WEBVTT 1 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.039 Yeah, it's Halloween time for those of you in the 2 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.399 United States. I think Halloween's celebrated in Europe in some 3 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.560 other countries as well, but here in the US it 4 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.039 is a big deal. And it's the actual ending of 5 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.520 summer and the beginning of autumn, so that means the 6 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.520 fall weather is upon us. And I have noticed it 7 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.640 is getting colder by the way. November two, set your 8 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:05.319 clocks back one hour. That means that it's going to 9 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:10.439 be darker earlier here in the United States. You know, 10 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.760 I think there's a I think it's either Arizona or 11 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.760 there's one other state that is not participating in Daylight 12 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:23.879 Saving Time. But anyhow, happy Halloween, and also remember to 13 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:29.079 get up in your outfits, your devil, your warlock, or 14 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.840 your witch outfit or whatever to scare away the evil spirits. 15 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:37.879 That's what the ancestors, what our ancestors were doing in 16 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.079 Europe and in other countries, they would dress up on 17 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:48.480 Halloween and gather and move out the spirits in the house, 18 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.760 in the barn wherever you were living, so that you 19 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.359 had the rest of the year to live in peace. Hey, 20 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.560 this is Cliff, your host of Earth ancients. This is 21 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:04.840 a special edition of the program, and we are welcoming 22 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.159 somebody who I've known about for a year years. Actually 23 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:10.360 his name is Michael Mead. 24 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:12.000 And if there is. 25 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:15.280 Anyone on the planet who you can consider kind of 26 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:20.280 a storyteller but also an avatar, someone who is very 27 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:26.759 versatile in mythology, anthropology and wisdom traditions, that's Michael Mead. 28 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.719 And he's probably best known for his work with Robert 29 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:34.080 Bligh in the Men's Movement in the nineteen eighties and nineties. 30 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:40.319 But he is somebody who is brilliant and is also 31 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:49.719 again a storyteller who mixes mythology and storytelling into his talks. 32 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:54.080 And we're going to hear from him shortly to talk 33 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:58.439 about ancient history and how it applies to us today 34 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:08.639 and personal success, personal activation, so that we're not lost 35 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:12.159 in space right now here in the United States, we 36 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:16.520 are not only dealing with political unrest, but there's also 37 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:22.520 a sense of personal unrest and a lot of issues 38 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:28.199 coming up with work with income, with just how stable 39 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.120 our country is. We're not really stable right now. There's 40 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:34.400 a lot of infighting and I don't have to say 41 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.400 anymore other than you know, it's not very comfortable for 42 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.080 a lot of us, including me, and so hopefully it'll pass. 43 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:50.599 It won't be an everlasting kind of thing. But the 44 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:55.400 program today is called responding to the Planet's Calling, and 45 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:00.719 it's all about your own personal calling. It also has 46 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.560 to do with what you're here to do, and we're 47 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:10.879 each incarnating on this planet known as Earth, to be 48 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:18.360 of service, to also have satisfaction, and also to have 49 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:22.759 a sense of purpose, and that can mean a ton 50 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.160 of things. Working with your kids doesn't have to be 51 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:28.279 working with other people, can be working with your family 52 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:33.560 as a parent, as a mother, as a father, making 53 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.120 sure your kids are taken care of, that they're happy 54 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.319 and healthy, and they're being prepared for adulthood, so forth 55 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.279 and so on. But for me, when I hear about 56 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:52.439 a calling, it's more a deep sense of purpose. And 57 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.839 I think that's really critical for us to consider today 58 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.680 as having purpose in our life, because if you don't 59 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.920 have a purpose, you're just living in nine to five 60 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.720 existence and that gets really boring pretty quickly. And you 61 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.399 wake up, you go to work, you and you repeat 62 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:09.680 the thing, and then you have two days of the 63 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.800 weekend just to sit and sleep, which I have to 64 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.279 admit I love to sleep. In I mean, I mean 65 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:17.720 I get. 66 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:19.399 Up at Let's see, I get up at seven thirty 67 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:20.759 every morning. That's not that early. 