Return with Elixir: Journey of Conscious Death and Rebirth

My next book Return with Elixir has found a home and will be published by Inner Traditions late 2023.

Return with Elixir is a guide to conscious death and rebirth drawing of the mythopoetics of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung’s depth psychology, and the alchemical visualizations of Tibetan Buddhism. The synopsis follows below.

This year I’ll be scaling back from teaching and therapy to create space for my own renewal, research, writing, and travel. You can stay connected with me on the Wisdom Keeper Podcast as I interview experts on esoteric subjects for the book.

We will all die. And we will also all be reborn. Most will do so unconsciously and compelled by base instincts, while others voluntarily, guided by a higher purpose. So say the wisdom cultures of every epoch before the advent of modern science. Whether it be the metaphoric death of any given moment’s unceasing tide of change, or the great and daunting death of this lifetime, a secret, perennial corpus of knowledge, initiation, and praxis exists to support a profound process of spiritual resurrection. We need not be afraid or unprepared to face life’s challenges and transitions, for each can be an initiatory rite-of-passage as we venture forth on the grand pilgrimage through dissolution, into the great mystery, and back again to the world, bearing the boon of eternal life for others. Return with Elixir offers a mythopoetic, archetypal, and alchemical guide of conscious death and rebirth for meditators, yogis, psychonauts, and psychedelic wayfarers following the universal path of regeneration known by many names.

Using as a loom the alchemical motto solve et coagula, to dissolve and reconstitute, Return with Elixir weaves three discrete threads of esoteric knowledge into a single tapestry. The book introduces the main heroic stages of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth from departure, through initiation, to return, orienting readers to the terrain, landmarks, and challenges of the outer journey. As a mirror reflection, the Campbellian stages are then correlated with the psychological milestones of Carl Jung’s process of individuation from ego, through shadow, to the Self, describing the structures of the psyche and potential pitfalls of the inner journey. Finally, these mythopoetic and archetypal maps are conjoined with the meditative phases of the Tibetan Buddhist art of rebirth from conscious death, through sublime liminality, to altruistic reincarnation, revealing the alchemical process of the so-called secret journey.

Like the dials of a Swiss clock, each of these three cyclic models of the soul’s passage through redesign will be accompanied by beautiful diagrams for quick references and then synthesized into a single, coherent “time machine” or meta map allowing readers to locate and mobilize themselves at any juncture on their journey. Whether it’s an external pilgrimage to a sacred destination, a psychological shift through psychotherapy, meditation, or psychedelics, or energetic integration through subtle body manipulation, this integrative, cross-cultural meta map and practical step-by-step guide, will enable initiates of sacred wisdom traditions to discern the various obstacles and signposts of progress and successfully navigate with confidence the territory of any outer, inner, or secret process of transformation.

Follow the magic of the soul’s revolution through global myths from the Garden of Eden to the Sword and the Stone, be inspired by autobiographical accounts of luminaries from Buddha and Jesus, to Carl Jung, relate to real-world examples from the author’s near-death experience to the heroic accomplishment’s of his clients, and experience rebirth for yourself during meditative practice guided by an audio companion set of Tibetan inspired visualizations. Poised on the cusp of a paradigm shift as we transition from the Piscean to Aquarian age, amidst the tumultuous structural collapse and renaissance swell of interest in esoteric traditions alike, Return with Elixir promises to be a go-to resource for anyone looking for guidance to dissolve, align, and ascend, during humanity’s quantum leap forward in our collective evolution.

Unique Features of Return with Elixir:

• Reframes life challenges, transitions, or crisis as an opportunity for psychological growth, trauma healing, and spiritual transformation.

• Provides a practical meta map and step-by-step guide to help readers let go of fears, uncover hidden strengths, and share their innate gifts with others.

• Reveals the universal process of “dying before you die” and discovering eternal life underlying mystical traditions of diverse cultures and epochs.

• Provides a primer for Joseph Campbell’s mythopoetic monomyth, Carl Jung’s archetypal process of individuation, and the Tibetan Buddhist alchemical art of conscious rebirth.

• Prepares readers before they embark on psychotherapy, meditation practice, pilgrimage, shamanic and psychedelic experiences, helps them avoid pitfalls, and supports skillful integration after having had powerful experiences.

• Supports a process of sensemaking the current convergence of ecological, economic, and geopolitical crisis of meaning by placing them in a larger astrological context of global collapse and regeneration.

• Accompanied by an audio album of Tibetan Buddhist inspired guided visualizations and vibration produced by Dr. Miles Neale and soundmaster Phil Jacobs to support a daily practice of conscious death and rebirth.

• Forward provided by Tibetologist Professor Robert Thurman, and afterward by mythologist Phil Cousineau.

Dr. Miles Neale | Return with Elixir © 2022 | www.milesneale.com