The Influence of Mythic Figures in Our Lives

Lecture Description

This free lecture is an introduction to Dennis P. Slattery’s new course, Mythic Figures & Personal Resonances. It will offer some insight into what you can expect to cover during the full course. Yet, as a standalone experience, the conversation between these long-standing friends -Dennis P. Slattery, Brad Olson and Leigh Melander- offers significant insight into how mythic figures impact, influence or haunt our current and often frenzied modern life.

While myth originally meant story or narrative, it is more than that: it is also a belief system to guide us, show us our deepest values and offer our lives coherence, meaning and purpose.

The conversation between these luminaries will focus on the ways in which we can recognize the influence of mythic figures in our lives. And then, of course, how to deal with the enjoyable but also sometimes challenging aspects of these figures in our daily lives and routines.

In this lecture, Dennis is joined by Brad Olson of the Joseph Campbell Foundation and Leigh Melander of Spillian.

Bradley Olson, Ph.D., is a former police officer who returned to school to earn a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and literature, two Master’s degrees in psychology, and a Ph.D. in Cultural Mythology. Dr. Olson is a Depth Psychologist in private practice in Flagstaff, Arizona; his work with clients is heavily influenced by his interest in Jungian Analytical Psychology and Mythological Studies. He is also a writer and a mythologist, and works for the Joseph Campbell Foundation as the editor of the MythBlast series.

Leigh Melander, Ph.D has as a doctorate in cultural mythology and psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has served as a board member for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and on the academic advisory board for Spring Journal for several years. Leigh was featured on  History Channel as an expert on myth and story, and hosted Myth America (a weekly radio program on myth and imagination) for four years. She was the founding editor of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s MythBlast essay series and is a published author. Leigh and her husband own Spillian: A Place to Revel, a regenerative center for imagination and creativity on a historic estate in the Catskills.

This lecture is ideal if

• You are interested in myths as inspirational guides, and how they point us to our own psychic life.
• You are interested in gaining clarity as to which myths, gods or goddesses are potentially playing out in your own life.
• You are interested in mythological studies and want to deepen your understanding of how to make mythology practical to your life. 
• You follow or are interested in the work of Joseph Campbell.