On this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade looks at two contemporary crises involving young people through the lens of rites of passage. One crisis involves the alarming increase in both the numbers of youth who consider suicide and those actually taking their own lives. Teens and young adults across the country report growing levels of sadness, loneliness and hopelessness with youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth increasingly being severely affected.   Young people have no choice but to grow up in the collective atmosphere of their culture. At this point in time that means to be more exposed to extreme cultural conflicts as well as the raw emotions and extreme edges of human nature. The other crisis stems from troubling and tragic forces that currently tear at the heart of humanity and form the background for student protests erupting on college campuses.   Throughout the world it is typical to find young people at the forefront of movements demanding societal changes. At the same time, the more conservative elements of a society tend to overreact when students and young adults inevitably seek to respond to issues of mass violence, injustice and needless death and destruction. It is natural for youthful aspirations to raise and defend the highest ideals of humanity, especially in the face of inhumane forces and practices. At the same time, modern cultures often lack the presence of genuine elders who can combine a true passion for human ideals with the wisdom to find ways of healing and uniting people in the midst of cultural crises.   Although coming of age has come to mean being legally recognized as an adult, traditional rites of passage involved coming upon that which is ageless, timeless and enduring in human life. To truly come of age, especially in a time of undeniable global crises, means to experience both the dreams of what life might be and the agonies that currently plague so many people on earth. The old idea was that the specific struggles of youth become the twists of fate through which they find seeds of meaning and purpose in their own lives, while also trying to face and change the dilemmas and tragedies that afflict their community or society.   Living amidst the cascade of crises that continually upend the contemporary world is like entering a radical rite of passage that is well underway, but that remains mostly unconscious. At this critical time, healing and renewal is essential on most levels of life and means facing chaos and uncertainty and accepting the need to struggle with the core issues of meaning and justice and the rights of all people to be able to live meaningfully.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online workshop “Facing Fate, Finding Destiny” on Saturday, May 11. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.    You can save 30% on this new workshop and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 625 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

Exploring the dynamic relationship between youth and elders, the podcast delves into traditional tales showcasing their interconnected wisdom. Highlighting the essential roles of elders in preserving cultural heritage and guiding the next generation, the episode emphasizes the importance of inner wisdom and youthful creativity in shaping a meaningful society.

On this Earth Day podcast, Michael Meade begins by looking at the Gaia Hypothesis published 50 years ago and then explores the older roots of the name Gaia, which can be traced back to ancient India where Gaya or Gayatri appears as the ancient goddess of creation. Gaya appears in the Vedas or sacred texts as the source of all knowledge and wisdom. As the “mother of all,” she also had the power to heal all ills and nurture all of life, so that the wellbeing of the planet depended upon the presence and support of Gaya. Originally, the Vedas existed in the form of chants and hymns with the root sound Om being the original tone emitted from the womb of the cosmos. The potent chant known as the Gayatri Mantra was considered the first hymn to come forth from the root sound Om. Thus, Gaya or Gaia whether in sound, in image or in name brings a long lineage that echoes back to the origins of life and resonates with the hidden unity of the world.    In that sense, there was something truly intuitive in the idea of using the name Gaia in a modern attempt to revive the sense of the world being a living entity and all of life being secretly interconnected. Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online workshop “Facing Fate, Finding Destiny” on Saturday, May 11. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events. You can save 30% on this new workshop and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 625 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth. If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

Storyteller Michael Meade shares an old Indian tale about creation and existential crisis. He discusses fears of abandonment and being overwhelmed, emphasizing the importance of recognizing one's innate genius. The podcast explores the power of ancient stories for personal growth and self-discovery, urging listeners to embrace despair as a path to uncovering their unique brilliance and essence. Meade also reflects on societal change and the connection between human nature, culture, and the environment.

Delve into the mystical allure of a total solar eclipse, revealing the sun's true nature and our connectedness to the cosmos. Experience a moment of unity and luminosity amidst a divided world, where the numinous presence of the Divine awakens intuition and breaks down barriers between inner and outer reality.

