The Lorecast: Recent Episodes
Craig Chalquist, PhD
Events come at us now like trucks on a freeway. What do they mean? How do they connect? Lorecast examines the symbols, images, and metaphors behind events of our time to help us navigate them with understanding, grace, and hope: not the passive "hope" of waiting for change, but the active hope of making our reenchanted way through a world in need of inspiration and vision.
It's not hard to spot a grandiose narcissist. The flagrant bragging, exaggerating, and fishing for compliments (for mirroring) is fairly obvious. But can you spot the quieter profile of the covert narcissist, the kind smart enough to hide their drive to exploit, gaslight, and retaliate?
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Why are so many transformative schools and programs failing? Is it possible that learnings about consciousness, depth, archetype, dream, and deep relations with nature, place, and Earth belong outside higher ed at this time? What might such a school be like?
After I posted this podcast I wrote a blog, "Human Potential Movement 2.0: Educating the Full-Spectrum Human Being."
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We've all seen them: organizations not only led by narcissists or other incompetent "leaders," but determined to stop any attempt at leading with wisdom, care, and intelligence. How do we know we are in such an organization? If so, what can we do about it?
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"Because it's familiar." This explanation for why we stay in burdensome or painful situations is no explanation at all. Why do we fight deep change? What does the figure of the Phoenix have to say to us about how to go about radical transfiguration?
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Are we possessed by the gods? Even when we don't believe in them? How would we know? Why would it matter, and what could we do about it?
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The debate of determinism vs. free will has played wearily out down the centuries through religion, philosophy, and science. In the end, though, it's only by making the assumption that our choices count that we move forward in life, heal from adversity, and make a difference to our time.
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For a planetary mythology, a cycle of engaging and inspiring stories grown from the ground up, how might we hold such stories so they retain their vitality and viability? How might we set aside literalism, judgmentalism, and absolute belief? Part 2 of 2.
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According to Thomas Berry and many voices before his, we are between big stories that make sense of who we are and our place in the world. Perhaps what we need rather than one big story is a cycle of stories that show a way forward and give us realistic hope. What might such a cycle include? How might it help us reinterpret the lore and traditional teachings we still find valuable?
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Ever wonder why committees, task forces, regulations, procedures, and endless meetings never seem to bring lasting change? The missing ingredient is informal relationships. Hear some examples of how they bring about new results.
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Vibrations. Energies. Vortexes. Quantum yoga, consciousness, everything. How might we move beyond this sciency-sounding but vague language and come up with some that adequately expresses the subtlety of our direct experience?
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What would you make of an online space that is partly hopeful social media network, hub of creative community, source of uplifting news, and field for growing dreams? Enchantvale is based on the philosophy and practice of enchantivism: telling tales to move us out of exclusivity and division into hopeful new possibilities. Visit the landing page.
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Many of us are familiar with Jung's 8 psychological types (including the introvert and extravert orientations) and the Myers-Briggs. But where does imagination go? It can't belong mainly to the intuitive types. We all have it. But some of us focus it on the here and now ("heredreamers") and some focus on possibilities and patterns ("theredreamers"). A new axis of imagination added to typologies would help account for this.
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According to the conflict theory of fiction, as enforced by literary agents, publishers, and Hollywood, your story must feature a Hero or Heroine who runs into or is filled with conflict. In Hollywood, this usually means images of someone tough and earnest holding a gun or sword. Do good stories really require this, or, at least for psychological adults, should they rely instead on complex characters in tension and suspense?
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Why is it that so many of us are open to the most flagrantly deceitful, impossible, and downright ludicrous conspiracy theories, especially those full of paranoia and hatred? The answer might surprise you. What can we do to diminish the risk of this kind of collective regression to irrationality?
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It has become a canard of the psychospiritual circuit: Meaning, value, purpose, etc. reside within you, not in the outer world. All you need is inside you. But is that really true? Let's explore this.
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Can fiction serve as a path of meaning, wisdom, and even spirituality? Especially for those of us uninterested in the dogmatic divisiveness of traditional religion? This podcast questions the "truth OR reality" distinction while giving examples of authors (the majority according to one study) whose characters advise us on what to write. They are imaginal, which means different from imaginary (made up). What is behind what they suggest to us?
