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The Mythic Masculine: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ian MacKenzie
Explorations on mythology, culture and the emerging masculinities. Hosted by Ian MacKenzie.
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- 2 weeks ago35 min
Dougie MacKay On Finn McCool and the Salmon of Wisdom
A few years back, I hosted Dougie Mackay at my home on Vancouver Island for some pizza and a televised hockey game. I’d just caught his show in town and was struck by how he illuminated the wingspan of a story - the way it could carry an audience across centuries and landscapes with each sentence.Raised in the Scottish Highlands where storytelling is still in the water, Dougie has sold out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. He even holds a Guinness World Record as part of the longest continuous storytelling session (74 hours, set in the central square of Marrakesh, where storytelling is also heritage). He describes his own work as firing on the edge of the wild.In this episode of The Crow’s Nest, Dougie joins me to explore the medicine of story for these times - and for men in particular. We speak in support of the upcoming Cascadia Men’s Conference, happening August 6-9 in the Squamish Valley just north of Vancouver. The conference draws its DNA from the Minnesota Men’s Conference, now forty years strong, and we’re gathering elders and younger men alike to light a fire we hope will burn yearly.Dougie won’t be with us in person this August (he’ll be at the Edinburgh Fringe with his show A Wolf Shall Devour the Sun), but his spirit is woven into what we’re building. At the heart of our conversation, he tells the old Gaelic tale of Finn McCool and the Salmon of Wisdom - a story from the Fianna cycle about a boy raised by wild aunties in the forest, who must learn not just to hunt and fight, but to see truly.What emerges is a conversation about masculine leadership, the necessary relationship between youth and elders, and what it means to be mentored by both the feminine and the wild. "I think there's lots of people seeking belonging, and the salmon has something to say about that."Dougie offers a particular tonic: the idea that in our broken culture, many of us in midlife and beyond may find ourselves in the role of Finnegus - the old poet who sits by the pool for seven years, preparing the ground so that someone younger might receive the gift we never will.If you’re drawn to the work, you can find Dougie writing on Substack at Rekindling the Hearth. He’s also launching a nine-month storytelling mentorship cohort called The Storyteller’s Journey this September.The Cascadia Men’s Conference runs August 6-9. Details and tickets at cascadiamensconference.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe
- 3 weeks ago27 min
Satyen Raja On Presence, Purpose and Answering the Call
We’re just under 30 days out from my upcoming Cascadia Men’s Conference, a first-of-its-kind mythopoetic gathering happening August 6-9 in the Squamish Valley, north of Vancouver. In the lead up, I’ve been hosting live conversations with our presenters - previous episodes have included men’s author Matt Sturm, indigenous poet Cliff Taylor, and later this week Scottish storyteller Dougie Mackay.Yesterday I connected with Satyen Raja.Satyen is the founder of Warrior Sage, a master martial artist, and one of the keynote presenters at the conference. He’s been showing up in FB with what I can only describe as fiery transmissions - dispatches on men, presence, and the particular weight of this moment in history. “Without a deep purpose - a purpose of depth that comes from the soul - we flounder. We gravitate toward the superficial. We can enjoy it, but we can’t live there. It will never touch the deepest core of our being.”We talk about distraction as a slow theft of life force, about what brotherhood actually offers that no amount of solo self-improvement can replace, and about the three pillars Satyen will be bringing to the gathering: presence, claim, and penetration.Men, if you’re stirred by what you hear, consider this your summons. "We just need to do it for the freaking hell of it. That's it. Just that - for the joy of being with men together in a good way, not just in a competitive beat each other up way, but in a way that we bring the fullness of our human spirit."The conference is August 6-9. Details and tickets at cascadiamensconference.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe
- Jun 1, 20266 min
The Second Fire: 1:1 Mentorship for the Midlife Passage
