The Hero's Journey for Men - July 22-28, 2012
Investment for the 2012 Journey is $1995.00
We invite you on a heroic journey;
into the wild with us;
into the wilderness of your own heart;
into your most vital and true self;
the living treasure of who you really are;
the treasure of your unique gift to the world.
In 2012, the Men's Hero's Journey Summer Intensive will also provide two specialty tracks. They have been created and designed to suit the needs that both younger and elder men face, as they turn toward the challenges that await them in today's turbulent and expectant world.
The general information provided on this page holds true for all participants of the Men’s Journey Intensive, which includes our specialty tracks. Click on each link below for more information on these two specialty tracks:
The Young Men's Journey - ages 17-22
The Elder's Journey - ages 60 and up
A Hero's Journey is an ageless and timeless immersion into the transformative currents of personal and planetary evolution. It calls us to leave behind the familiar horizons of home and habit and venture forth into the unknown. It calls us to the adventure of our one, true life.
Our work is inspired by the teachings of Joseph Campbell’s mythic scholarship along with leading-edge discoveries of human consciousness and evolutionary development. We follow a transformational paradigm that has guided the evolution of consciousness within every culture and tradition since the beginning of time.
The process begins with our heeding an inner call to a greater life; taking leave of home and letting go of what is familiar and known; crossing a threshold and courageously entering new terrain that hosts both our angels and our demons; encountering allies and inner resources precisely as we need the support; discovering life-renewing vision along with a source of love and power capable of bringing that vision into fruition; and finally, returning home to bring the gift of our journey alive for our self and our people. This is a remarkable, inevitable, and unforgettable passage.
You will be joined by other men of various ages and walks of life, from the US and abroad, who are seeking a life-altering adventure to support them through a significant transition in their relationship to their own personal lives and to life of the world.
What to expect…
Certainly, the unexpected. This is the only thing that we, or anyone else for that matter, can stand behind with an unconditional guarantee. You will see us allude to this posture of "expect nothing, but be ready for anything” in many places and in many ways throughout this website. We don’t offer this as a clever slogan but the necessary means for the human ego to transcend its childish demand for total control and uncompromising comfort. And so, from our spiritual perspective, we will take up the liberating attentiveness that is fostered by this discipline of open awareness.
Yet we also understand the need, on the physical level, for a certain amount of stability and information which enables us to purposefully enter the unknown.
Our base camp community…
We gather on an open mountaintop located in the heart of the Monongahela National Forest, next to Spruce Knob, the highest peak in West Virginia. We sleep under the darkest skies in the Eastern US, giving us a profoundly inspiring night sky to reflect upon each evening. The combination of breathtaking views, and deep wilderness forest, is an awe-inspiring mirror for our journey into the territory of our own hearts.
Much of our work happens within the varied living landscape of this very dynamic ecosystem which features impressive rock crags, expansive wildflower meadows, the secluded underworld of extensive cave systems, and the quiet solitude of verdant spruce forests. Indoor gatherings are held in a large and beautifully handcrafted wooden yurt.
You have the option of camping or making arrangements to stay in indoor dormitory style accommodations. Due to the rustic and isolated natural setting, cell phone service is not available and external distractions are kept to a bare minimum.
Our meals are carefully prepared by our own chef and cooking teams who will accommodate most dietary needs and restrictions. It is our intention that you be nourished and sustained physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. We live our Hero’s Journey, first, for our own healing, that we may offer our most vital and visionary self for the healing of the world.
An exceptional team of guides and a large community of returning support staff will help you clarify and energize your heroic journey in a way that serves your unique passage through this phase of your life and is likewise directed to enliven the whole of life.
Upon enrollment…
You will be given a detailed guide to help you prepare for your Hero’s Journey Intensive. This will include guidance to help you begin your journey at home, self-reflective questions and meditations, and suggested further reading. We will elicit a brief written reflection from you, focusing on four key preparatory questions, which you will send to us before your arrival on the mountain.
All physical and logistical concerns such as recommended clothing and equipment lists and travel information will also be addressed by the preparatory information.
We are not here on earth by accident but for a purpose, and whatever that purpose may be it demands from us the discovery of our own meaning, our own totality and identity.
A human being is born to set out on this quest, like a knight of Arthur’s court…
how terrible to think of not being the hero of one’s own life; this is the role for which each of us is cast, no matter how unsuccessfully we play it. And if the part seems too big,
if we picture the hero as being indeed "more than life sized”, it is because
our own daily life has dwindled, become less than real,
and only pygmy proportions seem natural to us.
- Dorothy Dooling
WE ARE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS
FOR THE JULY 2012 SUMMER INTENSIVE.
The investment for this week long intensive is $1995.00
Click here for enrollment information.
Click here to email us with specific questions,