The Sacred Speaks

How each of us takes in, and adapts to, the experiences of our lives create various preconceptions about the world and our place in it. Dr. Winborn, psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst, works as a psychotherapist a vocation that he believes helps to free us from those preconceptions, or limitations to our lives. In the conversation we discuss: the nature of our psychological experience and how psychotherapy, in particular, psychoanalytic therapies aid in the integration and assimilation of aspects of the unconscious; the value of everyday language so that concepts are not reified and thereby extracted from their context; the concept of reverie as a state of mind that gets out of task mode, wherein we direct out thinking, and into a state that allows the images, affects, perceptions, memories, etc. and more. Bio: Dr. Mark Winborn is a licensed clinical psychologist, Jungian psychoanalyst, and nationally certified psychoanalyst with over 30 years of clinical experience. He provides individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis for adults in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Winborn is a training/ supervising analyst of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts. He has served as the Training Coordinator of the Memphis Jungian Seminar, is on the faculty of the C.G. Jung Institute of Zurich and the Moscow Association for Analytical Psychology as well as visiting faculty at a number of institutes and seminars both in the USA and internationally. He is available for clinical psychoanalytic supervision and speaking engagements. http://www.drmarkwinborn.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Juke Jones Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/bluff-city-breakdown/1495562311 Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

In this conversation Dr. Erik Goodwyn and Dr. John Price discuss the foundation of Jung and his place as both a mystical thinker and an empirical thinker; the structure of the psyche; how evolution and structures of language and literature connect; the philosophy of mind – where Jung fits in the analysis of how mind and matter interact; where science and religion interact; ways brain physiology shapes and informs subjective experience, symbols, and stories; cross-cultural links between similar stories; definition of terms such as archetype and collective-unconscious; the nature of reduction and this tendency influences mind and the body; qualia; the genome; epigenetics; dreams and their structure; and more. Bio: Dr. Goodwyn received his undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University in 1996, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He received his Master's Degree in Anatomy and Neurobiology from Western Kentucky University in 2000, where he published two articles. In 2005, Dr. Goodwyn received his Medical Degree from the University of Cincinnati. He completed his Psychiatry residency at Wright State University in 2009, where he received a "superior" ranking in every category from Academic/Clinical Evaluation covering residency training. Dr. Goodwyn has Post-Residency in Psychodynamic Training Psychotherapy and Supervision, which is ongoing 2-4 hours per month (since 2008). Topics include psychodynamic methods, analytical psychology, dream analysis, and relationship between spirituality and psychology. He also has formal accredited post-graduate training in Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD. Presently, Dr. Goodwyn is an Instructor at the University of Louisville, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He supervises long-term psychotherapy for psychiatric residents, is an instructor for medical students and residents, provides clinical care (including medication management and psychotherapy for diverse populations) and completes research and academic writing. His previous work history includes Clinic Chief at the Minot Air Force Base Mental Health Outpatient Services in North Dakota. He was a supervisor and manager for Mental Health, Family Advocacy, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Clinics. He was a Quality Assurance Provider, which supervised, evaluated, and monitored civilian contractors (including mental health technicians, licensed social workers, and clinical psychologists). He was Chief of the Traumatic Stress Response Team at the Minot Air Force Base. He led Mental Health programs for 11,000 beneficiaries at the largest Personal Reliability Program base in the military. He evaluated hundreds of pre- and post-deployers for mental health symptoms or illness, thereby increased Air Force readiness and reduced risk of trauma. He also performed Sanity Boards for service members under investigation at Whiteman AFB and Grand Forks AFB. University of Louisville profile: https://louisville.edu/medicine/departments/psychiatry/faculty/faculty-1/erik-goodwyn-m.d Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Ansley Instagram: @ansleytxmusic Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ansley/546947596 https://open.spotify.com/album/3lY9YTCjI21vd4ztnkJv7i?si=IEKHRLuqQuuNXPi12D4nQA Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

The podcast delves into the importance of listening to how our body communicates with us, exploring the limitations of the thinking mind and the nature of communication. It discusses integrating psycho-emotional energy, the interconnectedness of body, mind, and energy shaping our experiences, and the transformative impact of yoga. The dialogue emphasizes embracing vulnerability, respecting and understanding our bodies, and connecting with our inner teacher for holistic healing.

