‘Iron John’ and The Mythopoetic Men’s Movement

The Mythopoetic Men's Movement was created by a group of Jungian psychologists, poets and mythologists in the early 1980s. Largely inspired by Robert Bly, Robert A. Johnson and Joseph Campbell, among others such as Marion Woodman, James Hillman and Michael Meade, they were influenced by Jungian concepts, and the use of myth to serve as ways for men to reconnect to the source of their true masculinity. 

The pivotal work was Bly's ‘Iron John: A Book About Men’ – an interpretation of the Brothers Grimm tale, ‘Iron Hans’ – which was published in 1990 and spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.   

Asher will take us through key themes in the story of iron John, discussing both the origins of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement and the emergence of a ‘second wave’ which is currently taking shape.