November 18, 2018   |   0 comments

Bernie Taylor discusses his book Before Orion – Finding the Face of the Hero.

(Stream / download audio at bottom of page)

This is a two part interview. Part two is here.

The myth of the hero’s journey is at the heart of folklore worldwide among the ancients, indigenous peoples past and present, and even in our modern society as metaphors, allegories, archetypes, and symbols in popular culture. Before Orion explores a deeper root for this myth by looking at how hunter-gatherers viewed themselves within the natural and spiritual worlds.

Taylor proposes that select cave paintings are fundamental pieces in the human journey to self-realization, the foundation of written language, and a record of biological knowledge that irrevocably impacted some of the artistic styles, religious practices, and stories that are still with us. He addresses a profound elephant in the room by opening up uncharted places in our history, exploring ideas unacceptable to mainstream archaeology and anthropology.

Although we have largely lost our fundamental connections to nature, our past, each other and even ourselves, essentially we are the same as our ancient ancestors. Far from being redundant relics of a bygone age, their stories are vitally important in understanding who we are, where we come from and where we are going.

Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’
Robert Rich ‘Cave Paintings’