Robert Bly writes that it is clear to men that the images of adult manhood given by popular culture are worn out, that a man can no longer depend on them. Iron John searches for a new vision of what a man is or could be, drawing on psychology, anthropology, mythology, folklore and legend. Robert Bly looks at the importance of the Wild Man (reminiscent of the Wild Woman in Women Who Run With the Wolves), who he compares to a Zen priest, a shaman or a woodman.'This ...

This bestseller is a new vision of what a man is or could be, drawing on psychology, anthropology, mythology, folklore and legend.**"Important. Timely and powerful." —**New York TimesRobert Bly writes that it is clear to men that the images of adult manhood given by popular culture are worn out—men can no longer depend on them. In Iron John , Robert Bly looks at the importance of the Wild Man (reminiscent of the Wild Woman in W...

Robert Bly looks beyond the individual psyche to the problems of our public life, explaining why we as a culture are so adrift. What he finds is an infantilized society in which the battle between youth and age has been won by youth. Bly argues that in the collapse of the old patriarchal world-view, we are becoming a world of "siblings" who do not look up to heroes, leaders, or God, but only sideways at an army of siblings like ourselves. Through the psychological lessons embedded in ancie...

Through poetry, music and storytelling, Robert Bly takes us on a thought provoking and entertaining journey captured by this extraordinary live audio program recorded at the Open Center in New York City. Bly says parents make it clear there are certain parts of us they don’t like, ’you’re too noisy’ … One image is to say we take that part and put it into a bag. Our independence and feeling goes into the bag, the bag is getting heavy and two miles long…You could say we spend our life until ...

Striking and moving poems that are rooted deep in the earthThe poems of Robert Bly are rooted deep in the earth. Snow and sunshine, barns and cornfields and cars on the empty nighttime roads, abandoned Minnesota lakes and the mood of America now—these are his materials. He sees and talks clearly: he uses no rhetoric nor mannered striving for effect, but instead the simple statement that in nine lines can embody a mood, reveal a profound truth, illuminate in an impo...

Robert Bly, renowned poet and author of the ground-breaking bestseller Iron John, mingles essay and verse in this profound work of mythology and Jungian psychology to explore the Shadow—the dark side of the human personality—and the importance of this inner work in confronting it.What happens when we ignore the parts of ourselves we’ve locked away?The Long Bag We Drag Behind Us: Discover Bly’s famous metaphor for the represse...

These broadcast quality archival recordings have been edited down into an amazing journey led by one of the great and entertaining American thinkers in recent history. Robert explores the poetry of Yeats and goes deep into his biography to help bring to light the inspirations of his great works. Part english/history lesson, part poetry reading and a deep exploration into the personality of men, this never before released program will be a treasure for long-time fans of Robert, fans of W.B....

Discover the profound and transformative journey of Robert Bly, an American poet, essayist, activist, and luminary of the mythopoetic men's movement. Known for his exploration of "Men and the Wound," Bly has astonished and enlightened audiences over the years with his mystical vision of the universe, where animals, plants, and objects stand as equals with humanity. As a voice of transcendentalism and meditative mysticism, each stage of Bly's work is marked by his unwavering dedication to t...

Robert Bly is a renowned poet and author known for his work on exploring the human shadow. Join us in listening to this handpicked compilation where Bly combines essays and verses to delve into the dark side of the human personality and the significance of confronting it. Bly discusses how individuals hide their human shadows differently in various situations and among different people, highlighting how societal expectations influence our behavior in different contexts. Hi...

In his numerous roles as groundbreaking poet, editor, translator, storyteller, and father of what he has called "the expressive men's movement," Bly remains one of the most hotly debated American artists of the past half century. In this new collection of poems, the National Book Award-winning poet explores the meaning of mature love in a sustained meditation on faithfulness, on the sustenance of intimacy, and on grief as the door to deep emotion.

A poet, translator and social theorist, Bly has published more than 30 collections of poetry, including The Light Around the Body (1967), which won a National Book Award, and most recently Stealing Sugar from the Castle: Selected Poems (2013). His honors include fellowships from Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as The Robert Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America.

During this talk, Iron John author Robert Bly gives a delicate and lively view of the fantastic flowering of feeling in 12th Century Provence. The feeling thought, developed from Arabic, Gnostic, and Albigensian sources, blossoms as love poetry famous at that time. In this recording, Bly distinguishes between the literal mode, the psychological mode, and the mythological mode, and locates the “Amor” or ecstatic love in the latter, which led to Sufism among the Arabs. Bly’s recitation of Pr...