Podcast
On the Soul's Terms
Hosted by Chris Skidmore · EN
The wisdom of stories. Approaching what the ancients knew. On the Soul's Terms: The Podcast
25episodes
Episodes
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#100 | Vive Oldham | Re-membering Pleasure | The Fifth House
Aug 7, 202501:00:01Tap to summarizeWhat happens in our bodies and nervous systems when we engage in spontaneous creativity? How might reclaiming our relationship with pleasure transform our capacity to navigate life's challenges? These questions form the heart of my conversation with Vive Oldham, somatic educator and facilitator of the "Pleasure as a Revolutionary Act" summit.Vive shares the transformative moment when, burned out from city life, she sat drawing with her young children and discovered something remarkable – after just an hour of creative play, she felt both deeply rested and enlivened. This sparked a nightly art practice that consistently shifted her state regardless of how exhausted she felt beforehand. "My whole physiology would change," she recalls, "and I was like, what is going on?"This led her to explore the fascinating distinction between exhaustion and lethargy – sometimes what we interpret as needing rest is actually a disconnection that requires engagement through a different channel. Creative expression often provides exactly the pathway needed to move from lethargy back into aliveness and presence.We dive deep into how modern culture has commodified pleasure, relegating it to "non-necessary" indulgence rather than recognising it as fundamental to human thriving. "Pleasure is always there in the field," Vive notes, but we've been conditioned to disconnect from it and then seek it externally through consumption.Perhaps most profound was our exploration of pleasure beyond positive emotions. True pleasure, in its deepest sense, is about connection and fully experiencing the range of human feeling – there can be a profound pleasure even in grief when it opens our hearts. This expanded understanding challenges our cultural tendency to avoid discomfort and suggests that developing greater capacity to feel allows us to be more fully present with life's complexities.Join us for this rich conversation about the Fifth House of astrology, the dance between structure and spontaneity, and how theatrical expression allows us to embody different archetypal energies. Learn how simple creative practices might help you rediscover what brings you to life.Want to explore more about pleasure as a revolutionary act? Register for Vive's upcoming global summit at viveandco.com where diverse voices will explore the many textures of pleasure beyond indulgence.*The episode write up above was generated by Buzzsprout's AI.Cover Art is from Vive: Summer.People/works mentioned in this epsiode:Michael MeadeMarion WoodmanMarion Dunlea (Bodydreaming)Kimberly Ann Johnson (Call of the Wild)Bill Plotkin (Wild Mind)Brian & Glenys Clark (Astro Synthesis)Chameli Gad Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.
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#99 | The Fifth House | Unbridled Creation
Jul 31, 202500:44:38Tap to summarizeEmerging from the ancestral depths of the Fourth House, we enter the vibrant, sun-drenched Fifth—a radiant palace where creativity, pleasure, and passion dance freely. This episode invites you into a profound exploration of the Fifth House not merely as astrological territory, but as the sacred space where your most essential self yearns to play.We uncover the distinction between bios (the linear story of life) and zoe (the indestructible life force) that Carl Kerényi elaborates in his work on Dionysus. This eternal flame resonates at the core of the Fifth House—where your capacity for joy and creation remains undimmed despite life's challenges. Like the sun that rises reliably each morning, this inner light represents the persistent heart of your being.Venus finds her joy here, reveling in pleasure without purpose. The Fifth House invites you to create not for acclaim or outcome, but for the pure delight of creation itself. Through exploring myths like Tristan and Isolde's intoxicating romance and Dionysus's wild revelry, we discover how this house beckons us back to the mystery of our sensuous, animal bodies and the timelessness that flows when we're lost in play.What blocks your access to Fifth House treasures? Perhaps family scripts taught that pleasure is selfish, or heartbreak hardened protective layers around your capacity for joy. Through understanding myths like Narcissus, we glimpse how true self-knowledge becomes the path toward authentic expression.Join us for this illuminating journey into your creative core—where your inner child awaits rediscovery, where romance first sparked your heart, and where the process of becoming truly, uniquely yourself begins. Your Fifth House holds the key to reconnecting with that inextinguishable divine spark within—ready to warm not just yourself, but everyone around you.Artwork: La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Frank Dicksee, 1901Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, Carl KerenyiPodcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.
