Michael Meade - storyteller, scholar of mythology, anthropology and psychology

Kasia

Jedi Master
I would recommend works by Michael Meade - storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, anthropology and psychology. Pretty inspiring!


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=michael+meade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC2qo54H1NU

http://shrinkrapradio.com/216-the-light-inside-dark-times-with-michael-meade/

http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/216.pdf
 
Hi Kasia. Could you briefly summarise why you think Michael Meade's work is of importance and what he offers that you find inspirational? Thanks. :)
 
Sure, I’ll try in a few words. :)


First of all Michael Meade having given examples from his life, explains the difference between the notions of fate and destiny. He understands the fate of a human being as life altering experiences (illness, loss of loved one, accident…), as some form of limitation and even as a death threating situation. A kind of wake-up-call.

Having faced your own fate, you can find out the tread of your destiny and recognize a gift you are born with (Meade calls it a genius hidden inside or a golden seed), which we can potentially share with others in the process of fulfilling our destiny – the role we have to play here. When we address our own fate, when we don’t avoid it, we are closer to our destiny, we are more susceptible to its hints.

Sticking to our own fate is important especially nowadays, because the threat of collapse of the world – which we will probable experience – can provoke our creativity, a gift, a guiding force of life we have inside. He makes it clear that there will be not such a thing as the end of the world – some remnant always will be left and the world will remake itself from the ashes. He is of the opinion that saving the whole humanity is not possible. We should use the shaky times we live in to look inside us and help those who want to do the same.

The problem is that many people want to follow someone else’s fate instead of addressing the own one. They are afraid to be unique, original, weird or even bizarre when it comes to speak up and behave. The world tries to distract them from their destiny, not letting them step out of line.

He says that at the end of life there isn’t any tests to solve. We will be posed only one question – “Did you become yourself?”. It’s the only goal, the rest is only a distraction.

There were three mainly incidents in his life that helped him to realize what his destiny was and what was his gift (his genius) to share with others.

At the age of thirteen he received a “wrong” book for his birthday – “Mythology” by Edith Hamilton. He found the words inside that said: “Early tellers of myths transformed the world of fear into the world of beauty” – and he understood that he wanted to become a part of this transformation. He was taken by this idea.

He suggests that everyone should look for a meaningful situation from the childhood, a sort of a first act of the fate.

Some months later he was attacked and cornered by the rival street youth gang, and during this situation he discovered his genus, namely the ability to tell stories, which actually saved his life.

Another act of fate took place when he was about 20. He didn’t want to take part in the Vietnam war, but was forced to become a soldier. Not having been good at executing orders, so to speak, he ended up in jail in Panama. In prison there were more orders. He was so disobedient that they sent him to the solitary confinement. Soon he took off his uniform and refused to eat. He was living there naked and was fasting for about 2 months. Actually he was about to die.

During this time he conducted discussions with characters from stories and myths. He believes that he was not losing his mind then, but actually was finding it. He was visited by different officers who came to give him some orders and later requests, but he stubbornly ignored them. It sometimes happened that they sat down next to him and started a kind of confession to him. Now he jokes that they probably saw Jesus in him, as he was skinny, with long hair and beard, and of course naked.

Finally he received discharge papers, apparently thanks to the senator Robert Kennedy who at this time was grieving over death of J. F. K. by fasting and…reading “Mythology” by Edith Hamilton.

Later on Meade, who is of the Irish origin, but born in New York, found out that the fasting is a popular “fight style” among Irish political prisoners according to the idea: “I’ll get you by fasting if I can’t by beating you”. He also learnt that ancestry of the Irish people – Celts went to the battle field without any clothes.

Meade works with prisoners and difficult, violent young people. For example he asks him to convert stories of their life charged with bad emotions into poetry. It reportedly works. Thanks to it some changed their behavior. He also plays drum African music.

Perhaps his work is not specially revelatory for Cs forum members, but without doubt is a kind of important reminder of what is life about put in a unique, charming and sometimes humorous way.
 
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