Male Spirit

The male mysteries have always had their place in the many expressions of the Pagan religion. For a Pagan, male spirituality is honoured as an expression of the God in his many forms. Pagan men seek inspiration from the Horned God and other aspects of the male Deity; reaching within to embrace a vision of wisdom, strength, and love. The Men's Movement is a gathering force world-wide and is a more general expression of a newly-awakening male spirituality. Men are questioning the roles given them by society and are looking within for a new understanding of the male spirit.

In searching for a deeper male spirituality, men's traditions of spiritual expression take many forms. Some men work in the established Pagan traditions, while others have created specific male mystery groups dedicated to exploring men's relationship with the Divine. Some male mystery groups have turned to the ancient myths and traditions of tribal society and others to the ancient Pagan initiatory cults such as those of Mithras, the God of the Roman legions. Some other groups base their work on the literature of R J 'Bob' Stewart.

Two men who have had a strong influence on how men are seeking to find themselves are psychologist John Rowan in his book The Horned God and poet and author Robert Bly in his best selling book Iron John. They are both contributors to Choirs of the God, a book exploring male spirituality.

The search for alternative images of male divinity begins for many men with the pagan gods and mythical figures suppressed by Christianity. Celtic mythology and Western occultism underlie several recent attempt to re-vision masculinity. To sense 'Male Power on Earth' or contact 'The God Within' brings home the reality of maleness in the modern world, while giving us the visions - from the past, the unconscious, or the realm of the gods - of a different way of being men.

John Matthews ed, Choirs of the God: Revisioning Masculinity, Mandala, 1991.

For a Pagan, the masculine is essentially beautiful, lithe, strong, burning with a deep passion calling out in the joy of creation.

'I am a stag of seven tines, I am a wild flood on the plain, I am a wind on the deep waters, I am a tear the Sun lets fall, I am a hawk above the cliff, I am a salmon in the pool, I am a battle-waging spear, I am a wave of the sea, Who but I knows the mystery of the unhewn dolmen?'

From The Song of Amergin, Celtic Traditional