Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be pausing subscriptions for a while. Summertime is almost upon us and I’m moving into a more extroverted mode, which doesn’t lend itself to spending much time on the computer writing introspective articles.
My wife Debbie and I will be travelling to California next week for a couple workshops at the delightfully eccentric Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics. We’ll be participating in a multi-year project at the museum entitled Redwood Time that explores alternative experiences of time, memory and history.
Our contribution to this project is an exploration of sacred, liminal time entitled From Chronos to Kairos, working with musical improvisation, astrology and natural magic a la Marsilio Ficino, Pythagorus and the Neo-Platonists. Our visit happens to coincide with the Summer Solstice, an especially Kairotic moment.
Kairotic: a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action; the opportune and decisive moment.
It won’t be the first time Debbie and I have collaborated like this, but we’ll be experimenting with some new approaches that I’m pretty excited about. I’ll be bringing my electric guitars and pedalboards so I can create spontaneous soundscapes with layered loops to evoke the experience of circular time, a conceptual nod to the rings of the giant Redwood cross-section that is the primary inspiration for this project.
In the past I’ve primarily utilized acoustic instruments to create my soundbaths and music medicine journeys but working with electric sound feels especially appropriate to the spirit of Larry Spring, an eccentric freethinker who dedicated much of his life to an alternative analysis of electromagnetic energy and whose mantra was “Let the Energy be your Teacher.”
Part of our intention is to help people break out of the oppressive bounds of linear chronological time, get curious about the pre-colonial history of Ft. Bragg, and reconsider the importance that personal memories and oral traditions play in the deeper story of the place they call home.
I’m interested in exploring the questions:
“What is the alternate history that runs alongside (and underneath) the colonial timeline affixed to the Redwood round?”
“What other stories does the Redwood have to tell?”
“What significant moments make up the story of your life?”
“What makes a particular moment or event significant?”
You can find out more by visiting this link: https://larryspringmuseum.org/calendar
Aside from that, I’ll continue to produce the Howl in the Wilderness podcast throughout the summer. I’ve already got some incredible conversations in the queue, including episodes on The Post-Heroic Journey with Sharon Blackie, Jung & Homosexuality with Rob Hopcke, and Jung & Parzifal with Paul Bishop.
If you want early access, please consider signing up to the HITW Patreon: http://patreon.com/howlinthewilderness
And of course I’ll continue to offer depth counselling and archetypal coaching sessions during the summer, albeit with reduced hours. Find out more at http://brianjames.ca
That’s all for now! Thanks so much for your interest in my work.
Brian
“working with musical improvisation, astrology and natural magic a la Marsilio Ficino, Pythagorus and the Neo-Platonists” 🥹