Healing Ancestral Trauma through Nature, Ritual, and Community
When we heal our roots, we open up new possibilities for our future. –Thomas Hubl Ancestral Trauma Welcome to our investigation of ancestral trauma. We hold this as a sacred exploration of what often has no words. We trust in our human capacity to heal when given appropriate support and healthy relationship. Perhaps you are…
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 MoreReclaiming the Divine Masculine
For the longest time, patriarchal beliefs and proscribed gender roles have
discouraged men from learning to listen deeply and gently reflect. In the
last half of the century, we’ve seen a growing recognition of the
importance for each person to make their own their own spiritual
connection with the Divine – an energy that resides inside each of us and
in the natural world.
Diamond in the Rough: Wilderness and the Diamond Approach
Direct and intimate contact with the natural world is an ancient and profound
doorway to being. Our ancestors knew this, and we are rediscovering it. Curiosity,
experiential inquiry, mindfulness, simple ceremony, and group council open this
door wider and deepen this contact. This retreat is a chance to step outside your
familiar life, be nourished by nature, find the support of deep listening, and
discover renewal, guidance, and inspiration. Here, wilderness provides a
welcoming, accessible, and powerful way home.
CA Month-Long Training
*Pre-requite for this program is having completed a guided 3 or 4-day/night vision fast. Need not have been with the School of Lost Borders. For forty years the School of Lost Borders has offered a unique training for students, therapists, activists, teachers, community workers, and guides interested in deepening their understanding and experience in the…
Read MoreRites of Incorporation: Embodying the Vision and Living the Dream
This program is an invitation to all who have experienced a vision fast, had an idea, a dream, a life’s transition or may have a special event to mark or celebrate that longs to be embodied and lived out.
Read MoreWalking Into That Good Night: Exploring Our Relationship With Dying & Death
Physical death is the ultimate rite of passage that we are preparing for on some level throughout
our life. Sometimes this “preparing” looks like denial; sometimes sudden illness or life-threats
surprise us into looking squarely at the inevitable truth. The more consciously we can turn our
attention to our mortality, the more able we are to turn our life’s focus toward that which truly
matters to us during this one precious lifetime.
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.
Read MoreCA Men’s Vision Fast
The world is changing fast, and we must do our best to keep up. We now face unprecedented waves of transformation. The blossoming and decay of our modern ways is calling attention to fundamental questions about who we are and how we relate – to ourselves, each other, and the world we’re part of.
These questions illuminate a new and yet very old story about what it means to be a man. In these times – what does that mean? What are the inherited forms of masculinity that are calling out to be transformed? Healed? Loved? What are the gifts and the wounds that need to be grieved, praised, and renewed to truly honor and embody this shared identity of manhood?
Through this rite-of-passage we invite those who identify as Men to take a leap – to look deeply at our notions of manhood – and to enter the threshold with an empty belly and open heart. Alone and together we’ll embark on a shared journey towards finding integrity, towards finding ourselves and our community, and towards finding our yet-to-be written futures that are calling us to slow down and show up to embody the transformation these times are asking of us.
CA Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Storytelling and Listening
Telling one’s own story is an ancient art. Nowadays, we have forgotten how to listen and how to tell. Yet the very survival of our species depends on our ability to communicate with each other in such ways as to be mutually enriched by the telling and the listening. If we cannot tell with expression,…
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