Thank you so much for posting this. I have the book, but this is different - the little commentaries - "Right where Freud said it would be." I was the one who needed this - to do the right thing even though it was dangerous and illegal. It wasn't my idea to enact the mission...I followed a a Daimon, he opened the hidden doors, bought me through the Andaman Islands of India, then brought me all the way home. A new home I never dreamed was possible. Iron John inspired me, empowered me, to make the leap required.
Thanks Robert for your opening quote to my memoir - I used your Iron John book with my Teen guitar students. The shock and horror young men express when they learn they can't ask their m0ther politely for the key to the hairy mans's cage. "Criminals are often victims - outlaws never are." Is moral outlawing required to become a man? Can you be a man if you are never a husband or father?
Wonderful version, first shared with me in the 1990s via cassette tape (!) by a friend who wrote “I hope you find some pearls in Bly’s wisdom”. I listened to that tape 15 or 20 times, sometimes with a close friend, once with an older male mentor who listened to both sides with me in one sitting. Quite moving to hear it again today, after so many years. Have bookmarked it, and will revisit it occasionally. Strong stuff, especially for those who know and enjoy Bly’s poetry.
The Warrior's Journey Home? We all do the best with the hand we are dealt. We navigate with what we are on the day (and may not understand or recognize, yet) The covert, the strong, the powerful, the missing piece, the divine (or not so much). The flesh knows better than the spirit what the soul has eyes for... As a keen observer of the human animal, I don't think feel comfortable or understand what it means to be part of these "archetypes" in (all) the stories. It hurts to talk about it. To hear. I deeply believe in leaving people better off than how I found them, now. The narrative of the "wildman" is acceptance and respect of the male. And helped me learn to learn how to do that; To understand and let it go with love. to leave people better off than how I found them.... Yours faithfully Amɣ Newkirk
Like homeopathy? (also known as total bullshit) Yes- I do have to understand it. It's not like we're talking about morphine or antibiotics. Not saying THIS is bullshit- just that it deserves proper attention to even know if it's of any value. That kind of thinking is why we're swimming in mindless Christian idiots.
I respect your desire to understand it. I think Bly composes his work to hit on an unconscious level - that is why I said you don't need to understand it - at the same time I don't think there is anything wrong from the analytic approach to his work.
You are so right. I was at this lecture - or one which was the same story. Many of his. He and Michael Meade are much better live. So much techno info on screens that we have lost the powers in our stories...
This is so nice to hear. I have the audible version but I love Robert's reading. I hope he is doing well and receiving the honor he deserves in old age.
This is a great stuff, when can I find the continuation? The other video on this channel is a duplicate. Obviously there are audiobooks even read by Bly on RU-vid, but I'd love to hear a continuation of these talks with his commentary. It clearly ends when he should come to part 3 of 5 and he even says that he will continue so there must be a next recording.
Yes men - do not let the Wild Man out of the cage - if he will thieve, rape and kill. But please do let that Wild, Mysterious, Intuitive Man out, if he will protect his Wild Woman and all their kin - will risk his own life and limb to build their home, bring them nourishment and do his best to keep that Holiest of wells unpolluted, so no man is his enemy but a loved brother. Mothers, wives, and sisters - if they are Wild women, all yearn for that simple man. :)
I've never heard this version before. Thanks for taking the time. I'm curious about how you have become interested in Robert Bly's work? Bob from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I found Robert Bly at the same time in my life as I found Jim Rohn and Bill Hicks... It was around 2009 and I was having a tough time....I searched for a way to help myself through humour, listened to the experiences and stories of many people. Some were more practial than funny. this is a most unusual and special recording. I listened to all three speakers whenever I had the opportunity that year.... all three brought something very special and different to the listener... How did you find Bly? All the best.
I became interested in Robert Bly through his work with James Hillman, Michael Meade, Robert L. Moore, Coleman Barks and those from what has unfortunately been referred to as 'The Men's Movement'. As Meade has rightly suggested, it would have been better to have said 'Men Moving'. 'Movement' can sometimes be misconstrued as moving against something, whereas I saw this work as moving towards something. That something for me was a deeper understanding of what it is to be a man, and made me start thinking of what kind of man I wanted to be. It's been very powerful and enlightening, taking me to studying the works of Joseph Campbell, C.G. Jung, Robert Moore, Marie-Louise Von Franz, Robert Johnson and a host of others, the list of which would be too long for this correspondence and I would risk losing your attention. I know about 'digging holes'. I'm an expert hole digger myself. I have also gotten pretty good at climbing out of those holes. Now-a-days I don't dig as many holes . . . .but I still own a shovel. ( If you know what I mean.) The understanding I have gained from reading the men mentioned above, and many, many others, including women writers such as Alice Miller, Karen Armstrong, Clarissa Pinkola, Estes, and others, who have given me clarity to women's mode of feeling, (of which I knew nothing), have all been integral in my becoming the person, (the man) I am today. I see you have uploaded a lot more material. You must have been up all night. I can't wait to get to it. I'll thank you in advance for taking the time and caring enough to post these videos. I hope others can find these works as helpful as we did. Thanks Amy. -Bob
Hello there. Apologies for the tardy reply. I put these videos online so as not to loose them and to share. You asked, How did I find Bly? I am a seeker. Curious about different perspectives.
Disipline lowliness and poverty. Ashes time. Golden hair isn't exaclty poverty. The tarboosh is to keep him as a normal plain fool. If he came out of the forrest with golden hair saying everything is intelligent, nature is concious. It is an eyesoreand makes people look crazy. And he stays a flyer a "puer aeternus". Think of Jim Carey. He thinks he is Alan Watts with his new found wisdom but sounds like a fool. The book is really good. It goes into great detail. The chapter is called the road of ashes.
*Okay then* Drugs increase the intensity of what we are on the day (and may not understand or recognize, yet.) The strong, the powerful, the divine (or not so much) the flesh knows better than the spirit what the soul has eyes for... As a keen observer of the human animal: *Shoot I accidently pressed a button "send"* and I see this as "the warriors journey home" and tho I don't fully understand what it means to be one of these characters in the stories, I want to leave people better off than how I found them .The narrative of the "wildman" is acceptance and respect, to me. Of the male. And I love the male energy.
We all do the best with the hands that we are dealt. with what we are on the day (and may not understand or recognize, yet) The covert, the strong, the powerful, the missing piece, the divine (or not so much). The flesh knows better than the spirit what the soul has eyes for... As a keen observer of the human animal "the warriors journey home" and tho I don't fully understand what it means to be part of these triangular relationships, or what it means to feel being one of these "archetypes" in the stories. I leave people better off than how I found them. The narrative of the "wildman" is acceptance and respect, to me. Of the male. And helped me learn to understand and let it go with love. to leave people better off than how I found them....
