Hello, and welcome back to the Shadows Run Podcast!
Today's episode features part 1 of my conversation with Manda Scott. Manda is an award winning author, contemporary shamanic teacher, and host of the Accidental Gods podcast based in the borderlands between England and Wales. Perhaps best known for her Boudica: Dreaming series, her life and work have spanned many other creative and purposeful ventures. These include: work as a veterinary surgeon, acupuncturist, regenerative smallholder, columnist, homoeopath, blogger, life coach, and renegade economist, to name just a few!
In this half of our conversation Manda and I discuss her most recent book, Any Human Power, and the new genres of "thrutopian" and "mytho-political" that the novel falls under. As we careen ever closer to climate catastrophe and socio-ecological breakdown, Manda believes writers - and especially those in the realm of fiction - have a powerful role to play in mapping out possible futures and the steps through to them from the world we find ourselves in right now.
Using her new novel Any Human Power as a touch-point, our conversation extends far beyond the bounds of the story line. Manda and I explore...
- the concept of "initiation culture" vs "trauma culture"
- drawing inspiration from author Ursula K. Le Guin
- the definition of "thrutopian" and "mytho-political
- why fiction writing is important to envisioning and building towards a healed world
- whether it's possible to shift a dysfunctional system while operating from within it
- the vision that led Manda to write Any Human Power
- ... and a whole lot more
Many of the books/researchers/resources that Manda references in this conversation can be found linked below.
Thank you so much for tuning in. It is a joy and an honor to have you here.
Accidental Gods website: https://accidentalgods.life/
Accidental Gods Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accidental_gods/
Manda's official author site: https://mandascott.co.uk/
Any Human Power book: https://linktr.ee/anyhumanpower
Ilya Prigogine, nuclear chemist: https://www.nature.com/articles/424030a ; https://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/prigogine/
Francis Weller and Alnoor Ladha / Initiation vs Trauma Cultures: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/deschooling-dialogues-on-initiation-trauma-and-ritual-with-francis-weller/
Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/192354.Of_Water_and_the_Spirit
Bill Plotkin / stages of development: https://www.animas.org/about-us/our-founder/ ; chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.animas.org/wp-content/uploads/Intro-to-ESDW-for-Animas-website.pdf
Nate Hagens: https://www.natehagens.com/
Kate Raworth / Doughnut Economics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=talXb1wiEFY
Jason Hickel / Less Is More book: https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more
Vanessa Andreotti / Hospicing Modernity: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57425775-hospicing-modernity ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0ZkOFFmbIY
Joe Brewer / Bioregionalism: https://accidentalgods.life/bio-regionalism-the-design-path-for-regenerating-earth/
Janine Benyus / Biomimicry: https://biomimicry.net/bios/janine-benyus/ ; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/biomimicry-janine-m-benyus?variant=32117835366434
Chris Bache / LSD and the Mind of the Universe book: https://chrisbache.com/LSD-BOOK
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