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- Animomentum (Feb. 24)
Animomentum (Feb. 24)
Events, updates, and where the enchantment is.
Animomentum
Monthly Updates, Events, and Reflections
Welcome to Februa: the Roman festival of cleansing. I can't believe we're already in February. Can you? This is also the first day of Black History Month.
Last month, I did a bit of teaching for Module 2 of the Seminary of the Wild, in which I am also a participant. It is a year-long training for the Certificate in Eco-Ministry. I'm not sure yet what I will do with the Certificate, but it felt important to receive this training.
I have also advanced to doctoral candidacy for my PhD in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. No more classes. My committee has read my dissertation draft and given me thoughtful feedback. The topic of my dissertation is "Restorying Our Lore": in other words, how fiction can be used as a wisdom path. I talk about it a bit on Instagram and TikTok.
I'm going to do another class for Jung Platform, this one on the Trickster: 5 online classes starting Feb. 27th on how to deal with chaos and comedy at work, in relationships, at home, and in other areas of life. Also, Trickster in current events, folklore, and film. This will be fun to teach.
Now that the bulk of my dissertation work is out of the way, the project consuming me and appearing in my dreams involves building an online network and platform for dreamers, visionaries, intuitives, and other creatives to gather and converse. My tentative name for it is Enchantvale. Along with this, I'm looking into founding a nonprofit to fund projects in enchantivism. Only by imagining a better world together do we stand any chance of midwifing it into being.
I picture Enchantvale as a Mighty Network membership site of two tiers paid for monthly or yearly (discounted). The network will offer conversation, DM, chat, video posting, online events, meetup spaces, virtual conferences, networking opportunities, online courses, livestreams, deep education without tuition, and a lot more.
I'm installing Circles (called "collections" in MN) around enchantivist themes and interests such inspirational activism, dream work, applied folklore and myth, enchanted leadership, Assembling Terrania, Earth and ecospirituality, family and ancestry, and so on. Ten so far.
What about a free tier? There's already a free Enchantivism group on Facebook with 800 members. Also, the Enchantvale network (or whatever it will be called) costs money to run. How much would you be willing to pay a month or year for this kind of community? How much for the upper tier: personal mentoring, ecospiritual guidance, and loreology education? My consulting fee is $250/hour, so a reasonably priced paid tier would be quite a discount.
I'll keep you posted on where all this goes. And do let me know what you think a reasonable tier price would be. Mighty Networks is suggesting at least $40/month for any lower level, but that seems high to me.
A last reminder of books recently published:
My debut novel is out! A science fiction novel of individuation, struggle, and redemption set in the near future. Scroll down for more about Soulmapper. I also put together an FAQ for the novel and what's next in the series.
Also out: Terrapsychology: Further Inquiries into Self, Place, and Planet, the first volume of terrapsychology since Rebearths (2010) and edited by Garret Barnwell and me. It contains many deep and thoughtful contributions that look into how the things of the world show up inside us as ideas, moods, conflicts, and even dreams.
Lastly, the second edition of Terrapsychological Inquiry: Restorying Our Relationship to Nature, Place, and Planet (2023) just came out. It has a new last chapter on using terrapsychology as an ecospiritual path. The Mandarin edition will be published soon by Chinese Press & Apparel in Beijing.
My most recent podcasts for The Lorecast, available for free at my website and through Apple Music, Spotify, and several other venues, are on "Angels In Our Fictions": the autonomous presences that show up in our fantasies and novels and films. The podcast coming out today is on how not everything we truly need is within us. Email me if you have any ideas about a topic you'd like to hear covered in a podcast.
What I'm reading: Riddles of Quantum Theory by Alexander Mazziotti and Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies by David Guskee.
Upcoming Events
The C. G. Jung group in Eugene, OR has asked me to visit in the fall to present on psyche and place. Details soon.
I'm dreaming up some leadership courses on voice, storytelling, and inspiration for the Teton Leadership Center. Details soon.
