Rose & Sword by Kieran Dowling
Sex, masculinity and spiritual life - examined honestly.
Essays, videos and practical guidance on masculinity, intimacy, relationships, Tantra and the search for a more grounded life.
17 years on the tantric path · More than 10 years teaching · Worked with dozens of couples and individuals · Author of two books
Start here
Where do you want to begin?
I want practical help
Guidance for men experiencing sexual pressure and anxiety, erection difficulties, finishing sooner than wanted, or a loss of sexual confidence.
I want to understand
Long-form essays on masculinity, relationships, Tantra, culture, identity and spiritual life.
I want to explore the books
Books examining society, identity, spiritual communities and life on the tantric path.
Men's Circle · September 2026 · Free
Four free Wednesday evenings for men this September
Testosterone. Sexual energy. The male body. Stress. Practical teaching, live practice and something to work on afterwards.
Come to one or all four.
Explore the Men's Circle →For men
Sexual confidence without performance theatre
Practical guidance on erection confidence, duration control, communication and the pressure that can make sex feel like a test.
The sword without the rose becomes brutality. The rose without the sword becomes weakness.
Rose & Sword explores what happens when strength and sensitivity, discipline and desire, reason and spiritual experience are allowed to exist together.
The work is rooted in long experience of Tantra, men's work, teaching and spiritual communities, but it is written for anyone interested in how we live, love, relate and make sense of ourselves.
Essays from Rose & Sword
Long-form writing on men, relationships, Tantra, culture and life inside spiritual communities. Explore writing on masculinity.
About Rose and Sword
Welcome to Rose and Sword
Rose and Sword is a long-form publication about masculinity, identity, culture, relationships and the search for a more conscious way to live.
15 July 2026 · 3 min read
Identity and Society
Man’s Search for Meaning
Four weeks in four very different parts of Italy became an unexpected study of purpose: where it flourishes, where it is traded away and why we need it.
7 July 2026 · 7 min read
About Kieran Dowling
Writer, teacher and long-term practitioner exploring men, intimacy, Tantra and spiritual life.
Kieran Dowling is a writer and teacher whose work explores tantra, masculinity, spiritual practice and life inside intentional communities.
He has followed the tantric path for seventeen years and has more than a decade of teaching experience. His work draws on lived experience, long-form research, interviews and direct engagement with the subjects he writes about.
He has taught and led workshops in London, Jamaica, Copenhagen, Bucharest, Helsinki and St Petersburg.
Books
Explore the books →
Kieran Dowling
TARA Inside Out
15 Years with the Black Sheep of Yoga
Fifteen years of practice, doubt, and initiation on the tantric path — an unflinching account of what the modern yoga world will not say aloud.
KIERAN DOWLING (WRITTEN UNDER PEN NAME SEBASTIAN LOPEZ)
Give Us
How we got so far from who we truly are (and how to get back)
A meditation on modern estrangement — the long road out of ourselves and the older map we can still follow home.
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