Mythic Journeys 2006: Myth and Imagination by Michael Karlin and Honora Foah

The entire Mythic Imagination Institute team is working diligently and passionately to bring you the next Mythic Journeys Conference and Performance Festival. Our offices are packed with volunteers, day and night, in preparation. It is hard to believe that we are less than 90 days away! If you haven't done so already, please take the time to register now, as the earlier we know how many people to expect, the better we can plan the event.

Mythic Journeys is a gathering of people from different disciplines, different jobs, different cultures and different politics who want to experience the inexhaustible wisdom, guidance, pain and joy that has been encoded in myth, stories, religion, and ritual.

This June, award winning poets, Fortune 500 Presidents, entertainment industry insiders and political think-tank members will be in attendance, conversing with scholars of myth, artists, farmers, writers, lawyers and musicians.

Humans need stories to uncover and experience deeper meaning. For four days, there will be stories : the great stories, the small stories, tales, allegories, anecdotes, epics. They'll be told in dance, music, theatre, in soft voices, loud voices, angry voices, powerful voices, voices full of gladness.

The overarching theme of Mythic Journeys 2006 is "Myth and Imagination" itself. From there, stories, conversations, live performances and hands-on workshops will closely follow four daily themes: Thursday- earth, Friday- air, Saturday- fire and Sunday- water, as well as sub-themes such as ecology and economy, adolescence, time and synchronicity and cross-cultural traditions.

Similar to the previous Mythic Journeys, each day will begin with the "Big Story," a theater piece or a presentation by a master storyteller and musicians. This year's program includes writer/actor Charlie Bethel's acclaimed one man show of "Gilgamesh," the epic myth of ancient Sumeria, and the immortal Greek tragedy of Orpheus, presented by internationally acclaimed musician/ poet David Gonzalez, known for his "unique blend of Afro-Cuban and modern jazz, and pianist Daniel Kelly.

Attendees next can choose among a variety of workshops, panel discussions and performances. Then after lunch, contemporary issues such as "War," "Money," "The Perception of Time," "The Mindset of Iraq" and "The Function of Dream" will be spotlighted in "The Big Conversations," spontaneous discussions including a mix of artists and thinkers from a variety of disciplines. For example, during "Into the Woods," storytellers, an arctic explorer, a member of the Findhorn community whose books on spiritual perception often relate to nature and a Native American lodge-keeper come together to contemplate our relationship with the forest from the hero's metaphorical journey "into the woods" in folk and fairy tales to the issues of modern-day environmentalism.

In the evening, Mythic Journeys transforms into a performing arts festival with concerts, theater, dance and music. Highlights include a Saturday twilight story told by Coleman Barks and Deepak Chopra, featuring the poetry of Rumi and Tagore to explore concepts of time and eternity, as well as a performance of " Snow, Glass, Apples," a new take on a familiar fairy tale by bestselling author Neil Gaiman ("American Gods," "Sandman" comic series) performed by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company.

Other performers will include internationally acclaimed concert pianist Lorin Hollander; dancer and martial artist Chungliang Al Huang; Congolese singer Jean-Paul Wabotai; Celtic rock stars Emerald Rose; Atlanta's own singer/songwriter Sheri Kling; and Ekiwah, the young Mexican poet recently featured on "60 Minutes."

We hope you can join us for this incredible festival.

Michael Karlin
Honora Foah
Co-Presidents
Mythic Imagination Institute

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