Two decades ago, I graduated university.I took a job writing copy for a small online business that rented holiday properties, and my role was to add content for the search engines to bring in traffic.It was a 9-to-5 kind of thing.I liked my employer and coworkers. And the job itself, I voraciously learned as much as I could and pumped out all the work that was assigned to me.Pretty soon, I was able to finish my output by lunchtime. And when I asked for more, my employer offered it. And this went on for a few months.Eventually, there came a time when my employer told me, “we don’t have more to assign today.”My response was, “Okay… well can I go home?” which seemed reasonable enough. I wasn’t even asking to be paid for the hours.Her response: “No, you can’t go home. You have to remain at your desk.”I couldn’t believe it. A part of me rebelled. I couldn’t imagine sitting at a desk for hours every afternoon, needing to ‘make up work’ that was unncessary, rather than having the freedom to do my own thing.A quiet voice spoke to me. This isn’t for you. You are meant for more.I tried to stuff it down, reminding myself of the practical, real-world responsibilities I had at the time. Paying rent. Buying groceries. Saving for a mortgage. But still, the quiet voice wouldn’t relent.A fire burned deeper than my practical fears. This was the First Fire of my soul. And I couldn’t put it out.Well, I didn’t last much longer at the job before striking out on my own. I began publishing an online magazine called Brave New Traveler, which featured my own writings alongside guest authors, that spoke to the magic and mystery of travelling off the beaten path.From there, I was noticed and invited to join a larger travel publishing network with a global reach. Somewhere in there, I also became a documentary filmmaker - recognizing the power of the medium to change the world and shift consciousness en masse in a short period of time.And so I followed the calling of my soul. I produced films like Sacred Economics and Occupy Love.I loved the collaboration, the storytelling, and the impact. But behind the scenes, there was heartbreak. In the middle of that momentum, after a decade together, my marriage crumbled.It wasn’t just a legal separation - it was the total dismantling of the world I had known for my entire adulthood. I was cast out of the home and the life we had shared, once again adrift. The stability I had built, the shared vision of our future had turned to ash. I was awash in the wreckage of a life I thought was certain, navigating a depth of grief I wasn’t prepared for.In the wake of that collapse, I threw myself even deeper into the craft. I produced films like Amplify Her, Lost Nation Road, and The Village of Lovers. Filmmaking became the outlet of my creative soul and my search for meaning.I met a new partner & became a father.But then, about 5 years ago… I remember feeling that small voice inside again… clear, grounded, and directive.It’s time to shift. You have achieved what you intended with your films. You have said what you wanted to say.It was the closing of this chapter, this first fire. And the beginning of the next.It was few years before this that I encountered ‘men’s work.’ At the Tamera research village in Portugal, I sat in my first intergenerational men’s circle. Young men and old men, wrestling with masculinity and how to show up powerful and in service to life. A frequency I had never experienced before was transmitted. And I was changed.I returned home and attended the New Warrior Training Adventure with the Mankind Project. I was taken on a descent and return, and I rediscovered a core trust in men that I didn’t know I had lost.A few years after, I began publishing The Mythic Masculine podcast, to explore the mythopoetic lineage and the role of archetypes, ritual, and culture work in the modern world. Somewhere in there, my film career began to fall away.The Second Fire of my life was kindled, and is now ablaze.For the last two years, alongside in-person and online transformational containers, I’ve been working 1:1 with men, usually between the ages of 30 and 60.Many of them come because of a specific challenge or pattern that I find intimately familiar to my own story.What I offer them is what I’ve had to learn myself: Archetypal maps to name what’s happening beneath the surface. Somatic practices to move it through the body. Ritual practices to mark the death of the old identity and authorize the new one.Here’s what I’ve come to realize: None of these challenges are isolated. Underneath, they are all connected by a deeper shift.It would be easy to call it a “midlife crisis.” That’s what this cultu
- May 6, 20261h 15m
Trans Masculinity and the Stewardship of Men's Work: A Guide
We have reached the final episode of the series:”Trans Men: In Their Own Words”.This conversation began with Episode #1, looking at the collective cultural moment with The Seed and the Soil. We explored how trans folk represent a trickster figure, troubling the psychic architecture of the binary many of us were raised with. We talked about the urge to ‘monster’ the other, but we also looked at the history of how gender has been used as a tool of social control.In Episode #2, we moved past the intellect and into Stories of Transition. My guests shared the intimate vulnerability of their own journeys - the grief, joy and reckonings that bind us all in the search for a place in the Book of Life.And now in this final episode, Emmanuel, Kanoa, Lev, and Aliko move beyond individual stories to examine the architecture of men’s work. We address the faultline currently trembling modern men’s spaces: the tension between a masculinity fixed in biological certainty and one defined by collective stewardship.