

Be Mythical
Lian Brook-Tyler & Jonathan Wilkinson: Be Mythical
The Be Mythical podcast is a top 1.5% globally ranked show for old souls in this new world to be inspired, guided, and activated by deep, soul-stirring explorations with remarkable thinkers, wisdom keepers, visionaries, and healers about how to overcome the greatest challenge of your life… To become your unique medicine and actualise your own soul’s myth.
Old souls are the ones who came here in these crazy modern times to do vital work in service of Spirit and their communities… typically as spiritual practitioners, coaches, innovators, disruptors, healers, teachers, medicine people, and visionary leaders.
We’ve been running since 2014 so there are hundreds of mythical, magical, and mystical episodes to choose from that weave together ancient ways for modern days… shamanism, archetypal work, rewilding, embodiment, alchemy, psychedelics and plant medicine, astrology, non-dual spirituality, shadow work, and so much more.
In short, Be Mythical is the antidote for old souls struggling to find their way in this new world.
Listen now to join us for the mythical adventure that your soul has been calling you into.
Our love and blessings,
Lian & Jonathan
Old souls are the ones who came here in these crazy modern times to do vital work in service of Spirit and their communities… typically as spiritual practitioners, coaches, innovators, disruptors, healers, teachers, medicine people, and visionary leaders.
We’ve been running since 2014 so there are hundreds of mythical, magical, and mystical episodes to choose from that weave together ancient ways for modern days… shamanism, archetypal work, rewilding, embodiment, alchemy, psychedelics and plant medicine, astrology, non-dual spirituality, shadow work, and so much more.
In short, Be Mythical is the antidote for old souls struggling to find their way in this new world.
Listen now to join us for the mythical adventure that your soul has been calling you into.
Our love and blessings,
Lian & Jonathan
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 8, 2025 • 56min
How to manifest beyond vision boards: metaphysics & morality - Mike Bais
In this week’s show Lian is joined once again by Mike Bais. Mike is Lian’s own Kabbalah teacher, a physiotherapist, counsellor, university lecturer and author, also having had his own practice for many years. He is a trained priest in the esoteric christian tradition, which lead him to follow the mystical side of this lineage called the A.S.A. (Apostolic Succession of Arimathea). He believes that the Teachings of Christ are universal and should not be limited to a religious structure. His esoteric training comes from the western mystery tradition and the Toledano Kabbalah. Living in the Netherlands (Utrecht) he extensively worked with teachers and groups in the UK. After some decades of study and practice in the western esoteric tradition, the inner work came together in these three streams or disciplines that make up the Circle of Avalon. Mike sees it as his life’s work to teach these traditions to whomever wishes to receive them. He is a mystic and teacher by nature and through his groups, individual sessions, workshops and writing, transmits them in the most pure and true way he knows. Mike is the author of 3 books: Paths on the Tree of Wisdom – A course in 21st Century Kabbalah, A Kabbalistic view on science: Book 1 and A Kabbalistic view on science: Book 2. In this episode, Lian and Mike look at manifestation through its deeper metaphysical roots. They touch on how morality shapes what we bring into being, the psyche as the passage between the unseen and the physical, and the limits of trying to manifest from the surface of the mind alone. Together they reflect on how unconscious manifestation plays out all the time and why consciousness changes everything. They look at what actually helps: focus that holds steady in a distracted world, alignment across mind, body, and soul, and devotion to a principle that keeps us centred when life pulls us apart. Listen if you’ve ever questioned why vision boards only go so far, wondered what really makes manifestation work, or felt the tension between your desires and what serves something greater. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How the psyche acts as a filter for manifestation, shaping not just what we want but why we want it Why alignment across body, psyche, and soul is the difference between scattered wishing and true creation What happens when focus and devotion become your North Star in a culture set up to scatter attention Resources and stuff spoken about: Mike’s websites: http://www.circleofavalon.nl http://www.kabbalahmysticalschool.com Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Oct 2, 2025 • 1h 1min
Shamanism vs animism: how to live spiritually in modern times - Nicholas Breeze Wood
