Allow me to (re)introduce myself...

Before you click delete, let me explain why I'm in your inbox, and why that's a good thing! 😀

I’ve been pondering the idea that I ought to reintroduce myself to you, my readers gathered from two publications. Many of you came to me through the Substack formerly known as Contemplating Resonance, while the rest of you came from a very different looking Falken’s Labyrinth. And what most necessitates this reintroduction is that the place in which you now find yourself may feel quite foreign.

The landscape has changed.

Because I have changed.

Where to begin?

Introducing oneself can take many different forms. Browse the web and you’ll find a veritable smorgasbord of About Me pages providing a glimpse of the site’s human progenitor. Scroll social media, and you’ll find an endless supply of introductory posts tuned to please the almighty algorithm. Incantations offered to digital deity hoping it might deign to display them on a multitude of feeds.

Lists of likes and dislikes.

Philosophical pontifications about this or that.

Portrayals of people producing products, praying you’ll click BUY NOW.

Today I’ll offer you a little of this, a little of that, and a little special sauce all my own.

I’ve always struggled with introducing myself. I recall a writing assignment from my Honors 102 class at the University of Mississippi: write an essay entitled Who Am I? I didn’t have a fucking clue how to answer that question, especially as a 19-year old human more concerned with getting away with underaged drinking than in probing the depths their own identity. And so I took the easy way out. I let everyone else define me.

Paragraph after paragraph of, “to this person I am X.”

Rinse/repeat.

I have no memory of the grade I received.

Only the comment left by my professor: A Humian Appoach.

He was, of course, referring to David Hume (1711-1776): empiricist, skeptic, and naturalist of the Enlightenment era. Hume denied the idea that humans even possess a “self.” We’re quite literally just a bundle of sensory information connected by ideas, and so the only way to know anything is through direct experience.

To Hume, I can’t experience myself. Only others can experience me. And so the only way to define ME is through the eyes of the other.

What. Utter. Bullshit.

Like I said: I have changed.

So who am I?

Let’s dispense with the philosophy and find a cozy corner for casual conversation. We can plunge into the depths of Matt Stine without channeling the ideas of dead white dudes in wigs. But as a Mercury in Sagittarius, I reserve the right to take you the long way around.

Speaking of astrology, let’s begin with my Big Three:

• Sagittarius Sun

• Virgo Moon

• Virgo Rising

Why start there? Because astrology is the most powerful tool I currently possess to cut through the surface-level bullshit and dive into a person’s core essence. If astrology isn’t your bag, you probably ought to click Unsubscribe now. If you speak astrology, I bet you kinda feel like you know me. If you’re looking to learn, hang around, and I’ll be happy to help you with that.

So what is this place?

I’ve (re)created Falken’s Labyrinth to be a secure container where you feel safe enough and supported enough to explore your deepest fears, wounds, and vulnerabilities. I firmly believe that safety is the essential foundation for freedom, love, and justice to survive and thrive.

Within this container my aim is to offer writing, podcasting, group and private coaching, classes, and special events that will inspire your intellectual, emotional, and spiritual expansion. My ultimate goal is to support you in achieving personal fulfillment and making purposeful contributions to the cosmos.

Who is safe here?

Anyone who affirms the following:

I am an LGBTQIA2S+-affirming and multi-faith-affirming human. I am committed to social and environmental justice, including civil rights and dismantling systems of oppression like the Patriarchy, White Supremacy, and Christian Nationalism. I believe Black Lives Matter. I believe Trans and Non-Binary People exist and always have.

But why is it called Falken’s Labyrinth?

I’m a child of the Xennial generation, currently experiencing my 47th trip around the Sun. I played the early versions of The Oregon Trail on Apple ][e computers in elementary school. I used a touch-tone phone and a modem that could transmit only 120 characters per second to dial into other people’s computers. I logged on to the Internet years before most humans knew what the fuck it was. Xennials were around for the birth of dozens of life-redefining technologies, and we’re intimately familiar with what it was like before and after.

Falken’s Labyrinth itself, along with my social media handle, @falkensmage, are both products of my Xennial youth.

They are inspired by my favorite childhood movie, Wargames (1983). Its main character, David Lightman, is an underachieving high school student and hacker who both accidentally almost starts World War III and also triumphantly saves the planet from nuclear destruction. How? By teaching 1983’s idea of artificial intelligence the futility of nuclear war, leading to the computer’s famous last words, “Strange game. The Only Winning Move is Not to Play. How about a nice game of chess?”

Throughout the movie, David is guided by a reluctant mentor, Stephen Falken, the AI’s creator. While Falken initially focused on teaching the computer how to learn to play games, such as his eponymous “Falken’s Maze,” the U.S. Department of Defense ultimately co-opted his creation to simulate strategic approaches to warfare.

Like many popular films, Wargames follows the structure of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, more popularly known as the Hero’s Journey. As a student of myth and the archetypes of Carl Jung’s collective unconscious, I’m a pretty big fan of the Hero’s Journey (as well as Maureen Murdock’s brilliant feminine equivalent, The Heroine’s Journey), as it is also an effective model for understanding the transformative process that Jung called individuation.

My goal for Falken’s Labyrinth is to personally guide you on your personal hero(ine)’s journey to the center of your interior labyrinth.

Your journey into the labyrinth is a journey into your unconscious mind, a place where you’ll confront your inner Minotaur—the hidden fears, wounds, and untapped potential within your Shadow self.

Your journey into the labyrinth mirrors the process of spiritual transformation. It is not a straight line but a winding path filled with challenges, false starts, and revelations. My role is to provide you with an “Ariadnean thread”—a safe, structured path through this complex terrain.

Your journey into the labyrinth celebrates curiosity and childlike wonder. Just as personal computers unlocked new worlds for children of my Xennial generation, I’m inviting you to explore your inner world with both seriousness and playfulness.

And when we reach the center together, you will find and connect with your own true center, the Self.

What’s Next?

I have so much more I want to share with you, but this introduction has carried on long enough.

In the coming days I’ll tell you more about what’s been happening with me, what kind of content you can expect in your inbox (and on the podcast!), and all about my epic plans for Falken’s Labyrinth, including a newly-designed membership offering.

Stay tuned!

And stay resonant folks.

(Some things never change…)