Living Myth

In this episode, Michael Meade talks about the various ways we can find and connect with our creative muse. He brings surprising insights into practical ways of being creative and the good news that everyone, artists and non-artists alike, has a muse. Creativity is a force larger than ourselves that wants to flow through us, be expressed by us and be given to the community around us.
 
Meade shares myths and rituals that show how creativity is present and in abundance during the dark times of trouble and despair. Times of chaos and dissolution can also birth creativity that leads us to the next phase of life or of the world, in the never-ending dance of chaos and ongoing creation and creativity.
 
This episode is edited from an interview on a Jung Platform Summit on creativity.
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can 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 750 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
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at: michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
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.

In this episode, Michael Meade tells an old story about a man whose dreams call for him to go on a long, challenging journey to find a hidden treasure of gold. The story suggests that the treasure we desire most hides where we would never choose to go on our own. Bringing a dream to life requires that we truly change and that can awaken our deepest fears and strongest resistance.
 
 
Symbolically, gold represents all that is noble, valuable and unique in each soul. On the other hand, lead is an inert metal that represents all that is base, dense and resistant in life. Meaningful change involves transforming areas of our lives that have become stuck and undermining so as to release innate gifts and talents that have been held back or denied. The psychological and spiritual process of changing lead into gold is part of the alchemy of the soul.
 
 
In neglected or rejected areas of our lives buried spiritual ideas and feelings wait to be unearthed, creative instincts wait to be stirred, and greater capacities of love seek to be embraced. They are all part of the living gold of the self and the inner alchemy of the soul. Some redemption occurs each time we become conscious of the contents of our souls, as creative expression and increased vitality transform our individual lives as well as the world.
 
 
Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can 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 750 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
 
 
Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at: michaeljmeade.substack.com
 
 
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.

This episode begins with the idea that each person has a unique story that seeks to unfold from within their soul. If a person is lucky or adventurous or devoted, they will typically find a path that aligns with their inside story. If they follow that path far enough, they will come to a place where there are no footsteps and the only way forward involves what is called the pathless path. Taking up the notion of a pathless path, Michael Meade follows the trail that leads to an array of dynamic energies that include various kinds of vision quests, the nature of being a wounded healer and variations of shamanic initiations.

Eventually, the pathless path leads to the ancient idea of the Outsider, which turns out to be the archetypal image for people who become capable of receiving direct messages from the otherworld of great imagination and inspired spirit. The surprising trail of the pathless path eventually reveals that the knowledge, wisdom and healing energies missing in modern life can only enter the world through those who connect to the archetype of the outsider.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can 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 750 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



Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at: michaeljmeade.substack.com



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.

On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade looks at the growing polarization, conflict and uncertainty in the world and considers how we are living within a "re-creation myth," a period resembling ancient creation stories in which darkness, division, and chaos precede renewal. Creation myths from many cultures describe the world emerging from darkness and separation, implying that periods of crisis can become opportunities for transformation.
 
 
You can hear the full episode and receive additional podcast content by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 750 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

"Regardless of the conditions of the outside world, we are each here to transform our own lives from the inside and become a full expression of our unique soul." So says Michael Meade when he talks about one of his favorite stories, The Tiger's Whisker.  This episode of Living Myth includes a full telling of the famous tale of a woman who must face a living tiger in order to cure what ails her soul. What begins as a small village tale opens up to become the endless territory of the human heart that harbors an old sage, a fierce tiger and the need to find a cure for alienation and the lack of love.


Ancient stories depict how each person born carries a precise medicine in their soul. In order to find and activate the inner medicine we need to face and even embrace our inner wounds. Genius is said to hide behind the wound and accepting our early life traumas opens the path to finding our greatest gifts.


Our psychic wounds secretly connect us to the transcendent function in the soul, so that what wounds us also initiates and transforms us. In that sense, the inner wound can be seen as a womb. In going through the wound, we become reborn as an initiate on the path of healing. In a world troubled with collective anxiety and growing fears, it is helpful to know that on a path with heart, fear is the guide and what you truly love is the cure.


Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event "Kairos Time" on Thursday, June 18.

Register and learn more at: mosaicvoices.org/events


You can 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 750 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


Along with these free weekly podcasts, you can now read free weekly essays and long form posts by Michael Meade on Substack. Learn more and subscribe at: michaeljmeade.substack.com


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.