Living Myth

This episode takes us back to the origins of the theater in ancient Greece where many of the ideas of democracy also originated. Tragedy began with a lament for the fatal flaws in human character, while comedy used the cutting edge of humor to expose the hypocrisy of those who misuse power. Throughout history, satire has served as an instrument of the powerless against the powerful and as a necessary expression of freedom of both imagination and speech.     The term stage comes from roots that mean “to stand or to take a stand;” not to simply be a stand-in, but to play a major role in the essential drama of living out the inner character and living truth of our soul. For, life requires that we stand for something meaningful, something beautiful, something enduring, especially during tragic times.     Psychological maturity, whether in a person, a political party or a nation depends upon the ability to stand in the tension of opposites long enough for an unexpected third way to arise. By contrast, seeing life simply as a zero sum game of winners and losers can only lead to those in power demonizing others in order to sustain a false sense of superiority.     While the two poles of a polarity may seem to be irreconcilable opposites, they are secretly part of a hidden unity, for existence itself is an essential unity appearing as a de facto duality. In times of polarization, the real point of  meaningful discussions and debates is not simply to prove one side to be right or be superior to the other, but rather to seek to a “catharsis,” an emotional and mental release that clears both the mind and the heart and can lead to a genuine sense of healing and wholeness.     The healing effects of a catharsis were considered to be an essential part of both tragedy and comedy. The point would not be to simply provoke strong emotions in the audience, but rather to create ways in which the expression of strong feelings could lead to new insights and greater realizations about life and how people, though we may disagree, each and all suffer both the inevitable conflicts of life and a deep longing for a sense of unity.     As has been said, all the world is but a stage and we, by virtue of being alive at this critical time, are the only players available to take a stand for the essential freedom and life changing imagination of the human soul. And surprising as it may seem, each soul born bears a genius self, that should it become conscious, can reveal layers of understanding and ways of healing and creating that can help change the course of 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 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.

While often being considered the leading nation in the world, the United States increasingly finds itself on the cutting edge of cultural upheaval, political polarization and increasing violence that includes mass shootings and politically motivated killings. The recent tragedy of a political activist being shot and killed by a radicalized young man, while appearing distinct in the sense of being a political assassination, can also be seen as part of the larger tragedy of young men acting out cultural violence.     Whether we like it or not, young people tend to manifest, express and even act out the psychological and emotional symptoms of the culture in which they must grow. In particular, if young men are not fully invited into social life and given a genuine sense of meaning and purpose, something volatile and potentially destructive inside them can drift towards the darker areas of the psyche and in the modern world, can pull them into the darkest parts of the world wide web.     While specific causes and motivations for shootings by young men are complex, there are familiar patterns to the trajectory that leads to acting out violently. Research indicates that there is often a strong sense of grievance that comes from a disconnect between the lives they actually lead and the lives they think they should have. This inner disconnect can lead to fantasies of having unlimited power along with intense desires for recognition and admiration. Aided by the extremes of social media, their sense of grievance and their violent visions take up more and more of their mental and emotional lives.     While modern societies lack clarity, understanding and wisdom when it comes to issues of men and violence, traditional cultures developed rites of passage in order to directly engage and temper the wild energies of youth and the reckless urge to battle with both life and death. For, there is an inner volatility that cannot be denied or be ignored without consequences that can turn inward as depression and self-harm or erupt outwardly in violence and destruction aimed at the society that failed to recognize, accept and include them.     It seems to me that in this group, we also have to include those who appear to be grown men, but who demonstrate untempered emotions, reckless immature attitudes about violence that contribute to the tearing apart of society. In many ways, we are all in the midst of a collective rite of passage that requires that we awaken to the deeper issues that can turn a society against itself, while leaving young people in growing gaps of isolation, alienation and despair.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “Finding Calling and Purpose in Uncertain Times” beginning on Thursday, September 18.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.      You can save 30% on this new 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 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 during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

