Howl in the Wilderness

This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to gain access to early release of full, ad-free episodes and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness. We are an independent production and rely on the support of listeners like you. Make a one-time contribution to http://paypal.me/brianjamessoulOn this episode I welcome back my friend Erik Davis to talk about how the grassroots values and DIY ethos of Generation X could provide an antidote to an ailing culture that has been polluted by corporate takeover of media and the internet.Erik Davis, PhD, is an author, award-winning journalist, and popular speaker based in San Francisco.He’s the author of many books on technology, esotericism and American subculture but his first and best-known book is TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information, a cult classic of visionary media studies that has been translated into five languages and most recently republished by North Atlantic Press.He hosted the podcast Expanding Mind on the Progressive Radio Network for a decade, and earned his PhD in Religious Studies from Rice University in 2015. He currently writes the Substack publication Burning Shore and frequently hosts events at the Alembic in Berkeley California.Erik's Links:https://techgnosis.comhttps://berkeleyalembic.orghttp://burningshore.com/Show Links:http://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewildernesshttp://paypal.me/brianjamessoul

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/howlinthewildernessSupport the podcast:HITW Patreon: http://patreon.com/howlinthewildernessSend a contribution: https://paypal.me/medicinepathyogaOn this episode I speak with Stephanie McKay, an educator and mentor in earth-based skills and ancestral ways, located on Gabriola Island, British Columbia.Stephanie and I met when I attended one of her Mythology Club sessions and found that we shared a common passion for tending to old stories in a way that reveals their deeper layers of meaning.In the first part of our conversation, we talk about her transition from working as a video artist to becoming a wilderness educator, and her 12-year participation in Martín Prechtel’s school Bolad’s Kitchen.In the second half, we take a deep dive into the old Germanic folk tale Iron Hans, also known as Iron John, the subject of Robert Bly’s seminal 1990 book. Stephanie offers some unique insights into the historical layers of the story that are fascinating and surprising.Even though I’ve read Bly’s book many times over the past 30 years and recently conducted an 8-week online group where we read and reflected on the story, Stephanie’s insights opened up a whole new area of inquiry for me. In the audio version of part two, I’ve included an afterword where I share some of that research.If you have any interest in this story, or pre-Christian European culture and spiritual traditions, I highly recommend you check it out.Listen to Part Two "A Deep Dive Into Iron John" here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hitw124-mckay-pt-92425341Links:Stephanie's website: http://fianna.cahttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewilderness

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 speak with Dick Russell, author of the monumental three volume biography of renegade post-Jungian psychologist James Hillman.Dick is the author of many books, including his groundbreaking journalism on the JFK assassination and best sellers co-authored with Jesse Ventura and Robert Kennedy Jr.Dick is a natural and generous storyteller and in our conversation he shares many wonderful stories about his friend and mentor James Hillman. In the last half hour of our talk, Dick shares the extraordinary story of taking his schizophrenic son to meet with famed West African teacher and healer Malidoma Somé, eventually traveling to Burkina Faso to work with an indigenous African shaman for a month-long healing ritual.This was a wonderful conversation and I hope you enjoy it much as I did.Topics: James Hillman, archetypal psychology, Malidoma Somé, shamanism, schizophrenia, Robert Bly, mythopoetic men's movementLinks:https://dickrussell.orghttp://brianjames.cahttp://instagram.com/brianjames.soulworkhttp://youtube.com/@howlinthewildernessREFERENCES:Dick Russell, The Life and Ideas of James Hillman: Volume II: Re-Visioning Psychology https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-life-and-ideas-of-james-hillman-volume-ii-dick-russell/18312785?ean=9781956763188Dick Russell, My Mysterious Son https://bookshop.org/p/books/my-mysterious-son-a-life-changing-passage-between-schizophrenia-and-shamanism-dick-russell/8280481?ean=9781510729001Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman https://bookshop.org/p/books/of-water-and-the-spirit-ritual-magic-and-initiation-in-the-life-of-an-african-shaman-malidoma-patrice-some/7315872?ean=9780140194968James Hillman, Re-visioning Psychology https://bookshop.org/p/books/re-visioning-psychology-james-hillman/8862726?ean=9780060905637

