Mythic Imaginations: How Stories Shape and Change Our Lives

An exploration of how powerful stories can give us insight into ourselves and our own inner stories, as well as providing us with tools to find inner healing and reconciliation through the engagement of powerful stories in myth and fairy tales. This, in turn, can teach us how to write and live out our own stories more fully, consciously, and authentically.

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 3 04/25/2025

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 3 In this episode I recount the years where I was getting ready to graduate from college but having little to no direction as to where to go in life and what to do next. A serendipitous chain of events in my senior year of college opened the door to an unexpected pathway which led me to go to graduate school where I studied to become a therapist. This proved to be a frutiful time of personal, spiritual, and educational enlightenment and renaissance for me, and I still recount those years as some of the most fulfilling and illuminating of my life to date. In this period, new questions were appearing to me I had not yet considered, but were compelling for me to follow and unpack. Many discoveries I made during this time contributed to my ongoing journey of deconstruction in ways I had not yet anticipated. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/36318230

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 2 04/25/2025

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 2 In this episode my story resumes around my early college years and the particular struggles I was having and developing around that time. Having covertly lost my faith in the church of my upbringing and my larger faith in God beginning to erode rapidly, I set out to look for answers and the truth beyond the familiar confines of my religious community; outside the borders of its theological tenets, assumptions, and presumptions. Giving myself the gift of this freedom did come with a cost. I had left my community and its various safety nets behind. This episode concludes with a prophetic dream I had that helped me to open the doors to my own sense of self-efficacy and confidence in ways I had previously been unable to develop. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/36318070

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 1 04/25/2025

My Religious Deconstruction Story: Part 1 Religious deconstruction is a path of transition, like so many other transitions that all of us go through in life. It has the components of loss, crisis, confusion, grief, and anger. It also includes catharsis, wisdom, joy, anticipation, and the opportunity for new life to arise out of the ashes of an old one. My deconstruction journey begins for me at the age of 10, when our family learned that my father was diagnosed with cancer and ends in the middle of my high school years, particularly at the age of 16, when my father lost his battle with cancer, and everything that occurred in the aftermath of that. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/36317905

Episode #19: Laura Lewis-Barr: Inner Work Through Short Films, Pt. 2 03/20/2025

Episode #19: Laura Lewis-Barr: Inner Work Through Short Films, Pt. 2 Laura Lewis-Barr is an award-winning screenwriter, stop-motion filmmaker, and educator. Laura writes comedy features. As a filmmaker Laura's focus is on animating fairy tales and mythic stories that explore personal and collective transformation. She is inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Jack Zipes, and Marie-Louise von Franz. Laura creates her short films in the basement of her house in Chicago, IL, where she resides. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35791125

Episode #18: Laura Lewis-Barr: Inner Work With Short Films, Pt. 1 03/20/2025

Episode #18: Laura Lewis-Barr: Inner Work With Short Films, Pt. 1 Laura Lewis-Barr is an award-winning screenwriter, stop-motion filmmaker, and educator. Laura writes comedy features. As a filmmaker Laura's focus is on animating fairy tales and mythic stories that explore personal and collective transformation. She is inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Jack Zipes, and Marie-Louise von Franz. Laura creates her short films in the basement of her house in Chicago, IL where she resides. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35791035

Episode #17: Apokalypsis: A Time of Turmoil & Revelation 03/14/2025

Episode #17: Apokalypsis: A Time of Turmoil & Revelation The term Apokalypsis is a Greek word that denotes a "revelation" or an "unveiling." It is the term from which we derive the modern word apocalypse. Unlike modern, fundamentalist religious movements that interpret this idea to mean the literal end of the world, the original term denotes something different, if no less harrowing. The moment of revelation, in both Biblical and mythical literature always heralds a change to come, and typically no small change, but rather something very big and profound which will impact an entire people, nation, or in our case today, yes, the entire world. It hearkens not to a literal end of the world, or the planet itself, but something closer to the end of the world as we have known it. It is indeed a time of great turmoil for everyone. We stand, right now, in a moment of apokalypsis as an entire species. However, fear and despair, while laying heavily on our hearts and in the air all around us, are not the only invitations to response that the work of apokalypsis beckons us to. What we choose to do with such moments is important not only for ourselves, but for the overall health and sustainability of the planet we call home. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35702570