68 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.000 I have friends that get up at at five o'clock 69 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:26.720 to go to work. They have to commute. But I 70 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:30.120 get up at seven thirty. But there's some mornings I'll 71 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:32.800 get up and I'll sleep till eleven. I'll wake up 72 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.319 at six seven thirty. Excuse me, I say eleven. I 73 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.319 meant to say I'll sleep till nine. 74 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:40.839 Very rarely. 75 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:43.000 Well, I sleep till ten, but I'll get up and 76 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.480 I'll wake up, and then I'll kind of lay in 77 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:50.160 bed and then I'll turn around and I'll. 78 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.360 Sleep for another hour or more. 79 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:58.360 So anyhow, So today's program is responding to the planet's calling. 80 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:38.120 And my guess is Michael Mead. We're really lucky today 81 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:45.240 to have a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, 82 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.040 and psychology that's. 83 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:48.560 None other than Michael Meade. 84 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.160 And I've been a huge fan of his for many, 85 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:55.279 many years. And I don't know how he did this. 86 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:57.160 We pulled a rabbit out of the hat to get 87 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.759 him on the program because he's so in demand and 88 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:04.199 so great interest to so many people, and we're gonna 89 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.879 talk to him today about the past and the present 90 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.639 and a theme that he's been bringing up quite a bit. So, Hey, Michael, 91 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.600 welcome to Earth Anterests. Great to have you on the program. 92 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:16.519 Great to be with you. Cliff. 93 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:24.399 You have been presenting a series on YouTube on calling, 94 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:30.560 and I have found it so important because of our 95 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.680 current situation here in the United States, Specifically, people are depressed, 96 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:41.000 they feel lost, they feel disenfranchised, and I want you 97 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:45.680 to explain to us what calling means and if you can, 98 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:52.199 can you talk about how our ancestors received and acknowledged 99 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:53.480 the calling? 100 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:56.560 Yeah, I'll try. 101 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:57.360 So. 102 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.879 It actually begins with a kind of decision about the 103 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:06.920 nature of the human soul, and there's typically two big theories. 104 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.519 There's lots of smaller theories, but the two big options 105 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:13.000 are that a person comes into the world with an 106 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.680 empty soul, and the Latin for that was tabula rasa 107 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:22.160 the scrape clean table. There's nothing in there. And then 108 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.519 your parents write on you, and your neighborhood writes on you, 109 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:28.199 and your teachers write on you, and your cultures write 110 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.560 on you, and you become the aggregation of those things 111 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.080 that have impressed you. Or been impressed upon you. That's 112 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.399 the one theory that's not a very ancient theory actually, 113 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.519 but it's a very popular theory. The ancient theory to 114 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.679 bring the past into it, found in almost all cultures 115 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.159 around the world, is that each person comes into the 116 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:55.120 world already gifted and already aimed. And so that's the 117 00:08:55.159 --> 00:09:01.120 idea of the pre not pre shaped, but pre scripted soul, 118 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.120 not in the sense that it's predetermined that it has 119 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.519 to go a certain way, but it's more like a 120 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:11.679 living plot line. And so the components of that gifted soul, 121 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.879 not the empty soul now, but the gifted soul are components. 122 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.799 One of them might call it the genius. Genius is 123 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:22.000 an old Latin term that doesn't mean high IQ or 124 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:25.440 specific talent. It means the spirit that's already there. That's 125 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.480 the definition of genius. Each person comes into the world 126 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.399 with the genius quality or genius spirit in their soul 127 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:36.399 that is at the core of their heart and at 128 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.799 the core of their being. And then what happens. Because 129 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:44.320 we are born into the realm of time and space, 130 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.720 we forget this thing that is coming in with us, 131 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.759 so we don't know about it. Our families don't know 132 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.080 about it. The family doesn't know the gifts or the 133 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.679 aims or the destiny of their own children. It's set 134 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.279 up that way because of eventually the children will leave 135 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.159 home because there's a missing thing. They cannot find it 136 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:06.879 at home. They have to enter the world in order 137 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.720 to awaken this thing that turns out to be inside. 