GROWING MEN

More and more, men are awakening to consciousness of what it means to be alive at this point in time. Those who have made the inward journey, and who have sat with and listened to men around campfires and coffee tables, share their insights and wisdom in these sites. Men's growth, or the development of the masculine, is for women as well as men--part of the wholeness Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson explains in site 6. May we all find nourishment for the journey in these pages, and in our cultivation of the King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover in ourselves and our society.

  1. Come In From The Rain! -- A poem by Thomas R. Smith with an invitation to all men
  2. Creating and Sustaining Men's Groups -- Articles, books, book segments on-line that we can use
  3. Men's Issues: Interviews -- Top writers about men's inner work
  4. Backlash! Magazine's Links
  5. Men Web: Men's Voices Magazine -- Excellent resources
  6. Male and Masculine: Right Thing, Wrong Level -- An Interview with Robert A. Johnson
  7. Wake Up, Your Soul is Calling -- "If getting better is all you got out of being sick, you got cheated."
  8. God's Loneliest Creatures -- by Rabbi Steven Z. Leder
  9. John Lee on Anger
  10. Men and Depression -- Interview with Terry Real, author of I Don't Want to Talk About it: The Secret Legacy of Male Depression
  11. Men and Their Feelings -- A variety of voices on male depression and problems arising from the interweaving of love with violence in raising boys
  12. Crisis, Grief, and Healing -- Tom Gordon's resources to understand and honor the many different paths to heal strong emotions of loss, desire, and grief.
  13. Relationships: Articles, Poetry, and Books
  14. The Promise Keepers -- Hopes and Concerns
  15. Interview with Bill Kauth -- Co-founder of the New Warrior Training Adventure
  16. Authenticity, Character and Destiny -- An Interview with James Hillman
  17. A Eulogy for Death -- This is a version of a talk given by Michael Meade at the opening of the series of Conversations on Death sponsored by the Zen Hospice Center of San Francisco.
  18. Men's Poetry Page
  19. Men's Movement Periodicals
  20. Some Good Men's Movement Books
  21. Bibliographies General Men's Movement
  22. Men's Issues on the Internet
  23. About.com on Fatherhood Issues
  24. Men's Issues and Rights
  25. Mosaic -- Voices of youth, voices of community
  26. Watering the Seeds of the Future -- by Michael Meade
  27. Achilles Heel -- Topical issues from a British Men's Issues magazine
  28. Spirit and Wisdom -- Sites for Spirituality, Metaphysics, Dreaming, Recovery, etc.

    RECOMMENDED BOOKS and READINGS

    1. A Circle of Men: The Original Manual for Men's Support Groups by Bill Kauth, St. Martin's Press. A great resource for starting and maintaining support groups; superb bibliography, too.
    2. Iron John by Robert Bly, Addison Wesley. Bly's first decade of work in the men's movement distilled in this bestseller on masculine development.
    3. Men and Friendship by Stuart Miller, Gateway Books. A courageous examination of the sorry state of male friendships between men today.
    4. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillete, Harper. A brilliant Jungian exploration of what it means to be a man, integrating shadow sides and strenthening maturity.
    5. Knights Without Armor by Aaron R. Kipnis, Jeremy Tarcher, Inc. Highly readable and practical coverage of mens wounds and potentials, including fathers and sons, our roles in work and relationships, and more.
    6. He: Understanding Masculine Psychology by Robert Johnson, Harper Collins. Landmarks along the road to maturity as drawn from the legend of the Fisher King.
    7. Flying Boy by John Lee, New Men's Press. A very personal story of Lee's reclaiming his own masculinity.
    8. Facing the Fire: Experiencing and Expressing Anger Appropriately by John Lee. How repressing anger can have profound effects on personal health and step by step, how to move through the process of getting past fears.
    9. Healing the Shame that Binds Us by John Bradshaw, Health Communications. Bradshaw shows how "toxic shame" is the core of the problem in our codependencies, compulsions, and addictions, and describes a range of techniques for healing our shame.
    10. Tending the Fire by Wayne Liebman, Ally Press. Excellent, brief guide for using ritual in working with men's groups.
    11. Warriors of the Heart by Danaan Parry, Sunstone Publications. A book about owning our power and becoming positive agents of peaceful change.
    12. The Code of the Warrior by Rick Fields, Harper Perrenial. This book gives us back the rich, socially functional traditions of warriors and the codes they embraced--often combining bravery with gentlenes, self-mastery, and a fierce compassion for others.
    13. Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man by Sam Keen, Bantam Books. A great, solid, very readable book by a trustworthy guide.
    14. The Elder Within by Terry Jones, Book Partners, Inc. The role of both older men mentoring younger men, and a celebration of finding the inner wisdom to mentor ourselves.
    15. Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men by Michael Meade, Harper Collins. A fierce, tough, and loving retelling of story and myth to map the descent and transformation of our journey as men.
    16. Swallowed by a Snake: The gift of the masculine side of healing by Thomas R. Gordon, Golden Healing Publication. This book presents a fresh and moving look at the uniqueness of a man's grief and dealing with loss.
    17. Freeing the Soul from Fear by Robert Sardello, Riverhead Books. Fear is our dark companion, accompanying us from moment of waking to the depths of dreaming at night. How to develop inner resources to help us face fear is the focus of this book.
    18. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men edited by Robert Bly, James Hillman, and Michael Meade, Harper Perennial. A splendid, robust collection organized into 16 sections dealing with men's issues such as war, love, fatherhood, communication, and denial.
    19. I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression by Terrence Real, Simon & Schuster. Real is convinced of the existence of a mental illness that is passed from fathers to sons in the form of rage, workaholism, distanced relationships from loved ones, and self-destructive behaviors ranging from stupid choices at work and in love to drug and alcohol abuse.

      CHAD OSBORNE

      ozpk100@aol.com
      923 W. Mission St.
      SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101

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