On the Soul's Terms

Today I’m joined by a dear friend and colleague, Colette Davis.We got together to discuss the intersections of Shaiva Tantra and Depth Psychology, but in the end we enter deep waters as Collette opens up about the tragic story of her relationship with her mother who passed earlier this year. She brings a depth, sensitivity and vulnerability to this personal yet universal theme of love and loss between mothers and daughters. From Collette's Bio: https://www.samavesayoga.com"I’m an Embodied Flow™ facilitator, Senior yoga teacher and humble shepherd of the Samāveśa School of Yoga, where I offer online and in- person trainings, courses, retreats and community. I’ve been a devoted student and practitioner of Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra since 2014 and have studied with some of the world’s leading teachers, including Tara Judelle, Sianna Sherman, Hareesh Wallis, Leila Sadeghee, and Adyashanti."I don’t get down so well with hierarchical systems of power and am interested in disrupting the teacher-student binary. I advocate for circular communities where we get to co-create a safe and kind space together, weaving trauma informed practices so we all feel held and supported. I’m a mama bear at heart so you can expect a big generous holding field and a healthy friendship that honours boundaries on both sides."My Clark Kent job, for twenty years, has been as a copywriter and brand consultant and I have been the Director and Creative Director of Found for Words since 2010. I have two Masters degrees with Distinction and my most recent degree was in Interdisciplinary Psychology, which I thread through my teachings and trainings."Artwork: Frederic Leighton - The Return of Persephone (1981)Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Today the podcast receives the 'Virgo treatment'; a clean up and a recalibration to a new format of astrological exploration.We begin with a few questions: What is the purpose of all of this? What are we trying to get to the bottom of? Why am I speaking these words and why are you, the listener, tuning into them?This leads into an exploration of why this podcast exists in the first place. Like a re-connection to the origin myth of the show. Which takes us into what I see as the origin myth of astrology itself; a structuring of ancient mythic material projected outward onto our night sky.With this clear we get into the sign of Virgo. Perhaps moreso than any other sign this one is in need of some deep rehabilitation, linked as it is with the word 'Virgin'. As Brian Clark says, 'a complex image that has undergone a considerable transformation from its original meaning. Ironically it implies an image of freedom and independence, a woman in relationship to her internal self, contained and autonomous, in charge of her own destiny. It did not originally mean chaste, quite the reverse. The image is centred in the fertility of nature and the freedom of the great goddess to revel in her own creation.'The consensus understanding of the sign is explored. And then the episode takes it back to its mythic roots to clean up and expand upon the images, myths and stories that give it is life force and potency.The myths of Hestia, Athena, Artemis, Asclepius and Chiron all feature.The art for the episode is from an unknown artist circa 1900 and depicts the Virgin Goddess Artemis/Diana.Music is from Charles Murdoch - No Lungs.I'm thankful to the works of Saffron Rossi and Brian Clark as well as information from the Faculty of Astrological Studies.Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