“There is a larger paradigm shift in men’s work: the realization that men’s circles aren’t just for healing and brotherhood. These circles are now impacting our greater world in this time of transformation. The call is to show up in the world with the skills and the willingness to grapple that we develop in these spaces.From an eco-political-spiritual perspective, [men’s work] is being asked to move beyond the internal process into an external one that serves the entire collective. This is why conversations around transness and color are surfacing. We have to ask: what are we doing as men with our healed bodies in a world under great collapse?It is not enough to just sit in a circle and heal myself; I need to know how to move my authentic self into this collapsing world. This is the overarching transition putting men’s spaces at the edge of so many vital conversations.”- Emmanuel H BrownFor men’s work facilitators, this conversation serves as a guide for understanding how and why to consider including trans men, as well as the broader transition of men’s work itself. We are tasked with moving from a narrow focus on ‘personal wellness’ toward the regeneration of culture - calling forth a masculinity that is aware, regulated, and in service to thriving life.You can find the full guest bios & links to their work on the Series Page.I’d love to hear your comments & reflections below. Heads up, if you are a man seeking to explore the mythopoetic path, you are invited to check out The Archetypal Compass. This mini-guide is designed to help you navigate the internal archetypes of the soul, providing a map for those ready to move beyond personal inquiry and toward a more conscious stewardship of their lives and the world.Also, the next cohort of The Deep Masculine, my 3 month online journey for men begins May 19th. Join a mythic brotherhood aimed at repatterning your relationship to sex, soul and purpose.SHOW NOTES: 02:43 - The Faultline at the Mankind Project: Ian addresses the recent friction at the MKP 40th anniversary and how it exposed the tension between biological essentialism and the evolution of modern men’s spaces.06:46 - The Code of Testosterone: Aliko challenges the definition of manhood, shifting the inquiry from physical genitalia to the codes and blueprints of masculine presence that trans men share with cis men.11:23 - The Shadow of the Phallus: Exploring how the presence of trans men acts as an accountability mirror for cis men, forcing a reckoning with the historical harm done to the feminine that many circles try to escape.13:50 - Restoring the Sacred Tapestry: Emmanuel discusses the eco-spiritual paradigm of men’s work, moving beyond a one-size-fits-all manhood box into the authentic restoration of a sacred and divine masculinity.18:48 - The Responsibility of the Elder: A call to ensure that the wisdom, initiation, and depth of practice found in legacy spaces are made accessible across the entire masculine spectrum.21:42 - The Unique Messenger: Kanoa explains why the message of accountability lands differently when it comes from a man who has navigated the world perceived as a woman and survived the violen
- Apr 8, 20261h 14m
Stories of Transition and the Journey of the Soul
Last week, I released Part One (you can listen here). This series grew from a seed - a conversation with Emmanuel H. Brown. Emmanuel has been navigating his own journey, seeking out the places where manhood and masculinity might be expanded to hold the lived experience of trans men.As someone rooted in the mythopoetic lineage, I recognize that these voices have often been missing from our circles. This series is an invitation to a broader framework - one that is mutually supportive for the soul of every man.In our first episode, The Seed and the Soil, we explored the trans man as a trickster figure - one who troubles the binary architecture many of us have been raised with. We looked at the history of gender as social control and the tension between biological certainty and the expansive human spirit. We asked how we might hold space for genuine curiosity and reckon with real violence against trans folk without losing our humanity to the polarized scripts of our time.Subscribe to get the full series in your inbox.If the first conversation was about the why of this series, this one is about the who.In this episode, Stories of Transition, we move from the intellect to the heart. By sharing their personal stories of transition - the specific griefs, private triumphs, and quiet moments of reckoning - Lev, Emmanuel, Kanoa, and Aliko disarm the listener with a rare and honest vulnerability.We touch the visceral edges of their paths: mapping the territory where their unique stories cross and diverge, showing that they are all bound by the longing for place in the Book of Life.Overall, the intention is simple: to widen our capacity to remain human to one another. It’s about dissolving the outdated programs of society to find the infinity of the breath underneath. You’re welcome to leave your respectful & nuanced thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 2, 202613 min
