Remembering the Amazing Jean Houston with Margaret Nash Rubin

Summary

Psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove and Margaret Nash Rubin, Jean Houston's principal teaching associate since 1987, remember the life and legacy of the pioneering human potential and sacred psychology teacher. They recount Houston's lifelong bond with the goddess Athena, whose voice she said turned her from a theater career toward exploring the depths of the human mind, along with her near-death recoveries, early psychedelic research, and Mystery School teachings. The conversation touches on archetypal guides, mystical epiphanies, hypnotic creativity experiments, and Houston's belief that everyone carries a unique purpose, or entelechy, waiting to be awakened.

Key takeaways

• 1Jean Houston said that in 1958, sitting in the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens, she heard Athena's voice tell her to give up theater because she had 'a different kind of mind.'
• 2While near death from what Rubin believes was typhoid, Houston reported a Cretan snake goddess pacing the threshold all night, and her fever broke by morning.
• 3Mishlove describes a hypnosis session with Marty Rossman in which Seneca appeared as his inner advisor. Houston shared a parallel childhood experience with the Neoplatonist Proclus, which inspired Mishlove's published theory of 'archetypal synchronistic resonance.'
• 4Houston co-wrote 'The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience' with her husband Robert Masters. She described LSD visions of a honeycomb of universes and of cosmic beings judging Earth, who were persuaded it was worthwhile by the music of Bach.
• 5Houston's Dromenon program, inspired by Gerald Heard and the Chartres labyrinth, included near-death researcher Kenneth Ring as a participant. It helped spark the modern labyrinth movement, including the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral.
• 6Houston's brother Robert introduced Mishlove to Ted Owens' book 'How to Contact Space People,' which led to Mishlove's 10-year study of Owens. Houston also gave the memorial oration for Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS).

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

she was offered a life in the theater and she was in athens you know this wonderful story she was in athens at the acropolis and you were able to sit in those years this was the late 58 i guess you could still sit in the temple of athena nike and she was sitting in that little temple and she could hear the rehearsal going down below they were doing the greek tragedies at the theater below and she had these these theatrical offers that were appealing to her and something within her or in that environment she was always so deeply loyal to the goddess athena who was her guide her friend her her mentor her teacher her everything in so many ways but she identified the voice as being that of athena saying no you are meant to do something else you have a different kind of mind you are meant to do something else and then gene sometimes described that meeting as like what what am i supposed to do keep watching to learn more the new thinking aloud magazine issue 10 on ufos and uap is now ready for free download and you can also order beautiful printed copies go to newthinkingaloud.org new thinking aloud is presented by the california institute for human science a fully accredited university offering distant learning graduate degrees that focus on mind body and spirit the topics that we cover here we are particularly excited to announce new degrees emphasizing parapsychology and the paranormal visit their website at cihs.edu book four in the new thinking aloud dialogue series is charles t tart 70 years of exploring consciousness consciousness and parapsychology now available on amazon thinking aloud conversations on the leading edge of knowledge and discovery with psychologist jeffrey mishlove hello...

Excerpt from New Thinking Allowed, Aug 23, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.