138 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:15.480 Calling is when the person goes out into the world 139 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:21.440 and has an experience of awakening, which is called the calling. 140 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:24.399 It calls a person into a greater sense of self, 141 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:29.279 into a greater sense of meaning, into a direction that's meaningful. 142 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.720 But that calling is calling to the genius that's already 143 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:35.799 in there. I think that's essential to understanding it. The 144 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:38.519 calling may seem to come from the outside, but it's 145 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:42.559 calling to qualities that already exist in a person. And 146 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:47.200 that's why it's so meaningful and so profound. So this 147 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.639 is one of the oldest ideas. And so if we 148 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.799 begin with the notion that each person, each soul born, 149 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:57.720 is unique, each person is unique. That means they're going 150 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.559 to have a unique blend of talents and capacities, gifts 151 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:06.360 and aims, and the calling is trying to awaken that. 152 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:10.440 When a person responds to the calling. They are bringing 153 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:13.559 something to the world that isn't already in the world. 154 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:18.919 Their unique creative capacity, their unique genius qualities, and you know, 155 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.200 things that make not just them meaningful, but there are 156 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:26.559 gifts given to the human community, and it makes everybody 157 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:30.000 more meaningful. And so I'm not sure you asked the 158 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:33.279 thing about how ancient cultures would have seen the calling. 159 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.320 What I'm talking about when I say genius is the 160 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:40.120 spirit that we're born with. That's from the pre Roman culture. 161 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.080 So and then you can find that there's a beautiful 162 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:48.759 story from the Mayan culture about the boy is born 163 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.600 and he's given the name Bodare, which in its old 164 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.799 translation means gifted, it means purposeful, it means talented, it 165 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:02.879 means destined. In other words, he represents all children born 166 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.720 that have the qualities in them. And then what happens. 167 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.360 A person has to wander into the world and and 168 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:15.600 in a sense, in counter circumstances that awaken these qualities 169 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:19.919 from within. That awakening is responding to the call. 170 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:26.639 And are there writings that you define as a subject 171 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:32.679 matter calling in perhaps Greek or you mentioned Maya. I 172 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:39.519 think of the Maya texts the Pupavu, which describes the 173 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:44.080 twins but perhaps has some fragments of calling in it. 174 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:49.480 Okay is a good example. It's a very unusual book, 175 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.360 very mysterious book, but it has in it a creation 176 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:57.519 story where, uh, they have the multiple gods like a 177 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.720 lot of ancient cultures. Did modern people think they didn't 178 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.960 have the notion of the singular god. But that's a 179 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.559 complete misunderstanding. They had a diversity of gods that were 180 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:11.600 secretly one deity. That's the real old idea. But anyway, 181 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.000 the Mayan gods, like one of them is Heart of Heaven, 182 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:19.679 Heart of Earth. Those are the names they have. They 183 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.960 create the world what we call the world, and particularly 184 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.960 the earthly world of mountains and rivers and streams and 185 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.840 forests and all that kind of stuff. And then when 186 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.679 it's finished, they feel like there's something missing. And it's 187 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.240 Heart of Heaven who starts to try to figure out 188 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:40.519 what's missing. And he comes to the conclusion that what's 189 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:44.519 missing is two things. A being that is conscious of 190 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.639 being part of creation, and also a being that is 191 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:52.360 grateful for the gift of life. And so then he 192 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:54.679 begins to try to create that kind of being. He 193 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.840 makes three tries at it. The first try he tries 194 00:13:57.879 --> 00:13:59.679 to make it out of mud, and then a heavy 195 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.559 ring comes and the beings melt. The second one they 196 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.799 make it out of sticks, and then what happens is 197 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.879 those sticks become very rigid in their hearted and hard headed, 198 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:15.279 and they keep, they keep creating technologies that are offensive 199 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.799 to the animals and the plants, and so finally Heart 200 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.000 of Heaven has to bring a heavy rain down to 201 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.440 