A trilogy for men · Travis John Rankin

Plant the spear. Stay open.

Strength that doesn't harden. Love that doesn't collapse. Three short books for men who want to hold their ground without closing their heart.

Start with Book 1 Free 7-day practice
The problem

Many men know only two positions.

Control

Rigid, cold, immovable. He wins the argument and loses the person.

Collapse

Softer, smaller, easier to manage. He keeps the peace and loses himself.

The spear

A clear No without withdrawing his heart. He can stand in the fire without abandoning himself or the people he loves.

The books · read in order

Three questions. One spear.

PLANT THE SPEAR.
STAY OPEN.
THE MASCULINE ART OF HOLDING BOUNDARIES WITHOUT CLOSING THE HEART
TRAVIS JOHN RANKIN
Book 1Boundaries · relationship

Stay Open

Can I remain beside you without abandoning myself?

This is not a book about controlling women.

If that is what you came looking for, put it down.

This is a book about becoming trustworthy.

  • The Man Who Stands Nowhere
  • The First No ~ Selfishness
  • The Second No ~ Accommodation
  • The Third No ~ Devotion
  • The Container and the River
  • When the Feminine Tests the Walls
  • Standing Without Becoming a Wall
  • Receiving Her Truth
  • Refining the Stand
  • The Practice of the Spear
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PLANT THE SPEAR
WITHIN
THE MASCULINE ART OF SELF-GOVERNANCE WITHOUT SELF-VIOLENCE
TRAVIS JOHN RANKIN
Book 2Discipline · attention

Within

Can I remain with myself when my own impulses pull me away?

He says No to others.

But he cannot say No to distraction.

He plants the spear in relationship.

Yet within himself, it still moves with every wind.

  • The House Without a King
  • The Tyrant Within
  • The Accommodating Self
  • The Devotional No
  • Attention Is the Spear
  • The Seduction of the New
  • The Container of the Day
  • Discomfort at the Gate
  • One Clean Promise
  • The Directed Life
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PLANT THE SPEAR
BUILD THE WORLD
WHAT STRENGTH IS FOR
TRAVIS JOHN RANKIN
Book 3 · coming soonPartnership · building together

Build the World

Once we can both stand, what becomes possible between us?

A river needs banks, but the banks are not the river.

The spear is still planted.

But now there is water moving around it.

  • Two Whole Centres
  • The Gifts We Bring
  • Beyond the Old
  • The Third Thing
  • A Shared Direction
  • The Living Architecture
  • Conflict at the Forge
  • Power With
  • Building Through the Seasons
  • The Practice of Creation
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The complete trilogy · coming with Book 3

All three books. One volume.

Stand with her. Stand with yourself. Then build something worth standing for. Paperback, ebook and audiobook, read by the author.

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The author

Written by a man who builds gates.

Travis John Rankin is a blacksmith, metal artist and fabricator in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. He spends his days cutting, forging and welding steel into gates, screens and public art.

A gate is a boundary that opens. It has to be strong enough to hold and hung well enough to swing. That is the idea underneath all three books.

"I know something of building alone. I know the satisfaction of making a thing hold. I also know how easily competence becomes isolation."

Shop Wroughtenart Inc. Duncan, BC · Vancouver Island Custom gates, architectural metal, public art wroughtenart.com
Direct from the shop · numbered

The signed steel edition

The trilogy paperback, signed and numbered, with a spear bookmark laser-cut from steel in the author's shop. Made in small runs.

152.4 [6.00"] 12.7 Ø3.0 THRU PART: SPEAR BOOKMARK MATL: 16 GA MILD STEEL · QTY: 1 PER EDITION
ContentsSigned trilogy
BookmarkLaser-cut steel
RunNumbered
Made inDuncan, BC
Reserve a copy
Men's circles · coaches · retreats

For groups

Read it together. Trilogy packs come with a free facilitator guide: one practice per meeting, with questions for the circle.

Circle10

A small group or a single season of meetings.

Retreat25

A weekend retreat or a coaching cohort.

Organization50+

Programs, churches, therapists' offices.

Tell me about your group and I'll send pricing and shipping for your pack size. Signed copies and author visits, in person on Vancouver Island or by video, are available for larger orders.