Belonging to the Wild

What is archetypal polytheism and what does it mean in daily life? In this solo episode, I continue this series on cultivating a mythic sensibility and engaging the mythic imagination in everyday life. Topics I talk about in this episode include: What are archetypes?/archetypal theory Our obsession with “The One” The perils of the Salvational Fantasy What I mean by archetypal polytheism The signif...

In this solo episode, I elaborate and deepen into what it means to live with a mythic sensibility and to weave the worlds of the mundane and the mythic as we live our daily lives. I also talk about: The primacy of the wild imagination Exploring the invisible world from different perspectives Examples of weaving the worlds together How a mythic sensibility remembers us back to our wild belonging Th...

What does it mean to live with a mythic sensibility? We are starting the new season of Belonging to the Wild with another wonderful conversation with Dr Thomas Moore. In this conversation, we explore what it means to live with a mythic sensibility. Our conversation includes themes like: ·      what it means to have a mythic sensibility ·      the difference between myth and mythology ·      the im...

In this episode, Mackenzie Amara and I explore the idea of cultivating a secure existential attachment. We talk about what that means and explore what it feels like to have a secure attachment to source, life, or existence itself.   In this fascinating conversation, we also explore themes of love and shame, the experience of spiritual bypass, and what Joseph Campbell really meant when he encourage...

In this conversation, Perdita Finn and I talk about the generosity of the long stories of our souls, explore what it means to have meaningful relationship with the dead, and circle around deep questions of belonging and connection. Acknowledging that our species often feels lonely, bereft, and disconnected, Perdita invites us to wonder about what it would be like to live in an “economy of prayer.”...

In this episode, Amy Wilding joins me in this wonderful conversation about finding inner permission, cultivating body sovereignty, and decolonizing our inner landscapes as we walk into more fullness and freedom. Amy shares about how her body led her into a powerful awakening of her wise and wild knowing. We talk about ways patriarchal consciousness uses our disconnection from our bodies as a tool...

In this conversation, Dr. Thomas Moore and I explore the experience of creative transgression and the relationship between Eros and transgression. Deeply grounded in the archetypal sensibility and perspective, we discuss the role of obedience and disobedience in the soulful life and the importance of being faithful to the creative daimon . In this intimate conversation, Dr. Moore shares his views...

In this conversation, Ben tells us the story of realizing that at some point his heart had snuck out the back door. In that moment he heard these powerful words: “if you don’t have your heart you have nothing.” He tells us about how this experience launched him into a mythic quest to find his heart again, a journey he shares in his book The Way Home.   We talk about his experiences with synchronic...

In this conversation, I am joined by the wonderful Molly Remer, MSW, D.Min. We discuss the dance between effort and ease that our days bring. We explore what she calls, “the revolution of lying down” and the importance of recognizing when we are on the edge of too-muchness. We talk about honoring our limitations and finding places of restoration. Molly also shares her beautiful insights on cultiva...

In this conversation, Erin and I explore what it means to follow the ways of water. She shares the significance of her lifelong relationship with water, and we talk about how water remembers where we come from and where we belong. We also talk about desire as a key to our belonging and the power to create and re-create worlds by following what we want.     As we follow the ways of water, Erin help...

In this episode, I tell the story of Bluebeard and explore this archetypal figure. Bluebeard exposes the nuances of a kind of archetypal experience where we may be charmed into believing that what keeps us too small is beautiful, and that what offers us favor is also keeping us safe when in fact, it is plotting our disappearance. Bluebeard forbids knowing and demands unquestioned obedience. In thi...

In this episode, Lucy H. Pearce shares her thoughts, experiences, and deep wisdom with us as we explore creativity and the creative life. We talk about the threshold where the urgent creative force meets daily life, and the treasures and tensions we might meet there. Our conversation includes questions and reflections on the nature of creativity, recognizing its call, and the importance of knowing...

