet Juleta Severson-Baker about the power of words to evoke such hope in us. Somehow, the intentional, well-chosen words of a poem can draw our gaze to the present moment, with all its dark challenges, where we find not despair, but a reason to live. "Alleluia" indeed!

Credits:
Poems read in this episode are either in the public domain, or credited as follows:
"my daughter tells me her generation is buckling under the anxiety about climate change while we drive our car down a highway" by Juleta Severson-Baker (unpublished)
"The Well of Grief" by David Whyte; published by Many Rivers Press, 1990
"Oh Children" by Margaret Atwood in DEARLY; published by McClelland and Stewart, 2020 (permission pending)
"July" by Juleta Severson-Baker in EVERY WORD SPOKEN; published by Leaf Press, 2013
"Franz Marc Blue Horses" by Mary Oliver from BLUE HORSES; published by Penguin Press, 2014 (permission pending)

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

People respond differently to childhood trauma. For some, addiction seems to promise something it cannot actually deliver: relief from suffering. The initial high, with its accompanying delusions of power and invincibility, soon dissipates, leaving the addict alone with their pain ... and therefore with the compulsion to drink or to use again. It took Mitch T years to learn this. Drawn into drug addiction, then to crime, and then sentenced to serious jail time, it took a life-threatening beating in prison to set him, finally, on a path back to himself. That path demanded that he deal with the scars of his childhood trauma. But it also freed him from his addiction and empowered him to speak inspirationally to young people about their own choices.  To hell and back. This is Mitch's story of resilience.

Resources:
The Alberta Seventh Step Society: https://www.albertaseventhstep.com
Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help-problematic-substance-use.html
About 12-Step Programs: https://www.addictioncenter.com/treatment/12-step-programs/

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

It is perhaps the ultimate betrayal, the abuse of a child by their own parent. It offends every ounce of decency within us, and hints at a darkness so horrible we don't want to hear about it, much less talk about it. Yet, talking about it is the way we will eradicate it. After over thirty years of working with victims and survivors, Jan Handy has written a beautiful and thoughtful book, titled, The Secret Tribe, about her own childhood abuse and about the "tribe" of abuse survivors who offer to each other a voice, a shoulder, and a sanctuary where they can share their recovery. As horrific as Jan's personal story is, it rings with truth and hopefulness. She found the strength to turn her pain into the healing that would help others. This is her story of resilience.

Jan's book:
The Secret Tribe, published by Friesen Press, 2018

You can contact Jan through me:
[email protected]

Resources from the Government of Canada:
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/fv-vf/ca-me.html
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/resources.html

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

If we want to look our enemy in the eye, we needn't look any further than the mirror. Our ego beguiles us, puffing us up, and our fears taunt us, pulling us down, and in some ways we really are our own worst enemy. But a line gets crossed when our delusions scramble our measure of what is real and what is fantasy. For those who suffer from bipolar disorder, this disconnect can drive them to despair, fuelled by manic accomplishment, at one end of the spectrum, and debilitating depression, at the other. Allan Cooper's first manic episode, at twenty-five, robbed him of a promising career and set his life on a course he could not have imagined. But all was not lost. Fighting his way back to life, Allan discovered new dreams and a new reason for living. This is his story of resilience.

Allan's blog and podcast:
https://www.bipolarweekly.com/podcast/interview-lindsay-rawding-prospect-human-services-peer-coordinator-discusses-employment-services-and-peer-support-program/

Contacting Allan (through me):
[email protected]

For further information and support:
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: https://www.dbsalliance.org/
CREST BD (The Collaborative RESearch Team), offering studies and resources regarding Bipolar Disorder: http://www.crestbd.ca/
International Bipolar Foundation: https://ibpf.org/

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

Abuse is one person's cruel and calculating control over another, the self-aggrandizement of the abuser purchased at the humiliating expense of the abused. It is soul damaging. But it need not be soul destroying. Louise Gallagher's story is a shining illustration of that. Finally free of a four-and-a-half year relationship with a man who spoke like a lover but acted like a puppeteer, Louise discovered that he had left part of her intact, the part that was still able to love. It was that love that brought her back to life, leaving her both stronger and wiser than before and able to inspire and encourage others caught in similar webs of deceit. This is her story of resilience.

Contacting Louise:
Web site: https://louisegallagher.ca
Blog: https://dareboldly.com

Leaving your comments:
Face Book: The Mystic Cave group
Email: [email protected]

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

Is Lent necessary? A cornerstone of Christian practice, this season of penitential preparation reminds believers not only that they are frail mortals, but also that they are miserable sinners. Does this have any place in a modern-day spirituality? Is it in any way helpful? After leading my congregations through almost forty seasons of Lenten observance, I look back and reflect that, no, Lent seems actually to be a pretty bad idea. Hear me out. And then let me know what you think.

Making a comment:
Email: [email protected]
Face Book: The Mystic Cave group

Credits:
All sound effects used during the interludes in this episode are under Creative Commons 0 License, with these exceptions:
Interlude #2: High School Canteen by Klankbeeld on Freesound
Interlude #6: Creaking2 by Chilsville on Freesound
Photo credit: Ahna Ziegler on Unsplash

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

Catholic theologian Karl Rahner said that the Christian of the future will be a mystic, or nothing at all. Could mysticism save Christianity? Could contemplative spirituality give the church back its life? Could it be a lifeline for those who've left the church but retain their faith? These are the questions I pursued with art educator, writer, and contemplative Arthur Aghajanian. His spiritual path of non-dualistic thinking and Eastern meditation eventually led him back to the deep, nourishing Oneness that flowed beneath the church's divisive beliefs and tired rituals, where the wisdom teachings of Jesus resound. It gives us pause (in good contemplative form), and it gives us hope.

Arthur's Web Site (including his art essays):
https://www.imageandfaith.com
About Contemplatives in Conversation (CIC): https://contemplativewriter.wixsite.com/contemplative/contemplatives
Meditation Chapel (online home to CIC): https://meditationchapel.org

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2026