This episode of Living Myth begins with a description of psychological projection as the necessary process through which people project their power on to others in order to see it and become more conscious of it. Modern mass media causes unprecedented amounts of power to be projected onto popular figures including political figures, tech leaders and “influencers.” Inevitably, the condensation of wealth and power causes an activation of their darker, shadow side which inevitably leads to misuses of power that are detrimental to both collective society and the Earth.     The oldest meaning of the word king is “to sacrifice” with the inherent meaning that those elevated to the heights of power should become willing to sacrifice their own desires for the benefit of the people as a whole. The classic symbol of the misuse of power appears in stories where a ruler acts out the shadow side of the archetype of the king. The shadow king symbolizes leadership reversed, nobility perverted, and sacrifice used in the wrong way. Instead of practicing self-sacrifice and serving other people, the shadow king requires the endless sacrifice of others to satisfy his own desires.     Michael Meade uses a series of mythic tales to depict the dangerous arc of descent that can lead from the heights of wealth and power to the depths of tyranny, oppression and brutality. What begins with an inflated sense of self-importance and a false sense of omnipotence inevitably devolves into delusional states of denial, along with an increase of cruelty and a growing taste for violence.     And in these dark times when fear and intimidation are in the air, when we can feel lost and isolated at any moment, it becomes ever more important to know that cruelty comes from weakness and that the will to power comes from an inner abyss of emptiness that cannot be satisfied. But also that we are each the inheritors of the gifts and the powers of our own souls and that becoming fully grown involves reclaiming our power by living out the meaning and purpose of our own lives.     An old meaning of the word soul is “the light found in darkness.” We are here to find the light within our own souls which knows, not just how to survive the dark times, but also how to bring creative energy out of darkness that can be used to offset the misuses of power and to reset the core values of humanity. The importance of truth, the wisdom that keeps mercy at the heart of justice and the necessity of love are part of the endowment of each soul born that cannot be denied or be deported, but rather are always on the verge of awakening more deeply in the hearts of the people.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “Finding Calling and Purpose in Uncertain Times” beginning on Thursday, September 18.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.      You can save 30% on this new 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 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 during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

Michael Meade talks about inner genius and how without a calling we can feel lost throughout our lives. Without a genuine purpose, we can turn bitter, drifting without genuine passion and withering without the blessing of the spirit of life. A true life purpose is not an optional choice or an outline of goals we might accomplish, but rather something inherent and expectant seeded within each heart and soul.     In that sense, being purposeful does not simply mean being goal oriented, but being connected to the inner meaning and core pattern of our self and soul. Finding a genuine purpose gives us a sense of being centered and dwelling deeply within our true self, while also being more able to respond spontaneously to a rapidly changing world.   This episode is edited from a Jung Platform Summit presentation.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “Calling and Purpose in Uncertain Times” beginning on Thursday, September 18.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.      You can save 30% on this new 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 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 during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

On this episode of Living Myth, edited from an interview with Thomas Hubl for his Collective Healing Conference, Michael Meade considers transformation as an ongoing and natural dynamic of the universe. This core theme is woven through an in-depth conversation about finding deeper self-awareness by examining the ego’s resistance to change and how the wisdom of elders protects and guides us through transformative processes.     As the inner dynamic of transformation, Meade considers how initiation means the continuous breaking open of areas of the soul in order to reveal hidden capacities and inherent gifts. The dramas that befall us become the detours from the mainstream that keep our hearts open to growing and our minds open to learning who we are at our essence and what we are meant to do in the world.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “Calling and Purpose in Uncertain Times” beginning on Thursday, September 18.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.      You can save 30% on this new 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 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 during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

On this episode, Meade considers how the specific struggles encountered in life can open pathways to the center of the self where purpose waits to be found, where vitality can ever be renewed and where spirit whispers its precise calling.     Each personal crisis and life transition can evoke the esoteric pattern of the soul and the deep self waiting to awaken within us. The presence of the greater self is what shifts the ground of trauma and heals the aching soul. As things fall apart all around us, the deep self seeks to awaken our primary impulses towards creativity and the essential urge to become who and what we are at our core.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series “Calling and Purpose in Uncertain Times” beginning on Thursday, September 18.   Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.      You can save 30% on this new 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 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 during this challenging and uncertain times and thank you for your support of our work.

