Available now. Order the Voices of Vets book
Voices of Vets
A Bridge Back to the World
A collection of original, immediate poems by veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, and their families that address the shocks experienced in battle and the emotional and physical repercussions that follow war. Voices of Vets expresses compelling feelings and thoughts about the horrors of war, the reasons for going, and the anguish and difficulty involved in trying to find a way home again.
Candid, vulnerable, caring, and courageous.
Includes Michael Meade's essay, War, the Underworld, and Initiation.
"I walked up my ramp alone - to a reception of none...
no welcome home party, because like so many others
I'm not home.
Expose emotional silence, so your wounds
can finally be healed.
Give yourself that precious gift.
Let the self-inflicted guilt die, instead of you."
- from veteran's poems.
Read more poems
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Voices of Veterans
A Welcome Home Ceremony
November 11th, 2008 ~ 6 PM
First Unitarian Church
1011 SW 12th Ave
Portland
This Veterans Day ceremony brings together veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the local community. It intends to help heal the distance between the warriors and those they protect and bridge the gaps between war and peace, trauma and renewal, pain and understanding. Such a welcoming involves a community conversation that moves beyond politics and goes deeper than the rhetoric of war; it requires courage and is too-often avoided. It begins with tragedy and loss in the aftermath of any war and requires the language of poetry and story, as well as the dignity of ceremony.
The World Behind
The World
Living at the
Ends of Time
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW BOOK FROM
MICHAEL MEADE
"At critical moments in history mythic sense tries to return to awareness in order to indicate life's inherent capacity for renewal. When the end seems near and nothing seems to make sense anymore, the sense of myth tries to return to make sense of all the endings and to hint at ways of beginning again."
from The World Behind the World by Michael Meade
Michael Meade is one of the few people who provides a mythological view of critical issues affecting the world at this time. In The World Behind the World, Meade weaves a tapestry of mythic tales and cogent commentary that truly inspires and offers a "mythic inoculation" in times of great uncertainty. As nature rattles and culture unravels, mythic imagination tries to return to the world, for endings and beginnings are particularly mythic. When "the End" seems near, how people imagine the world becomes more important; how people imagine humanity becomes of the utmost importance. Meade shows how "myth makes meaning" and helps a person find the meaningful path through life. He mines a series of "re-creation" stories in which the earth renews itself just when all seems lost. When it appears that there's no time left, it isn't time that people need, but the touch of the eternal.
OrderThe World Behind the World
Read an excerpt
*NEW FROM MOSAIC AUDIO*
The Ends of Time,
the Roots
of Eternity
Tales of Myth,
Nature, & Culture
with author, mythologist and storyteller
Michael Meade
The modern world suffers from "double exposure" as culture and nature, the "two great garments of life," seem to unravel at the same time. Culture no longer protects against growing threats of global terror and societal greed, while Nature becomes increasingly endangered through holes in the ozone and the effects of global warming.
Science and religion seem to arrive at similar conclusions as statistics and scriptures each predict the "end of the world." Is it the end of all time or a time of many endings seeking the vital ground of renewal?
In this dynamic recording mythologist Michael Meade shows that when all sense is lost and all seems headed for destruction, it is "mythic sense" that is missing and mythic imagination that is needed. Not a particular myth, but stories and "earthly wisdom" that reunite culture with great Nature where the pattern of birth, death, and renewal prevails. Rather than the literal call for people to "save the planet," Meade suggests the issue is finding the lost connections to the living Soul of the World and the Tree of Life at the center of all spiritual paths.
Mosaic Audio
Three Compact Discs
Listen to excerpts from The Ends of Time, the Roots of Eternity
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The Water of Life
Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul
NEW AND REVISED EDITION
with author, mythologist and storyteller
Michael Meade
Mosaic is delighted to announce a new edition of The Water of Life, a re-visioning and refining of an already classic text.
Starting with a new preface that describes the dual nightmare of global terror and global warming, Meade addresses the connection between meaning and purpose in personal life and returning culture to its mythic context.
At once a mythic journey, a study in depth psychology, and a treatise on initiation The Water of Life addresses the roots of conflict, the recurring hunger for war and the issues of "reducing the warrior." Throughout the text the water of life functions as the core symbol for both personal and cultural renewal, and redemption of the spiritual wasteland.
Using ideas gleaned from many years working with youth and communities at-risk Meade's writing rings with the echoes of truth and "sings with an incantational voice that takes you right to the edge of elemental knowledge."
"Meade writes quite brilliantly about initiation, ordeal and the importance of scars and wounds. He is a master of the mode" - New York Times Book Review
"Meade insists on grounding the high-flying abstractions of myth in the 'bones-laid-bare' realities of the street." - San Francisco Chronicle
Major Themes Include: Initiation and the nobility of the soul "The awakening of youth and the making of elders "The Firebird and the impassioned heart "The sword between fathers and sons "Mother and Great Mother "Mentors and mythical helpers "Breaking the family spells "Gifts and wounds
Purchase from Mosaic's Online Store
Current Voices projects include Voices of Youth, Voices of Refugees, and Voices of Veterans. The honest expression of homeless youth and young refugees from Africa, of gang-involved youth, and veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan brings surprising insights and poignancy to problems that increasingly trouble our culture as a whole. Each Voices program involves retreats where rare and compelling stories are distilled into poetry and then offered at public events that bring those compelling voices to the ears and hearts of our communities.
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Voices of Youth, Voices of Community
a short documentary that captures stories, poems, and songs from Mosaic's cutting edge Voices of Youth and Koures Symposium projects
Press the play button above to start the film.
Voices of Youth and the Koures Symposium are a series of projects that involve diverse youth in a variety of communities. Through the Voices process, youth become engaged in the creation of an artistic forum for their own expression while developing mentoring relationships within their communities. Themes of contemporary disorientation find unique expression through the writings and voices of local youth, offering insights into the root causes of youth violence, cynicism, and apathy. A narrative mix of old stories and youthful voices is then presented to the local community in an event that is part theater, part literature, and part celebration.
Hearing the acute perspectives of youth can significantly change the communitys perception of both local and national issues and inspire continuing conversations across the generation gap. Voices of Youth inspires and empowers local youth, fosters ongoing cross-generational dialogues and leads to the development of unique local forms of mentoring.
Read poems from recent Voices events
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with author, mythologist and storyteller
Michael Meade
Mentoring involves stories longing to be heard and waiting to be told. For, mentoring offers an essential way in which the story of culture is fashioned, learned, and recreated. The word "mentor" refers to guidance and lived knowledge. Mentor first appears in an old myth guiding youth through inspired ideas and offering skills of survival. Mentoring evokes the genius in a person, develops gifts, and helps heal both personal and cultural wounds.
Using the surprising "Story of the Half-Boy," Meade shows how easily a culture disintegrates into a "Half-Village" that rejects its youth and forgets its elders. The pathway back to making a whole village requires the recovery of dreams deferred, the sharing of "lived wisdom," and a return to the "dance of life."
While mentoring naturally involves the youth of a community, it also becomes the basis for re-imagining meaningful roles for elders. Through Branches of Mentoring people can discover and clarify what they have to offer in the way of teaching, guiding, and mentoring others. This lively presentation directly benefits mentors, teachers, parents, artists, social activists, and all those who work with youth and value community.
Themes Include: Origins of Mentoring; Planting Seeds; Embodied Knowledge; Mentoring as Natural and Instinctive; Dreams Deferred; Genius to Genius Mentoring; Red Fog, White Fog; Authentic Moments
Mosaic Audio
Two Compact Discs
Purchase from Mosaic's online store