Category: Presenters

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.”