In this episode of The Sacred Speaks, John Price speaks with Dr. Thomas Moore. Through the conversation, they discuss Dr. Moore’s early development, James Hillman and Carl Jung’s influence upon him, and his work with soul as an author and psychotherapist for most of his life. Throughout the conversation, it becomes clear that the psychotherapeutic approach that Thomas grounds himself in is not typical of modern psychology. What he seeks is to broaden how each of us views our lived experience. His approach is one that works to expand how each of us imagines our psychological experience. Thomas speaks less from the perspective that many of us have come to expect from a modern psychotherapist, as he draws more from the wells of philosophy and religion. From his perspective, the psychotherapist is tending to the nature of soul. In modern psychological approaches, the movements of our psychological, social, spiritual, and biological selves are often reduced to pathologies. One consequence: we each may interpret our inner experience in a negative and undesirable way, as opposed to relating with those parts of ourselves in a deeper and more imaginative way. Tending to the soul is a way of noticing that how we imagine our world and ourselves has enormous power in our lives. Therefore, Thomas seeks to help those with whom he works, reimagine themselves and their world. Bio: Thomas Moore is the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul. He has written twenty-four other books about bringing soul to personal life and culture, deepening spirituality, humanizing medicine, finding meaningful work, imagining sexuality with soul, and doing religion in a fresh way. In his youth, he was a Catholic monk and studied music composition. He has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Syracuse University and was a university professor for a number of years. He is also a psychotherapist influenced mainly by C. G. Jung and James Hillman. In his work he brings together spirituality, mythology, depth psychology and the arts, emphasizing the importance of images and imagination. He often travels and lectures, hoping to help create a more soulful society. His family members are also deeply involved in spiritual approaches to the arts: His wife, Hari Kirin, is an accomplished painter and teaches a course she has created on Yoga and Art; his daughter Ajeet is a musician and recording artist and spiritual teacher; his stepson Abraham is an architect focusing on design related to the social aspects of building. Thomas also writes fiction, arranges music and plays golf in New Hampshire, where he has lived for twenty years. http://thomasmooresoul.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: www.ianmoore.com Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/ian-moores-got-the-green-grass/119833547 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

What happens when people are provided a place and the space to ask questions about their lives that, up until that point, they assumed could not be explored? Maybe nothing, or perhaps life takes on new meaning. When have you been able to question the meaning systems of your life freely, that each tends to possess enormous influence, but that also may have been adopted from others close to you? As a child, Stuart moved all over the world, encountering new experiences and foreign territory, which positions him to have a unique lens through which to see everyday experience. On some level, these early experiences guided him into graduate studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the renowned Dr. Anne Taves, for his studies in religion and cognitive sciences. There, and under her guidance, he began to integrate different academic systems and philosophies of thought, further broadening and strengthening his pursuit of the mysterious and meaningful. Stuart Nelson is the vice president of The Institute for Spirituality and Health (ISH), a nonprofit located in the medical center of Houston. The mission of I.S.H. is to explore the various gaps between spirituality, religious practice, health, and healing. Stuart mines multiple theories and methods found primarily within the humanities with the belief that these theories reveal immense, untapped value for the health care industry, business practices, legal concerns, nonprofits, and other professional settings. Bio: Stuart Nelson has served as the Institute for Spirituality and Health’s Vice-President for the past six years. In this capacity, he uses his training in both the sciences and the humanities to creatively organize and execute a broad range of programs and services, as well as to help manage the Institute's long term vision, strategic plan, and general operations. Stuart grew up in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, attending international schools until college. He earned bachelor's degrees in cognitive science, religious studies, and psychology from Rice University. During this time, he realized that the scholarly study of religion has tremendous potential to inform and compliment health systems. He completed a masters in religious studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he used theories and methods from cognitive science of religion to inform work at the intersection between religious identity and mental health. This passion extends to his current work. Stuart enjoys hip-hop, classic rock, and classical Indian music, as well as impressionism, surrealism, and modern art. Additionally, he is an avid birder. https://www.spiritualityandhealth.org Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Sound Team Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/movie-monster/715976598 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

