A note from Carl
“At one time, in every instance of devastating oppression and genocide, liberation seemed impossible. Oppressive systems seem invincible, right up until they don’t. They are their most violent and blustering just before they are ended. This freedom work is a work of faith. You must believe, and imagine, a people free, to elicit your fullest sacred power and holy tantrum. Each day, each moment, find ways to renew your faith. If you must wail or chant or drum or quest or pray or sing or gather or wander the wilderness or purge your being or bathe in the belly of your passions, then do what you must. Doubt will mock you. Fear will rock you. Stay in your faith. Remember, you are not just a person. You are a people. Not some of them. All of them. Believe in your power.” – Jaiya John
Hello, beautiful human, living in these wildest of times.
Thank you for opening this email. I’m so grateful we are connected.
The above Jaiya John poem has been living in me since I shared it in our Refugia gathering last week. “Remember, you are not a person. You are a people. Not just some of them. All of them. Believe in your power.”
Please read on below for some potent sharing from the heart and a powerful poem about men and these times…
A funny thing you might not know about me and Erin, is that we share a brain. After all these years of being together, practicing together, teaching together, parenting together, the veils between our pysches and somas are very thin. We will often will have the same thought or poem or quote arise simultaneously when teaching. Our son thinks it is hilarious when we give the exact same word-for-word response to his question or story. Just yesterday, Erin and I texted and emailed each other at the exact moment, sharing the news of the upcoming Gillian Welch and David Rawlings tour, and I’m sorry Salt Lake City is not on this list!
This same brain/psychic connection is also present with beloved friends and colleagues. Texting each other at the same moment. Thinking about them, and the phone rings. When we are dwelling in the depths together, there is a permeability of consciousness that grows.
A couple of weeks ago, I was drafting an email about our upcoming Men of Depth and Soul offering, and the next day, I read Alexandre’s beautiful newsletter where he shared almost word-for-word what I had been writing. We are listening to the same muses!
So, I want to share with you his beautiful reflections and gorgeous poem:
From Alexandre Jodun:
A heart that has the courage to be broken-open by the wise-truths of reality is a heart that can stretch to become greater medicine for the world.
On this note, a great sorrow of the world that continues to pronounce itself loudly right now is the widespread presence of uninitiated, disconnected, insensitive, and unwise men in positions of leadership, power, and social influence. There is no need to go into lengthy detail about the consequences of this living-legacy of unripeness and corruptness, as it is now more obvious than ever before. Yet, from political greed, to power hunger, to war-waging, to the mass-influence of misogynist and life-desecrating movements (e.g Andrew Tate)…it is worth asking: what impact is all of this having on boys, young men, adults, and older men from all over the world? What are the damaging flow-on effects to people of all genders, and to the wild world, when men are not embodied in their maturity, mutuality, and medicine?
As the Ethiopian proverb says, “If the young are not initiated into the village, they will burn it down just to feel its warmth.”
However, these days we could now say that it’s not only the young (boys) — but also the unripened older ones — who will also burn down the village (or, themselves) if they are not meaningfully initiated into the village. All this to say, it’s clear that the dominant, colonized, and distorted nightmare of what it means to be a man has clearly surpassed its expiry date and is spoiling the sacredness of life.
It’s fair to say that we are in dire need of a new dream (…in fact, not one, but many) of what it means to be a man — that articulate and revive the sanctity of existing, and contributing meaningfully, as male humans in this world.
As Diné elder, Pat McCabe (Woman Stands Shining), has boldly said many times, “The largest untapped resource in humanity is the sacred masculine.” So, it begs the question, how do we tap into the resources of the sacred masculine?
Whether it’s the way Buddhist philosophy, alchemy, process-oriented psychology, or ancient Greek philosophy articulated it, it rings true either way: As men, we need to find a way to turn the poison into medicine, for the medicine is ultimately in the poison. We need freshly creative ways, soulful ways — skillful ways — of alchemizing the malignancies of the past and present, and cultivating reverent ways of ripening into mature human beings as men. It seems as though the thriving of our communities depends (at least, significantly) on this.
***
Each year, I (Alexandre) feel a growing responsibility to offer Men of Depth & Soul, in collaboration with my dear brother, Carl Rabke: a 3-month online depth-container, that we are contributing to help influence the turning of the tides towards thriving life for all. In this offering, we gather as a circle of soulful men – in an emergent council of sorts – where we reflect deeply on our lives, participate in embodied practices and meaningful inquiries, sing and move together, engage in ritual, and ultimately, pay attention to how we are each being shaped and called to respond to these unprecedented times. This is not necessarily a space for “self” improvement, but instead, for communal thriving and soul-activism.
Recently, we opened registrations for our next iteration of Men of Depth & Soul (2026), which will be starting on March 24th, meeting until June 14th (with weekly gatherings). We are delighted to share that we will be joined by two guest teachers (for two separate sessions) – elder and renowned writer & soul-activist Francis Weller, and diviner and rites of passage guide, Kedar Brown (who we recently interviewed here) – who will support us to deepen as a community of ripening men, engaging in the necessary soul-work of becoming initiated adults and elders.
If you’re called to join us, or know any men who may benefit from this depth container, we invite you to visit (or share) our webpage. We deeply appreciate scattering these seeds of fruitful possibility, especially in such isolating and polarizing times.
We leave you with a poem devoted to a more enlivening dream of who men are, and can be, for this immense world. May it be so.
“Dreaming of Ripened Men” by Alexandre Jodun
Men who offer the palm of their open hand, rather than swing the untempered violence of their closed fists.
Men who wake up to greet the land, sun and ancestors,
who claim the ancestral and ritual responsibilities (that have claimed them),
to ensure there is a wholesome tomorrow for all to wake up to.Men who consult the Sacred to know which way to move,
instead of taking orders from uninitiated leaders and hungry ghosts.Men who turn towards their grief, rage, and aggression,
so they know in their bones what is worthy of protecting and preserving in this world.Men who see that, without initiating into the clan of mature human-beings,
there will be a continued legacy of unrelentless destruction and rituals of forgetting.Men who are courageous enough to walk their limp,
and compost their wounds
into fertile soil of loving-compassion.Men who are deeply interested in becoming genuine elders and wise ones of their communities,
rather than pawns for corrupted and desecrated agendas.Men who are rooted in gentleness and humility as a fierce way
of becoming grandfather Ceibas of affection.Men who put their faith in feeding the truth
that they, their medicine, and other ripened men, are utterly needed right now.Men who ask themselves daily
what kind of ancestor they are becoming,
and what wisdom and beauty they are feeding future generations
by the way they are living in this moment.These are the men of tomorrow
that I see the dreaming earth
shaping today.I’m so honored to hold healing, enlivening, depth-dwelling space for men with Alexandre.
With gratitude and love,
Carl
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