Francis Weller - Initiation (And Society Without It)

ManTalks Podcast

Connor Beaton

Relationships, Education, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.8 • 591 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2021

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Francis and I discuss the role of community in processing grief, the cult of specialness, our addiction to progress, using beauty and ritual to stay mentally healthy, and how obsession with individualism has crippled our ability to feel like we belong. That’s just the tip of the iceberg with a man like Francis, and it’s a great honor to hear him speak with such depth and clarity on these complex subjects. Francis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures, and poetic traditions. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief, The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa), and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from indigenous cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from western poetic, psychological, and spiritual traditions. As a gifted therapist and teacher, Francis has been described as a jazz artist, improvising and moving fluidly in and out of deep emotional territories with groups and individuals, bringing imagination and attention to places often held with judgment and shame. Francis received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and two Master’s Degrees from John F. Kennedy University in Clinical Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology. His writings have appeared in anthologies and journals exploring the confluence between psyche, nature, and culture. His work was featured in The Sun magazine (October 2015) the Utne Reader (Fall 2016) and the Kosmos Journal. (Winter 20201) He is a frequent presenter and keynote speaker at conferences, bringing insight, poetry and a breath of humor to his talks. Francis is currently on staff at Commonweal Cancer Help Program, co-leading their week-long retreats with Michael Lerner. He has taught at Sonoma State University, the Sophia Center in Oakland, and has been the featured teacher at the Minnesota Men's Conference. He is currently completing his third book, A Trail on the Ground: The Geography of Soul. He has created three CD sets, two focusing on healing shame and one on “Restoring the Soul of the World.” His latest offerings are a 10-session audio series on "Living a Soulful Life and Why It Matters." and "The Alchemy of Initiation: Soul Work and the Art of Ripening." Connect with Francis: Website: https://www.francisweller.net/ Books: https://www.francisweller.net/books.html Programs: https://www.francisweller.net/programs--workshops.html Did you enjoy the podcast? If so, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Podchaser. It helps us get into the ears of new listeners, expand the ManTalks Community, and help others find the self-leadership they’re looking for. Are you looking to find purpose, navigate transition, or fix your relationships, all with a powerful group of men from around the world? Check out The Alliance and join me today. Check out our Facebook Page or the Men's community. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify For more episodes visit us at ManTalks.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Deep in our bones lies an intuition that we arrive here carrying a bundle of gifts to offer to the community.
0:19.0	Over time, these gifts are meant to be seen, developed,
0:23.0	and called into the village at times of need. To feel valued for the gifts with which we are born
0:29.4	affirms our worth and dignity. In a sense, it is a form of spiritual employment. Simply being
0:37.2	who we are confirms our place in the village.
0:42.2	That is one of the fundamental understandings about the gift, about our gift. We can only offer them
0:49.0	by being ourselves fully. Gifts are a consequence of authenticity. When we are being true to our natures, the gifts can emerge. That's a quote from my guest today, Francis Weller, who I have had on the show before, and I have the honor of speaking with again. This is a conversation that Francis and I had a few, I guess, a couple months back,
1:17.1	I produced a series called The Wisdom of Elders.
1:20.6	I was just free for anyone that wanted to take part.
1:23.1	And I interviewed four men from different walks of life.
1:29.6	And men that I consider to be wisdom keepers, elders within various communities around North America.
1:36.2	And Francis was one of the conversations.
1:38.6	And in this conversation, we talk about many things.
1:43.3	This admittedly is one of the few conversations that I will be going back
1:47.4	to listen to myself because during the conversation, I remember being awestruck. I remember
1:53.6	sitting through this conversation as if I was sitting by a fire receiving a kind of
1:59.9	medicinal truth in word form that I desperately need to hear,
2:06.7	that I feel like many people need to hear.
2:09.2	So in this conversation, we talk about initiation.
2:12.5	We talk about what culture looks like when initiation is vacant and deceased and dying.
2:19.4	We talk about the role of elders, elders in our community and our society.
2:24.2	We talk about the times, the troubled times that we are facing as a species, as human beings.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Connor Beaton, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Connor Beaton and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.