S14 E18: Awakening Wonder In An Anxious Age with author Katherine May

Katherine May is an internationally renowned writer, podcaster and speaker whose work touches on nature, spirituality, slow living and neurodivergence.

Her hybrid memoir Wintering was a global bestseller, adapted as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. Her most recent title, Enchantment became an instant New York Times bestseller.

In our conversation Katherine and I discuss the common need for rediscovering pathways into enchantment and wonder. We discuss her concept of wintering and how even our most difficult times can become sources of creative and spiritual nourishment.

Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an exclusive segment of our conversation where Katherine and I unpack the phrase “secular mystic” as she’s described in the inner sleeve of Wintering.

I’d like to personally invite you to join us at The Breath and The Clay creative arts gathering March 21-23 2025 in Winston Salem, NC. Get Tickets here.

Author, authors, Enchantment, wonder, storytellingStephen RoachNovember 26, 2024author, Katherine May, wonder, reenchantment, enchantment, Best selling, memoir

S14 E10: Dreamscapes with visual artist Chalom

Melbourne-based visual artist and electronic musician Mike Lane creates under the name Chalom, a name spoken to him in a dream. His practice consists of visually expressing dreams and meditations, with mostly found materials, embedded bible pages, penciled notes, and spray paint.

Beyond the haphazard backgrounds of his paintings, brushes or tools are rarely used in the making, just hands and fingers employing scrawly texts, scribbles, and vaguely figurative forms.

CHALOM’s prolific work is a deeply spiritual practice, and he loves to write blessings and prophecies, hidden under the paintings for the viewer to experience as mysteries and positive energetic flow, intended to shift the atmosphere in the spaces where the works are hung.

In this episode, Chalom talks with Stephen Roach about his creative process and the deeply-felt spiritual underpinnings behind his visual art.

S8 E05: Disenchantment & The Reemergence of Wonder with Stephen Roach

In this live, keynote talk, Makers & Mystics host, Stephen Roach shares with The Well Collab in Frederick, Maryland. This talk discusses what sociologist, Max Weber coined as “disenchantment” and the human need for reverence.

What does it mean to sit with the mystery and what is the artist’s role in bringing “re-enchantment” to a world devoid of ecstatic experience? Listen to this keynote for insights into these questions.

Here is a link to the episode referenced in the talk on The Metaphysics of Dirt & Breath.

Photo By: Ruthie Lucas

S6 E2: Wonder & Light with Lauren Midgley

Lauren Midgley is a conceptual fine art photographer based in Oklahoma. Her photography stretches beyond the historical use of the camera and invites the viewer into a world of surrealism and visual storytelling. In a world saturated with digital imagery, Lauren employs illustrative, advanced digital manipulation to paint virtual narratives that speak to the heart of our collective human experience.

In this episode, Stephen and Lauren discuss her aims and motivations as an artist as well as the inception behind several specific portraits. To make it easier to you to follow along (with the visual nature of our discussion), we have posted the images mentioned in this episode on Instagram @makersandmystics.

This episode is sponsored by Ekstasis Magazine.

Music is provided by Paper Lights and C’est Lis.

S5 E10: My Midsummer Morning with Alastair Humphreys

Alastair Humphreys has been on expeditions all around the world, traveling through over 80 countries by bicycle, boat and on foot. He was named as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the year for 2012.

He has walked across southern India, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara desert and participated in an expedition in the Arctic, close to the magnetic North Pole.

More recently, Alastair followed in the footsteps of one of his own heroes, an Englishman named Laurie Lee who walked across Spain in 1935 earning money for food by playing his violin in bars and plazas.

In this episode, Stephen talks with Alastair about his adventures, his fears and motivations behind his lifestyle of risk and his latest book My Midsummer Morning.

Connect with Alastair Humphreys

Support The Podcast

Buy Alastair’s Book

Music from this episode:

Glassea

Daniel Birch

Aaron Strumpel

Sponsor Link: Hope Writers

Have you ever thought about writing a book?

My friends at hopewriters.com have put together a short 30-second quiz to help you figure out your next step when it comes to your writing.

Just click here to take the quiz: https://www.hopewriters.com/a/14858/VsKLDQaf

Season 2 E9: An Ethos Of Amazement. Keynote with Sean Feucht

In this keynote, worship leader and founder of the Burn 24/7 prayer movement, Sean Feucht challenges artists to live and create from an "ethos of amazement." Drawing from his work among refugees in Iraq, Sean calls upon artists to have imaginations which will "challenge the dominant reality" and offer hope instead of despair. This keynote was given at the 2017 The Breath & The Clay Creative Arts gathering in Winston-Salem, NC.