#89 | Myth, Ritual, and the Quest for Village - Jasper Sircus

My guest today is Jasper Sircus - a longtime friend, musician, and father of two, whose background spans community building, cultural anthropology, and mental health work with youth. He is currently completing a master’s in Counselling Psychology.

I’ve known Jasper for years, from our shared time in the Vancouver culture scene, to living on land together in the Cowichan Valley.

His path began in suburban Los Angeles, where his father was a senior architect for Disneyland. Jasper was raised partly inside ‘the happiest place on Earth’ which taught him that imagined worlds can be made real, and later, became disillusioned when he realized the magic was owned by a corporation.

A secular materialist through his early twenties until a psychedelic experience in a forest cracked his worldview open, he was called to the path of yoga, Vedic philosophy, and a passion for cross-cultural cosmology. Then, at twenty-three, came the news that he was to become a father. It shattered him - because he realized he was still a boy, not a man. And that he had no village.

That realization launched a ten-year search across Costa Rica, Hawaii, Bali, and Mexico - touring eco-villages for the promise of paradise., but discovered that the real-life reality told a different story. He and his family eventually committed to a community project on Vancouver Island, which they co-stewarded for 5 years, until they decided it was time for a new chapter and hit the road for adventure.

In our conversation today, we spend much of the time exploring the rite of passage Jasper crafted for his son at the age of seven and what such rituals actually do: how they forge identity, bind a community together, and give the village a reason to appear.

Would love to hear your comments on this conversation. Post your thoughts below.

LINKS

* Revillager - Guidebook

Heads up, if you are a man seeking to explore the mythopoetic path, you are invited to check out The Archetypal Compass. This mini-guide is designed to help you navigate the internal archetypes of the soul, providing a map for those ready to move beyond personal inquiry and toward a more conscious stewardship of their lives and the world.

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