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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Website: brianjames.ca

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This is an excerpt of a 2 hour 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

On this episode I speak with cultural historian and archetypal astrologer Richard Tarnas about his book Cosmos & Psyche, his journey from Harvard to Esalen in the 1970s, and how his psychedelic research with Stanislav Grof and encounter with James Hillman were integral to the development of what he calls archetypal cosmology.

I really enjoyed this conversation, and it was an honour to have such deep and personal conversation with someone who’s depth of experience, scholarship and concern for humanity is truly humbling.

Richard's website: https://cosmosandpsyche.com

Archetypal Cosmology journal: http://www.archai.org

The Planets article: http://www.archai.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Tarnas-%E2%80%93-The-Planets-%E2%80%93-Archai-Issue-1.pdf

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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 Stephen Aizenstat, who I had the pleasure of learning with a couple years ago when I participated in his Dream Tending program.

Stephen Aizenstat, Ph.D., is the founder of Pacifica Graduate Institute, Dream Tending, and the Academy of Imagination. For more than 35 years, he has explored the power of dreams through depth psychology. He has collaborated with Joseph Campbell, Marion Woodman, Robert Johnson, James Hillman, and Native elders worldwide. He conducts dreamwork and imagination seminars throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

Steve and I have a wide ranging conversation where we talk about the power of imagination to heal individuals and restore the soul of the world, and pay homage to some of the spiritual mentors who he’s worked with and who have inspired me.

Links to Stephen's work:

https://dreamtending.com

https://dreamtending.com/the-imagination-matrix/

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Support Scott's GoFundMe:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kathryn-kloos-fundraiser

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 Scott Kloos, a plant medicine practitioner, teacher and ceremonialist located somewhere in the wilds outside Portland Oregon.

Scott and I first crossed paths in a Santo Daime ceremony about ten years ago and I’ve been watching the development of his work ever since. We have a deep and intimate conversation about our relationship with plant medicines and teachers, and how plants can help us become more humble and humane people.

Scott guides The School of Forest Medicine and Cascadia Folk Medicine and is author of Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness.

You can find out more about his online and in-person offerings by visiting forestmedicine.net

Topics: plant medicine, Santo Daime, psychedelics, animism

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Episode Description:

On this episode I speak with Glen Slater about his new book Jung vs. Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age

I feel that this is one of the most relevant and important psychological texts for our current time, but you don’t have to take it from me. Noted trauma psychologist Donald Kasched writes:

“Glen Slater’s brilliant and passionate analysis of online culture and its insidious seductions of hyperreality, virtual companions, and cyber presences—all run by artificial intelligence—opens up that imagination in ways that are both terrifying and illuminating. To become conscious of these dehumanizing forces in our midst and how to combat their dissociative effects on the inner life of the soul should be a major focus of all depth psychological training in the 21st century. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of this book.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Glen studied psychology and comparative religion at The University of Sydney before coming to the United States in 1992 for doctoral work in clinical psychology. He has been teaching at Pacifica for over twenty years and is currently the Associate Chair of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies specialization. He also teaches in the Mythological Studies program.

His publications have appeared in a number of Jungian journals and essay collections, and he edited and introduced the third volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer, as well as a collection of faculty writings, Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture. Beyond his work in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology, he writes on psyche and film as well as the psychology of technology. He lectures internationally in these areas of interest.

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Show Links:

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http://instagram.com/brianjames.soulwork

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Episode Description:

On this episode I speak with Susan Rowland about her work in Jungian Arts Based Research as well as her career as a writer of what she calls “cosy mystery novels about undervalued women.”

Susan Rowland (PhD) teaches at Pacifica Graduate Institute and is the author of ten books on Jung, the feminine, literature and the arts. Her last (with soul mate Joel Weishaus) is Jungian Arts-Based Research and the Nuclear Enchantment of New Mexico (2021). For a decade Susan has been working on a project to examine feminine heroism as a way to cultural renewal. Her first novel, The Sacred Well Murders, was published by Chiron in 2022. The book explores marginalized women becoming involved in epoch-defining events that entail literal and symbolic violence. The Alchemy Fire Murder: A Mary Wandwalker Mystery, is the second in the series. You can find the link to her website in the episode notes.

I really enjoyed our conversation and hope you find it as interesting and inspiring as I did.

https://www.susanrowland-books.com

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This is a preview of a longer episode. To listen to the full conversation and gain exclusive access the first 100 episode archive, join the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness 

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Show Links:

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Episode Description:

On this episode I speak with Dr. James Maffie, about his book Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion. James Maffie is senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and affiliate of the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Maryland.

This was a fascinating conversation about the sophisticated metaphysics of the Mexica people, which in many ways bears a striking resemblance to Eastern Taoism and Tantra. In our discussion we speak quite a bit about the Mexica concept of Teotl, which can be thought of as a universal energy of movement and transformation. For the Aztecs, like the Taoist, the purpose of life was to maintain a balance of the opposing manifestations of Teotl, such as light/dark, life/death, masculine/feminine. Living an ethical life meant fulfilling what Dr. Maffie calls the “original obligation” of the human to feed the holy, rather than, in the Judeo-Christian world, struggling to overcome the stain of original sin. 

Go deeper:

Aztec Philosophy book: https://www.ubcpress.ca/aztec-philosophy

Lecture by Andres Segura Granados: https://youtu.be/GwXMc2VP9y8?si=Y--88jhWOatyPrcX

Topics: Nahua, Toltec, Aztec, Mexica, philosophy, metaphysics, Taoism

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This is a preview of a longer episode. To listen to the full conversation and gain exclusive access the first 100 episode archive, join the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness 

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Show Links:

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Episode Description:

On this episode I speak with Tim Rutili. Tim is an American musician, filmmaker, and visual artist. He is best known as the founder of the alternative rock bands Red Red Meat and Califone, as well as a diverse range of musical collaborations as a multi instrumentalist and composer of scores for film and television.

I’ve been an admirer of Tim’s work since Califone’s 2006 release Roots & Crowns but had lost track of them in recent years. So I was pleasantly surprised when the algorithmic gods alerted me to a new release from them last year. I consider that album, Villagers, one of the musical highlights of last year and a return to form for Califone, who continue to explore the intersections of American roots music, experimental electronics and improvisation.

The features that have been central to Califone’s music since the beginning has always been Tim’s surreal and imagistic lyrics and masterful ability to create a captivating mood through an inventive and unconventional use of sound and texture.

In our conversation we have an open and honest discussion about the challenges of sustaining a creative life without sacrificing your artistic integrity, the slippery nature of memory and dreams, and the importance of meditative and somatic practice to exorcise the demons and maintain a connection to the creative life force.

This episode features selections from Califone's 2023 release Villagers.

The outro song is "Wingbone" from Heron King Blues (2004).

Califone website: http://califonemusic.com

Cover image: Tim Rutili (http://www.rootcrownarts.com)

Topics: music, art, film, creativity, memory, dreams, Jung, George Harrison, Beatles

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