Tonight's guest, Dr. Jean Houston, a world renowned author and lecturer, is widely considered to be one of the powerhouses of the Human Potential movement. Houston was a protégé of the great anthropologist Margaret Mead, and she also co-led seminars with the influential mythologist Joseph Campbell.
In the 1960's she married Robert Masters (the sexologist who co-authored the Masters-Johnson Report) and together they studied altered states of consciousness derived through LSD usage, which was documented in their book The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience(1). Later, they focused their research on altering consciousness via meditation and guided imagery. In the 1990's, it was reported that Houston was an advisor to Hillary Clinton, visiting her at the White House and conducting playful exercises with her to get in touch with the wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt.
One of Houston's long-standing endeavors is the Mystery School which she began in 1984. "Mystery School is a community of ordinary, extraordinary people who come together to dream and scheme themselves into their highest human possibility," she wrote in her book A Mythic Life(2). Over weekend long sessions which run throughout the course of a year, Houston combines elements of psychology, music, theater, and metaphysics to create a communal sharing of visionary journeys and transformative relationships.
1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0892818972/ctoc/
2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062502824/ctoc/