In tending the woundings of power imbalance, we delve into the deeps of a Dionysian story*, of a god who was girl-faced, strangely dressed, who had the power of tree and the ambiguity to scramble any either/or, this/that binary.
In the words of Year 11 student, Beau:
Who are you God of the fruit that grows on the vines in the August month? Power over the deep green hills and the mighty twisting river, bringer of life to the land; What are your thoughts, your demands? Is it true that you bring the love and the passion, to heal the scars of man?
We contrasted images of Dionysus to the mythological Theseus, founder of Athens; of a worldview where masculinity is depicted and celebrated in the strength of slay and conquest.
Beau again:
Who are you God of the hunt, slaying beast and darkness? Can you taste the sweetness of your victory, do you feel powerful with your ring of pride? Or do you feel black on the inside now as you did before? Empty? What will quench your hunger man that moved mountains?
But what could restore, re-story, heal the impacts of power and privilege that underlie a patriarchal mythos still resonant in our times? How do we move from a closed fist to an outstretched hand; a gentle zephyr of a question inviting brave sharing, that tenders you, me and many? It may only be a fingernail scratch, but infested with fungi, it is doing its part to digest and decompose the power and privilege for some, that is based on the marginalizing and subjugation of others.
The last word goes to Beau.
I rewild you masculinity, I free you from the constraints of a fixed mindset, no more shall you be a bush of prickly thorns – a masculinity that lets no one near you. Yet a rose bush still, yes you have your thorns, even thorns serve their purpose. But you will be more, you will be beautiful and fragrant, lifting the lightning storm that shadows the sun. May you grow up and out, no more confined.
*Sophie Strand, The Flowering Wand, Rewilding the Sacred Masculine, chapter 14. Inner Traditions, 2022
Creative responses by Beau, Year 11
