Living Myth

Michael Meade

Mosaic presents Living Myth, a podcast with Michael Meade, renowned mythologist and storyteller. Meade presents mythic stories that offer uniquely insightful and wise ways of understanding the current dilemmas of the world we live in. Living Myth proposes that genuine solutions to the complex and intractable problems of our world require both transcendent imagination and cohering, transformative narratives.

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Top 10 Living Myth Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Living Myth episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Living Myth for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Living Myth episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Episode 425 - Looking Down on Autocracy

Living Myth

03/05/25 • 26 min

This episode of focuses on the dehumanizing aspects of autocratic movements. The increasing uncertainties about the future create vacuums that would be dictators and autocrats seek to fill with big lies and fraudulent claims that are presented with a false sense of certainty. The autocratic playbook that they all inevitably follow requires that they enforce forms of economic and informational isolation and instill a siege mentality that depicts the outside world as being hostile, unfair and dangerous.

Authoritarian leaders deliberately seek to polarize people and radicalize what would otherwise be civil societies. They intentionally promote divisiveness and force people to take sides, while also demanding undivided loyalty to themselves. Autocrats cannot succeed unless others in power or seeking power assist them in creating an alternative reality. Eventually, those who enable and help justify the authoritarian regime lose their own ability to resist the inevitable descent into brutality, nihilism and violence.

When questioning the judgment or actions of a leader equates to blasphemy, when blind loyalty overrides individual ethics and collective values, and when healthcare, science and education become tools for serving the agenda of the self-proclaimed savior rather than for seeking for truth and understanding, then a society has entered a critical phase of a life threatening socio-political disease.

Autocratic leaders do not simply undermine institutions and sabotage basic freedoms, they also seek to normalize dehumanizing behaviors that make social and political violence unavoidable. If some people are denied their part in the whole of humanity, that leads to a diminishing of all the people.

Ultimately, history is written in the depths of individual human souls and the story we are in is still being written. If we allow those in power to deny a genuine sense of humanity to some, we can only continue to lose our way and further lose our souls. If we open ourselves to the understanding that we are literally all in the same story, each suffering in our own way, we may find genuine ways to help heal and protect each other and have no need and no room for would be autocrats or self-appointed kings.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online event “Radical Resilience” on Thursday, March 27. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 650 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.

1 Listener

Episode 259 - Solstice and the Tree of Life

Living Myth

12/16/21 • 20 min

On this replay of an episode on the winter solstice, Michael Meade states at the beginning: “This is not just the dark time of the year, but increasingly dark times for everyone, especially for those who care for the souls of other people and for the well-being of the earth we all live on.” He goes on to describe how ancient symbols and practices at the Winter Solstice served as a reminder of the cosmological connection between the human soul and the hidden unity of life.

Symbols have the power to bring the mind and the heart together and connect us to the deepest truths of life. A Christmas tree can stand for the Tree of Life, as it represents both the still point at the center and the power of life to change and renew itself. Simply lighting a single candle in the midst of darkness can be a reminder of the eternal process of renewal and restoration that is an essential, yet easily forgotten aspect of all of life.

This has been a dark year, yet, despite all the increasing divides in the world, we are all secretly connected, and we are each a part of the living substance of creation. Solstice coming at the darkest time of the year is a reminder of this cosmological connection between the human soul and the hidden unity of life.

Thank you for listening to, and supporting, Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we send you peace and blessings for the New Year and we thank you for your support of our work.

1 Listener

Episode 417 - A Story That Must Not Be Forgotten

Living Myth

01/08/25 • 25 min

Michael Meade recounts an ancient myth that reveals essential knowledge for navigating the turbulent time in which we all now live. The mostly forgotten tale describes the origin of the soul and explains how it is that we keep forgetting the still surprising idea that each soul brings to life a unique story and a destiny that seeks to unfold in the course of each life.

