Mystical Animals with Jean Houston

Program Description

Most of us have experienced the unconditional love and gentle companionship of pets, especially dogs or cats. A profound spiritual connection exists and yet it has been largely neglected by the modern world. Widely acclaimed as the feminine successor to mythologist Joseph Campbell, Jean Houston asserts that animals, and dogs in particular, are part of the sacred flow of Nature, and can help restore and revitalize our connection to the oneness with all of life. A master storyteller, Jean weaves a fascinating and provocative web of wonder, as she regales us with animal stories, like a 21st century Scheherazade.

Jean Houston is co-director of the Foundation of Mind Research, a consultant to the United Nations, UNICEF, and other international agencies and a bestselling author whose books include A Mythic Life (HarperSanFrancisco 1996), A Passion for the Possible (HarperSanFrancisco 1997), Jump Time (Putnam 2000), Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to Our Inner Life (Inner Ocean 2002), and The Hero and the Goddess: The Odyssey as Pathway to Personal Transformation (Quest Books 2009)

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• What is it that attracts us to animals
• How animals teach us to be wise
• Why are pigs holy
• What is the mythic dimension of animals
• Who are the dogs that sing opera

Host:           Interview Date: 11/14/2002   Program Number: 2968