Dear wolf pack -

Happy New Moon in Pisces - a time of completion and beginnings, of coming back to community and our collective dreams and nervous systems.

I initially took a break from having guests on the podcast while I was traveling because the logistics of scheduling and recording were proving difficult when I didn’t know where I’d be staying and whether there’d be enough privacy. Then, when I started posting solo episodes, I was surprised to hear from so many of you that you were really enjoying hearing more of my thoughts. And more surprisingly, I was, too.

As some of my newer community/ group gatherings have been getting off the ground, I’ve also been hearing from many of you how excited you are to meet each other because you’re finding this community is filled with amazing people. (It’s true. I count myself pretty lucky to know so many amazing people.)

So moving forward, I’m exploring having the podcast be a more even mix of conversations and solo episodes so you get to hear from me, and also 'meet' more of the amazing people I get to know in my life.

And today, I’m joined by Tad Hargrave of Marketing for Hippies (among other culture-making endeavors). I got to meet Tad in-person back in October in Edinburgh where we were both in town for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and I enjoyed our post-story session conversations around mutual interests of culture, myths, ancestral wisdom, and being human and humane. 

I’m delighted to be able to invite you into conversation with him, too.

Tad currently lives in Duncan, BC, though he hails from Edmonton, AB (traditionally known, in the local indigenous language of the Cree, as Amiskwaciy (Beaver Hill) and later Amiskwaciwaskihegan (Beaver Hill House) and his ancestors come primarily from Scotland with some from the Ukraine as well. His bio page on his website has several different versions and is a testament to what I would name as the meeting point of wandering, wondering curiosity and depth of connection. At the core, it seems Tad has always been interested in stories, craft, music, leadership, building community around positive change, and creating events for people to come together to make good things happen. He’s also an accomplished sleight of hand magician and speaks Scottish Gaelic with conversational fluency!

So what will you hear in this conversation? Our musings around:

• moving beyond the individual to a reverent acknowledgement of the line we came from;
• ancestral wisdom, preserved with us in mind, and encoded in stories and other folklore;
• why stories had to be changed to survive and how we can flesh the bones back out again to find the deeper meaning;
• the difference between stories and spells;
• the cultural wealth still present in Europe in spite of rupture and colonization;
• what it might mean to be more human, especially as our ancestors might have conceived of it;
• what the function of culture is and how it’s created;
• the difference between how empire views evolution and how nature seems to view it;
• how ethical marketing ties in with it all…

and more.

There’s a lot packed into this conversation - with some wisdom, curiosity, grief, and gratitude.

And, to paraphrase the Martín Prechtel quote Tad shares towards the end of the conversation, an attempt to be beautiful on the way to some answers.  

You’re welcome here with us around the fire.

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May we fall in love with the world around us and let ourselves be moved by that love into beautiful action.

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with Love,

Kate

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P.S. Interested in meeting more of the people in this community? Consider joining one of our gatherings.

There’s the monthly Patron ceilidh for Patreon members and people who are working 1:1 with me through the six-session Journey. An informal sharing circle, we tell stories, shares jokes, talk about our creative hobbies and interests and laugh…. a lot. (Next gathering is March 19th)

Then there’s Sanctuary. A monthly membership enrolling for six months at a time and a space of animistic soul food, stories and myths told as medicine, nature-based celebrations, rest, and community. (Next gathering and registration for this cohort closes on March 26th)

I’m happy to answer any questions and help you figure out if any of these are right for you. <3