Michael J. Meade

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Michael J Meade was a leading figure in the Mythopoetic branch of the Men's Movement of the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 2005, the author of this article counts over 30 week long Mythopoetic Men's conferences that Mr. Meade led with one of more of the following fellow teachers: Robert Bly, Martin Prechtel, James Hillman, Robert L. Moore, Coleman Barks, Malidoma Somé , Jack Kornfield, Luis Rodriguez, and others. These conferences were the foundation of the most popular branch of the Men's Movement of that time.

His essays have appeared in To Be A Man, Tending the Fire, Wingspan, Walking Swiftly, and The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart. The latter is an anthology of poetry, which he edited with Robert Bly and James Hillman. His book Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men was published in 1994 by Harper San Francisco.

Born in mid 1940s, he is an accomplished scholar of mythology, poetry and traditional ritual, a storyteller, a mentor to disadvantaged youth, and a drummer. Mr. Meade was born and raised in New York City but has lived most of his life on Vashon Island across the water from Seattle, Washington.

Mr. Meade became well known among men of the Men’s Movement when during the mid-1980’s when he began to pair with Robert Bly to teach. Mr. Meade's story telling, mythological exploration, drumming, and interpretations are the most salient examples of this Men’s Mythopoetic genre. His book Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men (1994) is considered by most within the movement an excellent text.

When generativity, creativity, generosity, and the capacity to embrace life dry up, the Water of Life has gone underground. At such times, the earth becomes arid, life becomes devoid of meaning, the ground of culture cracks and splits, and gaps develop among peoples and between people and nature. Only water can bring the pieces back together, awaken seeds hidden in the ground, and enliven the parched Tree of Life. - -from Men and the Water of Life.

He continues his work today under the auspices of the non-profit organization, the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation (http://www.mosaicvoices.org/).