Sacred Paths for Modern Men: A Wake Up Call from Your 12 Archetypes

by Dagonet Dewr

Roar
Rule
Laugh
Create
Destroy
Love

...And lay claim to your true masculine nature and spiritual heritage. According to Dagonet Dewr, a writer and activist in the men's pagan spirituality movement: "We have forgotten how to cry, to scream, to hunt, to love, to honor, to teach, to initiate." Hip, funny, and direct, this pagan belief guide explores twelve powerful male archetypes and their relevance for men today: Divine Child, Lover, Warrior, Trickster, Green Man, Guide, Craftsman, Magician, Destroyer, King, Healer, and Sacrificed One. Stories of characters from mythology, fantasy, and pop culture illustrate different expressions of masculine energy. With pagan rituals and magickal workings, this pagan book offers a visceral, hands-on way to connect with archetypal energies and honor male rites of passage such as coming of age, seeking a partner in love, or becoming a father.

Genres: Paganism, Spirituality, Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm coming at this as a nonbinary afab person who is tired of womb talk much like the author. (How surprising to agree in the intro how much is sucks to be misgendered!!)

So glad I picked this up, it gave me a lot to think about and was incredibly insightful. I feel myself leaning into a "guide" archetype and this helped clarify. This book is written with good humor and just overall divine

[OBERON · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall, i quite liked this book, but there’s definitely some spots that missed the mark.
so with the positives, i loved the archetypes that were laid out. each archetype has a clear keyword, as well as a clear pitfall that is laid out. it’s titled ‘for modern men’ but frankly is an interesting read for anyone. the way the author explores each archetype within the context of mythology was very fun, and the writing style is very lighthearted and easy. the sample ceremonies were insightful and drove home each definition of their respective archetypes. there was also a lot of focus on accountability, sensitivity, and tenderness surrounding manhood that, aside from a spiritual context, was pleasant to see.
now the negatives. there was so much talk of balls. like a lot of balls. i felt it was hypocritical to focus so much on genitalia. part of the author’s plight was feeling like traditional pagan circles focus on the womb and thus alienated (cis) men. within the same lens, there were a few things said that were very white, cishet male. there were moments where the author discussed his feelings of ‘oppression’ that, simply, was another white man complaining about oppression in a way that centered himself when, frankly, there’s little sympathy to be had through my lens as a minority. it’s not the author’s fault that he is working with the perspective he is given, but it is important to keep in mind who wrote the book when reading it.
there is also a section about how the cultural appropriation of white sage is bad, but all smoke cleansing in the book is referred to as smudging. so, there’s some tone deaf moments in this book for sure that are unfortunately common within most spirituality books.
all that being said, i am very glad i read this book, and i learned a lot from it.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no one book on becoming a post-patriarchal man. There is likewise no single volume on how do such a thing as a pagan. However, if you want a good place to start, and want to involve the wisdom of several hundred years in your beginning, Dewr's collation of stories and archetypes is the book you've been looking to read. Drawing from his personal tradition of Storyteller Wicca, Dewr lays out 12 archetypes, complete with ritual to affirm and seek the best parts of ourselves in the company of other men. He also has a wonderful bibliography to pillage.
Thinga to note - if a person who very openly loves a program that saved their life bothers you, skip this one. Dewr is a huge fan of the ManKind Project, and its sounds a wonderful program, but he does talk about it at length. Trigger warning no. 2, if you arent pagan, or are and are tired of everything being in terms of Wicca, skip this book. It's unapologetically pagan and wiccan (perhaps in that order).
And one last time, because I hate to end on a trigger warning - this is a great book. in actually contemplating trying to so some of the ritual in it, and think most men would benefit.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not pagan, but found this book to be a well-written, funny, and important source for men everywhere.

We now live in an era of humanity which is flooded with the energy of feminine empowerment. As a result, men often get overlooked or diminished. Sacred Paths illuminates the issue, and offers practical and proactive methods for men to empower themselves into becoming stronger and more reliable husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

This book makes the world a better place.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to Iron John: A Book About Men The workings were well written and I will go through them over time. Unfortunately, the Rituals of Affirmation almost all required a number of participants so they aren't suited to a solitary practitioner.

[Lukas Harley-Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men tend to push aside their spiritual development in favour of the toxicity they're told they should aspire to. This book put in simple words the way in which men can reawaken the divinity that is inside them. Whether pagan or not this is a good read for any man (or woman, or anyone else) who want to come into contact with the archetypes of sacred masculinity.

[Travis W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book overall. I think that my favorite parts were his personal stories and his interpretation of the myths. I think what kept me from giving this 4 stars was two fold. The first was that I found a lot of it to be very group focused in a way that is helpful if you (like the author) run or facilitate a group of at least 5 men, but not as helpful if you don't have access to a large group of pagan men near you. My second issue was that a lot of the sections around how the archetypes could be helpful in understanding/practicing were very short and introductory. For example, for a book with the Green Man on the cover, the actual section describing why this is important to men, how to foster it in your daily lives, ect was a scant few pages. And the rest of it was "Here is a similar ritual with said group of men (young, middle aged, elder, ect)" to deal with said issue. I think the book would be helpful for pagan groups of men to be sure. But as a solitary practitioner due to geographical concerns, it left me wanting more.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it mean to be a man? That is the basic question that this book answers. It gives far more than one answer. None of them are simple, and none of them agree with the modern beer commercial or other such corruptions of the modern idea of maleness. The author is a brilliant storyteller as he relates tales of old mythology to the struggles of modern men. This book gave me numerous pauses for thought and self-examination, and I will likely refer to it again and again for more spiritual thought and reflection.

[Matt Nielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is about to become a father of a son. It is well written and addresses many of the negative stereotypes that society has placed on manhood over the years. It provides methods for overcoming these stereotypes and gives great advice on how to be a better father, husband and man in our society.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book Goes through 12 Archetypal Figures of every Man: The Warrior, The Magician, The Destroyer, and the Sacrificed One, just to name a few. The author gives you some rituals for each Archetype, as well as relates stories from well known, and not well known Gods..

A great book for you to check out, if you are interested in getting in touch with your Sacred Masculine.