About Us
Our Founder
“Every wound is a womb.” – Robert Bly
Mansal Denton is the founder of Sacred Hunting. Feeling wounded and insecure in early life, Mansal chased a woman to Europe, which led him to prison. Struggling with shame and confusion about being a man, he found his calling in the sacred art of hunting.
His passion was fostered and encouraged by his spiritual teacher, an elder named Will Taegel “Star Heart”. Over nine years of sweat lodges and council walks, Mansal grew wiser as a man and attracted friends who desired to hunt like him. From here, Sacred Hunting was born.
After five years and nearly 70 in-person experiences, Mansal has transitioned to a supportive role for the organization as other Leaders step up. He can be found joining sweat lodges during Beginner Immersions and leading adventure trips to places around the world.
Our Leaders
The leaders of Sacred Hunting offer a range of talents and skills beyond what Mansal provides alone. These men are the first seeds of a movement to spread this practice to more men and women.
Whether primitive skills, cultural contributions, wild foraging, or natural movement techniques, this group of Leaders infuses the organization with much-needed wisdom and brotherhood.
Our Tenets of Faith
Sacred Hunting is a 501(c)3 and federally recognized church. Our organization accepts and integrates all spiritual traditions without judgment. Please find our core tenets below.
- Earth is a living being. All life, animal, plant, and fungi, are sacred. They are worthy of our respect, care, protection, and love.
- All beings, humans, animals, plants, fungi, and rocks are connected and bound to each other. We cannot harm any part of Earth without harming ourselves.
- In Her wisdom, the Great Spirit created the sacrament of Psilocybe mushrooms and other plants for the teaching, healing, and empowerment of all. Humans, like many other species including dolphins, elephants, jaguars, etc., have evolved in relationship with these mind-altering, naturally-derived entheogens.
- Seeking a direct connection with food through hunting, gardening, raising livestock, and intimacy with those who engage in these practices is virtuous. “Wacekiye” means “prayer” in Lakota, literally “to claim relationship with” or “to seek connection to”.Â
- The Great Spirit is within each of us and we are within Great Spirit. This includes the laws of the universe and our intuition. Connecting with the Great Spirit is not done through scripture, but through personal feeling and experience, a feature of Eco-animism.Â
- As individuals, we are not above or better than any other human. We are not above the Earth; rather we are aspects of Earth’s being.
- Each individual’s relationship to Great Spirit is of a higher priority than one’s relationship to the Church. The Church facilitates and empowers individuals to foster their own relationship with the Great Spirit. The mountains, the oceans, the forests, the desert, and all creation are the pre-eminent teachers.
- Great Spirit flows through each individual. Our life’s work is to allow higher power to flow through us.
- Personal sacrifice that births larger consciousness is a pathway to gratitude, appreciation, and humility. Carried out with intentionality, such as in the case of fasting and abstinence, honors Great Spirit in self.
- Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Gautama Buddha, Buffalo Calf Woman were all wise people who found pathways to altered and elevated expanded states of consciousness.
Find Your Tribe Today.
Learn more about our programs and find the one best suited to you.