Beginning with the idea of “die before you die,” Michael Meade describes how a little-death can lead to a deeper sense of knowledge and a greater appreciation for life. Our encounters with sorrow, disappointment and loss can be revalued as ways in which the ego-self dies a little and the deeper self becomes more revealed. Sharing two powerful stories and a selection of poems, Meade shows how the more thoroughly we shed false aspects of ourselves, the more we can redeem our lives and sound our unique note in 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 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.

On this excerpt from a Living Myth Premium episode, Michael Meade explores how resiliency amidst adversity is a hallmark of genius and an essential capacity for navigating a rapidly changing and confusing world. What we need now is the courage to follow our genius all the way to where it would lead us. When enough people awaken to the inner meaning and purpose in their lives, a collective shift of understanding can alter the course of history.     You can hear the full episode and receive additional podcast content by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 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.

Currently, we are experiencing the demise of a world view and the breakup of the symbols that once functioned within it. As a result, life has become more brittle, institutions have become more hollow, and the sense of collective ethics and ideals crumbles before our weary eyes.     Amidst the current flood of troubling and unsettling events it is easy to feel lost in all the chaos and discouraged by all the conflicts. Yet, it is when we lose our sense of being ensouled that we can be said to be living in darkness and lacking the protection and guidance of our natural way of seeing and being. For, without the soul connection life can seem, not just overwhelming, but also random and pointless.     In the midst of all the political chaos and growing fears for the future, we have our best chance of living with meaning and being resilient if we find the purpose set within our own heart and soul. Awakening to our life purpose involves an alignment with our inner genius, a connection to our core sense of character and a revelation of ways we are intended to serve the community of souls.     Contemporary research shows that having a genuine sense of purpose can lead to living longer, while being emotionally and spiritually healthier. Ancient wisdom suggests that living with purpose makes us more resilient and creative, while at the same time having something meaningful to contribute to the healing and renewal of the living 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 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 a description of the youngest sisters and youngest brothers in fairy tales. They seem out of place and behind everyone else, yet they are the only ones able to break the collective spells of materialism, resentment and despair. They represent the genuine dreamer inside all of us and they are deeply connected to the dream of life and the wisdom of mythology. As agents of myth they have exactly what this troubled world most needs. However, it is the attitudes of the older brothers and sisters that prevail in the daily world. Only after all else has failed will people turn to the youngest sister or brother within who has been holding onto the true dream of life all along.     Michael Meade then lays out the old idea of the Three Kinds of Thinking: the logical, the psychological and the mythological. Following the trail of the youngest aspects of the psyche, he shows how when all else makes no sense, mythic imagination makes the most sense. Myth is the deepest layer of life where grace and wisdom and even redemption can be found.     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 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 the story of the Spirit in the Bottle in which a youth must confront a powerful and angry spirit in order to claim his own genius and natural gifts. One point of the tale is that we cannot become who we are intended to be unless our genius becomes conscious and is confirmed by someone other than our parents. If our inner spirit remains bottled up too long, it has no choice but to turn against us. Whereas the spirit in the old tale erupts with anger, in someone else's story it can collapse into an enduring depression.     If, like the youth in the story, we accept whatever aspects of fate that befall us and face our fears, everything changes. Spells are broken, gifts are revealed and what was known as the “second adventure of life” begins. While many theorists and psychologists ascribe the soul’s adventure to the second half of life, Michael Meade suggests something different.     When our mutual fate involves us in a time of worldwide upheaval, turning to the inside realm of the soul and awakening to the second adventure becomes a greater priority. When meaning and unity are lacking in the outside world, they must be sought and found in each person’s inner life. Since the world will not settle soon, undertaking the soul’s adventure becomes the best way to find a genuine sense of meaning and purpose, but also reveals how we can best contribute to the healing of both nature and human culture.     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 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 addresses the rise of conspiracy theories and spread of falsehoods in conjunction with the phenomenon of a widespread loss of personal identity. Recent studies show that amidst radical social changes and growing levels of personal insecurity many people feel a greater need to feel part of a group.     While being part of an in-group can relieve underlying feelings of insecurity, it can also involve a loss of true identity. As hostilities between polarized sides intensify, people can cling more tightly to social identities and partisan beliefs, which in turn can make false information and conspiracy theories not only more acceptable, but also more necessary.     As the contemporary confusion between truth and lies intensifies, Michael Meade offers the age-old concept of a genuine “act of truth” that can restore the sense of personal integrity and also serve as an antidote that can reverse the spread of poisons in the collective body of society.