kinhood book club

presents:

The Flowering Wand:
Rewilding Sacred Masculinity

by Sophie Strand

Join Kinhood for a 4-part interactive reading and discussion of
The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine
Together we will explore the book’s perspectives on masculinity through myth, folklore, religion and ecology, culminating in a conversation with the author, Sophie Strand.

4 sessions: 1/18, 2/1, 2/15 & 2/22 from 6-7:30pm PST
Open to people of all gender identities and expressions!
Book club is a free community event; donations are welcome and greatly appreciated.

“a deep exploration of the regenerative and magical secrets of sacred masculinity hidden in familiar myths both ancient and modern.”

Session 1: Wednesday, January 18th - 6-7:30pm PST
Welcome & Introduction to Kinhood Book Club

Session 2: Wednesday, February 1st - 6-7:30pm PST
Part I: Back to the Roots (chapters 1-15)

Session 3: Wednesday, February 15th - 6-7:30pm PST
Part II: Healing the Wound (chapters 16-33)

Session 4: Wednesday, February 22nd - 6-7:30pm PST
Reflection & Conversation with the Author, Sophie Strand

Kinhood Book Club is open to people of all gender identities and experiences.
This is a FREE community event; donations are welcome and greatly appreciated.

About the Book & Author

Long before the sword-wielding heroes of legend readily cut down forests, slaughtered the old deities, and vanquished their enemies, there were playful gods, animal-headed kings, mischievous lovers, trickster harpists, and vegetal magicians with flowering wands. As eco-feminist scholar Sophie Strand discovered, these wilder, more magical modes of the masculine have always been hidden in plain sight.

Sharing the culmination of eight years of research into myth, folklore, and the history of religion, Strand leads us back into the forgotten landscapes and hidden secrets of familiar myths, revealing the beautiful range of the divine masculine, including expressions of male friendship, male intimacy, and male creative collaboration. In discussing Dionysus and Osiris, Strand encourages us to think like an ecosystem instead of like an individual. She connects dying, vegetal gods to the virtuous cycle of composting and decay, highlighting the ways in which mushrooms can restore soil and heal polluted landscapes. Exploring esoteric Christianity, the author celebrates the Gnostic Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas, imagining the ecology that the Rabbi Yeshua would have actually been referencing in his nature-focused parables. Strand frees Tristan, Merlin, and the Grail legends from the bounds of Campbell’s hero’s journey and invites the masculine into more nuanced, complex ways of dealing with trauma, growth, and self-knowledge.

Strand reseeds our minds with new visions of male identity and shows how each of us, regardless of gender, can develop a matured ecological empathy and witness a blossoming of sacred masculine powers that are soft, curious, connective, and celebratory.

About kinhood

kinhood is a “men’s care” organization.
we are committed to growing the care that men experience, receive, and give.

we envisions a world where all people live beyond toxic masculinity, in liberated, nurturing and interdependent expressions of self and community. kinhood is a place for men to explore and become their most authentic and expressive selves.

kinhood is holding a wide and brilliant spectrum of what it means to be a man, and our community and offerings are for any person who carries experience or identity as a man.

frequently asked

  • Each session will be facilitated by one or more of the kinhood facilitation team. We will share a brief teaching before offering questions and prompts for you to discuss with others in breakout groups during our calls. We will close each call with a collective share from our smaller discussions.

    Self reflections will be sent out in between sessions for journaling at home. You will also be included in a book club group chat with all of the participants where you can connect in between calls to discuss in detail.

  • You are asked to purchase your own copy of the book prior to our first session and do your best to read all of the relevant chapters for each subsequent session.

  • Yes, please feel free to join us even if you can’t make it for every session or for the entirety of each session. That said, the more continuity we have between sessions the better the experience will be for you and others, so please try to make it to as much of the book club as possible.

    **Recordings of the live calls will not be available for book club**

  • Please purchase the book from a local, independent book store if possible rather than an online retailer. If you are able to, supporting BIPOC and women-owned book stores is highly encouraged.

  • kinhood book club us open to everyone! this includes people of all gender identities, experiences, and expressions. please come with awareness that you are entering a space dedicated to healing and wellness for men and all beings.

  • If you are able to, a contribution of $72 is suggested. That said, donation is not required and your presence is the best contribution you can make.

    Please give what feels right for you in this time. You can sign up without donation and make a contribution during or after book club if needed.