Awakening the Wild Erotic: A Ritual Reclamation (April 24-26)
To brood is to wander through a grovewhere one sheep straysand a hundred wolves follow.Why did I make brooding my vocationwhen AWE was an option?Thought spinner, mull the wine of wonder.- RUMIThree years ago, my colleague Deus and I joined forces to craft an experiment. We invited 12 men out to the forest. He brought his years of training in breathwork, transformational art, and psychedelic facilitation. I wove my love of archetypes, fairy tales, and the lineage of mythopoetics.The result: a cauldron of mystery that we named AWE - Awakening the Wild Erotic. Since that time, we’ve ran the 3 day weekend over 7 times, supporting over 90 men through the journey. Deus and I still have a difficult time describing what happens during these ritual gatherings. What feels most true: it is the rite of passage that most men never received as we entered into our erotic birthright. It is the beginning of coming into right relationship with sexual energy, responsibility, and self leadership. Plus, it’s a lot of fun. Here’s what some of the men have said: "I really got to know men in this time—more so in three days than in the 49 years I've been alive. And through that, I got to know so much more of me. I feel more open to vitality, to passion, to pleasure and joy... to the juice of life... the nectar of the Gods.""I arrived at the retreat seeking to heal shame carried in my body... What I discovered was an inner fire. Beyond healing, I left the weekend ablaze with energy and purpose, ready to fully embody my life as a father, a son, a husband, a brother, and a friend.""Upon returning home from AWE, my wife said to me: ‘The pilot light of our love was going out. You came back with the flame to relight us.’ If feeling what it means to be alive, to love and be loved, to breathe in the air of erotic life-force resonates within, you owe it to yourself to work with these men."The terrain of sex, eros, and intimacy is edgy territory.Especially these days, when the shadow of men is running rampant, as we’re confronted with the Epstein files, endless wars and abuses of power. On the personal front, there’s the continual seduction of numbing out with substances, pornography and now AI “girlfriends” that promise pseudo intimacy without any real-world risk or rejection, or reward of being truly seen.In the face of all that, over and over, I’m astounded by the men who choose to attend AWE. These are men who want to access a deeper vitality in their being, who wish to connect with the current of life, and show up as more grounded, integrated and passionate lovers.UPCOMING WEEKEND - APRIL 24-26Once again, we return to Black Creek on Vancouver Island. This is likely to be the only AWE we are offering in the region this year.If you feel the pull - or if you know a man who needs this kind of medicine - you can find the application and full details below.We have 4 spots left. Begin the Descent - Apply for the April 24-26 AWE ImmersionP.S. For those of you who can’t make it to the island, the next cohort of our 12-week online journey, The Deep Masculine, begins in mid-May. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe
- Mar 31, 20261h 15m
The Trickster Medicine of Trans Masculinity
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility and right moment to kick off this new series on The Mythic Masculine.It didn’t grow out of a plan; it grew out of a message from a trans man named Emmanuel H. Brown.Emmanuel was looking to join an in-person gathering of mine—a ritual space he discovered was not open to trans men. It was an intentional choice made with my collaborator Deus Fortier, rooted in cultivating a container for men whose maps of masculinity have always (at least on the surface) lined up to how they were culturally assigned at birth.But I’d left a note in the invitation for anyone to reach out if they wanted to talk about it. Emmanuel reached out. He invited me into a circle with several other trans men to hear about their lives and their perspectives on men’s work and masculinity.This series is the result of that invitation.You can find the full participant bios series page here.Subscribe to get the full series in your inbox.In Part One we look at the collective cultural moment. We look at how trans folk represent a ‘trickster’ figure, troubling the psychic architecture of the binary many of us were raised with. We talk about the urge to ‘monster’ the other, but we also look at the history of how gender has been used as a tool of social control.We explore the tension: How do we hold space for genuine confusion and curiosity without defaulting to a label of ‘transphobia’ if someone doesn’t immediately adopt the