Katabasis and the Wild Man

Robert Bly’s Iron John tells the story of a young prince who discovers his true power only after venturing into the wilderness with the Wild Man—a primal, untamed force of nature that represents deep masculine wisdom, raw strength, and unfiltered truth. This journey follows the pattern of katabasis, the hero’s descent into the underworld, symbolizing a confrontation with the unconscious and the transformative trials that strip away his former identity. Guided by Iron John, the boy leaves the safety of home, enters the wild, and faces challenges that force him to engage with his shadow self, raw masculinity, and buried aspects of his being. Only through this initiatory descent can he emerge reborn, stronger, and fully integrated as a mature man.

The boy is hesitant at first, unsure if he should trust this strange figure, this Wild Man… But the moment he steals back the key hidden beneath his mother’s pillow, his life changes forever. He follows Iron John into the unknown, shedding the expectations of the world and embracing the trials that forge him into a man.

I have lived this story. Not just metaphorically. I became the Wild Man myself.

The Call to Descent: Handing Over the Key

My “kingdom” was one of purpose… I was teaching, coaching, and shaping lives. I was living what I thought was my “dream” career… I was exactly where I was meant to be. But just as the boy in Iron John is raised in the safety of the palace, I, too, was unaware of the chains that held me.

The descent began subtly, insidiously. A woman I was seeing at the time planted the seed of doubt…that coaching and teaching weren’t “manly enough,” that I needed to be something else, something stronger, something different to be respected.

And I believed it. I handed over the key, letting external validation dictate my worth.

From that moment, I began to fall.

The Journey into the Depths: The Loss of Everything

Like the prince leaving his kingdom, I was stripped of everything I thought defined me.

• The relationship ended. I had sacrificed my purpose for someone who was never meant to be part of my journey.
• I lost my job. The one thing that gave me fulfillment and identity was gone.
• I became homeless. A man without direction, without foundation.
• I drowned in addiction. Drugs, alcohol—anything to numb the pain, to silence the shame, to forget the man I once was.

But the true wound, the one I had been carrying long before this fall, was betrayal.

I had felt it my entire life. My father was never there. His absence taught me that I had to prove my worth, that I had to earn my place in the world by being something I was not.

That’s why I let someone else tell me who I should be. That’s why I lost myself.

And so, I wandered in my own wilderness…

The Catalyst: The Psilocybin Journey and the Return of the Wild Man

In mythology, a descent often requires divine intervention—a vision, a mentor, a moment of revelation. Mine came in the form of an 18-gram psilocybin mushroom trip that shattered my reality and rebuilt it from the ground up.

I didn’t just see the Wild Man.

I became him.

During the trip, I traveled back in time… to my 8-year-old self, the boy who still believed in his dreams, who believed in his strength, before he let the world convince him he wasn’t enough.

And as the Wild Man, I stood before him.

I looked him in the eyes and showed him the future man he could become… if only he embraced his purpose, if only he stopped seeking approval, if only he set boundaries and went all in.

I told him:

“You were never meant to fit into their world. You were meant to create your own.”

I saw the doubt in his eyes. The fear. The hesitation.

And I told him:

“I know the pain you carry. But I promise you—if you trust yourself, if you stop running, if you embrace who you were always meant to be, you will become stronger than you ever imagined.”

And he believed me.

And so, for the first time in my life, I stole back the key. I now possessed the power to shape my life. To forgive. I was given permission by the only person you need permission from… YOURSELF.

The Ascent: Reclaiming My Power

From that moment on, I was no longer lost.

Like the prince who returns from the wilderness, I rose from my own ashes… this time, not as the man others wanted me to be, but as the man I was born to become.

• I got sober. No more numbing. No more running.
• I rebuilt my body and mind. Strength, discipline, and self-mastery became my foundation.
• I built a business. Not just for success, but to serve—to help others avoid the same descent I had faced.
• I stepped into leadership. Not because someone gave me permission, but because I had earned it through fire.

The Integration: Leading Men to Their True North

In Iron John, the prince doesn’t just return to the kingdom… he returns as a king, a man who has faced his darkness and emerged stronger.

That’s who I am today.

I now lead men at True North Men’s Development Retreats, guiding them to reclaim their strength, their purpose, their wildness.

I coach people in fitness, nutrition, and health protocols, helping them build not just stronger bodies, but stronger lives.

And most importantly, I’ve grown into the man I was always meant to be. A man who no longer hands over the key to his worth, who no longer seeks permission to lead, who no longer questions his purpose.

The Lesson: The Descent Was the Initiation

The young prince in Iron John had to leave the safety of the kingdom. He had to follow the Wild Man, to strip himself of illusions, to face hardship before he could become the man he was meant to be.

I had to lose everything to understand what truly mattered. My descent was painful, but it was necessary.

Katabasis isn’t about suffering. It’s an initiation.

A man who has never faced loss, who has never been tested in the fire, who has never stared into the abyss and chosen to rise anyway—he does not yet know his own power.

Now, I know mine.

And I use it to lead, to build, to serve.

For any man standing at the edge of his own descent, I am proof.

There is a way back up. But you have to fight for it.

Steal back the key.

Enter the wilderness.

And become the man you were meant to be.

-AN⚔️