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Finding Unity in a Divided World” on Thursday, July 17.     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 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.     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 episode of Living Myth Michael Meade tells a fairy tale about a realm that is rapidly becoming a wasteland because its king has become seriously ill and there is no simple cure. The only way to heal the realm is to find the Water of Life. Doing that requires the seeker let go of all arrogance and accept the condition of not knowing. For only then will the mysterious dwarf provide the guidance and resources that are needed for the quest.     Part of the essential guidance involves learning how to face our deepest fears. And that inevitably brings up each person’s abandonment issues as well as feelings of being inadequate and overwhelmed by what life requires of us. Ultimately, it is only the youngest part of each psyche, the eternal youth and inner initiate that is able to access the wisdom and resources needed to find the Water of Life and return the flow of life to the psychic realm.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Finding Unity in a Divided World” on Thursday, July 17.     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 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.     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 the ancient idea of each soul receiving a “lot in life.” Lot basically means “a chip of wood,” but in this case, the chip comes from the roots of the World Tree, that also used to be known as the Tree of Destiny. Thus, each of our souls secretly carries a “divine word” or living symbol drawn from the Tree of Life that makes each person a divine experiment in life. We are human by lot, but we are divine by origin. We must begin life with the hand that fate has dealt us; yet our fate can be seen as more of an oracle set within us than as an outcome predetermined for us. When so many aspects of modern life seem increasingly out of our control, turning to the adventure our souls would have us live can give us our best chance to find a sense of inner unity and live with meaning and purpose. The soul’s adventure involves stepping off the common pathways and going off the maps that others have given to us. This “second adventure of life” intends an unfolding of the meaningful story trying to unfold from within us. It is a path of awakening to who we already are at our core and how we can best contribute to life. The soul’s adventure aims at things beyond the concerns of the daily world, and yet the transformations it can produce are essential for renewing human culture and for determining the fate of life on Earth.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Finding Unity in a Divided World” on Thursday, July 17.     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 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.     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 episode of Michael Meade recounts a myth from ancient Persia, the name by which Iran was known for centuries. The ancient tale predates all historical hostilities and battles in the Middle East and offers surprising insights into the origins and nature of the kind of conflict that can plunge whole peoples and entire epochs into darkness. Way back at the beginning, the original clash of opposite forces and the presence of great uncertainty about the future of life entered the world together. The force of chaos and darkness attacks the principle of order and creation using the weapons of lies and aggression. However, that is not the end of the story, but rather a critical turning point in which a greater sense of consciousness and a deeper sense of wisdom can shift the balance back to the process of creation. The primary problem is that breaking the tension of opposing forces requires that the original split in life must become more conscious. No true healing unless the original split is touched. No true changes without a moment of wholeness that can offset the underlying doubts and projections of guilt and blame. No lasting treaty unless those claiming to create peace already have peace in their hearts. Only then can it be understood that the effect of an elemental opposition is to generate a deeper sense of meaning and a greater sense of understanding that does not simply stop the hostilities, but also stimulates life itself. Creation is the only outcome of conflict that can satisfy the soul.     Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Finding Unity in a Divided World” on Thursday, July 17.     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 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.     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 one of the great scenes in the mythologies of India. Indra had become King of the Earth by winning a great battle; he also became obsessed with power and increasingly demanding. Just when all the people were being reduced to dust and bones by the endless orders and sudden changes, the self-proclaimed lord of the earth has a surprising encounter with a ragged beggar boy. Although young and seemingly an outcast, the orphan boy knows more than the king about the use of power, the meaning of life and how the world can change in a moment.     We are each the beggar boy in the sense that we know what it means to be the orphan, the outcast, the immigrant or other who is being rejected, alienated or exiled. And in the end, the orphan boy, who breaks the spells of self-glorification and self-delusion that entraps the king and all the land, turns out to be Vishnu, the original creator who dreams up the world. Those who insist on claiming that they are superior and more righteous or entitled than others are not only psychologically rejecting their own inner orphan, they are also severing their connection to the underlying and essentially unifying dream of life.      Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “A Divided World, a Hidden Unity” on Thursday, July 17.     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 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.

