60. The Boundaries of the Unthinkable are Wavering - Charles Eisenstein
The old stories that have guided our recent ancestors are falling apart, and we live in a time of great upheaval and division as we grope for a new guiding mythology. Yet enfolded into this chaos are the seeds of deep and revolutionary change. Charles Eisenstein has a knack for expressing the thoughts and feelings that many of us born to these times have had but never articulated, and a brilliant capacity for elucidating a way forward.
IN THE INTRO:
Following your curiosity & finding lifelong teachers
IN THE INTERVIEW:
None of us fit in to the boxes our culture makes for us, and the story we’ve been handed down is no longer resonant
Transitioning between paradigms, as the boundaries of the unthinkable begin to waver
The initiation into love that is the environmental crisis
A radical reframing of the climate debate (I so needed to hear this)
Appreciating the complex physiology of the organs and tissues of the living earth, and realizing that we cannot reduce that complexity to the one metric of carbon emissions and offsets- “We can cut carbon emissions to zero, and the planet will still die of organ failure if we continue to degrade its organs”
What we lose when we look at herbs, ecosystems, and anything/everything through a reductionist lense
Bringing nuance and empathy back into our highly polarized culture, where folks are both sides (of any issue) are impervious to ever being wrong
Holding our enemies in reverence (just channel Mr. Rogers)
The legacy trauma of living in this culture, and how to minimize its impact on future generations
What the germ theory of disease gets wrong, and why our inner ecosystems often play a larger role in our illness than the outer pathogens that get all the blame
A new perspective on autoimmunity, self, and the story of separation
Shifting the war paradigm by which we often approach health
Sacred economics: living in The Gift paradigm within our capitalist culture, and why Charles’ online courses are donation based
The individual as a holographic map of the universe unfolding
When you hold a question long enough, it will always bear a result
IN THE OUTRO:
Human hubris and the unforeseen consequences of thinking we can outsmart the vital life force (nature/evolution)
How challenges to the immune system both initiate children into their next level of unfolding and prevent later chronic disease
The polarization in the vaccine conversation, cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias, and exploring what it would take for me to change my mind on the issue
A short exploration of and some resources for learning more about the harmful consequences of praise, rewards, and punishments when raising kids
LINKS:
Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!)
My website MythicMedicine.love
Some of Charles’ related essays: Reuniting the Self: Autoimmunity, Obesity, and the Ecology of Health, We Are Unlimited Potential: A Talk with Joseph Chilton Pearce, In a Rhino, Everything
Video of me expanding on how we can’t outsmart nature and how modern medicine is pushing pathogens to evolve
Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies by Neil Z. Miller
Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness by Dr. Thomas Cowan
@EchoUnafraid’s vaccine cognitive dissonance Instagram post
Related past episode of this podcast: 57. Own Your Self: Radical Healing, Rooted Health w/ Dr. Kelly Brogan and 30. The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System w/ Cilla Whatcott
Article- Praise Not
Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz
Medicine Stories Facebook group
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)