On the Soul's Terms – Details, episodes & analysis

After some time of unusual introspection and restraint, Hercules sets off on his fourth task: tracking down the Erymanthion Boar. The boar is the wild and uncontrollable side of nature. By taking a side road and visiting the centaur Pholus on the way to the boar, Hercules convinces the centaur to open a sealed jar of Dionysian wine. And with that, all hell breaks loose.

This sets off the chain of events that leads to the wounding of our beloved healer, centaur and guide, Chiron. His animal side now wounded, he reflects our current state in the civilised world. And our current quest - to rediscover the beauty of animal consciousness.

The movement from the deer to the boar also brings into focus the tension between Artemis (goddess of the hunt) and Aphrodite (goddess of sensual pleasure). Although both deer and boar are sacred to Artemis, the boar is associated with Aphrodite due to her tragic love affair with Adonis who was speared by a boar (who was actually Apollo, Artemis' twin (yes the Greek myths are like this!)).

The jar of Dionysian wine is symbolic of delighting in the senses. Sealed for four generations, once it's opened the animal side that has been repressed breaks free and causes absolute chaos. So what are we to do? Keep the jar sealed and stay safe but overly controlled? Or open it up and take the consequences of unbridled wildness?

It brings forth a conversation around addictive processes. Something that I discuss with Brice Hancock from Mile High Recovery in Colorado. That conversation is coming soon to the podcast.

Episode Artwork: Hercules fighting against the Centaurs, 1542 by Hans Beham

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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Hercules, or Heracles in Greek, was one of the greatest figures of the ancient mythic world. He was seen as an amalgamation of many different heroes, relying on brute strength and his trusty club, and was generally at a loss when a problem required more than simply force for its solution. 

A quintessential solar hero, Hercules battles with the monsters of the world sent by the spiteful Hera who wants to crush him at every turn. And yet, the two of them, Hera and Heracles, are forever linked to each other. Heracles, after all, means 'Glory of Hera'. 

In this episode we will use the opposition between these two to look at the astrological archetypal tension between the Sun: our shining golden light of the spirit in its quest for individuation, and Saturn: the blocks and limits that get in our way.

The exploration then moves into the first three labours of Hercules: Wrestling an enormous lion; becoming entangled in a swamp snake; and tracking a deer with golden antlers for a full calendar year. These tasks align with the Zodiac signs of Leo, Cancer and Virgo respectively and teach us about our own sacred process of individuation. 

This is the first of a series of episodes on Hercules. His stories are vivd and filled with archetypal information, each monster representing elements of our consciousness that challenge us to move into the essence of who we are here to become. 

Cover Art: Peter Paul Rubens

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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When mythologist Michael Meade received a mythology book on his 13th birthday, little did he know it would ignite a lifelong passion for storytelling and transformation. On our latest podcast episode, we're honoured to have Michael share his journey, from an unexpected act of storytelling that saved him from a gang, to his dedication to at-risk youth, and his personal defiance that led to profound revelations within a military prison. His perspective on personal transformation, the awakening of our inner 'genius', and the visceral power of myth in our lives is nothing short of spellbinding.

Our heartfelt conversation with Michael delves into his collaborations with cultural figures like Malidoma Some and the imperative of healing through community. We trace his path from solitary confinement to organising healing conferences for war veterans, highlighting how shared rituals and storytelling foster connection and recovery. Michael offers insights into the concept of 'sudden community'—a powerful bond forged in the crucible of shared trauma—and how individual purpose might be the key to resolving our greatest cultural and environmental challenges.

Then we turn to how Michael met Robert Bly and James Hillman and how their paths got intertwined in the mythopoetics of the 90s. It's an in depth look at their work with the wounded masculine of the collective psyche and how difficult it was to contain once it garnered the glare of media attention.

The theme of wounds takes us into the image of Chiron and his role as the wounded healer; and how perhaps that was the image that was with them throughout that time. This leads us to a mythic moment when Chiron meets Prometheus and offers to take his place trapped in the rocks. And how this exchange might just be occurring to us today in many obvious and subtle ways.

Podcast Artwork: L'Education d'Achille (The Education of Achilles) Black & White Etching | c.Early 19th Century | Ramboz (engraver) | Bervic Galerie du Museum, No. 12, Paris

Find out more about Michael's work here.

Edith Hamilton: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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This episode is a deep dive into the mountain goat of Capricorn; Looking up and ahead, mapping and planning, and strategically making our way to the new peaks of personal and cultural growth and maturity..

Saturn/Cronus rules this sign and we will take another look at his mythology as he overthrows his father and then eats his own children. Astrologically the planet represents the painful process of life’s great challenges but how they are ultimately in our path not just to antagonize us, but to make us flourish into who we are meant to be.

The Great God Pan and his sister Amalthea, Zeus’ nanny goat, are also explored. Pan as the rustic, wild, musical and wise half-goat God. And Amalthea as the nurturing caregiving energy. Both of these elements help us to expand our view of Capricorn beyond that of the serious, disciplined and controlling one..

We also take a look back to ancient calendars and the importance of the festival of Saturnalia that would occur around this time of year. As well as a glimpse into the figures of Jesus and Dionysus and their shared birthday of December 25th, making them both Capricorn Suns..

