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.

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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 It’s about dissolving the outdated programs of society to find the infinity of the breath underneath.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.

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.

- RUMI

Three 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 24-26

Once 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 Immersion

P.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.