In this week’s show, Lian is joined by Nicholas Breeze Wood. Nicholas has practiced shamanism for over 40 years, combining it with the 'earthier' end of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as with 'medicine' teachings from Native North American peoples. He has worked with many gifted medicine people and shamans over the years, and is deeply apprenticed to his own spirit helpers, whose teachings never fail to awe and surprise him. Nick’s shamanism is a fusion of traditional Himalayan and Mongolian forms, combined with teachings from his own spirits. He works especially deeply with ritual objects - such as bronze shaman's mirrors, phurba daggers and many other Mongolian and Tibetan shamanic and Buddhist ritual objects - for which he holds traditional teachings and, where required, traditional initiations. Despite being a ‘rather uneducated Buddhist,’ he is an ordained Tibetan Buddhist lama, a type called a ngakpa, whose role is similar to a shaman’s. Ngakpas are non-monastic, non-celebrate lamas who live in the community, specialising in ritual and magic for people within their community. Nick is the editor of Sacred Hoop Magazine - a leading international magazine about shamanism - which has been published since 1993. He is also a musician and artist. He is the author of several books including, 'Walking with the Tiger,' 'Sacred Drums of Siberia,' 'A Little Book of Revealing,' 'Voices From The Earth,' 'The Book of the Shaman,' 'The Shaman Box,' and 'The Resplendent Other'. He runs the large Facebook group 3Worlds Shamanism, has done a podcast called the 3Worlds shamanism podcast on and off since 2006 and also has a somewhat neglected YouTube channel, also called 3Worlds Shamanism. In this conversation, Lian and Nick trace the line between animism and shamanism. They explore how industrial life thinned our old ways, and what simple rites restore a living conversation with the more-than-human world. They look at what actually helps: a small daily offering that slows you down, a tree-side ceremony that teaches you to listen, and the humility of walking behind the sacred rather than in front. Listen if you have felt the pull back to nature and wondered whether it means animist, shamanist, or simply human… answering an innate way of seeing. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How a living-matter view changes our lives, and why calling it “animism” might clarify the pull you already feel Why simple offerings reshape your pace and attention, and how reciprocity steadies you when life gets noisy What happens when humility leads, and the subtle signs that tell you a deeper calling is knocking Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Nick’s websites: Sacred Hoop Magazine 3Worlds Podcast Buy Nick’s books Join Nick on YouTube Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Sep 24, 2025 • 49min
How to be seen: small changes that make your unique presence work for you - John Kippen
In this week’s show Lian is joined by John Kippen. John is an entrepreneur, professional magician, speaker, resilience and empowerment coach and published author. John was dealt a bad blow in 2002 when he was diagnosed with a large benign brain tumor. Its removal, although successful, left him with permanent facial paralysis which stopped his forward momentum forcing him into hiding for more than 12 years. As John hit bottom, he rediscovered his childhood love for performing magic and storytelling. Now filled with passion and hope, he discovered that his facial paralysis had become his greatest superpower. This new mindset gave John the strength to live life with joy and become a sought after resilience and empowerment coach who uses the lessons and tricks he learned overcoming his adversity to inspire and assist his clients to get out of their own way and live their best lives. His two mottos are “Being Different is your Superpower!” and “Feed your Heart with your Art”. In this episode, Lian and John explore identity, being seen, and the simple choices that change a room. John shares the day a brain tumour changed his face, the eight years he avoided mirrors, the child who asked what adults wouldn’t, and the moment he chose to name the change to his face before anyone else did. Together, they look at what actually makes the difference: saying the obvious thing first so people relax, letting repetition and craft rebuild confidence, and making the person in front of you the point. Listen if you have ever dodged photos, worried about what strangers notice, or wondered how to begin again after a big change that impacts you at the level of your identity. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How naming the visible difference at the start eases tension, answers unasked questions, and opens real connection Why steady practice, honest story, and self-acceptance can rebuild identity after a big change, without waiting for perfect conditions or permission What happens when you put the person in front of you first with presence, names, and attention: tension drops, curiosity softens, and trust grows Resources and stuff spoken about: There’s a free book but you can only get it by listening to the episode :) Visit John’s website Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Sep 18, 2025 • 58min
Ancient technology & modern science: the power of the shamanic drum - Sophie Messager
