☀️4 seasons 🧭4 directions
Join a year-long cohort of men
- - - - - growing in trust, self-awareness, and spiritual wholeness- - - - -
a year-long paradigm-shifting certificate program of
belonging,
becoming,
and moving into
the beyond
Are you ready to invest a year to rediscover your strength, essence, and lovability?
Are you ready for the grand gesture of committing to a set-apart year to renew your vows to live as freely as possible, tethered only by love?
♥️For Western North Carolina♥️
The location for the Mystery School is purposely located in post-Helen, NC, less than 20 miles from Asheville, NC.
Being here is an investment in the steady rebuilding and recovery of Western NC people and lands.
We will gather every season at the majestic Sacred Waters Retreat, Marshall, NC.
📆 August 21-23, 2026 (tentatively)
📆 October 16-18, 2026
📆 2027 dates TBD
Collaborate with other intrepid men:
🍃 Four in-person immersions based on the four seasons
🏞️ A contemporary vision quest 24-hour solo experience in the wilderness
💻 online gatherings - drop in, check in, & go forth
🎯 Online training course
📓Fieldwork: experimental exercises to reconnect with life.
📚 Equipped with a thoughtfully curated bibliography of required and suggested readings designed to tap into your masculine wholeness
You will:
🥾 Live an adventure
🏘️ Experience genuine community
🙏🏿 Connect deeply
🪘 Drum
🕰️ Learn to live in the moment
⁉️ Be surprised
📜 Embrace your story
⛰️ Make direct contact with creation
🕯️ Experience potent practices and rituals
We will gather four times in one year, allowing the four seasons to serve as our compass.
Far from a linear approach, this is a circular path that honors the rhythms of life.
Here is what our year to grow will look like:
🔆 IMMERSION ONE - SUMMER
⬇️ Looking south at vitality, wildness, and belonging
▶️ Warrior & Wild Indigenous One archetypes
🍂 IMMERSION TWO - FALL
⬅️ Looking west at our shadows, the dark side of our lives, mystery, and soul.
▶️ Lover & Beloved archetypes
❄️ IMMERSION THREE - WINTER
⬆️ Looking north at wisdom, the stillness of winter, competence, and strength
▶️ King and Nurturing Generative Adult archetypes
✨ IMMERSION FOUR - SPRING
➡️ Looking east toward new beginnings, wonder, and vision
▶️ Innocent and Holy Fool archetypes
EXCLUSIVE TO WILD MAN MYSTERY SCHOOL MEMBERS:
➡️ Four Soul-Companionship mini-calls (20 minutes each) ($225 value)
➡️ Access to Wild Man Mystery Online Course (Over 5 hours of online training content)
➡️ In-person and online Wild Man Mystery gatherings
➡️ Monthly materials - including a thoughtfully curated bibliography for more profound journeying.
BONUS:
➡️ One volume of poetry ($15 value)
➡️ Four complimentary beautiful poetry prints
➡️ Discounted access to Men’s Estuary gatherings ($900 value)
🕊️ COVENANT
A promise among brothers to study, pray, share, and grow together for one year.
🏘️ COMMUNITY
Quarterly retreats in the woods to listen, discuss, and discern with others - bolstered with one-to-one peer-support
📿 CONTEMPLATION
A regular practice of silence and solitude
❤️🩹 COMPASSION
A regular practice of service to others
MEET YOUR GUIDES
Wild Man Mystery School is the latest evolution of a program Joel Blunk crafted in 2015, then known as Men 4 Directions, and later reimagined by Joel before his death (in 2025) as Sacred Circles.
For years, I (Matthew) have been longing to rebirth this life-changing encounter in the South, and with Joel’s blessing, and in deep respect and honor for our (Roy & Matthew’s) teacher, Joel, we offer this to you. This is our lineage.
Though Joel will not be there in the flesh, his creativity and fingerprints are all over Wild Man Mystery.
Roy Shirley is a licensed professional counselor and a Living School for Action and Contemplation graduate in Albuquerque, NM, with a certificate in Contemplative Spirituality from Oasis Ministries. Roy completed his initiator program work with Illuman in 2017.
