The Mystic Cave
Brian E Pearson
An exploration of the spiritual terrain on the far side of conventional religion. A sanctuary for seekers.
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12/03/23 • 58 min
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Eleven days camping on a Colorado mountainside, three of those days a solo fast, seeking an encounter with Nature that might grant us a vision of our mythopoetic identities, our unique place in the Universe: it would have been an ambitious undertaking for someone half our age. But somehow Vincenzo Falone, from New Jersey, and I, a Canadian from Alberta, felt drawn to be there, both of us in our late sixties (and one of us pushing seventy rather hard). This is the story of what got us there.
Links to Vincenzo Falone
Personal and Group Mentoring: https://liveinfullexpression.com
The ManKind Project: https://mkpusa.org/crossroads/
Links to the Animas Valley Institute
https://www.animas.org
Books by Bill Plotkin (all books published by New World Library)
"Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche," 2003
"Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World," 2008
"Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche," 2013
"The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide Visionaries, Revolutionaries, and Revolutionaries," 2021
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
04/17/22 • 55 min
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Hope is sometimes harder to define, out here "on the other side of church land," but it's not hard to find. At Easter, in church services across the land, worshipers joyfully rise to sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!" as if that's all the hope we really need. Meanwhile, among those of us who feel less sure about what Jesus' resurrection has to do with the rest of us, we look instead, not to some eventual rising from the grave, but to the seeds of new life hidden deep within this mortal frame, even within death itself. In this episode I speak with poet Juleta Severson-Baker about the power of words to evoke such hope in us. Somehow, the intentional, well-chosen words of a poem can draw our gaze to the present moment, with all its dark challenges, where we find not despair, but a reason to live. "Alleluia" indeed!
Credits:
Poems read in this episode are either in the public domain, or credited as follows:
"my daughter tells me her generation is buckling under the anxiety about climate change while we drive our car down a highway" by Juleta Severson-Baker (unpublished)
"The Well of Grief" by David Whyte; published by Many Rivers Press, 1990
"Oh Children" by Margaret Atwood in DEARLY; published by McClelland and Stewart, 2020 (permission pending)
"July" by Juleta Severson-Baker in EVERY WORD SPOKEN; published by Leaf Press, 2013
"Franz Marc Blue Horses" by Mary Oliver from BLUE HORSES; published by Penguin Press, 2014 (permission pending)
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
03/20/22 • 52 min
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It is perhaps the ultimate betrayal, the abuse of a child by their own parent. It offends every ounce of decency within us, and hints at a darkness so horrible we don't want to hear about it, much less talk about it. Yet, talking about it is the way we will eradicate it. After over thirty years of working with victims and survivors, Jan Handy has written a beautiful and thoughtful book, titled, The Secret Tribe, about her own childhood abuse and about the "tribe" of abuse survivors who offer to each other a voice, a shoulder, and a sanctuary where they can share their recovery. As horrific as Jan's personal story is, it rings with truth and hopefulness. She found the strength to turn her pain into the healing that would help others. This is her story of resilience.
Jan's book:
The Secret Tribe, published by Friesen Press, 2018
You can contact Jan through me:
[email protected]Resources from the Government of Canada:
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/fv-vf/ca-me.html
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/resources.html
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
05/29/22 • 47 min
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We might think of the desert as a wasteland, a place devoid of life. But that's not how Richard LeSueur sees it. He's spent over thirty years not only studying the wilderness of the Middle East but leading pilgrims out into its vastness for overnight excursions. He knows that in the silence and apparent emptiness of the desert, the richness of one's own spiritual journey can only rise to the surface. After all, it was the wilderness that turned Jesus from a carpenter's son into the Son of God.
To see the topics covered in this conversation and their time markers, click on the Chapters tab above.
To learn more about Richard's pilgrimage tours: https://pilgrimroutes.ca
To contact Richard directly: [email protected]
Recommendation: "Letters from the Desert" by Carlo Carretto; Orbit Books, 1982.
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
10/27/24 • 56 min
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The Indigenous culture that European colonizers encountered here in the New World, and then so brutally suppressed, is the very repository of wisdom we now need. Elizabeth Buller Page knows this personally. Deep into a midlife descent, Liz turned to her family's Indigenous roots to discover not only the healing she sought but the path she'd lost.
Resources
The book on Cree history and culture that Liz can't be without: The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study by David Mandelbaum; University of Regina Press, 1940 & 1978 (revised)
The Calgary Gallery that features Liz's art: https://moonstonecreation.ca/elizabeth-buller-page-1/
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
'Circles of Rhythm': Julien Lepage on the Call of the Drum
The Mystic Cave
03/05/23 • 45 min
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Some say before we could sing, we drummed. Whether or not that's accurate, drumming is one of our most primitive forms of communication. Perhaps, it once helped us to "talk" across great distances. Perhaps, it brought us together to unify and strengthen the community. Perhaps, it was just ... fun.