On this episode of Living Myth, Michael Meade contrasts two creation myths that feature the original division that becomes the source of all subsequent divisions in life. One ancient tale makes clear that healing and transformation are the secret aims of the tension of opposites that exist inside each person, inside each society and inside life itself.   “At critical moments in the life of individuals and societies, the basic elements and energies of existence polarize. While the two poles of a polarity seem to be irreconcilable opposites, they are secretly one. In a true polarity, one side cannot exist without the other; for existence itself is an essential unity appearing as a duality. Yet, at the level of pre-systemic thought, the mystery of totality underlies all the conflicts and divisions in life, both personal and collective. We suffer what divides us in order to find ways back to the wholeness before all the dividing began.   Something ancient in us bends us towards the origins of the whole thing, so that what troubles us takes us down to the bottom of what troubles us and back to the beginning before the original unity was divided. The word healing means “to make whole again.” Healing, health, wealth, wholeness all hail from the same etymological roots. To heal is to make whole and what continually requires healing is the original split. No healing without a return to origins, no healing that does not in some way touch the original split.   Without stories that remind us of the hidden wholeness and the hidden holiness of the world, all that is left are the pressing problems and threatening divisions that seem increasingly impossible to solve.”   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “The Creative Middle Way” beginning on Thursday, March 28.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.    You can save 30% on this new course and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 600 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.   Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

Exploring the myth of Eros and the continuous cycle of creation, the podcast dives into the vital energy of union and connection. It highlights the importance of longing for beauty and truth, connecting our souls with the world and fostering genuine relationships. Delving into poetry by Hafez and Rumi, it reflects on love, selflessness, and deep connections, urging listeners to embrace their true selves and uncover hidden abundance.

This episode is about how the inner tension between the limits of fate and the call of destiny manifests uniquely in each person’s life. It is also about how a dark night of the soul can serve as the liminal stage of a life-changing rite of passage. Finally, it is about how we are currently in the midst of a collective rite of passage that involves the destiny of humanity and the fate of life on earth.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “The Creative Middle Way” beginning on Thursday, March 28. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.    You can save 30% on this new course and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 600 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

This episode begins with Socrates’ idea of the difference between two types of lies. The first type of untruth is the “noble lie” best understood as stories or myths that are not factual, yet are foundational because they reveal important truths and wisdom. The other kind of untruth is the “lie of the soul” that is taken into a person's being and becomes treated as if it was the truth. This is the most dangerous kind of lie because it has a destructive effect on a person's core being and soul.   The rise of political strongmen in many parts of the world is typically based upon lies of the soul that cause wide divisions and great animosities amongst people. Unfortunately, many modern people have become infected with lies of the soul, which then become like a collective poison that can corrupt people in positions of power as well as entire institutions. Just as the lie of the soul separates a person from any kind of inner truth, it can also separate a society from the very truths upon which it was founded.   Currently, we are living through our own harrowing version of the loss of essential truths and the rise of lies that divide people and threaten the stability of the world. As a partial antidote to the spread of lies that damage the soul, Michael Meade turns to the epic myth of Churning the Milk Ocean from ancient India. We all are caught in a tug of war that keeps dividing people and threatens to pull everything apart. Yet, one of the functions of myth is to show that this has happened before and further reveal that the increased tension of the opposites can also generate the energy and consciousness needed to raise forgotten truths and generate the healing needed to restore balance and meaning to life on earth.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “The Creative Middle Way” that begins on Thursday, March 28. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.    You can save 30% on this series and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 600 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

This episode begins with the idea that we are living in flood times again as we face overwhelming changes at most levels of life. Deluge and flood stories have been found even in landlocked places, as if to make clear that it is not simply the literal seas that can overflow, but also the psychic waters of the unconscious that can overwhelm an individual or an entire culture.   In the old story of Noah, a great ark serves as a life preserving vessel in the midst of great loss and worldwide flooding. In the tale of Jonah, the life enhancing vessel turns out to be a whale which acts as a kind of cosmic womb. In this archetypal vision, the belly of the whale becomes a place of revelation of the mysteries of life and a source of knowledge and wisdom that is missing at the surface of life.   In the symbolic womb, what is worth saving in the individual soul becomes saved; while what is misconceived, misguided and riddled with fear becomes dissolved. Emerging from the belly of the whale depicts a passage from the darkness of primordial chaos to the light of creation. This kind of redemption from below becomes the source of a genuine hope that comes from facing darkness and despair and finding a psychological rebirth and spiritual regeneration.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can learn more about how stories can awaken us and give deep insight into our lives by taking Michael Meade’s new in-depth course “Finding Stories to Live With”. Purchase and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/store.    You can save 30% on this new course and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 600 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.