demolish those sticks. And the third try they try to 202 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.159 make it out of corn, and of course corn is 203 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:33.159 the sacred element in Mayan cosmology, and so it's then 204 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:39.039 those corn people who wind up having this realization that 205 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.559 they have a gift of life, that they are gifted, 206 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:45.200 that life is a gift that exists in them, and 207 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.159 the implication is uniquely but also that has the realization 208 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.879 that creation itself is meaningful. And so then the idea 209 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.320 is we have all descended from them. So that part 210 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:01.679 of the story, to me, it's connected to the may 211 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:04.799 tale I was telling where the boy is considered to 212 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.720 be gifted. Oh there, he's the gifted one, but he's 213 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.600 really everyone. And so I think it does show up 214 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:15.440 in the pulp o Bool which is a wild magical mythology, 215 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.960 but it shows up in the creation part of the 216 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:23.360 Pulpa bull and so so creation stories which exist all 217 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:25.960 over the world, and most cultures have more than one 218 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.480 creation story. Even the Bible has two creation stories in it, 219 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.320 as if to say there cannot be one story of creation, 220 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:37.039 that creation is itself an expression of diversity and multiplicity 221 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:42.120 that requires more than one story. And so there's a 222 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:49.080 way in which understanding human life requires that we understand creation. 223 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.639 And because of this, if a person is gifted and 224 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:57.840 aimed let's say they're aimed at being a musician, or 225 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:59.840 aimed at being a poet, or aimed at being a 226 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.320 or aimed at being an inventor, that that's what is 227 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.840 waiting to awaken in them when it awakens that person. 228 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.279 Each person that awakens that way will bring something to 229 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.080 the world that is not already in the world. In 230 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.320 other words, we become co creators, or we join the 231 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.919 creative energy of the world. And of course everyone until 232 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:26.919 modern times understood that creation wasn't something that happened back there, 233 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.840 and we're in the afterglow of it. Creation is ongoing 234 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.240 every day. The forest rises and falls all the time, 235 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.440 the trees that were the tallest become the fallen down, 236 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.240 breaking down elements from which the next forest comes. We've 237 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.600 been living in that mystery of recreation all along, except 238 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:48.919 modern people have separated from that for various reasons. And 239 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.919 in that separation, modern people have found themselves separate, separate 240 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:59.159 from the creative energies that exist inside each person. All 241 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:02.679 the people weighing for the next election to fix all 242 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.400 that is broken now are going to be waiting for 243 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:10.400 a long time. It's a matter of reimagining culture and 244 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:14.440 recreating it. And if everybody is gifted and aimed, then 245 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.880 no one has to be a hero and fix it 246 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.480 all or pretend they're doing that, because it's going to 247 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.359 be the awakening of the creative energies in the gifted 248 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:28.039 people that are uniquely all around the world. That's what 249 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.200 changes the world, not a single idea and certainly not 250 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.839 a committee meeting. What changes the world. They used to say, 251 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.720 change the soul, change the world. And what they mean 252 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.519 is each soul is capacity to bring elements of change 253 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.359 and recreation and beauty and healing to the world. And 254 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:48.759 that's I think why the whole dynamic of calling is 255 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:53.359 so important, right now we as an old saying that 256 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.480 in dark times there's an acceleration of calling, when the 257 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:01.400 structures are all breaking down, they're no longer in the way, 258 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.319 and there's more calling kind of enters the world. We 259 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.839 change this world by each of us responding as best 260 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.599 we can to our own calling. And as near as 261 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.359 I can tell, no one lacks a calling, because no 262 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:16.279 one lacks a soul. 263 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:20.599 But Michael, in the muck and the mire, in the 264 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:25.240 despair that we feel, how do we recognize the calling? 