When faced with dark times and worldwide troubles, there is no formula that can save us. There is no simple fix or silver bullet, but only the possibility of turning within to connect more deeply with something already present, already knowing, just waiting to become conscious.

The ancient Greek word for truth was aletheia, which translates as “to not forget.” What seeks to be remembered by us are the core truths of life that include the underlying mystery of life, death and renewal and our innate connection to the inner genius that repeatedly tries to awaken us to the aim and purpose that originally brought us to life.

Thank you for listening to and supporting the Living Myth Podcast. You can further support this podcast in the new year by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at:

patreon.com/livingmyth

If you enjoy this podcast and find it meaningful, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and all of us at Mosaic, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our creative work.

1 Listener

Episode 414 - Solstice and the Tree of Life

Living Myth

12/17/24 • 18 min

On this winter solstice episode, Michael Meade states at the beginning: “This is not just the dark time of the year, but increasingly dark times for everyone, especially for those who care for the souls of other people and for the well-being of the earth we all live on.” He goes on to describe how ancient symbols and practices at the Winter Solstice served as a reminder of the cosmological connection between the human soul and the hidden unity of life.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his free online Solstice ritual “In This Darkness Singing” on Friday, December 20.

mosaicvoices.org/events

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at:

patreon.com/livingmyth

1 Listener

Episode 418 - The Creative Middle Way

Living Myth

01/15/25 • 26 min

Michael Meade looks at how a living system tends to be most complex in the middle or at the center, while being most open at the edges. Being at one side of a bridge of change opens possibilities of crossing over and reaching a place of greater understanding on the other side.

Yet the actual change must happen in the complicated middle which involves both loss and renewal, both chaos and creation. The creative middle way involves the power of becoming; becoming aware of new ways of being as well as coming to know ancient wisdom again.

The inner medicine of the soul is found in the moving middle where a person can truly change. An older person can be inspired by a youthful spirit, a younger person can become wiser than their age might suggest. While in touch with the golden middle way we become most aware of our true selves and more in tune with the ever renewing mysteries of life.

patreon.com/livingmyth If you enjoy this podcast and find it meaningful, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and all of us at Mosaic, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our creative work.

1 Listener

Episode 212 - Lost Causes, Lost Souls

Living Myth

01/27/21 • 26 min

This episode of Living Myth focuses upon two contrasting meanings of myth, one being a false narrative and the other as a genuine myth. On one level, myth involves things that can be proven false as when people say that something is “just a myth.” On a deeper, more meaningful level, myth means “emergent truth,” the learning of transcendent truths that can alter both our vision of the world and our immediate understanding of life.

Both the false myth and the genuine myth use the elements of narrative and symbolism to present their core stories. One difference between them is that false myths aim to divide people and turn them against each other, while more universal myths reveal underlying truths that serve to bring people together through greater imagination and deeper understanding.

In many ways, we are in the crux of a growing tension between the two levels and contrasting meanings of myth. The current moment involves the coming together of dangerous false myths in the form of the Big Lie and the Lost Cause. The Big Lie involves the false story line that Donald Trump won the recent election, only to have it stolen from him. The Lost Cause involves the weaving together of false narratives about the reasons for the Civil War with symbols of Christianity and the false myth of White Supremacy.

Those who commit to a big lie or a false myth can rarely be persuaded by the “facts of the matter.” Their commitment is not based on facts; almost the opposite, the blind belief at the core of false myths is based upon a determination not to experience a common reality. Thus, the antidote to the big lie or a false myth involves not just the facts, but the evocation of more enduring and inclusive narratives and symbols of unity and renewal that are the deepest heritage of our shared humanity.

Thank you for listening to and supporting this podcast. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members have access to the full archives of over 290 episodes, receive a 30% discount on all live events, courses and products and receive 3 bonus episodes each month, including regular live Q&A events with Michael Meade. You can learn more and become a member at patreon.com/livingmyth. As always, you can further support this podcast by leaving a review on iTunes and sharing it with your friends.

On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you continued well-being, protection and deep community connection during this period of great challenge and transformation.

