The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul - Softcover

Michael Meade

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0976645041 ISBN 13: 9780976645047

Publisher: GreenFire Press, 2019

Synopsis

In response to demand for a new edition of The Water of Life, Michael Meade has revised and refined the classic text and added a new preface that addresses the important issue of men and violence in modern culture. As a recent reader remarked, This book is even more prescient and important at this critical point in the world than when it was first published. At once a mythic journey, a study in depth psychology and a treatise on initiation, Meade mines ancient stories, finding wisdom and guidance for the turbulent times in which we live. Throughout the text, the water of life functions as a core symbol for both personal and cultural renewal, and for the redemption of nature from a wasteland condition. Using ideas gleaned from many years of cutting-edge work with at-risk youth and oppressed communities, Meade's writing has the ring of lived truth.

About this title

Book Description

Weaving a rhythm through images, storyteller & drummer Michael Meade takes you on a journey of descent & healing. In order to effect a deep change in the psyche & reach the "Water of Life," one must pass through the gates of suffering. Unravelling the details of two ageless stories, Meade illustrates this timeless theme of rejuvenation through the acknowledgement of loss. Topics: the creative function of sorrow, the importance of stopping, breaking through denial, listening to small voices, & much more

From the Inside Flap

A mythic tapestry of multicultural stories that encourages both women and men to examine their own lives and find seeds of initiatory and healing experiences that can become the threads of meaningful community.“Michael Meade’s writing sings with an incantational voice. His book is rich with insights, marvelous in its tales, and full of heart. It takes you right to the edge of elemental knowledge. What a piece of work!” - James Hillman “Magical and profound, unlike anyone else one is likely to encounter, Michael Meade is one of the greatest living teachers of our time.” - Alice Walker “The Water of Life is an astonishing book. Michael Meade has a genius for metaphorical thinking, and the stamina of a diver. He rescues six great stories from the Celtic, African, and European past so they can be part of the emotional life of contemporary men and women. Woven through the book we also find an account of his own repeated refusal to obey orders during the Vietnam War, and what he paid for that. This story alone is worth the price of the book.” - Robert Bly “Michael Meade, masterful storyteller, draws on the power of myths, fairy tales, and his own personal story of descent and transformation in order to speak to men. His is a bones-laid-bare viewpoint—fierce, though, and loving. Women will find it useful to listen in as men struggle to come to terms with issues of power, wounds, violence, passion, love, and more.” - Clarissa Pinkola Estes “With his unyielding commitment to truth and bringing cultures together, Michael Meade captures the power of ancient oral discourse... What emerges is an enchanting concert of rhythm, images, and words.” - Malidoma Some “There are whole universes curled up in Michael Meade’s stories and ideas. He invites the ancient and perennial for these modern tumultuous times, characterized by spiritual rootlessness and deep loss. The Water of Life is a classic text that opens doors of imagination and possibility—doors of renewal and reckoning. The Water of Life carries us over a threshold into a dance of dreams, words, and images.” - Luis J. Rodriguez

Edition details

• Publisher: GreenFire Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0976645041
• ISBN 13: 9780976645047
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 396