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 speak with Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen from the Nordic Animism YouTube channel.This was a really fascinating conversation and we cover a lot of ground, from the almost lost ancient animist traditions of Scandinavia to the vibrant, ever-evolving animist practices of the African diaspora in Brazil.We talk about the distinctions between animism and paganism, what makes animist traditions so resilient, and how the living animist practices of the global South could lead us in the North toward a post-Colonial, post-monotheistic future in which religious diversity and eclecticism are not only tolerated but celebrated, and reverence for other-than-human life is once again central to our spiritual practice.This was a fun one and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.Topics: animism, paganism, shamanism, condomblé, orishas, capoeira, post-colonialismReferences:Rune's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nordicanimismAnimist Manifesto: https://www.animism.org.uk/HarveyAnimism%20flyer.pdfLaughing at the Spirits article: https://www.e-flux.com/journal/36/61261/laughing-at-the-spirits-in-north-siberia-is-animism-being-taken-too-seriously/Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Horsemen:_The_Living_Gods_of_Haiti

This is a preview of the full episode. To gain access to full episodes and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewildernessOn this episode I speak with Jungian and archetypal psychologist Stanton Marlan about alchemy, imagination, psychology and non-ordinary states of consciousness.Stanton Marlan, Ph.D. is an American clinical psychologist, Jungian psychoanalyst, author, and educator. Stan has written extensively on alchemy and archetypal psychology, includingThe Black Sun, The Alchemy and Art of Darkness, C. G. Jung and the Alchemical Imagination, and Jung's Alchemical Philosophy.In our conversation we explore the different approaches to the alchemical imagination taken by two of Stan’s main teachers: Carl Jung and James Hillman and how they informed his own approach to working with alchemical images in psychotherapy over 50 years of practice.Stan was also kind enough to sprinkle in some personal stories about his friend and mentor James Hillman, as well as the early spiritual and psychedelic experiences that opened his awareness to the deeper mysteries of the soul.Topics: alchemy, psychology, carl jung, james hillman, psychedelics, soulReferences:Stan's 2017 Pacifica lecture: https://youtu.be/8SF_w77j0dcThe Black Sun: https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781603440783/the-black-sun/CG Jung's Alchemical Philosophy: https://www.routledge.com/Jungs-Alchemical-Philosophy-Psyche-and-the-Mercurial-Play-of-Image-and/Marlan/p/book/9781032105444Archetypal Psychologies: https://www.amazon.ca/Archetypal-Psychologies-Reflections-Honor-Hillman/dp/188267054XPeter Kingsley Catafalque: https://peterkingsley.org/product/catafalque/Edward Edinger Anatomy of the Psyche: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/anatomy-of-the-psyche-alchemical-symbolism-in-psychotherapy_edward-f-edinger/486783/#edition=3764623&idiq=10607188Susan Sontag Against Interpretation: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54889e73e4b0a2c1f9891289/t/564b6702e4b022509140783b/1447782146111/Sontag-Against+Interpretation.pdf

A few days ago I saw that John was going to be offering a couple new seminars online, so I reached out to him and asked if he’d like to workshop his ideas with me beforehand and release it as a podcast.He agreed, and what you’re going to hear is a raw and unedited conversation between the two of us, exploring the subjects of his two upcoming seminars.The first one is called The Odyssey Of Aging: Transitioning from Hero to Elder and explores the question “How do men and women let go of outward driven goals and the pursuits of youth and live the second half of life as Elders, mentors and guides?”The second conversation is on Creativity, Addiction and Passivity and explores the differences between creativity and addiction, and how addiction blocks creativity and stifles emotional maturation.As usual, I really enjoyed speaking with John and value him as a mentor and elder. I hope you enjoy listening in on our discussion, and if you’re listening to this before September 30, 2023 and are interested in checking out the live seminars, you can go to higherthoughtinstitute.com or check the link in the description. For you counselors and therapists, these seminars are approved for continuing education credits.Even if you’re not in the helping professions, John’s very practical and down-to-earth approach will make this information accessible and useful for anyone to get the benefit.Links:http://johnleebooks.comhttps://higherthoughtinstitute.com/product/september-30-2023-john-lee-ma-webinar/References:Allen Chinen, Beyond the Hero: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/beyond-the-hero_allan-b-chinen/825131Rilke poem: https://dailypoetry.me/rilke/somewhere-to-the-east-theres-a-church/Rag & Bone Shop of the Heart: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-rag-and-bone-shop-of-the-heart-a-poetry-anthology_henry-david-thoreau_robert-frost/258285Things to Think, Robert BlyThink in ways you've never thought before.If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a messageLarger than anything you've ever heard,Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a mooseHas risen out of the lake, and he's carrying on his antlersA child of your own whom you've never seen.When someone knocks on the door, think that he's aboutTo give you something large: tell you you're forgiven,Or that it's not necessary to work all the time, or that it'sBeen decided that if you lie down no one will die.