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The dead: family, friends, lovers, ancestors. Are they really gone? What if we can't come to terms with them before they depart the earth? We still can. In this podcast I give examples of how to continue the conversation with those who have passed on until we feel more at peace with them.
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A strange thing about being kind of on the edge of things psychologically - in the group of us that question and wonder, for example - is how much everyday technological absurdity everybody else accepts as normal. This episode is a sequel in some ways to Episode 23, "Against Friendly Tech."
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According to Pew, Gallup, and other polls, record numbers of people are bowing out of religion altogether. This podcast considers these questions: Do we need religion, nor not? If so, can collecting evocative fiction serve to help us reinvent a path to the experience of the sacred? How else might it guide us? My newly released novel Soulmap contains the outlines of a religion based on imagination, vision, community, and play.
(Correction: ref to Gen X should have been to Z and later generations.)
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The crack in the Liberty Bell parallels a split in the polarized American soul, a split showing up in other nations as well. In the US, the split is so extreme that democracy itself is in danger, threatened by the rise of Christian nationalism. What is the nature of the split, what did the Founders say about religious freedom, and how might we begin to heal the split?
Blog: "Let's Repair the Liberty Bell."
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Over the past year and a half, I've practiced how to write fiction and learned to reach out to agents who work with publishers. I've also learned that work which deviates in any way from the rigid heroic formula tends to go nowhere commercially. What are the alternatives for someone writing from the soul and yet desiring to work within the profit-driven system of book publishing?
Note: In the podcast I mention thinking about publishing independently. Since recording this, I have done that, and the Kindle version of my novel Soulmap is now available. Paperback version coming soon.
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As a followup to the previous episode, how might approaches to healing and wholeness create impossible standards? Does aiming for them as ends in themselves really serve us, especially when we feel broken and fragmented? What might be a more vital goal?
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Like any profession, psychotherapy is based in certain truths about who human beings are and what aids and ails us. And like any profession, psychotherapy includes "truths" that aren't always true. We will consider some limitations of the therapy paradigm and suggest a few alternatives.
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In our families, invisible but powerful sets of emotional debts, loyalties, and obligations move down through the generations to impact, and sometimes limit, our freedom of action, especially in relationships. This episode looks at examples of these ledgers and legacies and discusses how to explore and transform the stories that power them. (My thanks to Catherine for suggesting this topic.)
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Why do people fall into authoritarian extremism? What keystone stories do they tell themselves about this, and how might these stories be changed such that isolation and grievance give way to belonging?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
When you face an obstacle or dilemma and the usual methods for grappling with it won't work, then perhaps it's time to change the game. This episode gives several examples of how to do just that. More examples appear in my e-book When All Else Fails, Change the Game: 20 Strategies for Inventive Real-Life Problem-Solving.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
There are many leadership models and practices available, yet how many really good leaders do you know? In a time of chaos and polarization, an important ingredient is missing from our leadership approaches. The missing ingredient has to do with the power of inspiration. This podcast mentions some ideas to be developed more fully in "Restorying Leadership: The View from Loreology," to be presented at the "Igniting Next-Level Leadership" summit offered by the Teton Leadership Center.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
"I'm xx years young." Why do we fear the approach of old age? Is it because we fear death, or because we fear life? This podcast offers a few glimpses at some age-related learnings as we move inevitably forward through the cycle of life. (Recorded less than two weeks before a milestone birthday.)
