Mythologium 2022 welcomes the sponsored panel, Myth and an Ecological Society

This panel is sponsored by the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association. Thank you, PGIAA!

In this panel, Maile Kaku, Orpheus Black, and Marcene Gandolfo address the question, how does myth comment on the possibility of an ecological society where diverse voices and traditions all have space to flourish?

Maile Kaku will present on “Hawaiian Akua: Laka as Living Myth, Science and Ecological Awareness”

The Hawaiian word akua is usually translated by the English word “god.” This is misleading. It compels us to see the Hawaiian akua through Western eyes—that is, as supernatural or divine beings. However, in the Hawaiian cosmovision, the akua are not so much “beings” as “doings,” less nouns than verbs. They are the energies of the earth and sky, the active, ongoing processes of nature. Becoming aware of these akua and their (inter)actions is ecological consciousness par excellence.

Maile’s talk will focus on the akua Laka, known in modern terms as the “goddess of the forest.” Laka’s realm expresses the interconnective energies that sustain us all as living beings. Her divine powers are indeed the very stuff of science. Through the prism of this akua, we will see how the sacred, the mythological, the scientific and the ecological are all interwoven. 

Indigenous ways of interbeing-with-the-world have always been deeply rooted in ecological knowledge and practice. Seeing the environment as an ecosphere of living myth and nature through non-Western eyes incites us to self-reflexively question our own ways of viewing and engaging with not only the world but mythology itself.

About Maile

Maile Kaku is on a twisting-turning never-ending learning journey and is grateful to all of the teachers who have nurtured and continue to nurture this wondrous journey. She has lived abroad most of her life, worked as a documentary translator and traveled the world. She holds a French postgraduate degree in Histoire et Sémiologie du Texte et de l'Image from the Université de Paris-Diderot and is currently a doctoral candidate in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Maile is also an ongoing learner in the Ulu Ka ‘Ōhiʻa Hula-Consciousness Seminar as well as a dancer and teacher of hula with Hālau Hula O Mānoa, the only traditional school of Hawaiian dance in France. She divides her time between Honolulu, Hawai’i, and Paris, France.

Orpheus Black will present on “The Missing Myth: The Abduction of the Afro Cultural Unconscious”

Myths and stories are soul-making and speak to cultures about origins and creation. Without mythology, a given group of people may be devoid of archetypes that model survival, familial narratives, and a cultural understanding of self and community, along with the roles that one may play in the wider global lens and the cosmos.

The culture of the African-American has been deprived of inclusion in the collective unconscious, namely with regards to the development and cultivation of culture-specific archetypes. Sustained exposure to the forces of colonization included an intentional archetypal erasure, and this played a major role in the disappearance of these narratives among the African-American population. The mythological and archetypal narratives most cultures adopt as their foundation were deleted from the indigenous African population enslaved into the Americas.

We may consider a multitude of other cultures, such as the Greeks, who have created identifiable archetypes and mythologies that give them reference to who they are as a people. The Greek archetypes are synonymous with who they believe themselves to be. These ancient narratives continue to inform a population and culture to the present day. This cultural isolation would become a type of imprisonment for groups such as African-Amerians who, through colonization, had their stories of who they were as a people ripped from their consciousness.

Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces” addresses the idea that many cultures share the same hero archetype. Juxtapose these cultures that share a mytho-poetic narrative with one devoid of the hero archetype. It is difficult for the average individual living in the U.S. to name a single hero from African-American history. Consequently, it is difficult for the communities in possession of a hero archetype representation to empathize with the community lacking this connection.

Without mythology, a group of people may be devoid of the cultural unconscious that seeks to produce archetypes. I will discuss the consequences of the African-American population deprived of its mythological inheritance. I aim to guide an exploration of a relevant contemporary phenomenon and propose practices to move forward into a cultural mythos unique to our time, our place, and our people.

About Orpheus

Orpheus Black is a Los Angeles-based public speaker, teacher, thought leader, and somatic visionary who specializes in the application of ancient wisdom in modern day settings. With a helpful practice steeped in spirituality and intimacy, Orpheus is a living bridge between healthy sex and enlightenment. Through a balanced integration of Afro-Buddhism, psycho-sensuality, and Taoist teachings inherent in his martial arts practice, his light-hearted lessons have become sought after internationally, even as counsel to the experts in his field. 

Orpheus aims to propel the intellectual and sensual evolution of masculinity both by challenging men to reconnect with its roots and by inviting them to embrace manhood in its fullness, the way strong modern men wish it to be. In this role, he shares insights, offers tools, and speaks against societal norms of shame and repression. He does it all with the earnestness of a therapist, the knowledge of a guru, and the charisma of a stage performer.

Marcene Gandolfo will present on “Ecofeminism and Contemporary Native American Poetry: Linda Hogan’s Mythopoetic Vision”

Native American poet Linda Hogan asserts that mythical narratives depict “the deepest, innermost cultural stories of our human journeys toward spiritual and psychological growth.” Hogan’s poems manifest as contemporary myths, which derive images, themes, and narratives from traditional Native American mythologies and unite the quest for ecological sustainability to the desire for physical and emotional healing and balance. Inspired by ecofeminist theory, Hogan’s work recognizes the connection between the exploitation and degradation of the natural world and the subordination and oppression of women. Hence, Hogan’s poems seek to restore harmonies between the archetypal feminine and the earth. 

