Tell Me a Story Podcast

When my alumni magazine, Macalester Today, asked the question, What student organization did you love at Macalester?, I answered the question in this way:

I loved JAHB (Jock Against Hippie Bums). It was an official student organization that I founded where everyone who joined got to pick an official role. Everyone was an officer of the club.

We had a constitution for the organization with a preamble, a midamble, and a postamble.

Over 500 students signed up to be officers in the club.

The only thing the club sponsored was a high noon shootout in front of the student union and a great rock 'n roll dance in the union.

The shootout featured 3 bad guys (I was one) against one good guy with the theme for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly playing in the background. At high noon. In the middle of campus. No one knowing what was going on. The bad guys won.

As for the dance, I won the twist contest—but only because the girl I was dancing with was both beautiful and a good dancer.

So, ask yourself, what was the student organization or club or activity at your college that you loved? Why?

You can tell your story in the comments below! The best stories I will share in future Tell Me a Story podcast episodes.

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Here is an incredible version of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme song performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, showcasing the power of the human voice as an instrument.

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Hi, this is Janine Bolon. John has given me the singular honor to share with you a story. It is out of my book, Seeking the Divine: An Intimate Journey into the World of Mysticism.

Just to give you a bit of background, I am a shaman and a healer where I have been able to work with multiple Native American tribes.

This story is from chapter 15 of Seeking the Divine. It's called White Buffalo Calf Woman. That afternoon, I called Thunderhorse. He had just returned from a sweat lodge up in the mountains of northern Utah.

I told him about my recent vision of a woman of white light, and how she had gifted me with a buffalo horn. He was quiet for so long that I asked, “Hello, are you there?”

His reply was measured and calm. Still, I knew that this particular vision carried great significance for him.

“You have met White Buffalo Calf Woman. We call her Cuilcagh.” Thunderhorse then started telling me the significance of her presence to his people. The Lakota, Dakota and Sioux tribes also had strong ties with this particular figure. He asked me if she said anything?

“No,” I said, “But she gifted me with the horn and a part of me felt like something had changed in my brain, as if I was getting a whole new set of instructions.”

I then told him of my meditation, and Yogananda giving me his blessing. He was touched that my gurus statement was: Go help my Western brothers.

This was the beginning of a three month routine of conversations between us. I would meditate every morning upon waking as I had done for 16 years. Then I would receive visions; I would see, hear, or feel certain experiences. Then I would immediately call Thunderhorse to get feedback about what I was seeing, including what the symbols meant and how his tribe interpreted the shamanistic experiences I was having.

I was spending upwards of three or four hours a day in meditation or on phone calls with numerous shamans. There were times I would receive a complex mix of symbols or beings, and Thunderhorse would give me a phone number to a different person.

After three months of this, I had contacted over 15 different Native American nations, and had been in intimate touch with their shamans. Without planning it, I ended up learning from all of these shamans about travelling dreams, or what they call journeys.

Each day, one of them would guide me into the spirit world and show me how the mystics of old would stay in touch with one another, and what it meant to be a shapeshifter, Shadow Walker, and dream weaver.

Each one ended up telling me the legends and story of their tribes. As I described my visions and the stories and symbols that were being shown to me, each shaman would decipher the meanings of these symbols and share with me their most sacred teachings.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I had some outdated concepts in my head about the world of Native Americans. The more I learned from them, worked with them and adopted by them, the more I saw the heterogeneity of their belief structures, symbols and intertribal prejudices.

I'd always heard the terms Indians and Native Americans and First Nations as referring to a unified population. This was quite wrong. As with the Japanese, the Bahamians, and the Spanish that I had been raised around, the Native Americans had a diverse population and structure.

During my discussions and intertribal work, I would soon learn that the sacred animal to one tribe could be a bad omen for another. One bird would be worshipped as a divine messenger by a southern tribe from the Yucatan, and was seen as a flying pest by a Canadian tribe. I learned quickly to adjust and keep a very open mind toward the bliss of different tribes that I was being called upon to serve.

Even the legends and stories of White Buffalo Calf Woman were mixed and varied. I soon learned that she was considered the origin of the peace pipe to some tribes, whereas to others, she was the destroyer of egos. One legend had her vaporizing a young warrior to dusk because she wanted to. He wanted to take her as a wife, while his friend looked on. Their friend immediately bowed to the power of White Buffalo Calf Woman, and she honored him with gifts of wisdom and long life.

I gathered story after story after story. It soon became clear that the many experiences and teachings were building a foundation for what I had no idea. White Buffalo Calf Woman had come to me to herald a new phase of learning, and to bring an old concept into the modern realm. She was teaching me the legends she had been known by and was using my scientific training to show how quantum mechanics related to shamanistic travel and healing. She was ready for me to bring an ancient knowledge into the modern world in a way that would provide comfort and peace to individuals that were drawn to the forms of shamanism, though not to the highly structured approach of specific religions.

But I digress. It is now time for me to meet the tribe. This is Janine Boland saying thank you for listening to my story. And I wish you much success in life.

if you should ever wish to connect with me you can find me on LinkedIn or go to my website: https://www.thepracticalmystics.com. See you soon.

The Divine Trilogy by Janine Bolon

Seeking the Divine: An Intimate Journey into the World of Mysticism (2017): https://amzn.to/3vbhK19.

Finding the Divine: A Glimpse into the Realm of God (2019): https://amzn.to/3kdoWDy.

Expressing the Divine: A Guidebook for the Enlightened Soul (2021): https://amzn.to/3k9QhGN.

