SEPTEMBER 2022 BLOG – REFLECTIONS YARO

 

Dear Reader,

Recently, I was reflecting about the lack of men that want to learn about creativity, art, or therapy. Our GESTALT ART THERAPY CENTRE in Brisbane, has been conducting seminars and workshops related to art and mysticism, and the attending participants are all women. So, what is going on with men today? I am asking myself.

I decided to examine deeper this issue and found some interesting research and writings about men. Here is a quote from a proposal I wrote some years ago for a MEN PROJECT, and it was not accepted by the funding resources.

“During their childhood and adolescence, Men are more likely (than women), to suffer from slow mental and physical development. They experience more often a short attention span due to "hyperactivity", Schizoid difficulties, transient or chronic spasms, stuttering, functional enuresis, sleep walking, nightmares, autism, as well as persistent and specific developmental problems such as dyslexia.

As adults, men, make up a significant percentage of those who present personality disorders related to paranoia and compulsive antisocial behaviours.

Men suffer from alcoholism and drug abuse four times more than women; they also outnumber women three to one in areas of suicide and high-risk behaviour.

 It is also a well-documented fact that men do not go to seek help from a doctor as often as women do and do not attend workshops and seminars on creative subjects.

If we add the fact that men's work occupies a large proportion of their time, we come to the glaring conclusion that a large proportion of children are growing up without making any significant contact with their fathers. This frequent absence of a father as a masculine model for the young (particularly the male children) seem to explain certain behavioural difficulties connected with men's affirmation of their sexual identity. *

* H. O'Neil:  "Mental Health: Men, the forgotten group" Actualite, May 1988.

* Dr. H. Wallot. Parliamentary Commission on Mental Issues. Canada, 1988.

 

As I reflect about the article that is dated from 1988, I am still finding similar behaviours in men today. Meaning that men are not open to the mysteries of the ‘esoteric’ and mystical aspects of human beings as an alternative to self-abuse.

Michael Meade, my Mentor (see his bio below) is a very wise teacher that is now offering podcasts on the mythical mysteries and how important ancient stories and tales are for the resolving some of the difficult issues facing the world today. A world that is going into deep darkness as we observe the pandemics, wars, and political divisions, as well as the emerging authoritarian regimes.

I agree with Michael Meade that men need to enter a new path to healing of personal and collective road to initiation with Elders as Mentors enabling this process. He proposes three steps:

1.     SEPARATION. Separate from the everyday routines that create dis-ease. Separate from those that interfere healthy development. We do not need to become a monk in a cave or a recluse but take time alone when possible.

 

2.     THE ORDEAL. A descent into dark places either by choice or by life events. Many men are already feeling the ordeal of divorce, unemployment, current pandemic sufferings and mental disorders.

 

3.     THE RETURN. Those who have been challenged by life’s difficulties and learn from them and become resilient, will become the Elders and Mentors who help others cope and recover.

The question that arises in me is: WHERE ARE THE ELDERS TODAY? They are hard to find and even harder to find men who enter this ARCHETYPE of wise man. An Elder that is ready to guide younger men (even mature men) in the celebration of SPIRIT. An elder is a man who is totally aware of his inner self and is in touch with SOUL. This call to the Soul can be at any age but requires work that I call SOULCRAFT.

Perhaps the concept of an Elder/Mentor has become “old fashioned” as the young are mostly connected to the internet and learn from whatever is fed into it. However, no one can discard an Archetype, as this is an eternal phenomenon and can emerge again and again as it is called to be manifested and embodied.

Coming back to my earlier reflection, that men are not involved in any artistic or creative endeavours, like art therapy creative arts etc, I am realising that the COMING BACK for men is encouraging groups of men to become creative and learn to let go of the fear of being too weak.

So, this is my proposal:

To invite the MENS HEALTH AND WELLBEING organisation to develop art and creative events. The task is a simple one. At a Common Ground meeting bring a box of colour crayons, A4 white paper, distribute the materials to each man and (a calm music is also a good thing) ask the men to do a free drawing on the paper. No thinking, no planning, no skills needed and keep attention only whatever emerges from your heart.

Your Soul will rejoice and carry you into places of calm and creative work. This the work of developing creative imagination that is in much needed today. Here is where the Elder Archetype will connect to this imaginative work. Creativity is the ‘building block’ to wisdom.

 

Finally, I am quoting a poem by William Blake:

“Wisdom combined insight with experience

And Vision with Maturity as it expands vision

If not, Maturity becomes degeneration.”

Men initiation in 1988

 

Michael Meade bio:

Michael J. Meade D.H.L. (born 16 January 1944) is an American author, mythologist, storyteller, and was a figure in the Men's Movement of the 1980s. He continues to publish and teach to a broader audience, having distanced himself from the Men's Movement.

His essays have appeared in To Be A Man, Tending the Fire, Wingspan, Walking Swiftly, and The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart. The latter is an anthology of poetry, which he edited with Robert Bly and James Hillman. His book Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men was published in 1993 by HarperSanFrancisco. He is the author of the books The Water of Life, The World Behind the World, Fate and Destiny, the Two Agreements in Life, and Why the World Doesn't End, Tales of Renewal in Times of Change. He frequently contributes essays to Huffington Post,[2] and Sun Magazine. Meade uses story and mythology as a means of discovery for others to find their inner wisdom and inherent gifts, and he is among those interviewed in the documentary Mythic Journeys, focused on other leading figures as per above Robert Bly and James Hillman, and other leading figures of the Men’s Movement.

Web page: https://www.mosaicvoices.org/