Julien Lepage leads modern-day drumming circles where we can re-experience a deep resonation with our own bodies, with one another, and with the Earth. There are no ideologies to label us, no religion or politics to divide us, and no boundaries to keep us out, not when we yield to the rhythm of the drum.
Links and Resources
'Circles of Rhythm' Web site: https://www.circlesofrhythm.com/community-drum-circles/
Judy Atkinson's book: "The Drum Code: Living Well Between the Beats"; KDP Publishing, 2017
Episode Credits
1st Interlude: "Montreal Drum Circle" by georgeradio (http://www.georgemotoc.com); Attribution Licence 3.0
2nd Interlude: "Tokyo Drum Circle" by manuke; Creative Commons License
3rd Interlude: "Hippie Hill" by SFINDIGO; Creative Commons License
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
09/29/24 • 57 min
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We dwell within a realm of spacious possibility; and it dwells within us. The mystic experiences this firsthand. So does any seeker alert to the subtle movements of the heart. Cynthia Bourgeault knows the territory well. She's lived it, and she's written about it. But, being human, she's also continuing to learn about it, sometimes by trial and error. Fortunately, our spiritual education is not completed in this lifetime.
Resources
Cynthia's Websites: https://wisdomwaypoints.org; https://wisdomwayofknowing.org
Center for Action and Contemplation: https://cac.org
A Sampling of Cynthia's Books
"Love is Stronger than Death;" Random House, 1997
"Mystical Hope;" Cowley Publications, 2001
"The Wisdom Way of Knowing;" Jossey-Bass, 2003
"Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening;" Cowley Publications, 2004
"The Wisdom Jesus;" Shambhala, 2008
"The Heart of Centering Prayer;" Shambhala, 2016
"Eye of the Heart;" Shambhala Publications, 2020
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
12/11/22 • 77 min
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It was indeed intense, but I was learning the ways of Soul and shedding the fears that prevented me from knowing and living out, fully, my purpose on the earth. As we camped in the woods and wandered and drummed and danced and dreamed, I knew something important was happening. I was becoming ... myself. Naturally.
To be guided through the threads of my conversation with Liz Wiltzen, click on the Chapters tab, above.
Links
Liz Wiltzen, Life Coach: https://www.lizwiltzen.com
Liz Wiltzen, "Tracking Yes" podcast: https://www.trackingyes.com
Resources
Animas Valley Institute: https://www.animas.org
Bill Plotkin, Soul Craft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche , New World Library, 2003
____________, Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, New World Library, 2008
____________. WildMind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, New World Library, 2013
____________. The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries, New World Library, 2021
Photo Credit: Alexis Antonio on Unsplash
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
11/27/22 • 51 min
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Morning coffee with one's spouse? Listening to other people's stories? Reading whatever you want? This is spiritual practice? If you've been on the spiritual path all your life, then, yes. Because in the end spiritual practice is whatever works, not whatever others have told you to do.
My conversation with retired minister and former spiritual director John Griffith is filled with wise insights into the spiritual journey. There's a reason we've been taught to listen to our elders.
Referenced in this episode
Hillhurst United Church: https://hillhurstunited.com
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
10/13/24 • 84 min
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Out here, on the far side of conventional religion, no path is more compelling than the one that leads us to know our natural place within the larger earth community. And there may be no better modern guide than Bill Plotkin, the author of four books on the subject and the founder of the Animas Valley Institute. The way is called "soul initiation," which is devastating to the ego but life-giving to the soul. And it just might help save the planet.
Two Tips
- This episode is longer than most, so you might find it helpful to reference the Chapters tab above and listen in convenient chunks.
- You might also find it helpful to read along with the poem with which we begin our conversation, "What to Remember When Waking," by David Whyte. Here's a link: https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=994
Errata
The notion I mistakenly attribute to Stephen Jenkinson, that true elders consider today's actions in light of their effect seven generations out, is in fact a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) principle I had read about in Robin Wall Kimmerer's excellent book, "Braiding Sweetgrass." I regret the error.
However, both Jenkinson and Bill Plotkin assume a similar point of view, that elders seek to honour both the ancestors who have gone before and the generations yet to come when considering the actions we take today.
Bill's Books
Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche; Soulcraft; New World Library, 2003
Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World; New World Library, 2008
Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche; New World Library, 2013
The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries" New World Library, 2021
The Animas Valley Institute
Home page: https://www.animas.org
Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: [email protected]
Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Mystic Cave have?
The Mystic Cave currently has 147 episodes available.
What topics does The Mystic Cave cover?
The podcast is about Christianity, Spirituality, Soul, Religion & Spirituality, Spirit, Podcasts, Religion, Journey, Church and New Age.
What is the most popular episode on The Mystic Cave?
The episode title 'Paying Attention: John Griffith on a Spiritual Practice of His Own' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Mystic Cave?
The average episode length on The Mystic Cave is 38 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Mystic Cave released?
Episodes of The Mystic Cave are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The Mystic Cave?
The first episode of The Mystic Cave was released on Jan 5, 2021.
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