Jeanne L. Martin, PhD
HARPIST || MYTHOLOGIST || LECTURER
Jeanne L. Martin, PhD has cultivated a career dedicated to creating bridges between the worlds of music, myth, and medicine. A native New Yorker, Dr. Martin received her BA in English from Cornell University and MA/PhD in Mythological Studies & Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, which led her to becoming a research scholar in sacred world traditions, archetypal symbolism, and ancient mythology.
While pursuing her journey as a cultural mythologist--including expeditions to sacred sites in Egypt, Crete, Cyprus, Athens, Rome, Pompeii, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, and the Yucatan--Jeanne spent 25 years mastering another craft entirely: playing the harp. Today, Jeanne is a musician and lecturer based out of Santa Barbara, California, where she has integrated into the community through her work behind the strings.
With the harp as a focal point in connecting her fields of research, Dr. Martin's speaking engagements serve to raise the awareness of the ancient mythic connections between music and medicine, therapeutic uses of music in ancient times and the Renaissance applied to the present, and music as a bridge to global communication and the human condition to bring harmony to our universe.
More recently, her focus has turned specifically to the use of music in end of life care. As a Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner, Dr. Martin plays for terminal patients making their transition--and as a speaker, she has the ability to draw on her studies in mythology and depth psychology to talk about the theraputic power of music in an engaging and accessible way.
Complementary to her career as a teacher and a healer, Jeanne is a Certified Interfaith Chaplain. She is also the former Docent Council Chair for the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, where she served as historical homes coordinator.
Jeanne L. Martin, PhD
A life in music and myth.
The beginnings of a life in music! A young Jeanne learning the piano at the ripe age of six.
Jeanne with father (Emil Lence) and brother (George Lence) in a spread for Life Magazine.
Today, Jeanne dedicates her life to sharing music, knowledge and curiosity with the world at large.