Erin Prophet, MPH, Ph.D., is an author and scholar who studies religious experience and narratives of self-improvement and transcendence. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida where she teaches about cults and new religious movements, nature and the environment, and spirituality and health. In this conversation, we explore the nature of belief, charismatic authority, reincarnation, religious studies and most importantly, how her unique childhood and development influences her studies of religion and health. Erin’s parents were the leaders of a new religious group whose practices were based in esoteric religious practices. The members of the Church Universal and Triumphant would eventually take the prophecy of a nuclear strike that Erin’s mother, Elizabeth Clarie Prophet, divinized from “the masters” – those mystical soul’s and leaders who, it was believed, had something to say about the way that they were living their lives. Bio: Erin Prophet is a scholar of religion with interests in alternative spirituality and medicine. She has a master’s degree in public health (epidemiology concentration) from Boston University and received her PhD from Rice University in May 2018. Her master's practicum looked at characteristics of long-term survival in non-small cell lung cancer. Her dissertation examines the nineteenth-century appropriation of “evolution” as a form of personal improvement and self-transcendence. It is entitled “Evolution Esotericized: Conceptual Blending and the Emergence of Secular, Therapeutic Salvation.” She is currently a lecturer in religion, nature and health at the University of Florida. http://www.eprophet.info Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Mills and Co. Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-ever-look-back-twice/501579556 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

Music offers one of the most potent spiritual metaphors that exists, and Patrick Summers, the artistic and music director of the Houston Grand Opera, has plenty to say about the subject of spirituality and music. He positions the operatic voice as the expression of a unique sonic vocal print that vibrates atoms between the singer and the listener’s ears. In his book, The Spirit of This Place: How Music Illuminates the Human Spirit, he writes, “But precisely because music is both an intellectual and an aesthetic pursuit, it is the perfect metaphor for how I believe one must live: with vast respect for provable knowledge and genuine expertise, but never at the expense of the deep joy and wonder of that knowledge, using what can be learned to marvel at what can never be explained” (2018, p. 147). The science and theory of music notes that an E flat played anywhere at any time in the world is still an E flat, but the infinite ways in which this note can be contextualized and performed open the notes, timbre, rhythm, beat, and melody to communicate that which cannot be reduced to the former collection of sounds and spaces. Patrick is a champion for struggling against the dominance of our culture’s tendency to force art and aesthetic practices into a transactional container. As it would appear that the only justification for an arts program today is the capacity to measure the ways in which art increases math skills, which it does; but I would argue that nobody brought to tears listening to a piece of music or by reading a beautiful poem considers the utility of the quadratic formula in that moment. We discuss the fact that while the arts in education may not teach a person how to get a job, they may, and often do, help a person discover who they are and how to be in the world. Summers graduated from the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in music in 1986. Upon graduation, he participated in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program as an apprentice coach in 1986 and 1987, and won the Otto Guth Memorial Award for excellence in vocal coaching both years. Summers’ first professional engagement, with San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater, was conducting La bohème in their 1986/87 season. In 1989, Summers began his tenure as the music director of the San Francisco Opera Center, a training program for young singers; his first mainstage production, Die Fledermaus, was in 1990. In 1998, Summers was made Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, a position he has held since. 1998 also saw Summers’ Metropolitan Opera conducting debut in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. As Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, Summers oversaw the foundation and development of the HGO Orchestra. Prior to the orchestra’s foundation, HGO hired outside orchestras for its productions. Since 1998, Summers has conducted over 50 productions at Houston Grand Opera, including seven world premieres (notably Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree in 2000). In 2011, following Anthony Freud’s move to Chicago Lyric Opera, Summers was named Houston Grand Opera’s Artistic and Music Director. In 2002, he won a Grammy Award for his audio recording Bel Canto, with soprano Renée Fleming and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Summers's book The Spirit of This Place: How Music Illuminates the Human Spirit released in 2018 from University of Chicago Press. https://www.houstongrandopera.org Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Renee Fleming and Patrick Summers, Bel Canto Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/ren%C3%A9e-fleming-bel-canto-scenes/1452542018 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

