The Great Ballcourt Initiation – Spring 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 More18-Month Rite of Passage Ceremonial Immersion
There is one place left in this round, plus a few last spots for the next upcoming 18-Month Ceremonial Immersion (beginning August 2022), please visit this link. 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…
Read MoreCA Men’s Vision Fast (Postponed until 2022)
The mystery is calling! The Sun is rising and illuminating a new and yet very ancient story about the value and worth of what it means to be a man. Perhaps now more than ever — or perhaps now just as ever before — it is critical that men look deeply at our notions of…
Read MoreYoung Adults Wilderness Rites of Passage
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 ceremonial marking of the passage from youth to adulthood, undertaken consciously and witnessed by the community. Without such acknowledgement how do young…
Read MoreThe Four Shields of Wholeness for Women
Patrilinear hierarchical systems have pushed life on earth to the edge of social and ecological sustainability. As women we feel the pain of the global crisis resonating in our bodies and personal lives, as well as in the lives of our communities. At the same time, the ancient evolutionary imperative to remember wholeness, to move…
Read MoreCO Two Week Training
The two week training offers the participant an immersion into the vision fast ceremony, including the beginning skills necessary to lead it and an understanding of how the principles of the vision fast can be applied to a profession, community, or client. Trainees are encouraged to learn the form, the process, and then give it…
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 MoreTransforming Ancestral Trauma through Nature, Ritual, and Community
This program provides an opportunity to consciously explore how the shadows of the past remain undigested in our personal and collective lives. To what degree are we aware of their impact on our present day experiences? How does our behavior reflect some trauma or dysfunction from the past? What resilience and wisdom have we inherited…
Read MoreThe Great Ballcourt Initiation – Spring Fast (Postponed until 2022)
The Ballcourt ceremony is considered an “advanced program” in the Practice of Living & Dying (PLD) and is the only one in the series that has a prerequisite. We ask that people have already completed a full-length PLD course, or that they have already done a 3-day or 4-day solo wilderness fast.
Read MoreDiamond in the Rough: Wilderness and the Diamond Approach
Intimate and direct contact with the natural world is an ancient, direct, and profound doorway to being. Our ancestors knew this, and we are rediscovering it. Curiosity, experiential inquiry, mindfulness, simple ceremony, and group council open the door wider and deepen this contact. This retreat is a chance to step outside your familiar life, be…
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