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
The news is buzzing with dire warnings about how artificial intelligence (AI) will destroy us all. What are the actual dangers, and why are they so seldom mentioned? How is the psychology of hysteria involved? What might ancient cautionary tales tell us about when autonomous beings we create get out of our control?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Writing when treated as commodity production gets disparaged, especially in relation to other occupations. How do you write with soul under capitalism? How do you have good money boundaries about writing even while approaching it as a sacred calling?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
If human beings are good at the core, how can we explain the ongoing presence of harm, deception, and evil we do? And what do we mean by "good"? We will enlist some help from the Chinese sage Mencius (Meng Tzu), who pondered such questions long before anyone else seems to have and came up with insights that speak clearly to our time.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Sometimes it seems like con artists, hucksters, and deceivers are everywhere. Certainly they can be found in many arenas of life: politics, business, religion, elsewhere. How do we spot these negative tricksters? What exactly should we look for in order to protect ourselves from them?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
At some level, conscious of it or not, we all feel the distress of Earth as climate chaos accelerates. And this distress is spiritual, perhaps the deepest spiritual distress of our time. How is it spiritual, if not about religion or belief? How can we begin to address this planet-sized trauma within us? Recorded on Earth Day 2023.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
"The technology that got us into climate crisis can't save us - it will only make things worse!" We will examine this assumption and also include examples of how a technological approach to climate mitigation is making a positive difference right now. 30
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Talk it over, talk it up, talk it out. Work through it. Process it. Get it off your chest. But what about the need to just be quiet in the midst of this manic overemphasis on talking, talking, and more talking? How do we make room for dwelling with ourselves instead of incessantly sharing?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Badly organized or unnecessary meetings, micromanagement, and unneeded secrecy are three wasters of time we will discuss as we ponder how to be more conscious as managers. What are some alternatives to these irritating time- and morale-squanderers?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Personal change, social change, political change, change elsewhere: Why is it so seldom? Why does so much time and money and effort spent on change go nowhere? The same old corrupt leadership, traffic, scandals, bad news. Why? What is missing from our attempts to shift things? And when do they change deeply, for ourselves and for others? (I'm thinking about offering an online class on this topic for practical visionaries and for people who haven't given up.)
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Imagination. Just for kids? Just for fun? Or the foundation of all human powers, perceptions, and achievements? What is the difference between imagination, fantasy, creativity, and innovation? What prevents us from using our imagination? What are some examples of how imagination can change how things are?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Record numbers of people are abandoning membership in religion. Why? What options are they left with? What does it look like to move away from monolithic systems of authority (always attractive to zealots possessed by disavowed doubt) and belief to inspirational paths of ecospiritual direct experience of the sacred abroad in the world, in between us, and within us?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Being adopted has taught me that the issues we face - of identity, belonging, kindred, family - are a microcosm or dramatization of the issues most people face. In this podcast I discuss some of the myths of being adopted, what growing up adopted us like, a few suggestions for adopting parents, and the thought of how we are each much more than where we came from.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
It beeps, badges, bubbles, and buzzes at you. Why do we design tech to simulate friendly if intrusive humans? Who tells tech support to give us unwanted emotional support? What's up with smart speakers saying "uh huh" or repeating back what we just asked them to do? What's going on with all "service" unconsciously?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
What do you need to let go of? Why do you hang on to it? Or what about the things we don't know we're still keeping around that no longer serve? Some reflections on these and other issues related to making room for the new. (See the podcast on grief as a complement to this one.)
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
A few remembrances of my conversations with maverick depth psychologist James Hillman along with some of his wit and wisdom and some comments about his presence and impact. I remain grateful for what I learned from him.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
"Follow your bliss," said and wrote Joseph Campbell. A number of critics have advised against it, arguing that bliss doesn't make a reliable guide, vocationally in particular. Instead, they say, follow what you're good at, what's practical, what pays the bills. But what did Campbell mean by his famous phrase? What actually happens when we pursue our fascinations?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
According to social science, we are the way we are because of upbringing, physical limitations, socioeconomic conditions, and other conditioning factors. But what about the dimension of choice? What about the creative uses we can make of what we were given or came in with? We are more than where we came from.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Van Gogh: one of the world's greatest artists. What was the relationship between his creative genius and the madness that took his life? Can his work be attributed to what ailed him? Or is the relationship more complex than that? What can it tell us about struggling with our own creative demons?
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Ever feel like there's a larger story behind your personal story? C. G. Jung wrote in a letter about a "personal myth," a story we are born into. How might we become aware of this story and its possibilities? How is myth more than an archaic explanation for weather? What was Jung's myth? I draw in this podcast on material from my classes, my workshops, and my book STORIED LIVES: DISCOVERING AND DEEPENING YOUR PERSONAL MYTH.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
What is time? How come it either drags or we can't find enough of it? We will consider how to align the quantitative-linear and qualitative-flow aspects of time in our lives, looking to transform the presence of time from an enemy or obstacle to a companion and guide along the way.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
Carl Jung, psychiatrist....but also mystic? Rebel? Racist? In this edition of The Lorecast we glance over Jung's life, discuss his celebrated confrontation with himself in search of his soul, note the transformations he underwent, look into some of his character flaws, and appreciate the richness and depth of what he left us in his search not only for himself, but for a depth psychology of how the world shows up within us.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
How do you act as a teacher or mentor to people who want to go deep? Deep into life, into experience, into themselves, into the great questions of who we are and why we are here, and how to be with each other. This podcast draws on my own experience and learning to offer some suggestions on teaching and mentoring people on a search for transformation.