46: Culture and religious practice. A conversation with Tanya Lurhmann. Dr. Lurhmann, professor and psychological anthropologist at Stanford University, begins our conversation defining the term culture. She answers the question: What are the patterns of culture that inform how we should think and behave, and what happens when our individuality and the culture are at odds? Dr. Lurhmann is interested in the power of the mind and how certain aspects of the imagination and one’s intentions inform their experience of the world. She posits that our emotions – the inner world of an individual – can influence the experience of the outer world. We discuss the underlying social and relational structures of various cultures and how these universal patterns reflect for all of us hidden and inner aspects of each of us. Dr. Lurhmann is interested in the power of our human experience. We explore her early work with witchcraft in England as an entry into her current work as presented in her book, When God Talks Back, wherein she engages an evangelical Christian community to understand their relationship with God. She notes that throughout the book, she is trying to figure out how Jesus becomes a relatable person for those practitioners who seek a personal relationship with the divine. We discuss the formation of modern Christianity in the west and explore the changing definition of the term belief – obviously, how we define this term has a massive influence on our modern notion of religion. One particular aspect of the evangelical community that Dr. Lurhmann is interested in is the practice of prayer as an active experience, wherein the individual acts “as if” God is present – this has reportable and noticeable consequences for the individual and the community at large. Bio: Tanya Marie Luhrmann is the Watkins University Professor in the Stanford Anthropology Department, with a courtesy appointment in Psychology. Her work focuses on the edge of experience: on voices, visions, the world of the supernatural and the world of psychosis. She has done ethnography on the streets of Chicago with homeless and psychotic women, and worked with people who hear voices in Chennai, Accra and the South Bay. She has also done fieldwork with evangelical Christians who seek to hear God speak back, with Zoroastrians who set out to create a more mystical faith, and with people who practice magic. She uses a combination of ethnographic and experimental methods to understand the phenomenology of unusual sensory experiences, the way they are shaped by ideas about minds and persons, and what we can learn from this social shaping that can help us to help those whose voices are distressing. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003 and received a John Guggenheim Fellowship award in 2007. When God Talks Back was named a NYT Notable Book of the Year and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and received the 2014 Grawemeyer Award for Religion, a prize that carries $100,000. She has published over thirty OpEds in The New York Times, and her work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, Science News, and many other publications. Her new book, Our Most Troubling Madness: Schizophrenia and Culture, was published by the University of California Press in October 2016. Stanford profile: https://profiles.stanford.edu/tanya-luhrmann https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/ Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: Polydogs Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/polydogs/1457744929 Website: http://polydogstx.com Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

