Soul Studies is a new series of podcasts where I read excerpts from books that are currently inspiring me. In this episode I read from the first chapter of Rollo May’s 1975 book “The Courage to Create”. It struck me as a book that feels incredibly relevant to our cultural moment, particularly on the topics of despair, cultural divides and ideological fanaticism.

“People who claim to be absolutely convinced that their stand is the only right one are dangerous. Such conviction is the essence not only of dogmatism, but of its more destructive cousin, fanaticism. It blocks off the user from learning new truth, and it is a dead giveaway of unconscious doubt. The person then has to double his or her protests in order to quiet not only the opposition but his or her own unconscious doubts as well.”

Rollo May (1909-1994) taught at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and was Regents' Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An influential psychologist, he was the best-selling author of Love and Will, as well as the author of The Courage to Create, Man's Search for Himself, The Meaning of Anxiety, and Psychology and the Human Dilemma.

If you enjoyed this episode and want me to continue sharing work I find in the course of my Soul Studies, please let me know!

Email me: hello@brianjames.ca
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This is an excerpt of a longer conversation. If you’d like to gain access to early release of full, ad-free episodes and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness. We are an independent production and rely on the support of listeners like you. Make a one-time contribution to http://paypal.me/brianjamessoul

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On this episode I speak with Dr. Sharon Blackie.

Sharon is an award-winning author and psychologist with a background in mythology and folklore. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and teaching programs are focused on reimagining women’s stories, and on the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today.

In our conversation we talk about the value of finding your personal myth; working with fairy tales to deepen and expand your life story; the obsolescence of the hero’s journey and the call to imagine post-heroic stories for women and men; the importance of exposing children to undiluted, unDisneyfied stories in order to make them more resilient and empathetic; and the urgency of moving beyond mere self-care and personal development into caring for the soul of the world and working to keep the mythic imagination alive.

Sharon's website: https://sharonblackie.net/

Sharon's Substack: https://sharonblackie.substack.com/

References:

Sharon’s previous appearance on the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mpp101-hagitude-77331131

My interview with Allen Chinen (Beyond the Hero) https://shows.acast.com/medicinepath/episodes/mpp107

God Father Death (Grimm Bros.) https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm042.html

Sharon Blackie, Hagitude

James Hillman, The Soul’s Code

Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales

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If you’d like to gain access to early release of full, ad-free episodes and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness. We are an independent production and rely on the support of listeners like you. Make a one-time contribution to http://paypal.me/brianjamessoul

On this episode I speak with writer, ecophilosopher and activist Derrick Jensen.

True to our Sagittarian natures, we have a wide-ranging conversation that covers a lot of ground, including personal stories of childhood trauma, healing, activism and the journey toward realizing your gifts and offering them to the world.

Before we began recording I told Derrick that I was feeling a little blue that morning, and thought it had something to do with the total solar eclipse that had just occurred. By the end of our conversation I felt the heavy mood lift a little, which speaks to the therapeutic effect of sharing your troubles out loud with someone else who is also troubled.

So, although our conversation delves into some heavy and painful topics, I hope that by the end of it you feel a little less alone with your own troubles. That’s one of the key intentions behind this podcast, and one of the main reasons I continue to do it: so that us lone wolves howling in the wilderness of modernity can find the others who are similarly afflicted, and perhaps find some comfort and community.

Derrick's website: https://derrickjensen.org

Topics: ecology, psychology, trauma, recovery, healing, purpose

Support the podcast by making a small monthly contribution. https://plus.acast.com/s/medicinepath.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.