In this week’s show, Lian is joined by Sophie Messager. Sophie bridges worlds that rarely meet. A former reproductive physiologist with a PhD, she traded her microscope for holistic practices after experiencing the transformative power of an empowered birth. Her decade-long journey as a doula, birth educator, and author of Why Postnatal Recovery Matters deepened her exploration of the rhythms surrounding women’s transitions. Now a holistic life transition mentor, Sophie guides women through significant life thresholds – from birth to perimenopause and beyond. Her unique combination of scientific expertise and spiritual insight allows her to serve as a compassionate space holder for those seeking to harmonise their analytical and intuitive selves. In this episode, Lian and Sophie explore the ancient and immediate power of the drum… how it once belonged to priestesses and women of the land, how it was silenced by culture and religion, and how it is now returning as medicine for body, mind, and birth. Together, they trace the threads of history and lived experience, revealing why rhythm has always been a companion in times of transformation. Sophie shares her journey from research scientist to doula, and the moment a single drumbeat opened a path that has carried her ever since. They speak of birth rooms where drumming restored sovereignty, of hospitals where rhythm returned power to a woman’s body, and of the everyday rituals that root us in calm and clarity. They also explore what happens when women collectively reclaim the drum: the nervous system shifts, the mind quiets, and a deeper wisdom becomes audible. At its heart, this is a conversation about remembering… rhythm as medicine, voice as courage, and community as the ground of healing. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How women once held the drum as a sacred tool of fertility, labour, and trance… and what was lost when that rhythm was silenced Why a steady beat can shift brainwaves, calm anxiety, and even transform the experience of birth How reclaiming the drum today awakens both personal sovereignty and a wider cultural remembering Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Sophie’s website Buy Sophie’s book: Why Postnatal Recovery Matters Sophie’s online courses about perinatal & life transitions rituals: Drumming for birth Postnatal rebozo massage and closing ritual Rebozo techniques for an easier birth The art and science of postpartum wrapping How to run a Mother blessing How to prepare for a nurturing postpartum Join Sophie on social media: Instagram Facebook Linkedin Youtube Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Sep 10, 2025 • 59min
The healing home: how to design your house as a sanctuary - Paula Robinson
In this week’s show Lian is joined by Paula Robinson. As an intuitive interior designer, Paula understands the profound effect that the spaces where we live and work have on our health, happiness and success in life. Often called the ‘space whisperer’, she helps people to create living and working environments that transform their lives on all levels. Paula has been an interiors columnist for The Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph and Move Or Improve? magazine, and is the author of "The Healing Home & Garden: Reimagining Spaces for Optimal Wellbeing" and "The Room Planner: Over 100 Practical Plans For Your Home". Paula is happiest in nature - especially by the sea - and loves designing outdoor spaces. She is passionate about the environment, sustainable design, re-purposing furniture and objects, and supporting craftspeople over mass-producers. In this episode, Lian and Paula explore how our homes shape our bodies, minds, and mythic lives… the primal ways space soothes or unsettles us, and the quiet work of making a dwelling that heals. Together, they trace the path from head to heart, from trend to truth, and from copybook rules to the felt sense of sanctuary. Together, they journey through refuge and prospect, the simple power of moving a chair, and why bedrooms and workspaces ask for special care. Paula shares how intuitive design emerges, how objects carry the craft and energy of their makers, and how plants, animals, light, and air restore a room’s vitality. At the centre of this conversation is a gentle invitation… listen to what your home is already telling you, let your instincts set the first mark, then let practicality refine it. Beauty follows when a space begins to mirror the soul that lives there. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: Start with feeling, then refine with form: notice how each room lands in your body, create refuge and prospect by seeing both door and view, then let measurements and plans serve what already feels right. Small changes shift everything: rearrange to interrupt stale traffic patterns, personalise even temporary spaces, and enliven rooms with plants, natural light, fresh air, mirrors, and the quiet presence of animals. Design as living story: choose objects that speak to you, honour their makers and materials, and when a house feels unsettled, consider energetic space clearing so the home and its history can move with you rather than against you. Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Paula’s Website Work with Paula: Paula has kindly offered our listeners 20% off her virtual one-hour consultation if you quote BEING MYTHICAL when booking. She also offers a free 30-minute Discovery Call. Buy Paula’s book: The Healing Home and Garden: Reimagining spaces for optimal wellbeing Join Paula on Instagram Steve Pavlina on priming your mind Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Sep 4, 2025 • 51min