Increasingly, we are caught in the shattering of the world and in the broken heart of tragedy. The loss of soul in the world leaves people not only divided but turned against each other. The world we used to know is gone and we are suspended betwixt and between chaos and creation. We are in a series of crises and events that seem to turn the world upside down. For it is our mutual fate to be alive at a time of radical transformation that affects all levels of nature and all aspects of human culture.     The great crises of the world do not take place outside the soul, for soul also awakens in the midst of conflict and crisis. Even as everything breaks down, soul knows where to reconnect to life. The presence of soul connects our inner nature to the renewing energy of great nature and awakening the soul stirs a deep sense of resiliency and creativity that serves as an antidote and remedy for the rise of brutality and the misuse of power. What stirs the individual soul can also shift the ground of tragedy and help heal 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 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.

As nature and culture rattle and old forms crumble, a crisis of imagination occurs and we are called to see the world with different eyes. Finding and following a genuine vision requires an open heart as well as an open mind. Thus, transforming our lives involves a genuine “change of heart.” While the heart fosters feelings and love, the heart within the heart is also the seat of imagination and the place of wisdom. What was known as the “eye of the heart” sees with a kind of vision that opens to revelations about ourselves and the world. Yet, for the heart to open and the spirit of change to enter us, we must let go of our received ideas and restrictive attitudes. Love is the divine spark in each heart, intended to illuminate the true path of our life. Such a path with heart reveals who we are in essence and how we are aimed. We are each intended to serve something greater than ourselves; when we serve in that way, we become truly whole-hearted. To be fully alive, growing the soul and incarnating spirit is the only thing that satisfies the longings seeded in the garden of the heart. 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 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.

On this episode, Michael Meade considers how finding and following the thread that connects our fate to our destiny ultimately involves a pilgrimage to the center of the Self where the dream of life speaks in mythical tones. Seen this way, fate and destiny form an essential arc of meaning that carries a person out into the world and back to the inner treasure of the human soul.     Fate and destiny are the two great agreements that shape the core issues we struggle with throughout our lives. Although the thread of fate implies limitations, it also ties each person to a destiny waiting to awaken. If a person doesn't face their fate, they may never find the deep resources and natural gifts they have inside. If a person doesn't risk living out their destiny, they'll never know who they were intended to be.     There may be no greater time than these troubled times for learning how to face our fate and open the paths of destiny that our souls would have us take and that were the aim of our lives from the beginning.     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 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 recent scientific reports which seek to explain why humans may be inclined to put their trust in leaders who claim to be strong and omniscient and will submit to those who are manipulative and deceitful. Studies in anthropology and psychology reveal age-old biases that lead people to believe what others believe in order to “fit in” and idealize and imitate those who appear to be highly successful. These “hardwired” biases become activated during times of radical change and become amplified when collective levels of uncertainty and fear increase. The modern use of vast digital networks that can unleash floods of disinformation and falsehoods provokes the age-old fears and biases that can manipulate entire societies. The use of mass methods of communication are just the latest tactics in the long history of humanity's struggles over truth and trust and the willful misuse of power in ways that benefit the few at the expense of the overall community. Michael Meade invokes the old idea that timeless problems can only be solved with timeless solutions. In order to avoid being overwhelmed by uncertainty and confusion we must look, not to the contemporary mainstream of life, but to the timeless streams of myth and imagination. As the fabric of life becomes frayed and time seems to be running out, timeless things that can alter the course of history try to slip back into human awareness. Despite our fears and misleading biases, we are also the inheritors of the capacity of the human soul to imagine a more unified world and find ways to reconnect to life’s innate capacity to transform and renew from within, precisely when all seems about to be lost. Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining him for two upcoming events: his free online event “Surviving Uncertainty by Growing Your Soul” on Thursday, May 22 and his new online workshop “Paths of Awakening in Uncertain Times” on Saturday, June 14. 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 675 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.