265 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.759 So if this stuff was simple, it wouldn't have been 266 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:34.680 so readily forgotten. It's a bit tricky. If the person 267 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.039 is unique, then the calling can be unique. And so 268 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:41.400 but here's an old idea. It's a kind of an 269 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.960 old rule that by say twenty two years of age, 270 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:49.759 each person has a genuine experience of the core depth 271 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.279 of their own soul, or else they die. It's an 272 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:58.559 old idea that is to say, everyone is gifted when 273 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.440 they come into the world, and in many stories, everyone 274 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:07.759 is aimed at a destiny, and everybody, by birthright is 275 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:10.000 going to have at least one experience of what that 276 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.200 is inside them. That is this combination of genius qualities 277 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:18.599 and calling that leads to a meaningful life. And so 278 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.160 people always say why do you know that? And of 279 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.079 course you know you have to go to personal experience 280 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.319 in a way. I mean, you can know what's in books, 281 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.519 but you know it in your own body and soul 282 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.559 when it happens to you. So when I was thirteen, 283 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:37.880 my thirteenth birthday. 284 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:35.440 My. 285 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.359 Aunt my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. 286 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.200 And I had learned from sad experience not to say 287 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:43.680 what I wanted because I wasn't going to get it. 288 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:45.880 We're a poor family, and if I said what I 289 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:47.599 wanted and I didn't get it, we're all that much 290 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.039 more depressed for a while. So I just said it 291 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:53.160 doesn't matter, I don't want anything. But my aunt asked 292 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.880 me what I was interested in, and at thirteen, I 293 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.200 was interested in history. I was trying to understand what 294 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.720 the hell happened here. I was going up in a 295 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.680 poor neighborhood where everybody had lost their dreams and it 296 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.880 was kind of like despairing in a way, and I 297 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:07.759 wanted to understand it. And I thought from what I 298 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.920 had heard, history could explain it. But actually it can't. 299 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:13.960 So my aunt goes off to the bookstore to get 300 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.799 me a history book. First person in my family to 301 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.720 go to a bookstore, so further I know. And she's 302 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:21.920 very short, and she asks where the history books are, 303 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:23.960 and they point to an upper shelf and she goes 304 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.039 and reaches up, gets a book, they wrap it, she 305 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.000 gives it to me. I start to tear the paper off, 306 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.559 and on the cover there's like a young guy sitting 307 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:34.839 on a flying horse shooting an arrow into the air. 308 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.599 And I go, whoa this And my aunt goes, oh, 309 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.559 it's the wrong book. Give it back, and I'm going, no, 310 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.640 I want this book. When like tugging, and then I 311 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:44.559 ripped the rest of the paper off and it says 312 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:49.720 Mythology by Edith Hamilton. So thirteen years old, I am 313 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:55.440 given the right wrong book, which is the language that 314 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:59.200 I'm intended to learn about and live with. I read 315 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:01.680 the whole book that night, almost the entire book, and 316 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.240 I literally, in this you know house in the in 317 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:08.640 this New York city, in a poor neighborhood, I'm going, 318 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.359 this is it, This is it. I don't have to 319 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.359 grow up to qualify. I don't have to be not 320 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:15.839 a poor person to qualify. 321 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:16.279 I don't. 322 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:18.599 I don't have to go to school to qualify. I'm 323 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.720 just finding this language in which I qualify to be 324 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.200 part of the whole meaning of the world. That's what 325 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:28.039 happened to me. But my family actually didn't know, what 326 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.920 are you talking about? What is that book? You know? 327 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:32.839 You ran? Is right? 