Mythic Imaginations: Same Podcast, New Title! 03/01/2025

Mythic Imaginations: Same Podcast, New Title! /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35493510

Episode #15: Stories With Bear, Part 2: Learning To Be "Hollow-Boned" 02/09/2025

Episode #15: Stories With Bear, Part 2: Learning To Be "Hollow-Boned" In this episode, Bear shares some of his experiences interacting with the Aboriginal communities he met with during his time Australia. Bear also introduces us to the concept of being “hollow-boned,” as he recalls his work in facilitating sweat lodges, which is a stance that a person must take in order to “hold space” for others. We also explore the power of intention and balance as mechanisms for both growth and healing in our lives, as Bear talks about using past traumas as more of a “springboard rather than an anchor,” as he puts it. We end our time talking about the importance of community, not just as people, but the idea of community as it relates to the plants and the animals that we share this earth with. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35206710

Episode #14: How To Walk Through Hell 02/03/2025

Episode #14: How To Walk Through Hell The human race is in the middle of treacherous, tumultuous, and dangerous times. We are in the middle of what the Greeks called "Apokalypsis," which means a moment of "revelation," or a "lifting of the veil." Such moments in human history are accompanied by fear, confusion, and chaos. In this episode I talk about the psychological realities of hell, and how we can learn, collectively, to walk through such difficult times together. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35133430

Episode #13: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Pt. 3: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell 02/02/2025

Episode #13: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Pt. 3: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell In this third and final installment of my conversation with Dr. Amy Ferrell, we explore together how the human Shadow provides us with a potential path into the deeper wisdom of ourselves, as well as exhibiting a warning to us, should choose to ignore it. We explore how our current culture and society have been neglecting to deal with its own collective shadows and our observations of the results of this choice. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35118015

Episode #12: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Pt. 2: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell 02/02/2025

Episode #12: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Pt. 2: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell A continuing conversation about apprehending the nature of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine archetypes where we explore how different stories we have each adopted throughout our lives have shaped us both for good or for ill, where those stories came from, as well as exploring an aspect of the nature of the Divine Masculine as our capacity as human beings to "hold space," both for ourselves and for others. The conversation continues to further explore how our perception of these binaries points the way toward more complex and non-binary realities of human existence as we all strive to embody both sides of these powerful, archetypal energies in our own lives. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/35117905

Episode #11: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Part 1: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell 01/11/2025

Episode #11: The Divine Feminine & Divine Masculine, Part 1: A Conversation With Dr. Amy Ferrell The Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine archetypes in myths and fairy tales are both powerful symbols and powerful binaries, between which the human race investigates more of its own fullness and wholeness in the underlying unity of non-binary spaces. These archetypal symbols and energies are qualities which belong to all human beings, regardless of sex or gender, and as such are capable of being manifest and nutured in all of us. In part one of this three part series, Dr. Amy Ferrell and I engage in meaningful dialogue about our own experiences and encounters with each of these powerful energies, as we also acknowledge how the backdrop of our cultural and societal values, particularly those rooted in patriarchy, have both influenced and attempted to redefine what each of these timeless and primordial energies are and how they should or should not be used. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/34813255

Episode #10: The Tale of the Half-Man 01/10/2025

Episode #10: The Tale of the Half-Man The stories which invoke such powerful, archetypal imagery as that of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine energies are both timeless and ageless. These images, or symbols, are divine forms of energy that belong to all human beings. In this sense they are not restrained to either gender or sex. What happens, however, when we as a species begin to impose our own ideas of sex, gender identity, and patriarchal demands on these timeless images? The Tale of the Half-Man is a story which can invite us into this particular conversation. This episode is an introduction to a four part series where, in the next three episodes I will be in conversation with a dear friend and colleague of mine, Dr. Amy Ferrell, as together we will be exploring the deep mysteries of both the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, and what we think each of those are, or more importantly, can be. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/34813125

Episode #9: Reconciliation: I Carry All My Stories With Me 12/14/2024

Episode #9: Reconciliation: I Carry All My Stories With Me The work of inner reconciliation is not the work of getting rid of different parts of ourselves, including our own darknesses. The work, instead, is about accepting and taking responsibility for every part of ourselves, continually learning to bring them into balance with each other. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/34441005