This presentation explores ecofeminist themes in Hogan’s poetry and includes a close reading of Hogan’s poem “Hunger,” which maps the journey of European fishermen, as they hunt dolphins and sail toward a Native American settlement. Throughout the poem, Hogan creates a juxtaposition between the dolphins and the Native American women that the fishermen violate and subjugate. The poem explores the hunger that compels colonialism, misogyny, and brutality toward the natural world; however, it also explores mythic themes of forgiveness, restoration, and healing.

About Marcene

Marcene Gandolfo’s poems have been published widely in literary journals, including Poet Lore, Bellingham Review, december, and RHINO. In 2014, her debut book, Angles of Departure, won Foreword Reviews’ Silver Award for Poetry. She has taught writing and literature at several northern California colleges and universities. Marcene is currently a PhD candidate in Comparative Mythology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her dissertation explores mythological resonances in the poems of Brigit Pegeen Kelly.

This panel is sponsored by the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association.

PGIAA’s motto is, “Through soul, community thrives.”

Mythologium 2020 welcomes Dr. Leon Aliski

Leon’s talk is called, “Persistence and Change: Historical Memory of Euro-American Migration and Settlement”

We will begin by considering the cultural legacy of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, which toured Europe in 1889 and 1905, and its influence on the Western, a film genre that began in the early 20th century.  As described by one of the characters in James Welch’s novel, The Heartsong of Charging Elk, the performance of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show was seen as a representation of recent history: “Buffalo Bill says they are disappearing — like the bison. He says their culture is dying and soon they will be gone too.” 

Following in the footsteps of the Wild West narrative, the film industry has depicted a version of North American history that often portrays a story of heroic conquest and Euro-American settlement coinciding with the disappearance of Native peoples in the name of civilization. We will explore some of the ways in which this historical narrative has been shifting through the discussion of two contemporary films: Neither Wolf Nor Dog (2016) and Indian Horse (2018).

About Leon

Leon Aliski, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in cultural mythology and depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. His dissertation entitled, “Wild Bison and the Buffalo People: Reimagining ‘The Heart of Everything That Is’,” examines a selection of historical narratives inspired by Euro-Americans and the Western Christian heritage in which these narrative themes are rooted. He is a supporter of Cloud Horse Art Institute, dedicated to Lakota traditional arts, performing arts, culture camps, and the Reel Jobs Film School located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. 

The Mythologium welcomes Dr. Elizabeth Wolterink

Elizabeth’s presentation is called, “Beyond the Binary: Trans-sacrality in Vedic and Indigenous American Cultures”


We in the West often think of religion and transgender issues as being at odds. However, there are many religions in which trans-imagery and being is not only accepted, but seen as a sacred aspect of the Divine. This paper examines two examples of this phenomenon: Native American and Vedic traditions. The act of seeing oneself and of being seen, of perceiving one’s own being in the images of myth and belief, connects us to history and culture and is one way in which we construct identity. Reclamation of religious transgender imagery and history not only furthers dialogue between religious and transgender communities, but helps affirm trans modes of being. These mythological images and roles also illuminate ancient wisdom in modern day trans people’s questioning of gender assumptions and of the concretization of binary modes of being.

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Wolterink earned her Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2017. Her dissertation, Cloaked in Darkness: Feminine Katabasis in Myth and Culture, explored the differences between male and female mythological descents to the underworld and found that female katabatic figures not only have far more agency than is traditionally granted to them, but that they hold important psychological and cultural insights into female identity. Elizabeth has presented at the Western and Midwestern American Academy of Religion as well as at the Parliament of World Religions. She has also worked with youth for over twelve years using myth, depth psychology, philosophy, martial arts, and wilderness skills as means to psychological and spiritual development. Elizabeth guest lectures on mythology and gender for high schools and community organizations and on gender identity and welcoming in churches.

The Mythologium welcomes Leon Aliski

Leon’s presentation is called, “Wild Bison and the Buffalo People: Re-imagining ‘the Heart of Everything That Is'”

Passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, oral histories told by Plains Indian peoples – Lakota, Dakota, Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and many other tribes – account for the origins of how things came to be, the animals, people, plants, and the natural forces of the world. Expressions of a cultural stream of ancestral memory, oral histories are interwoven with a people’s sacred ceremonies, dances, and songs, affirming their cultural significance. The Lakota speak of The Buffalo People, Sacred Beings who live below the surface of the earth and became the four-legged, shaggy-haired creatures we know today as tatanka, the buffalo, or wild bison. Hunted and slaughtered to near extinction by end of the 19th century, wild bison continue to endure, yet their existence as wildlife remains in peril, confined to a landscape we know today as Yellowstone National Park. Leon’s talk will explore the oral histories of Plains Indian peoples, the presence of wild bison, and the influence of Western Christian heritage with respect to how human beings see themselves in the natural world.

Leon Aliski holds an M.A degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology and is a Ph.D. candidate in the same field. He is a writer, researcher and consultant for the tourism industry and has recently traveled to Yellowstone National Park, the Black Hills, Wind Cave, the Platte River, and First Peoples Buffalo Jump near Great Falls, Montana.