This has been a busy time for the Mythic Journeys crew. We've been working very hard to gather a lineup of the very best speakers and performers working in a wide spectrum of disciplines, including academics, poets, musicians, authors, dancers, filmmakers, storytellers, and more. We've already received commitments from more than 70 speakers and performers, with more being added. Be sure to take a look at the Web site for a complete list of participants.

Some of our recent additions include Marion Woodman, Delia Sherman, Brian and Wendy Froud, Michael Meade, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Robert Bly, Viggo Mortensen, Sam Keen, and Elaine Pagels. Over the coming months, expect to see more performers, storytellers, and filmmakers added.

Preparation of a schedule of events has begun. There will be an amazing variety of events to participate in- at times, you'll have as many as ten or fifteen different panels, readings, performances, talks, or workshops to choose from. Of course, we'll also have spaces set aside for quiet meditation or conversation.

The Mythic Journeys conferences are produced by the Mythic Imagination Institute, a non-profit organization based almost exclusively on volunteer help. All of our volunteer committee heads have been working hard to plan their tasks; a few of them include Marketing, Website, Content, Marketplace and Venue and Event coordination. In late April, we sponsored a 2-day retreat for volunteer committee heads to help synergize thinking and kick off the remaining planning and tasks for the conference and our other endeavors. Thanks to Bob Walter of the Joseph Campbell Foundation for facilitating group process work.

Would you believe we're already planning Mythic Journeys 2005? If you'd like to volunteer to join the Mythic Imagination team, please write to:
volunteer@mythicjourneys.org

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If you'd like to continue to receive updates (especially if you've received this newsletter as a forward from a friend) please be sure you've registered on the Web site at www.mythicjourneys.org

We've also begun developing  partnerships with other organizations with missions that are compatible with ours. After all, our goal is to forge a community. It benefits us all to work together.

Our first partners, The Joseph Campbell Foundation, Emory University's center for Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL), and the Atlanta Jung Society, have already been of tremendous help to us. We've joined forces with wo sister organizations, Interstitial Arts and Terri Winding's Endicott Studio for the Mythic Arts. 

We'll soon be working with another partner, digital media developer Distant Train (developer of the Big Myth), to create tools for teaching mythic literacy. Look for more announcements in the next issue. In the meantime, please visit our partners on the Web:

The Joseph Campbell Foundation

MARIAL

The Atlanta Jung Society

Miriam's Well

The Endicott Studio of the Mythic Arts

Interstitial Arts

Distant Train

If you have comments or any ideas for similar partnering opportunities, please e-mail Michael Karlin at michael@mythicjourneys.org.