Deborah holds the honorable position as the poet laureate of Houston nominated by Mayor Sylvester Turner, and her presence is known any time she is around. This conversation explores aspects of her background that are necessary threads to the formation of her current self. Her poetry ranges from the profoundly contemplative to the deeply expressive – an evocative and challenging pairing for both herself and anyone who listens. She addresses themes of race, blackness, womanhood, black-womanhood, power, culture, development, and the like with a presence ranging from the emotionally vulnerable to the humorous. Her sharp wit is the wrapping that often delivers difficult conversations, and she demonstrates a way to wrestle with words and ideas that draw in any onlooker. This conversation will make you reflect. Deborah asks us all to celebrate our differences, reflect on our struggles, contemplate our existence in both private and social spaces, and connect, deeply, with each other. Bio: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton an internationally known Poet, Singer, Actress, Photographer, Wife, Mother, and the first Black, Poet Laureate for the City of Houston. Heralded as a "Literary Genius" by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, this California native was formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Poet in the World. D.E.E.P. has established herself as a notable force in the Performance and Literary World. She published her first collection of poetry at the tender age of 19. From there, she went onto compete at CUPSI as a member of the 2004 University of Michigan Slam Team while simultaneously touring with the WordWorks Poetry Troupe across the Midwest. She released her first full-length album in 2009 titled "The Unfinished Work of a Genius". It is a collection of original songs and poems that explore ideas around spirituality and personal growth. Her sophomore album, "Beautiful Rebellion" is available now. It explores more socially themed poems. She has been featured on BBC, NPR, Upworthy, Blavity, Tedx, Button Poetry, Write About Now, and the opening video of the 2017-2018 Houston Rockets Season. Her collaboration with the Houston Ballet celebrated Houston's resilience and provided hope for the City after Hurricane Harvey. She has also shared stages with Nikki Giovanni, Talib Kweli, MC Lyte, Amiri Baraka, John Legend, Slick Rick, Slum Village, Karen Clark-Shield, Raheem Devaughn, Trae Tha Truth, Devin the Dude, Def Poet Sunni Patterson, Def Comedy Jam's Rodman, Regie Gibson, Buddy Wakefield, Danez Smith, Roxane Gay, and multiple local and national political figures. Her newest collection, Newsworthy, examines incidents with police brutality and the Black body and how the media chooses to report them. Her up and coming projects include an opera, Marian's Song, in collaboration with The Houston Grand Opera, and a regional tour as part of the Texas Commission on the Arts touring roster. She currently serves as the Senior Editor of Relationships for Raising Mothers Magazine. Deborah Mouton website: https://www.livelifedeep.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the Week: DJ Shadow featuring De La Soul Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/album/rocket-fuel-feat-de-la-soul/1472791626?i=1472791631 Website: https://djshadow.com Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/

A week or so before recording this episode I asked Justin if he would lead a poetry workshop during the conversation. In a few words, what came out was raw and real. Justin is one of the better songwriters I know, not only because of his gift with language, but also because he approaches the craft with reverence and respect. He seeks to deepen his practice with each pass and he has a gift of a sharp wit that I find myself enjoying through each of our exchanges. “What better person to speak to the craft of creativity?” was my thought, and I was right. This episode explores the craft of poetry, songwriting and performing. The conversation invites welcomed interruptions in the form of Justin’s songs. In fact, in preparation for this episode, Justin wrote the first part of a song that he work shopped throughout the conversation – the episode finishes with the complete song that Justin shared with me a few weeks after the recording. Justin shares personal stories with a degree of vulnerability that, no doubt, infuses his whole process. Bio: Texas born, and Austin-based, Justin Stewart tends to write about the places he inhabits. He grew up splitting his time between Houston and Galveston Island. Family vacations were not to Colorado like many Texans, but to the more "modest" Austin, which his mother liked best because “the air and water were cleaner.” From an early age, Justin knew he would never leave Texas and likely land in Austin. Stewart's first solo record, Flagship (2013) was produced by Kevin Russell (Shinyribs/Gourds). A bit of intimidating praise came Stewart's way when Russell called the record "remarkable or extraordinary," Stewart's response: "That kinda scared me because I did not have my process down to maintain such vulnerability." Stewart's sophomore album, City Fox (2015) was produced by George Reiff (Joe Walsh, Jacob Dylan, Chris Robinson), and is the gem that came from a 2014 west Texas residency. Stewart lived and wrote in the dusty border town of Presidio. Stewart's third record, Renaissance was produced by Stephen Belans (Radney Foster, Billy Cassis). Players include Bukka Allen on keys (Ryan Bingham, Jack Ingram), Chris Searles on drums (Alejandro Escovedo, Shawn Colvin), Geoff Queen on guitars and pedal steel (Kelly Willis, Randy Rodgers), and John Mike on bass (Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard). The February 2017 session was held at Ronjo Studio. Jim Vollentine was on engineering. The record was released in the spring of 2018. Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Justin Stewart Music Page: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/justin-stewart/1464710413 Website: https://www.justinstewartmusic.com Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/