progressive position? How do we reckon with the real violence trans folk experience while creating more acceptance and room for their perspectives? And how do we navigate the certainty of ‘biological essentialism’ and the expansive possibilities of gender that are an invitation for us all?Now, it’s worth saying up front: there is a lot of volatility around this subject. Emotions run high and it can feel like there’s a lot at stake.Wherever you currently find yourself, whatever you might already believe, this is an invitation into a beginner’s mind.My intention with this series isn’t about preaching indoctrination.It’s about seeing how the tapestry of masculinity might be troubled, re-woven, and made more beautiful for us all.You’re welcome to leave your respectful & nuanced thoughts in the comments below. Any aggressive, dismissive or mean-spirited posts will be deleted.Let’s see if we can craft an approach filled with mutual respect and wonder. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe
- Feb 27, 20261h 10m
#86 | Trump, Tate and Taming Your Inner Dragon - David Sutcliffe
My guest today is David Sutcliffe, a somatic psychotherapist and former actor who has stepped off the red carpets of Hollywood to venture into the deeper landscapes of the masculine soul.David is something of an enigma to me. He’s a therapist who champions the necessity of men getting in touch with their feelings and expressing their rage and grief. Yet, he is also an ardent Trump supporter and has interviewed uber-masculine figures like Andrew Tate.In this conversation, we certainly don’t align on everything, but we remain willing to lean in and see what the friction reveals.It’s worth saying: this conversation was recorded in September 2025, before the wake of the Epstein files released December 2025. This would have come up in our conversation if we had recorded this afterwards.A little more about David. For years, he was an archetypal “cute guy” or “bad boyfriend” on television - but behind the scenes he eventually found himself on his own road of ashes - where the trappings of fame and success turned to dust, inviting him into a more rigorous descent.Together, we explore the cost of the “nice guy” mask and the disorientation of a fatherless upbringing. We speak of the “devouring mother,” the search for authentic masculine role models, and his own views on “masculine leadership” and traditional gender roles.And finally, David reminds us that maturity demands the courage to face or darkness, tame the flames of our inner dragon, and take up the seat of our own sovereignty.A brief aside: for men who wish to work with me, you’re invited to my upcoming immersion & online cohorts:* Awakening the Wild Erotic, Vancouver Island (April 24-26)* The Deep Masculine, Online (next cohort begins May 3)As well, don’t miss the inaugural Cascadia Men’s Conference, happening just north of Vancouver Aug 6-9th, 2026.For those drawn to David’s style and offerings, check out the links below:SHOW LINKS* David Sutcliffe School for Kings* David Sutcliffe on IG * Poem - How to Tame A DragonSHOW NOTESHere are the show note highlights with the updated timecode format, tightened for impact:* 03:55 — The Geographic and Spiritual Check-in: David shares his current life in Mexico and how his relationship with God has become the anchor point of his life and marriage.* 05:40 — The Interviewer’s Tightrope: Reflecting on David’s interviews with polarizing figures like Andrew Tate and the “art of the interview” when navigating high-defense mechanisms.* 07:18 — From the Red Carpet to the Road of Ashes: David recounts his twenty-year acting career and the mid-life collapse that led him to trade Hollywood fame for the rigors of somatic healing.* 09:51 — The Alchemy of the Mat: An exploration of Core Energetics and the necessity of physical expression—hitting, kicking, and shouting—to move repressed “sob and rage.”* 13:10 — The Missing Father and the Devouring Mother: Discussing the psychic consequences of an absent father and how the resulting “devouring mother” energy can lead men to self-abandonment.* 26:45 — The War of the Sexes: A look at the “bitterness and vitriol” in modern gender relations and the cultural propaganda of the “bumbling father” in media.* 28:26 — Feminism and the Manosphere: David offers his take on how radicalized social movements can lead to a reactive “manosphere” and the collective struggle to truly see one another.* 39:15 — The Politics of Polarity: David addresses his shift from Hollywood progressive to a supporter of traditional values and Donald Trump, framing it as a return to “reality.”* 53:12 — The Strongman Archetype: Exploring the qualities of figures like Trump and Tate, and why men are gravitating toward “strongmen” in a landscape of cultural chaos.* 1:11:15 — Taming the Inner Dragon: A concluding reminde
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Explorations on mythology, culture and the emerging masculinities. Hosted by Ian MacKenzie.
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