The World Behind the World

by Michael Meade

Michael Meade is one of the few people who provides a mythological view of critical issues affecting the world at this time. In The World Behind the World, Meade weaves a tapestry of mythic tales and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976645068
• ISBN13: 9780976645061
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Greenfire Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent

More people need to know who Michael meade is: a brilliant, soulful, grass roots author, a gifted storyteller, and a rare anthropological psycho-mythologist who sees the whole field.

Compelling and full of insight

Michael Meade's The World Behind the World is a solid mix of ancient story and contemporary perspective. A prescription for healing and revitalization in a time of confusion. Wisdom and clarity abound.

Is there wisdom for the modern world to be found in the ancient world's myths and legends?

Is there wisdom for the modern world to be found in the ancient world's myths and legends? There is, claims author Michael Meade in "The World Behind the World: Living at the Ends of Time". Examining the ancient world of mythology to use as a commentary on the modern world, and providing insights that many readers would have never connected before, "The World Behind the World: Living at the Ends of Time" is a deftly researched and recommended piece of writing. An ideal acquisition for academic and community library Cultural History and Mythology reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

seeing ourselves in the world behind the world

The great American poet William Stafford found his poems in the fragments of language that shyly presented themselves to him in the early morning hours when he wrote. It was following these literary threads that shaped his poetic life. Michael Meade, using a poetic artistic palette, reveals a way of discovering meaning while being led by the mysteries of folktales and mythic stories that he finds in studying archival books, artistic images, and the revelations woven into his dreams. Whether it is Markendaya finding himself in the despair of swimming in a vast limitless ocean, the myriad sureties of old blind men describing an elephant, or the quandary of a mullah looking for lost keys. Meade builds an imaginal vocabulary that maps a path to an understanding of the complex beauty and layered architecture of mythic images. He encourages us to catch sight of a place for ourselves in these stories, by using our own language, in our own time, without losing the ancient veil that keeps our ideas from becoming the destructive literalism of modern thought. He breathes life into these stories and they, in turn, give guidance, healing, and discovery to all who struggle to be found in them, a profoundly magical read.

A poetic and mythic exploration of the modern world.

Meade once again takes us into the territory of myth and story with The World Behind the World. The idea that the world is ending is woven throughout our culture. Meade explores the idea that science, religion, and culture are surprisingly agreeing that the world is ending. Viewing this notion through the lens of myth, Meade displays his ability to synthesize the collective views of the end-times of many cultures and many eras of human thought into a cohesive theory that the world cannot end unless it runs out of stories. Meade finds the common threads that run throughout creation and re-creation stories from all corners of the human experience. The end result is a reassuring reminder that we may be at one of the many "ends" of time, not the literal "end" of time. He explores similar ideas in The Ends of Time, the Roots of Eternity. More so than in The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul, Meade has found a way to weave the natural rhythms and flow of his storytelling style into his writing. Anyone who has seen him speak will instantly recognize this voice within the book. Overall, The World Behind the World is a very approachable and enjoyable read; neither too scholarly, nor overly simplified. It places the reader squarely in the story of our times, serving as a reminder that many cultures have faced "the end" before, but that the "ends" exist to lead to renewal and new beginnings.