Chalquist.com and Worldread.org
What if we fashioned our life path out of stories, inspirations, and reconnective practices? No absolute truths, no hard beliefs, no authorities, creeds, or elaborate arguments. Instead, a chance to see what we can make of the best of what we can imagine and learn and celebrate together. This podcast includes examples of worldreading: entering the conversation of a world not of dead objects, but of presences always addressing us.
Absolute belief divides. We know that. So why do we feel so tempted to overemphasize it? And not only in religion: in science, in philosophy, "the search for truth" tends toward a demand for some fixed, certain, absolute Truth. Why do we think we need it? What might be an inspiring alternative that eschews inevitable conflict for attainable collaboration and dreaming together?
Why are we so fascinated with royalty? And celebrity? Are kings and queens archetypal, as Jungians tend to think, or is something else afoot--archetypal or not--with how we tend to idealize, follow, and envy such figures? How might we discover our own internal nobility?
We hear it all the time: "Don't be a Pollyanna!" But who was Pollyanna, and why shouldn't we be like her? In this podcast we interview Dr. Heather Hines for a deeper look at this controversial character, at why the voice of Pollyanna has been silenced, and at what we can learn from her for help with our troubled time.
Plenty of people stand by to sell us programs, courses, and degrees for the supposed sake of kinship, healing, enlightenment, and soul, charging us astronomical fees for minimal content and zero community support. What are some of the possibilities for an Earth-loving, just, fair, and fun spiritual path? One based not on authoritative belief, but on inspiring fiction? Not on eternal judgment, but on reenchantment?
"Ten Lamps" is the name of a philosophy of doing, being, and aspiring created by Simeon, a fictional character in Tales of Terrania Rising, a free collection of speculative fiction stories available at Chalquist.com on how humanity struggles to mature and come of age. What can a fictional philosophy do to enrich how we live? How might it serve deeper purposes than supposed absolute truths to believe?
It's easy to read the news and despair. The sheer wave of daily nonsense, stupidity, and violence can wash over the burliest spirit. But what about our higher possibilities? What about the people who overcome adversity or their own limitations to shine as inspirations to the rest of us? What if being optimistic about the capacity for change and excellence is actually the new realism?
Many of us have heard about the Hero's Journey of Joseph Campbell, and in some cultures the Hero or Heroine is a revered figure. But what kind of pattern does that offer to non-heroes? What is left for the rest of us who want to leave the world better than we found it? What is the shadow side of the Hero's Journey, and what might a Post-Heroic Journey be like?
As a professor and core faculty member I get asked about this all the time. When should you spend the time and money (a lot of money in the States) to go back to school and earn a PhD? What is the hard truth behind the supposed shine of those three magic letters after a name? What are the alternatives, some of which might actually serve you better, professionally and otherwise?
What would happen if we replaced some of the mechanical-sounding concepts of depth psychology with more storied, dramatic, and poetic terms? Would it transform our understanding of ourselves, each other, our unconscious (or Dreamvale, a realm of image in my Assembling Terrania Cycle of speculative fiction)? Can we describe the self with language that moves us closer to it than metaphors from the 19th century could do?
Why do we idealize? The figures to whom we attribute impossible wisdom, strength, or truth seem endless: political candidates, spiritual teachers, holy books, entire religions.... What if we were to examine why we idealize (as adults) and then look for similar admirable qualities in ourselves? How might this liberate us to do and be more than we gave ourselves credit for?
It's funny: when faced by grief, sadness, loss, or other "negative" emotions, we turn to interventions; but when we feel happy or joyful, we let them play out as they would. What if we did that with all our emotions? What sort of inner energy might we reclaim by allowing grief and loss their own momentum and wisdom?
Welcome to the first-ever episode of Lorecast, where we look into the stories that guide our lives.
Why are things such a mess now? Could it have something to do with the outdated stories we still use to explain how things are to ourselves and to each other? What would happen if we told different stories? How might we move from an overemphasis on belief and absolute truth to a playful state of inspiration?