033 - Eldership & dealing with with your shadow with John Moulang

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am always learning many things, all the time - still learning.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some things I keep learning over and over - kind of implying I’m not bloody learning them at all.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And then there are ones that I learn again and again but in a new way or on a new level, almost.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of those is this: man, as individuals and as a society we</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">need</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">the wisdom, experience, insight, and practises of elders; those people advanced in age (perhaps) but sage in themselves and experienced in those years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the longest part of human history - up until the global expansion of the agricultural age on one new level and then the dawn of the industrial age on an all-new, and almost entirely eradicating new level, we were a species that lived in small tribal bands and communities where young, old, babies and elderly, couples and families lived in close quarters, everyone had a role, everyone had a purpose.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the central roles to a healthy, functioning and mature -</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">initiated - </span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">society was the role of the elder; the people who could guide not only the youth, but those entering into marriage and parenthood and slowly taking over the majority of the responsibility of the community.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elders would initiate the young, pass on wisdom and knowledge, tell stories and share the lesson to life in myth and song, and cultural stories. They would sit with the young and facilitate respect, patience, grace, and humility. They were a crucial part of individuals growing into responsible adults, as well as the healthy functioning of the clan.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 4