Passion Struck with John R. Miles Liturgies of the Wild and the Ancient Art of Finding Meaning | Dr. Martin Shaw - EP 734
Feb 26, 2026
Dr. Martin Shaw, mythographer, storyteller, and NYT bestselling author of Liturgies of the Wild, explores myth, initiation, and sacred story. He diagnoses modern life as spiritually thin and frantic. Short, vivid conversations cover myth as lived practice, the Liturgy of the Limit, the mythic mosh pit of participation, initiation and ordeal, and how small disciplined acts restore depth and wonder.
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From Punk Drummer To Mythographer
- Shaw recounts leaving school with few qualifications and touring in punk bands, which shaped his early life and mosh-pit sense of living.
- He connected drumming and rock touring to his later work with mythic energy and storytelling.
Modern Mythic Starvation
- Modern culture suffers mythic starvation: we have too many shallow, consumption-driven stories and too few sacred myths that initiate growth.
- Dr. Martin Shaw contrasts curated Instagram narratives and Marvel facsimiles with living myths that shape identity and community.
Train Imagination By Memorizing Stories
- Strengthen your imagination and attention by practicing concentration exercises like memorizing poems or learning long stories aloud.
- Shaw recommends Yeats or Grimm tales and calls mythwork a yoga of the imagination to rebuild focus eroded by phones.