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Safron Rossi about the Kore Goddess, an archetypal pattern that is deeply linked with sovereignty, self-belonging, and psychological integrity. The Kore has to do with our ability to know where we stand, to be grounded in our deep essential nature, and to be in vital relationship with our own emotional reality and vision. The Kore sanctifies the inner life. Focusin...

As we begin the next season of the podcast, I explore five significant aspects of archetypal belonging: the complexity of belonging, false belonging, sacred un-belonging, self-belonging, and wild belonging. These are five faces of belonging that we will encounter as we dance with this archetypal experience. I hope you enjoy this episode! ***To learn more about this community visit my website here....

In this episode, Kaitlyn Wildare returns to the podcast for a conversation about Winter Solstice and the Holidays. We explore the meaning of Winter Solstice, especially in the midst of all the holiday festivities. We ask the question: Does the Winter Solstice offer us another way to move through this time of the year? The Winter Solstice invites us into quiet, slowness, and inwardness. It reminds...

In this episode, I am joined by ecopsychologist Dr Vaughan Wilkins and we ask this very important question: Is the way we are living making us sick? We explore what Dr Wilkins calls “enculturated captivity” and the invisible bars that may be holding us captive to a way of living that causes suffering, isolation, and personal and collective trauma. We talk about the “offness” many of us feel living...

In this episode, I am joined by Cherie Katt, a licensed mental health counselor and a certified sex therapist. We discuss the connection and kinship between our spiritual selves and our sexual selves. Exploring the personal and collective stories that serve to sever our sense of connection between our sexuality and spirituality, we also explore topics like silence and shame, claiming our pain and...

In this episode of Belonging to the Wild, Dr. Ellman and I explore the question of finding a new spiritual home after loss of spiritual home and identity, or what some refer to as deconstruction. Is it possible to find a home by another way? Her research focuses on this question. By exploring the experience of folks who found a new sense of spiritual home and identity after this loss, Dr. Ellman i...

In this episode of Belonging to the Wild, I am joined by artist, therapist, and ritual maker Heather Stringer. We discuss what makes something a ritual, different kinds of rituals, the importance of the body and the senses in ritual making, and the gift of being witnessed by loving community. We explore ritual as homecoming, as portal, as disruption and interruption. We explore ritual as a powerfu...

What does it mean to belong to the wild? What does our exile and our sacred unbelonging have to do with our self-belonging? How to we face the loss that comes with moving out of false and old belonging into wild belonging? These are some of the questions I explore in this episode. Wandering around the humble little story of the Ugly Duckling, this episode explores the complexities of true belongin...

In this episode, Kaitlyn Turner and I sit down to continue our conversation on patriarchal consciousness. We explore questions like: Are there other ways besides the patriarchal way? When and how did the shift to patriarchal consciousness happens, and what are some of the reasons? What was cast away at the birth of patriarchal consciousness that we want to remember? What mythic images can help us...

In this conversation, Dr. Christy Bauman (she/her) and I continue the series on leaving the obedient life. Christy talks about different palettes of shoulds in her life, as well as the call she feels now to disobey the systems and narratives that constrict our freedom to exist fully. Christy describes the grief that she has experienced as a result of being excluded from the places where she is not...

In this episode, Jaye C. Watts joins me as we continue to explore experiences around leaving the obedient life.  Jaye shares their experiences with the shoulds and how they were enforced, particularly around gender expectations and constrictive educational systems.    In our conversation, Jaye beautifully describes the power of naming yourself, especially for the trans community, and of following...

In this episode we continue our series on leaving the obedient life with therapist and yoga instructor Jenny Wade. In this conversation, Jenny shares with us that the greatest should in her life has been the mandate to be a “good girl.” She describes how being a “good girl” for her meant being as disassociated from her body as possible in order to be favorable to her religious community. She speak...

We are beginning a short series on leaving the obedient life.  For the next few episodes, my co-hosts and I will be exploring questions about what our shoulds have been, what it looked like for us to step across, or transgress, those well-worn paths into our own wildness, and what living from our own knowing and nature looks like for us now.    In this episode I answer some of these questions abou...