Posts by Lost Borders
18-Month Rite of Passage Ceremonial Immersion
No matter our ancestry, we are all a part of the lineage upon this living planet. And because of this it is in our bones to be called again and again to the land and into ceremony to “re-member” ourselves and be emboldened by the entreaties of our earthen communities. To play in discovery, to…
Read MorePaul Browde
Paul Browde M.D. (he/him/his) is a psychiatrist, a storyteller, and a relationship guide. He has been in practice for more than thirty years. He has trained in Hypnotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Paul has been profoundly affected by wilderness work and is excited to bring this exploration to groups of queer men. He is co-founder of…
Read MoreThe Four Directions of a Queer Man: Forgiveness, Apology & Reconciliation
Queer people don’t grow up as ourselves, we grow up playing a version of ourselves that sacrifices authenticity to minimise humiliation & prejudice. The massive task of our adult lives is to unpick which parts of ourselves are truly us & which parts we’ve created to protect us. —Alexander Leon epigraph in Last Call, by…
Read MoreYoung Adults Wilderness Rites of Passage – Dates TBD
Dates and other logistics for this program are to be determined. For all inquiries and interest: Please contact Siri Gunnarson at [email protected] Every summer the School of Lost Borders offers a wilderness rite of passage for young people ready to confirm their entry into adulthood. Nearly every culture on the planet shows evidence of a…
Read MoreDark Nature: Matrix of Initiatory Growth
Of all the shields of human nature, the dark or fall shield can be at once the most compelling and the most frightening. It calls on us continually to risk everything, to let go of what has come before, to step over the edge, to go where life is lived inwardly in the mansions of…
Read MoreThe Elder’s Journey: Four Shields of Eldering for Women
Throughout the ages, elder women have enjoyed sitting in circle to weave the rich tapestries of their stories, stories that continued to warm and inspire people across time and culture. What about us, now, in our time? As women in all stages of growing into our greater years, there is a growing passion and a…
Read MoreCA Summer Vision Fast
The modern day vision quest is a border crossing practice, an opportunity to reclaim our true place in the natural world. When one steps across the threshold and into the unknown wilderness, boundaries begin to dissolve and our vision begins to expand. The threshold place is a dreamscape, where we can hear, again, the voices…
Read MoreOpen Desert, Open Mind
Death Valley is a vast open space that stretches on for miles. Here the scale of desolate earth and expansive sky is something to behold. Jack Kornfield writes about the open mind in manner that might also describe this vast desert: “Clear, open, awake, without color or form, containing all things, yet not limited by…
Read MoreThe Great Ballcourt Initiation – Fall Fast
Death is the ultimate agent of transformation—be it a physical death or “the little deaths” encountered throughout life. Indigenous cultures developed rituals to aid and guide people through these stages of change and renewal, utilizing the power of death to enhance and intensify these experiences. For the Mayan people this ceremony was played out on…
Read MoreCO Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Story Telling and Listening
Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and pours through gray matter, into my heart: how can I not listen generously? ~Marilyn Nelson The shields of human nature turn…
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