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The Sound of Silence is one of Paul Simon’s most powerful songs, both the words and the music. It started as a ballad, but I love the powerful version recorded by Disturbed, where the song becomes more than a simple ballad, almost an anthem.

Paul Simon is clearly one of our greatest contemporary poets. His other songs like The Boxer, Homeward Bound, and Bridge Over Troubled Waters are also incredibly powerful poems and tunes.

The Sound of Silence

Hello, darkness, my old friendI've come to talk with you againBecause a vision softly creepingLeft its seeds while I was sleepingAnd the vision that was planted in my brainStill remainsWithin the sound of silence.In restless dreams I walked aloneNarrow streets of cobblestone'Neath the halo of a streetlampI turned my collar to the cold and dampWhen my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon lightThat split the nightAnd touched the sound of silence.And in the naked light I sawTen thousand people, maybe morePeople talking without speakingPeople hearing without listeningPeople writing songs that voices never shareNo one daredDisturb the sound of silence."Fools," said I, "You do not know.Silence like a cancer grows.Hear my words that I might teach you.Take my arms that I might reach you."But my words like silent raindrops fellAnd echoed in the wells of silence.And the people bowed and prayedTo the neon god they madeAnd the sign flashed out its warningIn the words that it was formingAnd the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway wallsAnd tenement hallsAnd whispered in the sounds of silence.”

I liked the original version of this song by Simon and Garfunkel, but I think the most powerful version of The Sound of Silence was performed by Disturbed on the Conan TV show. Check it out here:

And here’s another great version by Ruhan Du Toit:

And here’s my playlist of 19 versions of The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon:

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None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an afterthought.

Eat the delicious food.

Walk in the sunshine.

Jump in the ocean.

Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure.

Be silly.

Be kind.

Be weird.

There’s no time for anything else.

— Anthony Hopkins, actor

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This is a great little story of how Shaahin Cheyene built his business making and selling legal drugs. You can find the complete story in the Dropping Bombs video below.

I think there are things to learn from Shaahin about persistence, audacity, integrity, authenticity, and influence. That’s why I shared his interview and quotes. Plus, of course, he’s a great storyteller. He loves telling stories from his own experience.

Here are a few of Shaahin’s quotable insights featured in the above video showcasing Brad Lea of Dropping Bombs interviewing Shaahin Cheyene.

People can sense a natural hunger for success. — Shaahin Cheyene

Once I set my mind to something, nobody can tell me no. — Shaahin Cheyene

I was motivated to put my own dent in the universe. — Shaahin Cheyene

The more you think about the negative stuff, the more it will be affirmed. — Shaahin Cheyene

If you’re not focused on making your money now, someone else is. — Shaahin Cheyene

Riches are in the niches. — Shaahin Cheyene

At the end of the day, it all comes down to two things: Authenticity and Influence. — Shaahin Cheyene

If you can learn how to influence people, you will never go hungry. — Shaahin Cheyene

I've never been one to chase money. You chase excellence, not money. — Shaahin Cheyene

In Cheyene’s Amazon Mastery, Amazon FBA Seller Course, he helps individuals and business owners to create predictable recurring revenue with his bulletproof Amazon systems that never fail, putting you ahead of 80% of all Amazon sellers.

Find out more about his course here: https://fbasellercourse.com.

Find out more about Shaahin’s book Billion: How I Became the King of the Thrill Pill Cult by clicking here: https://amzn.to/3D88Iod.

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Questions to Ask

Who am I?What is real?What is true?Does it really matter?

Toss anything that isn't real.Toss anything that isn't true.Toss anything that doesn't matter.Toss anything that isn't you.

Keep tossinguntil you are leftonly with that which is trueonly with that which is realonly with that which is youonly with that which really matters.

Toss this.

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Peel the Layers

Peel the layers. Skin me dead.Who am I?What layers? What layers?Skin and boneHair and nervesMuscle and shameFear and loathingBeing and nothingness.

Hackles and shackles.Words.Letters.Points.Danger.

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The Trick

The whole thing's a tricka marvelous moving mystery,a play upon words.

I make my life —not only my lifebut also the entire universethe whole thingabsolutely everything.

I flick my fingerand the universe shakes.

I close my eyesand the whole thing disappears.

I speakand all comes out again.

I thinkand what I think is done.

I amand what I amis all there is to be.

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So Still a Move

The entire universe is simply innocent.And soft.And caressable.

If we should see evil, it is in us.The universe will have none of it.

If we should see chaos and entropy, we are responsible.The universe knows no decay.

If we should see death, it is only our own.The universe stands for eternity.

There is so much eternity,how can we begin to grasp it?And yet we can.We can hold it in our arms,not in any external caress,but in an internal flowing of life.

It makes so soft and still a movewe hardly know it's there.

The entire universe is innocent.And soft, like a never-ending cloud of light.And caressable, like a bubble.

Bubble, bubble.

Join an expedition: Hitch your wagon to a star.

An entire universe awaits.

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The Rose

A rose is just a bit of frozen sunlightand a little carbon dioxide.

But, truly, I lie, for the rose is not a static thing,not at all frozen, not at all solid.

See, rather, how the sunlight courses through its veins,dancing and sparklingnot only upon the surface of the petalbut also down deep in the very core of the stemthrilling the rose, sending shivers of delight up and down,scattering like little children upon the steps of a great cathedral,in every direction, all and at once,now here, now there,maintaining in this incessant flow the illusionof something solid and sure —but, I tell you ...

In every touch there is war.

And something more. And something more.

Tell Me a Story Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tellmeastory.substack.com/subscribe