Wonderful show all around. If nothing else, it proves how difficult the subject matter is in relation to our every day lives. I think we must have a collective memory, weird as that may be, for mythology which predates us by eons. It's woven into our existence without our understanding sometimes, but I think it important to remember there is nothing new under the sun. Regardless of our technological feats today, human nature isn't so very different from that of the ancients, the original myth makers who created meaning and ritual, memes and archetypes, in living everyday.
For a deeper understanding, I think it helps to hear or read Joseph Campbell. His take on the hero archetype was my introduction to the power of myth and in our power to create lives of meaning and significance. It was with appreciation for his offering that I could move on to Vallee, Keel and now O'Brien. We employ archetypes with nearly every breath yet we do so unaware. Thankfully, there are still remnants, old and new, with which we can find evidence of a force that can help us adapt to change. I like to think of the Trickster as an adjunct to, or an instigator for movement toward archetypal behaviors in the face of challenges.
Moyers and Campbell start out slow, but Campbell charms an audience through six episodes of the interview. He, like no other, can plant the historical importance of our myth making. It takes others to expand on the subject to encompass the truly puzzling aspects of the more questionable characters in modern mythology and I think Chris has done an admirable job. (Still reading the book because I haven't had much time.)
As to the dark archetypes such as the Skinwalker, I think I've met him in my dreams, those dreams that are vivid and impossible to ever forget. Thank God, they're few in number and I've never had to face him in 3D. I admire your saying as much, David. But I take your experiences in a positive vein even if you can't. Maybe that you mention it is good enough for others here to avoid contact and interaction should they ever be faced with a similar experience. It sure helped me!
There are Tricksterish things that go on in my house often enough and they're meant for me because no one else sees or hears. I can be in a room with a family member and hear knocking in cabinets right by my son. He hasn't reacted nor have my other family members. Knocking seems to ratchet up when I'm alone though. None of it happens often, however, usually when I'm in the throes of changes in my thinking or trying to widen my view. I never had a name for it before Vallee.
Kudos for tackling a convoluted subject, Chris. I look forward to the next book. Kudos to Dave and Gene for asking the probing questions so that we get to the meat of the difficulty in accepting. Stayed up way too late for this, but it was worth the lost sleep.
For a deeper understanding, I think it helps to hear or read Joseph Campbell. His take on the hero archetype was my introduction to the power of myth and in our power to create lives of meaning and significance. It was with appreciation for his offering that I could move on to Vallee, Keel and now O'Brien. We employ archetypes with nearly every breath yet we do so unaware. Thankfully, there are still remnants, old and new, with which we can find evidence of a force that can help us adapt to change. I like to think of the Trickster as an adjunct to, or an instigator for movement toward archetypal behaviors in the face of challenges.
Moyers and Campbell start out slow, but Campbell charms an audience through six episodes of the interview. He, like no other, can plant the historical importance of our myth making. It takes others to expand on the subject to encompass the truly puzzling aspects of the more questionable characters in modern mythology and I think Chris has done an admirable job. (Still reading the book because I haven't had much time.)
As to the dark archetypes such as the Skinwalker, I think I've met him in my dreams, those dreams that are vivid and impossible to ever forget. Thank God, they're few in number and I've never had to face him in 3D. I admire your saying as much, David. But I take your experiences in a positive vein even if you can't. Maybe that you mention it is good enough for others here to avoid contact and interaction should they ever be faced with a similar experience. It sure helped me!
There are Tricksterish things that go on in my house often enough and they're meant for me because no one else sees or hears. I can be in a room with a family member and hear knocking in cabinets right by my son. He hasn't reacted nor have my other family members. Knocking seems to ratchet up when I'm alone though. None of it happens often, however, usually when I'm in the throes of changes in my thinking or trying to widen my view. I never had a name for it before Vallee.
Kudos for tackling a convoluted subject, Chris. I look forward to the next book. Kudos to Dave and Gene for asking the probing questions so that we get to the meat of the difficulty in accepting. Stayed up way too late for this, but it was worth the lost sleep.
I love the idea, and I'm definitly going to buy Chris' book. There are still a lot of unknowns, and I definitly take David's point that the physical side of the phenonemon defies explanation. Perhaps, but perhaps these things happen on a level which is the place where mind and matter meet. And perhaps we have no conscious understanding of this state - therefore it is unconscious and also timeless to a certain extent - a formless state just below the surface of the experiences of every living thing.
It was a very enjoyable show. I wish there had been more time for Christopher O'Brien to have gone into his theories in greater detail - which can be remedied, I'm sure, by purchasing his book . . . His theories, to say the least, are very provocative, & I've given much thought to what O'Brien said since listening to the podcast . . . Even if I may not subscribe to all of his conclusions, they are what make the field of paranormal studies so fun . . . 
That's an interesting insight about your uncle . . . The thing about Germany, as I'm sure that you're aware of, though, is that Nuremberg wasn't the end of the delusion, but just the beginning - & we all know how the story ended . . . When I was writing my master's thesis, I attended an evangelic church (African American, in this case), & I certainly felt drawn into the service & what was going on around me. The services that I attended were very positive & affirming, which was surely facilitated by the pastor of the church, who sang & preached up a storm. I never felt out of control of my senses, though some people around me were in what is called a religious ecstacy . . . At Nuremberg, it seems people were out of control on a massive scale, & that was surely facilitated by Hitler's oratory skills . . . But the most frightening thing about Hitler for me, isn't the fact that he told people what they wanted to hear (which is certainly scary), but that those people who found his virulent nationalism to be repellant, found themselves entranced nevertheless . . . When the Rallies were over, the people of Germany - the vast majority of whom were normal, rational people - cold-bloodedly supported a regime that murdered millions of people . . . :frown:
