This episode is available to members of Living Myth Premium. Subscribe today and receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full Living Myth archives of over 600 episodes and a 30% discount on all online events, courses and audio/book titles.
This episode of Living Myth begins with the recent Supreme Court decision to take away the rights of women to make their own reproductive choices. The current insistence on extreme abortion bans and restriction of human rights, not only favors one religious viewpoint over many others, it also misrepresents the origins and history of abortion and reproductive rights.
Michael Meade traces the issues of abortion, “personhood” and women’s right to choose back to ancient ideas of “ensoulment in the womb” and the surprising roots of religious thought and practices in early Judaism and Christianity.
Since ancient times the core mystery of life has been symbolized as the womb of the cosmos or of mother Earth, that is also embodied by each woman. We have all been born into the mystery known throughout time as “birth, death and rebirth” or as “life, death and renewal.” Despite the narrowing of minds, the hardening of hearts and the harrowing of wombs that some insist upon, life remains a mystery that does not seek to be simply defined or controlled or be reduced to fixed dogmas or intrusive laws.
As the poet Goethe once wrote, "so long as you have not experienced this, to die and so to grow, you are just a guest on this dark earth." This is not the time to allow those who would take away the rights of others and presume to judge for everyone to make decisions about life and death for the rest of us.
SUPPORT MOSAIC
Please consider a donation to Mosaic to support the podcast and help us continue our creative efforts to use myth, story and imagination to find ways to heal, renew and restore both culture and nature.
LIVING MYTH PREMIUM
This offering gives members access to additional content beyond the free weekly edition of the podcast.
Become a member today and for $10/month receive:
● Bonus episodes each month
● The full podcast archives of over 420 episodes
● A 30% discount on all online events, courses and titles
Your membership helps grow Living Myth and ensures we are able to continue developing and expanding this creative project.
LISTENER COMMENTS
“I cannot recommend this podcast more highly. It is true art/poetry/story medicine and an antidote for the divisive messages surrounding us.”
"I'm so grateful to have found this podcast. The way Michael Meade weaves myth and applies it to the current times we live in really helps me to navigate the challenges I've faced."
"The wisdom and deep perspective that flows through Michael Meade is medicine for me in these times of radical change and uncertainty."