The image for the cover is taken from here. It’s a combination of artwork from William-Adolphe Bourguereau, 1873 and Thomas Cole, c.1834.

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Elsa Henderson moves between the roles of facilitator, coach and educator. Her background is in Process Oriented Psychology and Anthropology and is currently pursuing her doctorate in organisational studies, exploring how we make sense of things when things don't make sense.

She is one of the key teachers at MetaVision Institute and someone I learned a lot from in my studies of Processwork. She also has her sun, moon and a few other planets in Sagittarius.

Elsa joins me today to talk about the fascinating world of process work, not just as a therapeutic tool, but as a way to interact with reality in deeper and more substantial ways than those we are generally exposed to.

It's a fascinating and wide ranging discussion, as one would expect from the arrow of the archer.

Elsa's Website
Bill Say's book on Life Myth that Elsa mentions at the end of the show. 

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Sagittarius is the sign that follows Scorpio in the story of the Zodiac. It represents what happens once we've returned from the dark night of the soul. Through Sagittarius we find meaning, purpose and grander visions. 

Faye Northgrave joins me today to explore this most fiery and visionary of signs. With the help of the myths of Zeus/Jupiter, Apollo & Artemis, The race of Centaurs including the kindly Chiron and more we delve deeper into the mythic themes of mutable fire. 

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

You may have heard of the '13th sign' of the Zodiac known as Ophiuchus. It entered the Astrological picture with controversy and ultimately by mistake. That mistake being the confusion between 'constellations' and 'signs'.

Nevertheless, Ophiuchus, or Asclepius, has an intriguing position amongst the stars, situated as it is on the cusp of Scorpio (the death realm) and Sagittarius (new life). His myth represents this perfectly as he is born from a dying mother and is forever positioned on the edge of life and death.

This bonus episode explores the mythology underlying Ophiuchus and how, although it'll never be an actual sign of the Zodiac, his mythology can deeply inform those moments in life where we, ourselves, can find ourselves explore that edge.

Asclepius is also explored in Episode 22 and Episode 4 of the show.

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In this episode, Astrologer Jason Holley and I explore the love story of Artemis and Orion. This story is etched into our stars through the two oppositional constellations of Scorpio and Orion. The Greeks saw this as a Scorpion, summoned by Artemis, chasing down Orion for all eternity. 

It was punishment for Orion’s depletion of nature through an insatiable desire to hunt until all wildness was gone; Something that violated Artemis’ code as a Huntress who, though herself a killer, is dedicated to protecting and perpetuating the species that she hunts. 

If Orion’s behavior was to continue it would have led to a mass extinction on the planet, something that Artemis is unwilling to accept. And so the necessary poison of the Scorpion is unleashed to correct the imbalance. 

The story is of course complicated, however, by the fact that Orion is the first and only man that Artemis feels an attraction and affinity for. And as such the first time she drops her vow of chastity and virginity and joins the human to human world of love.

This betrayal leads to the tragic story of Acteon who has the misfortune of stumbling into a grove where Artemis is bathing naked, years after the event. Stay tuned to hear of his fate and what it all means for us modern humans and our ways of being in the natural world today.

Jason and I also explore the tension point between Aphrodite, personifying love and connection, and Artemis’ rejection of such things through chastity.

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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Today I’m honored to be joined again by the Astrologer Jason Holley. As you’re about to hear, Jason’s work is dedicated to re-invigorating a relationship with the animate world through participation with the Zodiac as a circle of creatures; creatures that are alive inside of ourselves, in our relationships, and wandering through our world. 

In this first part of two episodes we discuss Jason’s worldview and his evolving work, and how astrology can help to give us a full felt sense experience of being embedded in the natural world. 

We talk about Jason's childhood growing up with five generations of Matriarch. Everyone in the family was conversant in Astrology and as such he was already embedded in the language from an early age. His Great Grandmother would read tea leaves to the point where those in the village would come to seek her guidance as the town Oracle.  As such, the world as animate and pregnant with information for those who know how to attune to it is something in the very fabric of Jason's DNA. 

Jason and I ended up talking for well over 2.5 hours. In Part Two of our conversation we turn to the Myths to help us better understand Scorpio dynamics. Jason's Moon and Venus in Scorpio lead the way in this one as we follow the ancient tragic love story between Artemis and Orion. 

Part Two will be released into the Scorpio Moon in just a few days. Stay tuned for that. 

Episode Artwork: Karl Friedrich Schinkel - Stage set for Mozart's Magic Flute 

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
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Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Medusa was a beautiful maiden in a family of monsters. One day as she prayed to the Goddess Athena (a personification of the rational) she was seduced by Poseidon (the irrational force). Punished by Athena, her face became terrifying to look at and her glorious hair became writhing coiled snakes.

Welcome to the realm of Scorpio. It's in this arena that we are able to go deep, to explore the hidden world, go to the uncomfortable places and reclaim the hidden thoughts, desires and drives. Like Medusa, this kind of material can be difficult to look at straight on. We may need a little assistance along the way. Hence the hero Perseus uses the reflection of the shield in order to remove the heady process that such traumatic material can plunge us into.

All of this is explored in today's episode as I'm joined, again, by Faye Northgrave to look underneath the rocks and see what ancient creatures we might discover there.

Artwork: Caravaggio, Medusa, 1595-1596, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.