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#98 | Rough-Faced Girl | The Threshold between the Fourth & Fifth Houses
Jul 24, 202500:27:20Tap to summarizeThe mysterious threshold between the fourth and fifth houses marks one of life's most profound transitions—the journey from our family roots to authentic self-expression. As we cross from Cancer's lunar realm into Leo's solar domain, we face the challenge of leaving familiar patterns behind to discover our unique creative voice.Through the Algonquin fairy tale of "The Rough-Faced Girl," we discover a powerful metaphor for this astrological passage. Unlike her more familiar Grimm Brothers counterpart, this indigenous Cinderella figure encounters Strong Wind—a warrior with the power of invisibility who can only be perceived by those who speak truth. His invisible nature symbolises the fourth house's hidden ancestral patterns that shape us from below conscious awareness.Scarred and disfigured by jealous sisters, the Rough-Faced Girl embodies the wounding that can occur in our family systems. Her patient endurance represents the unglamorous but essential inner work of the fourth house—tending the hearth, sweeping ashes, and maintaining dignity despite having her beauty and worth denied. Yet unlike others who attempt to win Strong Wind through deception, she alone speaks honestly, admitting she cannot see him until suddenly—she does.This moment of truthfulness becomes her liberation. Her perception that Strong Wind pulls his sled with the rainbow and uses the Milky Way as his bowstring connects her to cosmic forces beyond ordinary sight. This symbolizes the fifth house awakening—when we align with our authentic nature and discover the life force that flows through creative self-expression.The story illuminates how all the houses build upon each other: her disfigured face (first house persona), her tattered rags (second house resources), her sibling relationships (third house), her family wounds (fourth house), and finally her transformation through truth-speaking (fifth house). Through her journey, we glimpse how healing becomes possible when we honor both our roots and our unique creative spirit.What ancestral patterns are keeping you invisible to yourself? What truth must you speak to cross your own threshold into authentic self-expression? Join me next time as we explore the playful, pleasure-filled realm of the fifth house.I found this fairytale in a compilation of Cinderella stories from around the world: Cinderella: the Ultimate CollectionThe story of the Rough-Faced Girl was explored in the 90s by Rafe Martin and David Shannon. Their book is here. Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.
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#97 | The Fourth House | The Earliest Imprints
Jul 17, 202500:34:48Tap to summarizeVenture beneath the surface as we explore astrology's most mysterious territory - the fourth house. This is where we cross the threshold of the Imum Coeli (IC), descending to "the bottom of the sky" to discover our deepest foundations.The fourth house holds the key to understanding your emotional inheritance - not just your physical home or family structure, but the psychic atmosphere you absorbed during your formative years. Like Odysseus longing to return home after years of wandering, we all carry this yearning for belonging deep within our souls.What masks did you wear in your family of origin? How do you automatically revert to childhood patterns when returning home? The fourth house reveals these personas and adaptation strategies, along with the ancestral legacies that shape your sense of identity and security.Drawing on rich mythological symbolism, we explore the Minotaur's labyrinth as a metaphor for family secrets and unspoken dynamics. Just as Theseus needed Ariadne's thread to navigate those twisted passages, we need consciousness to face what's been hidden in our family systems. By confronting these shadows with reverence rather than shame, we liberate tremendous energy previously used for repression.This house represents your roots, without which your tenth house achievements (your reach) cannot be sustained. By establishing a strong foundation through soul-making work in the fourth house, you prepare for the creative self-expression and individuation of the fifth house.Whether you're a seasoned astrologer or just beginning to explore your chart, this episode offers profound insights into your inner landscape and belonging. Subscribe now to continue our journey through the astrological houses, and consider supporting the show with a five-star review or by becoming a patron at patreon.com/onthesoulsterms.Artwork is by John Williams Waterhouse "Psyche Opening the Golden Box"Books Mentioned:The Twelve Houses by Howard SasportasThe Inner Planets and The Luminaries by Liz Greene and Howard SasportasPodcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.
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#96 | The Fourth House | with Melanie Reinhart
Jul 10, 202501:07:00Tap to summarizeDive beneath the surface of your astrological chart with renowned astrologer Melanie Reinhart as we explore the mysterious fourth house - what she beautifully describes as "a place of gentle mysteries."The fourth house sits at the very bottom of our chart, marked by the Imum Coeli (IC) - "the bottom of the sky" - or what Melanie playfully calls the "I don't see" or "I can't see." This midnight point of our chart plunges down into our ancestry, our time in the womb, and perhaps back to our very conception. Unlike the visible achievements of our tenth house, this territory operates in darkness and silence - yet holds some of our deepest healing potential.We discuss Dane Rudhyar's fascinating description of this house as "to establish" - a place where experiences bind together, creating the energy matrix of our original home and root system. Through the fairy tale of the Three Feathers, we explore how fourth house work often requires descending through a trapdoor into our foundations, where what appears initially as a toad may transform into a princess when approached with simplicity and acceptance.Melanie offers profound insights about how we might project expectations onto our family of origin through the fourth house, and how reclaiming these projections could be key to feeling truly "at home" within ourselves. She shares a touching personal story of creating a small talisman bag during extensive travels that became her portable "home," illustrating how fourth house energy can be internalized rather than constantly sought in the external world.Perhaps most powerfully, we explore the fourth house as our "sacred ground," connecting this to the sacrum - the triangle bone at the base of our spine that anchors our physical stability. Just as the sacrum grounds our body, the fourth house grounds our sense of self and belonging in the world.Whether you're new to astrology or a seasoned chart explorer, this conversation will transform how you understand the deepest foundations of your chart and your life. Experience the fourth house as a source of profound medicine for your soul's journey.Melanie's Website Artwork: The Rescue by John William Waterhouse.Podcast Musician: Marlia CoeurPlease consider becoming a Patron to support the show!Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.
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