Monomyth

Will Linn, Ph.D., Mythouse.org, was disrupted by seizures, sleep paralysis and nystagmus when he was seventeen. Following the words of a vision or dream, be still, each spell healed—one, then another and the next. Meditating to save his life, inspired by the experiences, he began to write stories. This led to degrees in philosophy, world mythology and depth psychology. As he finished his doctoral dissertation, Western Origin Stories of Knowledge: Particles of Stone & Waves of Elixir, he created and cohosted a radio series for the Santa Barbara News-Press called Mythosophia and a Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable® group at The Ojai Foundation. When he graduated, he accepted a role as the founding chair of general education at a revolutionary film and performing arts college, Relativity School where he build an emphasis on myth and story into the foundations of creative training.

During the eight year period he chaired the department, Will worked for the Joseph Campbell Foundation as a Mythworker of the Mythological RoundTable network, Interns Director and Executive Director of the Joseph Campbell Writers’ Room, which was hosted by Studio School (the middle incarnation of Relativity School) and located on the campus of Los Angeles Center Studios.

As he led courses on myth, story, philosophy and anthropology, he appeared in documentaries (Memory: Origins of Alien, The Taking) and cohosted, as a ‘meta-expert’, three seasons of a European TV series called MYTHS: The Greatest Mysteries of Humanity, which airs on ZDF, Sky, History and Channel 5 in Europe, the UK and South America.

Over the last fifteen years, Will has hosted and moderated hundreds of local and online events with hundreds of mythologists and storytellers, including eight years of monthly Myth Salons with Dana White and Mythouse.org. While teaching courses on the monomyth and working for the Campbell Foundation, he found himself in collaborations that became friendships with leading voices in the conversation. Along the way, he confronted the many critiques and evolutions of the Hero’s Journey and narrative models. This led him towards a deeper connection with nature and its cycles, which brought the path back to life, which brought his path to life. So, too, did his unexpected work on Meteor Steel, with John Colarusso, esteemed linguist, mythologist and intelligence analyst.

Despite several fully drafted manuscripts on the monomyth and meteor steel, he could not bring himself to publish a book before a story. It took a take over of the college, piracy and a crash to restore his focus. This is the story that came from those ashes. To write this story, Will had to put down non-fiction manuscripts on the monomyth, meteor steel and origin stories of knowledge. He couldn’t write the story while he finishing the books. He couldn’t finish the books until the story was written. He couldn’t write the story until he lived into his life.

Moving on from the classroom, he accepted a call from Jordan and Adrian Grenier to lead Sermons of the Earth for the Kintsugi land sanctuary in Austin Texas, where he spoke to the mythopoesis of nature. Flung free from the ivory cage of academia, he transitioned from consulting for musicians and artists to producing The Psychedelic MixTape Volume 1: Visionary Experience, for Chris Holmes and Fascinated by Everything, which plays in the Cosm domes of Los Angeles, Dallas, soon Atlanta and Detroit.