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Men have lost half their friends in twenty years.
We’ve lost our rites of passage. We’ve forgotten how to grieve. And we only know who not to be—never who we actually are.
These aren’t separate problems. They’re symptoms of the same crisis: we’re all dragging around shells that no longer fit.
The pain of that misfit is real.
But what if that discomfort isn’t the problem? What if it’s the passage to transformation?
My guest today discovered this reframe through personal catastrophe. When life disrupted everything, he learned what Carl Jung, the pioneering depth psychologist, understood: the psyche is self-healing, but only if we stop resisting the current.
From that crucible emerged his concept of “sacred refusal”—the process of honoring what saved you, then setting it free. Like the hermit crab between shells, vulnerable and exposed, transformation demands we leave safety before finding our next home.
Dr. John Price is that therapist. His journey from touring musician to single fatherhood reshaped his understanding of human transformation. A Jungian psychotherapist, author of the forthcoming The Ten Gates, co-founder of The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences, and host of The Sacred Speaks podcast, John’s work bridges ancient wisdom with modern psychology—offering tools for shedding the adaptations that once saved us but now imprison us.
“You are not broken—you are being hollowed for something more enduring.”
- JOHN W. PRICE
Today, we discuss:
- Shadow Work & The “Little Teachers”
- Why Men Have Lost Half Their Friend
- Sacred Refusal & Shedding Old Shells
- The Mythology Crisis & Modern Masculinity
- From Rock Star to Single Dad Overnight
For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Peace + Plants,
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- Connect With John: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | The Center for the Healing Arts & Sciences IG | The Sacred Speaks Podcast IG
- YouTube: The Sacred Speaks Podcast
- The Center for the Healing Arts & Sciences
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Thank The Team: I do not do this alone. Send your love to Jason Camiolo for audio engineering, production, show notes and interstitial music; with additional audio engineering by Cale Curtis and additional music by Moby; Blake Curtis & Dan Drake for video, & editing; graphics by Jessica Miranda & Daniel Solis; portraits by Davy Greenberg, Grayson Wilder & Gizelle Peters; copywriting by Ben Pryor; and theme music by Tyler Piatt, Trapper Piatt & Hari Mathis.
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