He has led many retreats and workshops about understanding your unique story and for men’s topics related to male spirituality and their life journey.
Matthew Ray Lyda has been guiding men for more than a decade, is a certified Spiritual Director, Author, Retreat Leader, PSAP (Pastoral Sex Addiction Professional), husband of one, father of three, lover of lands, and average pickleball player.
He has lived in Bangladesh and India and is trained by IITAP (International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals) and Oasis Ministries. Matthew also serves as an initiator in Men's Rites of Passage work worldwide.
SPECIAL GUEST TEACHERS
💻 IN THE ONLINE COURSE
Glenn Siegel, M.D., facilitated personal transformation as a psychiatrist for over three decades, co-developing a unique treatment model based on Authenticity as the “curative” force. Although educated and trained traditionally, Glenn has become aware of the limitations of a medical system based on disease, diagnosis, and intervention at the expense of one’s inner resources and innate wholeness.
Now retired from psychiatric practice, Glenn has completed training as a Wild Mind nature-based guide through Animas Valley Institute. Glenn has been a wanderer, trekker, climber, musician, and poet, expanding conversation beyond human confines to embrace the language of the wild.
Dr. Craig S. Cashwell is a Professor in the Counselor Education program in the College of Education at Clemson. He is licensed as a Professional Counselor.
In 2011, Craig received Fellow status with the American Counseling Association. Craig has over 140 publications, including three books, and has received research awards from the American Counseling Association and the Mississippi Counseling Association.
The primary focus of his research is on the competent and ethical integration of client spirituality and religion into the counseling process.
exchanging outdated masculinity for something wilder
showing feelings is only for women
to sensing
only women depend on others
to friendship
a man takes care of himself without help from others
to inter-dependence
I am what I earn
to I am
keep your problems to yourself
to honesty
Choose your investment
Generosity Rate
$2,299
after December 1st, 2025
➡️ $1,999 ⬅️
If paid before December 1st, 2025
or $180 / month for 12 months 📆
For those who’d like to contribute to the wellness of others.
Resource Rate
$1999
after December 1st, 2025
➡️ $1,799 ⬅️
If paid before December 1st, 2025
or $160 / month for 12 months 📆
For those financially stable and have their basic needs met
Tuition is non-refundable, and cost includes: meals and lodging. Travel expenses are NOT included.
Community-Supported Rate
$1499
after December 1st, 2025
➡️ $1,299 ⬅️
If paid before December 1st, 2025
or $120 / month for 12 months 📆
For folks who have a financial hardship
In need of financial assistance? Reach out to matthew@recoverthewild.com
We are committed to ensuring that finances are not a barrier to this essential conversation.
Curious?
Schedule a free 20-minute call.
FAQs
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The gatherings are live 50-minute online meetings via Zoom, while the online training is an at-your-own-pace online course.
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There is one 50-minute online gathering between each in-person intensive.
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Fieldwork is the seasonal invitations that the guides offer each man to complete at their particular locale. This can include: time in nature, journaling, reading, and other experientials.
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This is not an easy answer, and The Wild Man Mystery School is not a lite ask either.
I (Matthew) can speak from my own experience. I completed the inspiring program for Wild Man Mystery (formerly known as M4D) while my children were 7, 5, and 3 years old.
My wife and I had to be really clear on expectations, why I was committing to this, and what my presence with the family would look like when I was back at home. Long story short, this utterly TRANSFORMED my fathering and husbanding EXPONENTIALLY for the better.
With that said, it is for each man (In consultation with their family) to discern their calling and capacity for such a “Grand Gesture” as this.
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Though it’d be difficult for Roy and I (Matthew) to answer this question for you, we can give you more questions to help you discern. (1) Do you long for deeper, more honest friendships with men? (2) Do you desire to love more, connect more, and be more present to your loved ones? (3) Are you in a time of transition? (4) Do you want guidance on the next steps in your life and on your journey? (5) Do you have the calling and capacity to go over-the-top in your journey of wholeness?
