Manda Scott

So with all of this as our baseline, it was an honour and a genuine delight to dive deep with John into the history and lineages of his learning, to explore his views of where we are now, and how we can best navigate this moment of collapse and renewal.

I loved every moment of this conversation, and we're already exploring the idea of John coming back at the new year, so that together we can explore the eight gates that he mentions.

In the meantime, people of the podcast, please welcome John Young of Living Connection First.

John Young, welcome to the Accidental Gods podcast.

How are you and where are you on certainly what's here is a cold and drizzly February afternoon, but I think it's not with you.

Yeah, and putting out hummingbird feeders, you were telling me.

I'm just, I have hummingbird envy.

That sounds glorious.

I was out feeding the kites this morning, but it was raining so hard they couldn't get to us to begin with.

It's not quite the same.

Anyways.

You and I met last, when was it, last September.

And I was so struck.

I've been, your name has been in my radius for literally decades, but it was the first time we'd met in person.

And I was so struck by your groundedness and your...

capacity for internal stillness and clarity, which were absolutely beautiful and seemed to me to be part of the criteria for being one of the elders of our time.

So as an elder of our time, given the great transformation of which we are clearly in the middle, what is most alive for you right now here in the middle of February 2026, John?

Can you tell us briefly, for those who don't know who grandfather was and what his relationship was to Tom, just so then we'll come back to you?

Can I just briefly ask a question of why did you have a common eastern snapping turtle on a street corner?

Right.