Lytt til Living Myth

This episode of Living Myth considers the oldest versions of the tale of Pandora’s Box as a way of understanding how it is that all the ailments and troubles of the world seem to be loosed upon us again. The name Pandora is connected to the abundance of the Earth and carries meanings like “all gifted” and ‘the one who sends up gifts.” It turns out that it was not Pandora who lifted the lid and released all the anxieties, chaos and suffering that can plague life on Earth.   Pandora married Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus who gave fire to humans and was credited with inspiring human culture. Whereas Prometheus means “far-seeing” or “one with foresight,” Epimetheus means “one who is short-sighted” and only able to see the effects of his actions after the damage has been done. In the old myths, it was the impulsive, uninformed and short-sighted brother who lifted the lid on the proverbial box and released all of the troubles of the world at the same time.   As waves of anxiety, uncertainty and panic once again spread through the world and undermine social patterns and institutions, it doesn’t take a seer to see that the self-proclaimed strong men and would be autocrats repeat the impulses and lack of foresight that characterize the weaker, blinder and ultimately ill-fated brother. While branding themselves as all-knowing culture-bringers, all would be dictators and autocrats, out of their own arrogance, blindness and greed, inevitably open Pandora’s box and release storms of uncertainty and chaos that intensify all the pain and suffering, all the corruption and injustices that torment people and threaten the core values of human culture.   Thank you for listening to and supporting the Living Myth Podcast. 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 nearly 700 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.

This episode of Living Myth explores how as humans we live and die in the context of the stories we tell ourselves about the world and our place in it. Two great stories happen at the same time, the great drama of the world and the unique story trying to unfold from each individual soul.  At this critical time on earth, something essential to the story of the world is trying to be re-discovered and something crucial in each life story is trying to be revealed.   People are increasingly fearful about the future of the earth. Yet, people cannot simply be scared into caring for the earth. Fear can be an awakening force; yet fear over time can become a cause of further division and greater isolation. The unity of life must be found again and one challenge involves seeing how collapse and renewal can be happening at the same time. Through myths of re-creation we can touch the timeless images and archetypes from which the living world first arose and find inspiration as well as insights into collective transformation on Earth.   Thank you for listening to and supporting the Living Myth Podcast. 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 nearly 700 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.

This episode begins with the idea that in traditional cultures worldwide the search for wisdom would be a necessity for developing genuine leadership. It would also be a primary practice for those who would become elders. Genuine elders were considered a valuable living resource, without whose guidance entire societies could become trapped in short term thinking, mired in materialistic aims and in danger of entirely losing their way.   Traditionally, elders lead by remembering further back than others and by seeing more clearly ahead. Although growing older can involve a loss of short term memory, elders remember the essential values and the enduring truths that people keep forgetting. Thus, they are less likely to be strictly political leaders and more likely to be cultural and spiritual guides. In this archetypal sense, elders serve as seers who can see behind and beyond the politics of the day, and perceive more accurately the needs of the future.   The passing of time makes everyone older, but not necessarily wiser. The qualities needed to be a true elder involve more than physical changes. There is something metaphysical, psychological and spiritual involved. As William Blake put it, "Wisdom combines insight with experience and vision with maturity. If maturity expands vision, it leads to wisdom. And if it does not, maturity simply becomes degeneration." As someone else once said, "You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely."   The archetype of the elder exists in the depths of each person’s soul where it is connected to the deepest ideals of humanity. When the world becomes dark and foreboding and even the future of life on Earth becomes uncertain, the inner elder and wise sage can awaken in each of our souls. When that kind of awakening occurs, something ancient and enduring, something visionary and creative can enter the world through us and provide the wisdom we most need.   Thank you for listening to and supporting the Living Myth Podcast. 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 nearly 700 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.

This episode of Living Myth begins with an unassuming teacher finding herself in a public controversy for refusing to take down posters that state that everyone is “welcome, important, respected, encouraged, valued and equal” in her classroom.  As she said in an interview, "I would do anything to protect my students. I love all of them unconditionally, and as teachers, we protect them from danger, quite literally. This is the one small thing I can do to stand up for them, to protect them from being affected by racist sentiments that are affecting their classroom and our culture."   There's an old idea that says that at critical points in the course of life, we find ourselves in situations in which we have to become worth our salt. For, there are truths set within each soul that can become a medicine and an antidote against the rampant falsehoods and political manipulations being used to create fear, to drive divisions and to cause people to abandon their own genuine selves.   The greatest challenge has always been the risk of becoming our genuine selves in a world that tries to turn us into everyone else or scare us into believing things that are simply untrue. Genuine change begins in the depths of the individual soul, and this is the struggle that we came here for.   We are the students of life trying to awaken further and we are the potential teachers and leaders and healers trying to tap the wisdom of the sage set within our own hearts. Each time we allow ourselves to be touched by the beauty of the world and by the roots of truth, we take another step in the direction of generosity and inclusion; we go further on the path of the soul and come closer to understanding how we are all in this together. Whether we diminish our lives out of fear or grow more soul and live in truth depends upon how much we become worth our own salts.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Radical Resilience” on Thursday, March 27. If you’re in the Boulder, Colorado area, you can join Michael for 2 events on April 4 and 5.   Register and learn more about all these events 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 650 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.

This episode begins by tracing the evolution of propaganda from the creation of a papal agency entitled The College of Propaganda just over 400 years ago to the current process of “flooding the zone” to gain “full spectrum dominance of the news.” What is described as “rapid fire propaganda” aims, not simply to reframe the collective narrative, but rather to drown out all other narratives.   In addition to being emotionally and psychologically exhausting, the flood of emotionally charged language, outrageous claims and crude accusations serves the goal of turning people against each other, using the age-old divisions of right vs wrong, us vs them and good vs evil.   Since there is no simple way to stop the rapid-fire propaganda project that is well underway, one question becomes, how do we find a place to stand when we find ourselves, not just in a time of increasing uncertainty, but also in a storm of unreality? Michael Meade turns further back than the origins of propaganda to the sources of universal truths that cannot simply be drowned out or be canceled because they are indelibly rooted in the innate nobility, radical creativity and ancient wisdom of the human soul.   Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Radical Resilience” on Thursday, March 27. If you’re in the Boulder, Colorado area, you can join Michael for 2 events on April 4 and 5.   Register and learn more about all these events 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 650 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.