Share

Howl in the Wilderness

Conversations with renegade artists, philosophers and cultural activists.


Latest episode

  • 120. Joshua Schrei | The Road to the Emerald Podcast | HITW120

     54:56
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessLinks:The Emerald: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OwFblqZ7FIkLSW4rvbJEFhttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewildernessEpisode Description:We track the long and winding road Josh Schrei has travelled, from his childhood bouncing around Zen monasteries and ashrams, to his career in the music business working with the Beastie Boys, to finally finding his true calling as a teacher, storyteller and podcast creator.Intro Text:On this episode I speak with Joshua Schrei, creator of The Emerald podcast. On The Emerald, Josh explores many aspects of human experience through a unique and artful interweaving of myth, poetry, music, conversation and personal reflection.My 2018 YouTube documentary The Shamanic Roots of Yoga is similar in form to what Josh does with The Emerald, combining voiceover commentary with music and scriptural references, and touches on a topic that he later covered in an episode on the shamanic third chapter of the Yoga Sutras. I initially found out about his podcast when that episode came out and people started messaging me, saying, “Hey, you should check out this guy, he’s interested in the same things you are.”And it’s true, I feel a kinship with Josh, and find that we are often exploring the same ground around the same time. I’m glad I got to finally meet him and have this conversation. To me it’s evidence that men don’t have to be in competition with each other, and that actually, if we can relax our egos and appreciate each other, we discover (often to our surprise and delight) that male colleagues can be a source of camaraderie, support and inspiration.Josh is a fellow musician, teacher and lifelong explorer of stories, scripture and spiritual practice, which made for a rich and enlightening conversation about how his unconventional upbringing and early interest in storytelling, music and theatre were the seeds for what has unexpectedly grown into a meaningful livelihood as writer, teacher and podcast creator.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 119. Anya Foxen | Western Esotericism & The Roots of Modern Yoga | HITW119 (FULL EPISODE)

     01:15:56
    On this episode I speak with Anya Foxen, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. Her special areas of interest include gender and embodiment, as well as the interplay of religion and science. She is the author of three books including Is This Yoga? with Christa Kuberry and Inhaling Spirit (Oxford University Press, 2020).This turned out to be a fun and loose conversation between two longtime yoga practitioners, where we talk about the roots of modern yoga in America and the influence of Western Esotericism on contemporary yoga theory and practice.Howl in the Wilderness features deep and insightful conversations with renegade artists, philosophers, psychologists and spiritual teachers who are working on the edge of dominant culture to recover and revive soul in people and the planet.If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to early release of episodes and the full podcast archives, considering joining the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessLinks:https://www.anyafoxen.comhttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewilderness

  • 118. Thomas Moore | What Makes a Depth Psychologist? | HITW118 (Excerpt)

     51:35
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessOn this episode I welcome back my friend and mentor Thomas Moore, the internationally renowned author of such classics as Care of the Soul and A Religion of One’s Own, editor of the essential James Hillman collection A Blue Fire, and someone who has been teaching soul-centered psychology to therapists, psychiatrists and other caregivers for over 30 years.In this conversation, we begin to explore questions around what makes a good therapist and what kind of education helps to create a foundation for depth psychology. It’s a topic that’s as vast and deep as the soul itself, and after an hour and a half we really just begin to scratch the surface. I’m hoping that this is just the first of many conversations with Thomas on this theme.Topics: psychology, Carl Jung, James Hillman, soul, mythology, language, mythopoeticsSign up for Tom's Soul Psychology course: http://thomasmooresoul.com Links:http://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewilderness

  • 117. Bayo Akomolafe | Trickster Makes and Unmakes the World | HITW117 (EXCERPT)

     50:41
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessThis episode has been a long time coming. Over the past five years, Bayo Akomolafe has consistently been the most frequently requested guest. At last, the gods conspired to bring us together to howl about the Trickster in global traditions and what their role might be in the unmaking of the old world and the ongoing creation of the new.Our conversation takes us on a far reaching journey from the rich cultural soil of ancient Africa to the desolate plains of modernity and trails off on a delightfully blasphemous note, suggesting that within the figure of Yeshua hides the Yoruban trickster deity (Y)Eshu(a).Please join us as we unravel and revel in the complexities of the Trickster and their role in making and unmaking the world.Topics: Eshu, trickster, colonization, cultural appropriation whiteness, language, ecology, post-activismLinks:https://www.bayoakomolafe.nethttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewilderness

  • 116. Marlene Seven Bremner | The Art of Creative Alchemy | ep116 (PREVIEW)

     47:44
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness.On this episode I speak with artist, poet and writer Marlene Seven Bremner about her new book The Hermetic Marriage of Art & Alchemy: Imagination, Creativity, and the Great Work (Inner Traditions, 2023), billed as an initiatory and practical guide to creative alchemy.If you're interested in how alchemy relates to creativity and depth psychology, I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation..Topics: alchemy, imagination, art, creative process, Carl Jung, depth psychology.Links:https://marlenesevenbremner.comhttps://www.patreon.com/sevenarthttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewilderness

  • 114. Rachel Harris | The Women of Underground Psychedelic Therapy (Part One) | ep114

     51:36
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessHowl in the Wilderness features deep and insightful conversations with renegade artists, philosophers, psychologists and spiritual teachers who are working on the edge of dominant culture to recover and revive soul in people and the planet.On this episode I speak with author and psychologist Rachel Harris about her new book Swimming in the Sacred, which features the stories of 12 female elders of the underground psychedelic therapy movement.https://www.swimminginthesacred.com/If you’d like to support the podcast, considering joining the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessThanks for listening.Tags: psychedelics | therapy | ayahuasca | women

  • 113. Kevin Kelly | Excellent Advice for Creatives & Entrepreneurs (Part One) | ep113

     28:42
    This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessHowl in the Wilderness features deep and insightful conversations with renegade artists, philosophers, psychologists and spiritual teachers who are working on the edge of dominant culture to recover and revive soul in people and the planet.On this episode I speak with author and Senior Maverick at Wired magazine Kevin Kelly about his new book Excellent Advice for Living. In our conversation, we focus on his advice for entrepreneurs and freelancers.http://kk.orgIf you’d like to support the podcast, considering joining the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessThanks for listening.Tag: addiction | recovery | psychedelics | dislocation theory | Bruce Alexander | Carl Jung | James Hillman | Rudolf Steiner