29. How to Develop Your Own Myths, Rituals, and Culture with Sam Sycamore

We humans are innately spiritual creatures: we are all driven to seek purpose beyond pure survival, and connection beyond the individual body.

We want to be a part of something greater than our individual selves—to feel that we are working with others, whether human or more-than-human, towards a common goal that supersedes individual needs.

I believe that the civilized cultural paradigm that currently dictates our collective worldview does not serve us, and thus it is in our best interest to plot a new course going forward with a set of cultural tools that are actually useful and relevant to our daily lives.

Over the course of many countless millennia, our species externalized many of its instincts in the form of stories—mythology—because this allowed for more fluidity in our behaviors and thus the ability to more quickly adapt to changing conditions.

Instincts change over the course of evolutionary time, millions of years; stories, on the other hand, can change just a little bit, often imperceptibly so, every single time they’re told – and the ways in which they’re told are invariably a reflection of the time, the place, and the people involved. Thus, culture is an extension of ecology.

Recognizing that the dominant culture of No-Environment is detrimental to our continued survival, how can we create new cultural tools without engaging in cultural appropriation?

How might we reclaim a land-based mythology for ourselves and our kin that allows us to thrive individually, and flourish collectively?

How do we participate in the spiritual landscape of our ecosystems, and cultivate an intimate, co-creative relationship with the Earth?

Explore these questions and more in the latest episode of The Good Life Revival Podcast, no. 29: ‘How to Develop Your Own Myths, Rituals, and Culture.’