Led by… Sparrow Hart, River Strong, Andrew Harvey, and others…

Nearly all men have the experience of being under-fathered, and consequently, over-mothered. We have grown up in our mother’s castle, and although we may have physically left, very few of us have really separated. Mother comes with us, standing between us and other men, projected onto women in our lives. Without love, guidance and teaching from fathers and elders, we struggle with how to become, and what it means to be a man.

Without fathers, elders to initiate us into a sacred sense of masculinity, to ground us in the spiritual and emotional life of men, we are confused about power. Having no positive, male mode of personal power, we react to the omnipresent feminine: we push it away, degrading and trying to dominate it in ourselves and in women; we submit, trying to become nice men, good boys. Overly passive or overly aggressive, men are often, at their core, lost. We vacillate, dependent, somehow needing to separate, unable to commit, unable to leave.

This training is for men who want to stand on their own ground, who want to see themselves in a masculine mirror, to find a sacred sense of the self outside our mother’s and women’s world. It is for men who wish to move beyond adolescence, to find our power through seeing our lives as a quest for vision.

Meeting one weekend a month for 8 months, beginning November 8, 2024, the group will enact a modern-day hero’s journey. Using depth psychology, ritual, initiatory activities and group processes, we will identify the mother-son conflict that lives in us, separating from adolescence, reaction and dependency. We will cross the threshold of the sacred, developing personal and male rituals to support and guide us through life, creating self-trust and a nurturing, healthy masculinity that can help heal ourselves, families, and communities.

This 8-month men’s training has three phases which mirror all traditional rites of passage:

FALL:  November 8-10 – December 6-8 — January 3-5…

Severance; the end of Summer; saying goodbye to our childhoods. We cut the cords that hold us to a little boy’s view of the world, and we give them a decent burial. With mythological guidance, through psychodrama, journaling, personal ritual, and other processes we discover the ways we’re still imprisoned by mother’s (and father’s) view of us; how those stories and wounds express themselves in our relationships and lives; and we sever from the old story and sense of ourselves as victim of that story. We begin our journey.

WINTER:  February 7-9 – March 7-9 — April 4-6…

Entering the sacred world; the journey within. In the winter we enter stillness, discover and nurture the life that sleeps under the ground — our true self under the surface of things. We journey to the underworld; search for and reclaim the lost self. Through holotropic breathwork, shamanic journeys, dreamwork, council and ritual we discover the wise ones who live within: our allies and guides. We encounter the grail, the seed of our vision, our bliss, and claim our special gift to give to “our people.” We explore the male mode of feeling, nurturing, and loving, and our personal connection to the mature male archetypes of Warrior, Lover, Magician, and King.

SPRING:   May 2-4 — May 30 – June 1…

Return; resurrection; rebirth. In spring we are birthed from the male womb into the world. In the company of other men, we affirm sacred masculinity; create and undergo a rite of passage; inhabit our “purpose circle” on the earth  and initiate ourselves into manhood. We encounter the feminine, in ourselves and in the world, from the foundation of a strong and loving masculine presence. Through wilderness solo, prayer lodge, ritual enactment and council circles we will affirm and strengthen our commitment to life: to generate, to guide, to bless and celebrate the giving of our gifts to our people.

The training will be held at Stumpsprouts Retreat Center in Hawley, MA. Fields, ponds, woodland streams, and stunning views adorn the area.

Sparrow Hart created the Mythic Warrior Training in 1994 and has led vision quests, workshops, and journeys of the soul across the U.S. for over 35 years. He is an author, counselor, and teaches courses and workshops on the hero’s journey, shamanism, nature and the spirit, and the path of the warrior. He founded and directed the Men’s Wisdom Council at the Rowe Conference Center for over 20 years and has been involved in the men’s movement for almost twice that.

The cost is $375 per weekend and includes Zoom calls between our gatherings to integrate the weekends lessons. We offer a 10% discount if you bring a friend/another man. Payment may be made monthly, but we require a commitment to the entire 8-month program. A deposit of $375 is required to reserve your space and will be applied to the final weekend. If special circumstances require an alternative payment plan, these may be negotiated on an individual basis. The weekends will begin on Friday evenings at 8 P.M., concluding early Sunday afternoons. Directions and further information will be sent upon enrollment.