This is why your soul-led business isn't successful - Tad Hargrave
This week’s show is with Tad Hargrave. Tad is a hippy who developed a knack for marketing (and then learned how to be a hippy again). Since 2001, he’s been weaving together strands of ethical marketing, Waldorf School education, a history in the performing arts, local culture work, anti-globalization activism, an interest in his ancestral, traditional cultures, community building and supporting local economies into this work of helping people create profitable businesses that are ethically grown while restoring the beauty of the marketplace. Tad did improv comedy semi-professionally for 25 years, co-ran Edmonton’s progressive community building network TheLocalGood.ca, founded streetcarshows.com and the Jams program of yesworld.org. He speaks Scottish Gaelic and helped to launch and co-facilitate the Nova Scotia Gaels Jam. He is from Edmonton, Alberta (traditionally known, in the language of the Cree, as Amiskwaciy [Beaver Hill] and later Amiskwaciwaskihegan [Beaver Hill House]) and currently lives in Duncan, BC (Quw’utsun territory). In this episode, Lian and Tad explore the hidden terrain where creativity and commerce collide… the trap many artists, healers, and visionaries fall into without even realising. Together, they map the archetypal dynamics between the artist and the entrepreneur, illuminating the often-unseen pattern that keeps soulful work from fully flourishing in the world. Tad shares his potent visual model of collapsing and posturing — revealing how both are twin expressions of the same wound, and why neither offers true freedom. Lian reflects on the parallels with shadow work, the conflation of collapsing with nobility, and the ache many feel when faced with the false binary of authenticity versus success. They also touch on the ancient roots of these archetypes, and the wounding of both beauty and provision in our modern age. At the heart of this conversation is a deeper possibility: a marriage of the artist and entrepreneur, not rooted in proving or hiding, but in composure… wholeness… a quiet trust in one’s being. It’s a profound remembering of how businesses — like children — are born from the union of devotion and provision, creativity and care. A call to beauty as the ground beneath it all. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How the ‘trap’ reveals itself through posturing and collapsing — and why both are driven by the same underlying fear Why the true work is not balancing opposites, but moving beyond the binary into composure, where nothing needs to be proved or hidden How the artist and entrepreneur are ancient archetypes… and how their marriage creates the conditions for beautiful, ethical, and effective work in the world Resources and stuff spoken about: The trap - image of the quadrant, and quadrant with thrid column Visit Tad’s Website Tad’s Ethical Marketing Starter Kit https://majikmedia.com/series/ https://majikmedia.com/signature-workshop/ https://marketingforhippies.com/product/the-trap-webinar-recordings/ Find out more about Membership for Marketing for Hippies Join Tad on Instagram & YouTube See Tad’s Upcoming Events Join UNIO, the Academy of Sacred Union. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Aug 27, 2025 • 21min
The White Snake Spirit: a reminder of the power of love and prayer - Lian Brook-Tyler
In this episode, Lian shares the ancient and evocative Chinese myth of the White Snake Spirit, a story of prayer, healing, and a love that endures across lifetimes. Each month, Lian tells a mythical tale… as spell, as memory, as invitation... to be felt, stirred, remembered as a magical doorway into your own soul. These stories are one of the oldest ways ancestral wisdom has been carried down to us, a living inheritance that continues to speak when we meet them with reverence. She first shared this live with our beloved community in UNIO, our Academy of the Soul, in which we continue to journey more deeply together with it in a month-long quest. To join us for the next mythical quest, you can join UNIO here: bemythical.com/unio The tale of the White Snake Spirit is one of the most beloved and enduring stories in Chinese folklore. Here, a humble herbalist faces plague and despair, a wife reveals her hidden power, and devotion is tested through death, deception, and decades of prayer. Passed from tongue to tongue across generations, this myth carries not only a love story but the deep ancestral knowing that prayer itself is a living force able to heal, protect, and transform. The question at its heart is profound: can love survive truth, time, and the weight of destiny? The answer, when it comes, shakes even the heavens. Through this myth we are offered a mirror: of prayer that carries across lifetimes, of love that cannot be broken, and of stories as vessels of ancestral wisdom that still work their medicine within us today. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll receive from this episode: The Power of Devotion: Xu Xian’s decades of prayer at the pagoda show how steady, daily offerings can move heaven and earth. Prayer as Living Force: In this tale, prayer is not passive but a current of devotion that heals, restores, and even brings miracles into being. The White Snake Spirit reminds us that myths are not relics but vessels of inherited wisdom, carrying truths about prayer, love, and transformation from the ancestors into our own lives. Resources and stuff Lian spoke about: Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Aug 6, 2025 • 1h 7min
The calls & pitfalls of the growth of shamanism - Nicholas Breeze Wood
In this week’s show, Lian is joined by Nicholas Breeze Wood. Nicholas has practiced shamanism for over 40 years, combining it with the 'earthier' end of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as with 'medicine' teachings from Native North American peoples. He has worked with many gifted medicine people and shamans over the years, and is deeply apprenticed to his own spirit helpers, whose teachings never fail to awe and surprise him. Nick’s shamanism is a fusion of traditional Himalayan and Mongolian forms, combined with teachings from his own spirits. He works especially deeply with ritual objects - such as bronze shaman's mirrors, phurba daggers and many other Mongolian and Tibetan shamanic and Buddhist ritual objects - for which he holds traditional teachings and, where required, traditional initiations. Despite being a ‘rather uneducated Buddhist,’ he is an ordained Tibetan Buddhist lama, a type called a ngakpa, whose role is similar to a shaman’s. Ngakpas are non-monastic, non-celebrate lamas who live in the community, specialising in ritual and magic for people within their community. Nick is the editor of Sacred Hoop Magazine - a leading international magazine about shamanism - which has been published since 1993. He is also a musician and artist. He is the author of several books including, 'Walking with the Tiger,' 'Sacred Drums of Siberia,' 'A Little Book of Revealing,' 'Voices From The Earth,' 'The Book of the Shaman,' 'The Shaman Box,' and 'The Resplendent Other'. He runs the large Facebook group 3Worlds Shamanism, has done a podcast called the 3Worlds shamanism podcast on and off since 2006 and also has a somewhat neglected YouTube channel, also called 3Worlds Shamanism. In this episode, Lian and Nicholas explore what it means to walk the path of shamanism in the modern West. Together, they trace the winding threads of Nicholas’ life… from the windswept fields of his Midlands childhood to the birth of Sacred Hoop magazine, through encounters with medicine wheel teachings, Mongolian and Himalayan shamans, and the long shadow of Castaneda. What unfolds is not a how-to or a prescription… but a living braid of animism, discipline, and devotion. Nicholas reflects on the unexpected gift of dyslexia and how neurodivergence shaped his initiatory path, as a different kind of perception… one that enabled a direct, embodied relationship with the unseen. He and Lian explore the tension between psychotherapeutic frameworks and authentic shamanic practice, and the danger of mistaking surface form for deep structure. What makes a shaman, he says, is not sensitivity or interest, but being chosen by the spirits themselves. Woven through the conversation is the question of lineage. What does it mean to carry teachings from other lands onto this one? How do we honour both the transmission and the soil we stand upon? From the cosmology of the medicine wheel to the pitfalls of cultural appropriation, from core shamanism to the necessity of cosmological bone… this episode offers a rare encounter with an elder who has walked the shamanic path for many decades. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: Why the word “shaman” is often misused… and how understanding deep structure versus surface form can clarify what is truly sacred. How neurodivergence can shape perception in ways that become part of our gift, especially when navigating the unseen or the unknown. What it might mean to birth a Western lineage… one rooted not in imitation, but in integration, initiation, and real relationship with land and spirit. Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Nick’s websites: Sacred Hoop Magazine 3Worlds Podcast Buy Nick’s books Join Nick on YouTube Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul. This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Jul 31, 2025 • 51min
The land, the story, the soul: How to reclaim what was lost - Stephanie MacKay