1 Listener

Episode 293 - Thresholds of Change

Living Myth

08/15/22 • 58 min

Heraclitus said, “It is while we are trying to change that we find purpose.” On this in-depth episode, drawn from an event recording, Michael Meade suggests that because we live in a time of change, if we can allow ourselves to participate in the change, then we can find meaningful purpose that awakens the heart and leads us in the right direction in the world.

The idea of a threshold is something that exists before one state and another, before one place and another. Most of us are collectively on that threshold betwixt and between the letting go of the old view of the world and the full stepping into the new world.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new free online event “Re-creation and Renewal on Earth” on Thursday, August 25. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 435 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

Episode 292 - The Milk of Inspiration

Living Myth

08/10/22 • 26 min

This episode of Living Myth begins with a Celtic myth about the mythic mother that attends each human birth and the ways we each can be “spellbound” is specific ways. “Spells appear in the important areas of our lives; especially in the areas where meaning and purpose must also be found. Fate marks the spot where the limitations in our lives insist on being known, but also where the deep imagination of each soul resides. Breaking an inner spell allows us to be touched by the grace of the world. It releases vital life energy that otherwise remains trapped and reveals creative imagination that makes us able to serve our deeper self as well as the world.

When a person becomes self-denying, self-rejecting or self-neglecting, they have fallen into an inner spell and forgotten core connections to their inner radiant self. Each person suffers their own version of being a motherless child, each an orphan in search of a meaningful task or a path of awakening that can lead to a genuine transformation. In the strange way of the world, it is the orphan part of us, the long abandoned, often rejected element of our own soul that finds the true inspiration of our lives. From the dark cave of confused feelings and traumatic memories comes the next phase of the story trying to unfold from within us. If we can accept and even forgive ourselves, we can be redeemed by the gift of Mother Nature in the form of the inner Milk of Inspiration.”

You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 430 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

Episode 266 - Butterflies and Human Psyche

Living Myth

02/09/22 • 23 min

This episode begins with a shocking controversy in which threats from extremists and conspiracy theorists force the National Butterfly Center to close down. Michael Meade connects the nightmare scenarios of current life with the dark stages of dissolution that precede the transformation of butterflies. There is a great mystery in the metamorphosis that brings a lowly caterpillar to the majesty of the winged creature that emerges from a chrysalis. Since ancient times, humans have used the emergence of butterflies to symbolize the wonder of life's capacity to completely transform. For thousands of years, humans have looked to butterflies as a reassuring symbol in times of change. Yet at this moment, when the entire Earth is in the throes of an uncertain transformation, butterflies have become a symbol of loss rather than renewal, an evidence of collapse rather than redemption. Monarch butterflies migrating south from California must now pass through areas where native habitats are already 95% diminished by modern culture and human interference. Many migrating butterflies find refuge at a nature preserve that sits at the southern tip of Texas, facing the border with Mexico. For decades, the National Butterfly Center has served as a nature sanctuary along the banks of the Rio Grande River. Nature enthusiasts travel great distances to watch the delicate creatures float over the wildflowers in what many have called a magical place. In recent years however, the butterfly center has been thrust into the news and caught in the storms of conflict over immigration policies at the border. Strange as it may seem, it has now also become a landing place for wild conspiracy theories that border on insanity. The troubles began when then president Trump ordered a section of border wall to be built right through the National Butterfly Center in order to the migration of “illegal aliens.” What began as a legal battle over this “butterfly wall,” has recently morphed and escalated as extremists began posting and pushing conspiracy theories about the nature center. The new attack claims that the butterfly refuge is secretly run by “left wing thugs with a sham butterfly agenda.” Extremist groups have asserted, without any evidence, that pedophilia and rampant sex trade were taking place on the property along with illegal migration. A rapid escalation of online and in-person harassment of the sanctuary staff soon followed. Recently, increasing threats of violence by far right extremists and Qanon conspiracy followers have caused the butterfly center to close indefinitely. It seems hard to exaggerate the distortions occurring when butterflies become the center of a controversy promoted by those who deny reality and refuse to accept the need for meaningful cultural change and healing at this time. Part of the irony includes the fact that butterflies are not migratory in the sense of human migrants who might, for any number of reasons, be crossing borders and boundaries. Rather, the migration of butterflies demonstrates the interconnectedness of everything and everyone as well as the capacity of life to continually transform and renew. Those so fiercely threatening violence at the gates of the butterfly center may be caught in a nightmare of their own making. Yet, there is also a nightmare quality to being alive at this time when radical changes place extraordinary stress upon each person. Reports of climate crisis and all manner of cultural upheavals cannot simply be contained by the individual psyche, nor can they simply be dismissed. As the web of life loosens amidst rapid changes, everything can become psychically charged, as if some collective process of shedding and recovery has to happen before a meaningful transformation can occur. The word psyche, often used to indicate the human soul or spirit, derives from a Greek root that means butterfly or night moth. Just as butterflies go through phases of darkness and even disintegration before they can manifest their intended beauty and wonder, the psyche of humanity now seems to be suffering stages of darkness and dissolution on the way to a greater awakening. Butterflies can appear to be delicate and changeable like the human psyche; yet they are also hardy and determined as they undertake epic migrations. Indigenous tribes of the American Southwest particularly revered butterflies whose exquisite presence was considered a miracle, not just of transformation, but also resurrection. The current journey of humanity involves returning to essential connections to our own nature and thereby to great nature; but also to the core mystery of life, death, and renewal, symbolized since ancient times by the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online series and workshop that begin on Friday, February 18. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.