328 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:33.519 You know? 329 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:35.480 And then I go to the teachers in school and 330 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:38.599 tell them. They say, what this makes no sense? So 331 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.880 I have this knowledge now, this which is a tune 332 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:43.440 to me because I'm going to turn out to be 333 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:47.279 a star teller. And so the right wrong book just 334 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:51.240 landed there at a time when I had enough self 335 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.519 awareness to realize, oh, this is totally meaningful to me. 336 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.119 But it probably took me twenty years to realize what 337 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:00.400 that meant in my life and also to get it 338 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.640 confirmed by others. So here's the other thing. Everyone has 339 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.000 a gift or a mixture of gifts and abilities, and 340 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.720 everyone has a calling, but those gifts have to be 341 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.480 confirmed by someone outside ourselves. It's just part of the 342 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:20.720 understanding of human community that all on ourselves on our own, 343 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:24.839 we won't trust ourselves, but as someone we respect says, yeah, 344 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:26.640 you're pretty good at that. Like I had a friend 345 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:29.119 who could just picked up a guitar and could play music. 346 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:31.559 I mean, I never did figure out how he did it. 347 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.200 It was like a gift he could just play, but 348 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:38.960 he didn't really own it because he was insecure about it. 349 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.759 And then when he finally met an advanced guitar player 350 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.799 who said to him, you're pretty good, that was it. 351 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.319 Then he knew that with his gift. So it's our gift, 352 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.000 but it has to be confirmed by someone outside of ourselves, 353 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.440 and that gives us the hint that what is gifted 354 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.559 to us, which means that we are intended to give 355 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.720 that gift is also a gift for others. It's a 356 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:03.839 gift for the community, not just for one self. And 357 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.359 that's why I say, if we want to change the world, 358 00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:09.839 the more people that awaken to what their gifts naturally 359 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:13.960 are and what they're calling should be, that's how the 360 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.519 world changes. Someone over here is figuring out how to 361 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.400 purify streams and lakes, and someone over here is figuring 362 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:25.079 out how to heal certain illnesses with natural means, and 363 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:29.720 someone over here is figuring out how to negotiate conflicts 364 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:34.039 that seem unresolvable. And when the more that's happening. The 365 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.519 more people are responding to those callings that are aligned 366 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.359 with their energenius, then all of a sudden, it's starting 367 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:44.440 to change from below, and then you get ready to 368 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:49.799 change the structures and the political dynamics. So I think 369 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.720 it comes down to, as the ancient people said, the 370 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.200 individual psyche. And that's why I keep talking about calling 371 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:56.759 so much. 372 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.880 We're gonna take a short commercial break to allow our 373 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:06.920 sponsors to identify themselves, and we will return shortly with 374 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:15.759 my guest today, Michael Meade discussing your Calling. Will be 375 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:57.400 right back. My guest today is Michael Meade. He is 376 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:03.519 a storyteller at expert in mythology and anthropology, noted for 377 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.119 his work with ancient civilizations, and the program today is 378 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:14.839 Understanding your Calling. It sounds like in the story of 379 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.920 your thirteen year old discovery of this book on mythology 380 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:22.440 is a wonderful representation. But it sounds like you're saying 381 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:28.400 that when we incarnate, we are given signs and were 382 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:31.599 prepared in some way to receive the calling. Is that 383 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:32.799 a good interpretation? 384 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:38.640 Yeah, That the world will collude with the personal life 385 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:43.960 so that that which already exists within us gets awakened, 386 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.200 provoked and awakened. A lot of stuff happened to me 387 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:49.920 when I was thirteen, six months after I got that book. 388 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:52.640 I'm growing up in a counter rough neighborhood. I'm in 389 00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:56.240 local gang. We called it a crew, and we with 390 00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:59.039 the younger crew, which trying to imitate the older guy 391 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:01.640 who who were the hoods, you know, And we're running 392 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:05.119 around acting that out to one degree or another. And 393 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.440 we used to go to this movie theater on Saturdays, 394 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:09.240 but we didn't have any money, say we would sneak in. 395 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:11.559 We had all kinds of ways to sneak into this theater. 396 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:14.079 And one day we're in there and I have to 397 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:17.759 go up to the bathroom. It's upstairs in above where 398 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:20.480 everybody's sitting. And I'm on my way up to the bathroom. 399 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:23.079 I'm still thirteen and thirteen and a half now, and 400 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:24.519 all of a sudden, there's two guys in front of me, 401 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:26.720