Episode #8: Stories With Bear: Wisdom Stories From A Native American Perspective, Pt. 1 12/07/2024

Episode #8: Stories With Bear: Wisdom Stories From A Native American Perspective, Pt. 1 Daniel Gray Bear, or "Bear" Calderon is a healer, elder, and wisdom figure who comes to us from the Mescalero Apache community. He is a master storyteller and a holder of space for those on a journey of healing and wholeness, having facilitated many sweat lodges and working one on one with individuals learning to listen, embrace, and follow their own paths of curiosity, healing, and growth. In this episode Bear shares with us some wisdom from the medicine wheel, a story about a grandfather and a grandson learning about love and commitment and ending our time with a fascinating story about coyote as an archetypal trickster figure. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/34324290

Episode #7: The Wizard of Oz: An Exploration In Mythological Interpretation 12/02/2024

Episode #7: The Wizard of Oz: An Exploration In Mythological Interpretation There are many different ways to engage and interact with stories. In this episode I provide but one example of the interpretation of a story where each character and component of the story itself is understood as being an aspect of the protagonist's personality, in this case, Dorothy from Kansas. From this perspective, the land of Oz is a metaphor for Dorothy's unconscious self, and all the characters in the story, from the cowardly lion to the wicked witch, are all different aspect of Dorothy's own personality. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/34222275

Episode #6: The Art & Practice of Wholeness 11/16/2024

Episode #6: The Art & Practice of Wholeness Wholeness is not something we achieve. Wholeness is what we already are. Our individual and collective journeys to realize and retrieve a connection with our own inner wholeness is a journey of re-remembering that which we have forgotten, that which we have lost sight of. Much of the first part of life consists of ego-building; learning to skills, trying new things, and figuring out our own identities as we grow and develop. At some point, the call changes in our lives, away from ego-building and back into re-remembering the full essence and truth of our individual selves...the truth of our original wholeness as human beings. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33951622

Episode #5: Trickster & The Tension of Opposites 11/09/2024

Episode #5: Trickster & The Tension of Opposites Living in a world that feels as though it could not be more polarized, introducing the concept of balancing the tension of the opposites feels more crucial than ever. This episode investigates the purpose of learning to balance these tensions and why that is important to us as individuals and as communities. The Trickster motif will be introduced to observe the crucial role it often plays at luring us into these stories of tension that lie within, and how these tensions get projected outwardly into our world. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33860667

Episode #4: Parts, Stories & The Human Shadow 10/16/2024

Episode #4: Parts, Stories & The Human Shadow In an effort to recognize and embrace the sanctity of living stories, as well as the sanctity of the human individual, this episode explores the nature of the different parts of the human psyche as well as the different stories of ourselves those parts are carrying for us. In addition, I reintroduce the concept of the human Shadow, and why it is important to understand its nature and role in our lives as we learn to see and work with more of our own hidden stories. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33487057

Episode #3: The HUMUS of Humbleness & Humility 10/15/2024

Episode #3: The HUMUS of Humbleness & Humility The Latin root word HUMUS means "of the ground," or "of the earth." In this episode I explore this idea related to the concepts of humbleness and humility, inviting us not only to reimagine those words differently, but also to explore why our capacity to delve back into the Humus is important in our efforts, not only to engage our own inner stories, but stories from myth and fairy tales as well. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33469557

Episode #2: Curiosity & Shame 10/03/2024

Episode #2: Curiosity & Shame In this episode I wanted to expand a little more on the concept and practice of curiosity, specifically in contrast to the experience of shame, and shame stories that we can collect over time and read ourselves into. This episode concludes with how we can begin to utilize the tools and practice of curiosity to find healing for ourselves from our own shame stories. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33267377

Episode #1: Welcome & Introduction 09/30/2024

Episode #1: Welcome & Introduction Welcome to this podcast! In this episode I will be introducing myself as well as some of the foundational ideas and concepts that form the heart of what this podcast is about and where the journey of engaging with stories more deeply and meaningfully can lead us. This episode is the first of a six-part series where I lay out these concepts and principles more in depth, and talk a little more about how engaging specifically with myths and fairy tales can help us shed some light on our own hidden worlds and the hidden stories we carry about ourselves. /episode/index/show/8942d719-e126-41fd-9658-dcb188e2aa9d/id/33267027

Mythic Imaginations: How Stories Shape and Change Our Lives

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