You can save 30% on these events...

Episode 344 - The Thread of Life

Living Myth

08/16/23 • 24 min

This episode begins with the idea that at critical times all of life can just hang by a thread. Michael Meade then describes the ancient rites of passage that involved the “upavita” or thread of life. The upavita was imagined as the red thread of passion that runs within the blood of every being. It was also envisioned as the green thread of existence that is dancing through the endless windings of the vegetal realm. Either way, it's the vine of eternity that secretly unites all living tendrils and embodied souls to the eternal web of life.

When tied onto young people as part of a rite of passage, a red thread or cord indicated that each life is sacred and symbolized the capacity of each person to awaken to how and where they are threaded to the eternal chain of being. The upavita thread symbolically pulled each novice away from the concerns of daily life in order to connect them to something deep inside themselves that also connected them to something deep and enduring in the world.

At this troubled time on earth, when life itself seems to be unravelling, we are all in a collective rite of passage and need reminders that we are each secretly tied to the web of life in a meaningful way. We each have an inner thread of spirit or genius that connects us to a calling and a purpose that makes our lives meaningful, no matter what the conditions of the world might be.

The symbolic thread of life reminds us that we are all in this together; but also that meaningful change comes from following the inner thread of imagination woven within us to begin with. Like initiates in ancient rites, we can follow our thread and become messengers of the unseen, able to bring forth both ancient understandings and new ideas when everything seems to be hanging by a thread.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 560 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles.

Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Living Myth have?

Living Myth currently has 319 episodes available.

What topics does Living Myth cover?

The podcast is about Genius, Culture, Myth, Society & Culture, Soul, Transformation, Podcasts, Education and Philosophy.

What is the most popular episode on Living Myth?

The episode title 'Episode 425 - Looking Down on Autocracy' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Living Myth?

The average episode length on Living Myth is 27 minutes.

How often are episodes of Living Myth released?

Episodes of Living Myth are typically released every 6 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Living Myth?

The first episode of Living Myth was released on Jan 6, 2017.

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Living Myth

Michael Meade

Top 10 Living Myth Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Living Myth have?

What topics does Living Myth cover?

What is the most popular episode on Living Myth?

What is the average episode length on Living Myth?

How often are episodes of Living Myth released?

When was the first episode of Living Myth?

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