Speaker & Writer on
LORE
Michael’s Public Talks focusing on LORE include:
• Irish Lore and Celtic Spirituality
• Slavic Ritual & Slovak Lore: An Introduction
• Celebrating Christmas: ReDiscovering Yuletide Lore
• Mystical Tales of Ireland
• Buddhism and Christianity: Bridging the Sacred through Story, Ritual, & Lore
• The Storyteller’s Story: Travels through Russia, Sweden, Japan, & Korea
For pricing, scheduling, or further details on these Public Talks, CONTACT US.
For Michael, LORE includes the legends, fables, myths, and folktales passed on by previous generations, but LORE also encompasses customs, rituals, beliefs – ways of thinking and being in the world. Ruth Sawyer writes, “I had the good fortune to travel. Festivals, weddings, market-days, church, and saints’ days – I missed none of them. I rode in third-class carriages, in the rural motorbuses, to take part in peasant life everywhere. There was as much of rich storing away in these experiences as in the actual gathering of stories. It built the unforgettable backgrounds for the stories I did hear.” This is the gathering of LORE.
When travel is not possible, it is supplemented by opening your door, your ears, your heart to the stranger. And whether travel is possible or not, we may “travel across time” through books and literature, encountering customs, fables, and ways of being along the way. Opportunities abound for engaging LORE.
MORE ABOUT MICHAEL AND LORE: As a young man, Michael visited Native American Indian reservations in over ten states, worked in a homeless shelter in Ireland, helped with an archaeological dig in the former Czechoslovakia, participated in a peace conference in the Soviet Union, worked for a peace organization in Sweden, did environmental work here in the States, and taught elementary school in the inner-city. In this varied work, Michael has been continuously invited to open himself to new perspectives, fresh insights, rich stories. He has been invited to open himself to LORE.
Whether walking through his ancestral Slovak village with his Great Uncle Jan or having his family be the only non-Asian guests at a small Japanese neighborhood folk festival in Tokyo, Michael has followed Sawyer’s example of “storing away the rich experiences” of LORE.
As a student of folk tales, legends, and myths; as a person who has devoted years to the study of Christmas lore, Celtic and Slavic beliefs; as one who has been a student of the Far Eastern practices of mindfulness and meditation for decades; and as a recent seminary graduate who brings his love of the ancient practice rituals of Christianity, Buddhism, and Earth Mother Spirituality to all of his religious and spiritual studies; Michael is “LORE gathering” every day.
Whether engaging in travel, reading, conversation, mindfulness practices, reflection, writing, or study, LORE is continually intersecting with Spirituality, Culture, Tradition, and Ecology. These elements inter-are with one another.
Along with focusing on LORE, Michael also offers Seminars, Workshops and Public Talks that focus on:
For pricing, scheduling, or further details on any of these programs, as well as Michael’s Storytelling Programs, and One-on-One Mindfulness Coaching, CONTACT US.