Society featured

Bill Plotkin: “Ecological Awakening: A Path Toward Holistic Adulthood”

October 22, 2024

Special Episode 146 October 16th, 2024

(Conversation recorded on September 16th, 2024)

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

LISTEN ON OTHER PLATFORMS

Show Summary

Where have all the elders gone? As the world grapples with its unfolding economic and energy crises, it can often feel like we lack capable guides to help our societies navigate these transitions. How can we cultivate ourselves as individuals to become balanced, true adults who are fully equipped to contribute to our communities, the planet, and the massive changes ahead?

In this episode, Nate is joined by eco-depth psychologist Bill Plotkin to explore the profound themes of human development, the urgent need for ecological awakening, and the importance of art and nature in navigating the crises of modern society. Plotkin also outlines his eight stages of eco-centric human development to foster a healthier future for humanity and the planet.

What circumstances have led to generations of individuals stuck in psychological adolescence? What role does the concept of the soul play in shaping our life purpose? How do we implement a cultural regeneration that aligns with the natural world and the stages of human development, ultimately helping us prioritize the health of the planet, people, and all species?

About Bill Plotkin

Bill Plotkin, PhD, is an eco-depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and agent of cultural regeneration. As founder of southwest Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute, he has, since 1980, guided thousands of people on the journey of soul initiation and is the training director of the Soulcraft Apprenticeship and Initiation Program. He’s also been a research psychologist (studying non-ordinary states of consciousness), rock musician, and white-water river guide.

In 1979, on a solo winter ascent of an Adirondack peak, Bill experienced a “call to spiritual adventure,” leading him to abandon academia in search of his true calling. He is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (an experiential guidebook), Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (a nature-based stage model of human development), Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche (a nature-based map of the psyche), and The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries (a guidebook for the descent to soul). His doctorate in psychology is from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Visit him online at www.animas.org.

Watch on YouTube

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

PDF Transcript

00:00 – Bill Plotkin info + works, Animas Valley Institute, Soulcraft Apprenticeship & Initiation Program, book: Nature and the Human Soul

All images are provided by the Animas Valley Institute and can be found here.

04:15 – David Whyte, ‘All the True Vows’ poem

12:58 – Parasympathetic Nervous System

14:48 – Samantha Sweetwater + TGS Episode, Joanna Macy

18:35 – Ecocentric/Soulcentric stages of human development

31:13 – Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth

33:45 – Riane Eisler + TGS Episode, Partnership societies

34:47 – Malidoma Somé, Dagara people

35:18 – Martín Prechtel, Maya people

35:46 – Gregory Cajete, Look to the Mountain

37:00 – Immersions + Training Programs

40:00 – Eco-Awakening

44:02 – Ecopsychology + Depth Psychology

45:22 – The unconscious mind

46:14 – Defining ‘Soul’

46:30 – Stephen Harrod Buhner

48:31 – Ecological Niche

55:15 – The Carbon Pulse

1:0:44 – Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey

1:02:11 – Deep Time

1:03:00 – Ishmael

1:03:05 – The Parable of the Tribes, Andrew Schmookler

1:03:10 – Paul Shepard + books

1:14:13 – Vanessa Andreotti + TGS Episode, Hospicing Modernity

1:16:19 – Dimensions of the Great Turning

1:16:46 – Bottlenecks of the 21st Century

1:18:49 – Wild Mind, Soulcraft

1:20:01 – The Journey of Soul Initiation

1:20:29 – Nature Connection

1:31:18 – Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems

1:32:40 – Wild Mind training 

1:33:37 – Forest schools

Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens is the Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF) an organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition. Allied with leading ecologists, energy experts, politicians and systems thinkers ISEOF assembles road-maps and off-ramps for how human societies can adapt to lower throughput lifestyles.

Nate holds a Masters Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He teaches an Honors course, Reality 101, at the University of Minnesota.