Manda Scott is a force of nature. She’s the creator of the acclaimed Accidental Gods podcast and an award-winning writer of approaching 20 books. She is perhaps most known for her excellent Boudicca series which brought to life a rich and vivid portrayal of the Earth-connected cultures that existed in Britain before the invasion of Rome.

I devoured those novels back in the early 2000s being drawn to them initially because I discovered Manda had “dreamed” these novels into being. This creative upwelling had been gifted her through her decades of shamanic practice and her connection with what she refers to as the “Gods of the Land”.

As well as a very gifted author, she is also a teacher of 21st Century shamanic practice and works with people around the world to hone these capacities for deep connection and deep listening through her Dreaming Awake school.

All of these threads of her life are coalescing currently into what she describes as “thrutopias”, the living stories that will support us to move from our current trauma-based culture to an initiatory culture that prioritises relationship over control and mutual flourishing over profit. Her latest novel, Any Human Power is just that; a necessary story for our times that acts as a guide, a support and a beacon of hope for a species and a planet that is crying out for a better story to live by.In the podcast, we discuss the calling that beckoned her on this life path, the thrutopia movement, the limbic hijacking we are currently experiencing, cutting-edge socio-political technologies for systems transformation and above all, the power of a good story well told.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. And just before you listen, I just wanted to mention that at the very end of the interview, I ask Manda if there is anything else that needs to be shared. She closes her eyes, turns inwards and asks the Gods of the land. There are long pauses as she listens and shares what comes. I have left them in because it feels important to share this process and practice to illustrate how it works in the world and to normalise this form of active receptivity as something we can all learn to do. In fact, I believe this human capacity of deeply grounded attunement could be one of the most important to rediscover and live from.

To find out more about Manda and her work and to read Any Human Power, please visit MandaScott.co.uk. To learn more about 21st century shamanistic practice visit dreamingawake.co.uk and to listen to Manda’s excellent podcast visit AccidentalGods.life.

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Jessica Bockler is an applied theatre practitioner and transpersonal psychologist. She’s one of the founding directors of the Alef Trust which is a global leader in transformative education and training in consciousness, transpersonal and spiritual psychology and offers Masters, PhD and professional certificate programmes.

As well as academic excellence, Alef is also taking an active role in supporting transformational changemakers around the world. Through their Nurturing the Fields of Change community programme they are facilitating more embodied, more connective and more deeply transformative approaches to change work and activism across a range of fields including agriculture, social justice, climate and conflict resolution to name a few. Jessica has the great gift of bringing people together in spaces of mutual support and creative emergence that have the potential to support a new regenerative paradigm and a way of being in the world that fosters peace, growth and healing.In this conversation, we explore the huge potential this community of transformational changemakers offers its membership and the wider world. I hope you enjoy it.

If you are looking for a community like Nurturing the Fields of Change, we’d love to welcome you. You can find out more and register at:

https://fieldsofchange2024.sutra.co

If you know others who may be interested in this episode and the NFC community please share it with them!

Russell Scott is someone who has had his feet in the inner and outer worlds of transformational change for many decades. He’s a highly experienced retreat leader and clearing therapist and is the author of an excellent book on the value of independent seeking on the spiritual path as a means to fully own and inhabit our experience. 

He also spent many years running an ecological retreat centre that ran courses on permaculture, ecological building and the like. So I was drawn to him as someone who values this synthesis of inner and outer work as a means to real cultural change. He’s a wise and kind soul and I hope you enjoy this podcast conversation as much as I did.Russell offers one-to-one clearing sessions and mentorship as well as group Coming Home (aka enlightenment intensive) retreats. He also offers facilitation training in these processes and I really recommend his book, Awaken the Guru In You. You can access all of his resources and offerings at his website www.awakentheguruinyou.com