I've been speaking with the international United Human Foundation about a series of talks focusing on shifting collective narratives away from scarcity, conflict, and hyper-individualism and toward Earth-honoring dreamings of where we want to go together and how we want to live. More soon.
I will present "Inquiry with Earth in Mind" at the Twenty-second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, at Sapienza University of Rome. The conference is June 26-28, 2024, and I will be speaking about Terrapsychological Inquiry.
Ongoing Offerings
Free stuff first:
My book consists of 30 stories ("archetales") of speculative fiction and a number of fables, all of which trace the path of humanity's long adventure toward consciousness and maturity from early origins in prehistory up to Terrania, the Earth-honoring, ground-up world culture of inclusion, belonging, and delight awaiting us in the future.
The tales address the question: What might it look like, after all the chaos and conflict, if humanity finally gets it right? An annotated version is also available.
A man in his forties wakes in a park in San Diego with no memory of his name, his past, or how he got there. He finds a cowboy hat, black boots, an e-bike, and a gold medallion that talks. Who is he? Where did he come from?
Ride north, the medallion tells him. Visit the old missions one by one. At each, carry out a mysterious ritual. When you reach Sonoma, your memories will be restored, including those of a mysterious past. You will know who took them and why. Refuse, and I will stop your heart.
As he journeys, encountering a persistent assassin, meeting reanimated gods in his dreams, resisting being cast as a hero, and building new relationships across overheating California, he bears the potent biochemistries needed for collective survival. But his strongest medicine is hope.
My debut novel, set in the Assembling Terrania Cycle.
I created the following courses available at Jung Platform:
Journey into the World of Soul - This is a course on Jung's Black Books, which are his journals spanning 19 years of his life. An indispensable guided tour for understanding the man behind the work.
Codependence: How to Identify and Heal - Several videos drawing on my clinical experience of helping people understand and work with the chronic need to turn relationships into attempts at emotional rescue.
Your Personal Myth and Archetype - What is your deeper story, the mythic plot and basic pattern behind the details of your biography? What are you here to respond to?
Narcissism - Everyone talks about it, but few understand it. Why does it seem so prevalent? Where does it come from? What are its covert forms? How can we protect ourselves from being victimized by it?
I earn an ambassador’s fee when you purchase them. You can also view my instructor page at JP here.
These were fun to make. I packed a lot into each. Topics include
Introduction to Loreology - The craft of creating personal, social, and cultural change by examining our guiding stories and melting them down into new tales, practices, and possibilities.
Deep Teaching and Mentoring - This came from graduate students asking: How do we translate what we learn about consciousness, dreams, myth, the esoteric, etc. into terms other people can grasp?
Equalwise: The Art of Emotional Self-Defense - "The world is full of bullies," said Krishnamurti. Learn to recognize and avoid giving your power to them. Stop being taken off guard and learn the art of guarding your wellbeing.
Soft Skills for the Workplace: Being In Demand - According to Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and other sources of business news, hiring managers like me are very interested in relational workplace skills. Learn more about these skills and how to cultivate and demonstrate them.
When the World Shows Up In Our Dreams: Decoding the Call - Not everything in our dreams is about us. Some of it reflects events around us showing up as symbols. Why do they? How do we work with such powerful beckonings?
Concentrate Your Life! A Course for the Super-Busy - This comes from two decades of teaching, administrating, publishing, and other time-intensive endeavors requiring excellent organizational skills. Take back your time.
These you’ll want to have a computer to download them onto. The prices vary.
When I finish teaching an online course, I often package it up, zip up all the audio lectures, rewrite the syllabus into a course outline, and make it available at my website.
Topics include: Healing and Nature, Archetypal Family Systems, Ecopsychology, Intro to Terrapsychology, Applied Hermeticism, Visibility for Introverts, Jung and Creativity, Depth Psychology, Alchemy and Vocation, Jung’s Red Book, Applied Mythology, Deep Storytelling, Writing with Soul, and others.
Thoughts for the Month:
What in your life or self need cleansing this month? What is the source of purification, and in service to what goals? How are you finding the last bits of winter to rest in before the rest of the year unrolls?