James Mattingley is an embodied movement specialist who facilitates couple's work with his wife, Megan. He is the father of Lila and the expecting father of a baby boy on the way.James opens the show with a poem he wrote recently about the inherent tension within being and becoming a man. From there we move into conversations around men's work, highlighting some of our shared experiences from being in a group together for the last four years. The conversation takes some unexpected turns and we end up with Hercules and his music lessons as a child. In a fit of rage he kills his music teacher, Linus: brother of Orpheus. After this he is banished to live with the beasts and receives no further tutelage in the arts.We wonder what could have been if Hercules had been encouraged to continue his explorations of soul. You can find out more about James at jamesmattingley.com.Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In the next instalment of the Zodiac series we enter a tunnel underneath a great mountain where Hercules wrestles the Nemean Lion... Of course, then, we have entered the realm of Leo. We spend time with CG Jung and his Leo Sun and explore the concepts gifted to us from his life, particularly the field of individuation as it pertains to the Herculean task of becoming ones true self. It's an episode where we have full permission to explore through the lens of myth and fairytale - as these are the ways that Leo prefers to experience reality.The stories of Phaethon, Icarus, Narcissus and Cinderella are all a part of this one, each story giving us a different perspective on Leo and what it is to be children of the Sun.Music for this episode: Takuya Kuroda, Everybody Loves the SunshineCover Art: PETER PAUL RUBENS, HERCULES STRANGLING THE NEMEAN LION, C. 1620Martha, Melanie and Chris discussing Venus and Innana.Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In Part Two of this Two Part conversation with Mothers at Midnight hosts Indigo Melrose and Rose Harvey we begin with the idea of dropping down to source to access the inner well spring of creativity. This takes us into the process of individuation; being safe enough to explore the outer world. And then we get into the idea of the heroine’s journey as it stands apart from the hero’s journey. The ability to go inward to discover the true nature of the soul, and to bring that lived embodiment back to the lives we live.Indigo leaves us with the cover art from this episode: the Sacred Cycles Oracle by Jill Pyle and Em Dewey.Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Today I’m joined by two dear friends, Rose Harvey and Indigo Melrose, from the Mothers and Midnight Podcast.  The three of us were all part of a two year program at Metavision Institute in Australia where we learned Process Oriented Psychotherapy.For the occasion of the Cancer New Moon, we talk about Mothers. The light, the dark and the many shades in between. It ended up being such a rich area of exploration that I’ve split it into two episodes.Here in part one we open up the fairy tale lens through old stories like Hansel and Gretel and Sleeping Beauty. We explore the 13th fairy or wise woman and uncover the wisdom of these stories to help us sit in the fire of transformation that is the hearth - the eternal flame at the center of the home.Through this lens we talk about Rose’s encounter with a shadow component of motherhood that she talked about in their podcast during a pivotal episode on the dark mother. Then Indigo speaks of her early childhood, growing up deaf in a Vipassana center and how that shaped her experience of the inner and outer world. We also discuss, and challenge, the idea of Tabula Rasa - that human beings are born as a clean slate. And look to what astrology might be able to add to the discussion about the pre-existence of the soul. The episode begins with a poem by Rose that takes us into the lived experience of Motherhood. Through her eyes we enter and inhabit the world of Mother.Cover Art is from the Sacred Cycles Oracle by Jill Pyle and Em DeweyJoin the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In this episode we explore the first water sign of the Zodiac: Cancer. Ruled by the moon, Cancer is linked to the archetypal mother and so rules over the lunar side of our consciousness; fluid, emotional, imaginal, creative, nurturing and receptive.As this 'night world' consciousness responds best to images, sounds and sense impressions, the episode begins with a look at a few Cancerian artists; DJ Shadow and Frida Kahlo. We then settle in to a look at Cancer key words and ideas, followed by a deep dive into the crab itself as it scuttles sideways between land and see, carrying its home on its back.Mythologically Hestia, goddess of the hearth comes to the table. Tantalus shows us what not to do at a dinner party, especially one where the gods are the guests. We look at the Earth Mother lineage of Gaia, Rhea, Hera. And then go deep into the tensional point between Hera and Herakles as it plays out through the image of the terrifying nine-headed water snake, the Hydra.Resources for this episode:Mort Garson - Cancer 1969DJ Shadow's album Entroducing... especially the song Changeling.Frida Kahlo - The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth, Myself, Diego and Senor Xolotl, 1949 (cover art)Brian Clark - Mythic SignsCrabs Trading Shells - BBC EarthNami · Chihei Hatakeyama · Federico DurandJoin the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Today I’m delighted to re-introduce Melanie Reinhart back to the show for our Gemini interview. She was the perfect, and most obvious choice for this one with her own personal treasure trove of Gemini Planets.Predictably, and like last time she was on the show, we went over the time limit by about the length of an extra episode. And as such I’ve split the one into two; a Gemini theme in itself.I am in Delphi in Greece recording this episode, just 15 minutes away from the site where Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, wielded extraordinary influence over the Ancient World and brought incredible wealth to this area due to people traveling far and wide to hear her wisdom-soaked responses to querent’s questions. It feels fitting then to have had the opportunity to talk to Melanie, perhaps a modern day version of Pythia, from this central place of our cultural inheritance. The theme of our discussion is ultimately the sign of Gemini.For this episode, part one, we talk about the Gemini discussed in Consensus Reality - the smart, witty, bubbly, sometimes fickle, intelligent and rational one. And the lesser discussed Other Twin who is rarely heard about, perhaps because there is no clear formula for how that other one will show up in the Gemini experience. We then get a little deeper into the mystical phenomenon of the lost twin, discussing the common experience of somehow knowing an other from the womb that we often find ourselves unconsciously searching for in waking life. Be sure also to tune into part two where we get a little more mythic with Castor and Pollux and the ruling deity, Hermes/Mercury, and talk about laughter and its importance in any healing journey. Episode Artwork: Castor and Pollux Rescuing Helen - Jean-Bruno GassiesReferences Dane Rudhyar - The Pulse of LifeRichard WagnerIan McGilchrist - The Master & His EmissaryJoin the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Welcome to Part Two of my discussion on Gemini with the astrologer, Melanie Reinhart. If you’re just jumping into this episode I suggest going back to the previous one to hear part one of our chat on the mystical experience of the lost twin. In this episode we will spend more time in the mythic and the astrological, discussing Gemini’s position in between the earthy Taurus and the watery Cancer and its struggle to keep enough air in the room. We also touch upon the twins of Greek Mythology - Castor and Pollux - who are the bright stars of the constellation of Gemini. The Messenger God, Hermes/Mercury, then helps us fill in the gaps as the ruling deity of this sign before we turn our attention to laughter as medicine and how it can help us recharge in times of deep grief, sadness and loss. I hope you enjoy this conversation. If you do please feel free to send Melanie a message to let her know, or leave it as a review on your podcast app of choice.Episode Artwork: Castor and Pollux Rescuing Helen - Jean-Bruno Gassies ReferencesSwami Beyondananda Lewis Hyde - Trickster Makes this WorldJoin the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

"Don't be afraid of mistakes. There aren't any."- Miles Davis Our expedition into the many-varied sign of Gemini begins with the above Miles Davis quote. It is the permission given to us by this third sign of the Zodiac to experiment and to play and to trust in those off notes as avenues into new ways of expression. Gemini is a mutable air sign. Its symbol is the roman numeral for Two. And its image is the twins; as represented by Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars of the Gemini constellations. One mortal, one immortal. Who have two twin sisters; Helen and Clytemnestra. One mortal, one immortal. The ruling planet of the sign is Mercury, whose name in Greece was Hermes. The delight maker, the trickster, the guide of souls.In this episode we explore the combination of all of these energies and attempt to fill in the picture of this sign that is so often seen in very two dimensional terms. We will also receive visitations from Pan, Iambe and Baubo along the way.  To help us on our journey today we hear from Gustav Holst again and his composition: Mercury, the Winged Messenger. To flesh out the feeling of this sign we explore the life of Bob Dylan, a man with the Sun, Venus and Mercury all in Gemini. There are snippets here from the Scorsese documentary, No Direction Home, an interview he had with Time Magazine in the '60s as well as a brief piece about the Crossroads.Episode Artwork: Sala dei Giganti, Palazzo del Tè, Mantua. Painting by Giulio Romano.Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.