Recorded April 23, 2022
Facing the Cascade of Crises
A Community Gathering with Michael Meade and Gail Brenner
As the shocking war in Ukraine adds to the already daunting array of worldwide crises, events can feel increasingly out of control. No matter where we live, we are caught in the shattering of the world and the broken heart of tragedy. Being soulfully present in our own lives helps settle the psyche in these unsettled times. In the long run, what moves and heals and stirs the individual soul can also move and heal the world.
Join mythologist/storyteller Michael Meade and therapist/teacher Gail Brenner for a live online community conversation, where we will share and reflect on ways to cope with our troubled and unsettled world through storytelling and ancient myths.
Presenters
Michael Meade
Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals. He has an unusual ability to distill and synthesize these disciplines, tapping into ancestral sources of wisdom and connecting them to the stories we are living today.
He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn’t End, The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul; editor, with James Hillman and Robert Bly, of Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart; and editor of Crossroads: A Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artist, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.
Gail Brenner
Gail Brenner, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, teacher, and lover of truth with a fire that burns brightly. She is an expert in healing from early trauma and brings to this work years of experience with individuals and groups. Her work lovingly illuminates our everyday humanness with the deepest spiritual truths, and she is known for creating the safe space needed for inner exploration.
Gail has special expertise working with older adults and their families in the transitions of aging, death, and dying. She was an assistant clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco where she trained physicians and maintained a clinical practice. She has published numerous professional articles on coping with stress and chronic medical illness and is the author of the award-winning The End of Self-Help and Suffering Is Optional. She loves exploring different cultures through international volunteering.