In this week’s show Lian is joined by Stephanie MacKay. Stephanie is a mythologist, wilderness guide, and cultural craftswoman devoted to the long, slow work of remembering how to belong—to land, to lineage, to story, and to each other. As founder and director of Fianna Wilderness School, she has spent the past 15+ years guiding rites of passage, seasonal myth circles, and nature-based mentorship rooted in the wilds. Stephanie’s work braids together her Celtic ancestry, years of deep study with Martín Prechtel and the Animas Valley Institute, and a fierce love of story as medicine. She is dedicated to uncovering the vestiges of intact cultural origins within the body of ancient European stories. Drawing from the wellspring of these old mythologies, she seeks to uncover the hidden pathways that lead us to our cultural origins—reviving traditions long forgotten and reawakening the deep cultural wisdom carried in our bones. Whether she’s guiding wilderness quests, tending seasonal myth circles, or walking the long road of cultural regeneration, Stephanie’s devotion is to the deep remembering of who we are and how we belong—through mythic threads that call us back into sacred relationship with the world. In this episode, Lian and Stephanie explore the deep, woven threads that bind our personal myths to the land beneath our feet. Together, they journey through the ways in which stories live within us… ancient seeds waiting for the right conditions to sprout. Stephanie reflects on how her own path led her from disconnection back into a living relationship with land and story, and how myth can offer us both memory and medicine. They explore the longing many of us feel to recover our cultural roots, and how stories act as carriers of ancestral wisdom across time and place. From childhood connections to the land, to the rediscovery of myth as a portal into belonging, they speak of how both land and story hold the potential to restore us to ourselves. Along the way, Lian and Stephanie reflect on myths such as Cinderella and Iron John… tales often dismissed yet still holding profound keys for our times. At the heart of this conversation is a reverence for the slow, relational work of remembering: tending to the land beneath us, listening for the stories that call us home, and understanding that these are not separate acts… but parts of the same ancient dance between earth and soul. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: How reconnecting with the origins of our surroundings… even something as simple as a table or a weaving… can begin to restore our relationship with land and story. Why stories carry ancestral memory and wisdom, offering us a way back to belonging even when our cultural roots feel severed. How working with myth both psychologically and spiritually invites us into deeper relationship… with ourselves, with the land, and with the unseen. Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Stephanie’s website Fianna Wilderness School website Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).

Jul 23, 2025 • 14min
The myth of Pygmalion: How to bring beauty to life - Lian Brook-Tyler
In this episode, Lian shares the ancient and evocative myth of Pygmalion, a story of longing, creation, and the mystery of what brings something… or someone… to life. Each month, Lian tells a mythical tale… as spell, as memory, as invitation... not to be analysed or consumed, but to be felt, stirred, remembered as a magical doorway into your own soul. She first shared this live with our beloved community in UNIO, our Academy of the Soul, in which we continue to journey more deeply together with it in a month-long quest. To join us for the next mythical quest, you can join UNIO here: bemythical.com/unio In this telling, Lian explores the mythic figure of Pygmalion… a sculptor who turns away from the women of his world and instead pours his longing into the creation of his own ideal. Together, we walk with her through the temple of Venus, through stone and flesh, through the spaces where our own unspoken dreams might come to life. This is more than a tale of a man and a statue… it is a meditation on what we create when we shape from love, and how the act of creating shapes us in return. It reminds us of the timeless dance between the human and the divine… how longing leads us to the altar, how offerings made in faith and beauty may yet be answered. Listeners are invited to reflect on their own sacred longings, and how these desires might be the soul’s way of sculpting something real into existence. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll receive from this episode: The longing beneath creation: Pygmalion’s yearning reminds us that what we create from devotion holds the power to awaken not just the object of our love, but something within us too. The mystery of transformation: As in myth, so in life… what seems lifeless may stir to breath beneath our touch, when desire meets ritual and prayer. The sacred act of shaping: Whether in art, relationships, or the soul’s unfolding, we are always creating… and in turn being created. Resources and stuff Lian spoke about: Join UNIO, the Academy of the Soul: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).