Upcoming Events
A Father For Generation Alpha
A Transformative 9-Week Journey for Fathers and Soon-to-Be Fathers
Step into Fatherhood with wisdom, connection, and support.
Are you a new or soon-to-be Dad? Or do you know someone stepping into Fatherhood? Join us for a transformative 9-week online community for Fathers and soon-to-be Fathers, designed to meet you at this pivotal moment in your life.
The Journey Home to Our True Selves: Grow More by Losing More
Growth is about becoming more self-aware of the skins we are living in—protective outer layers which have been critical to our safety and survival up to a point—but which no longer serve us and in fact stand in the way of our leadership and growth.
Cultivating Community in a Time of Division
We live in an era marked by deep division and isolation. For many men, the call to live more authentically is met with few models and even fewer companions.
In this half-day gathering, we invite you to step away from the noise and enter a space of connection, reflection, and honest conversation. Together, we’ll explore what it means to cultivate community as men—especially in a culture that often asks us to go it alone.
Elders Rites of Passage
Join us at Johnsonburg Camp & Retreat Center in Johnsonburg, New Jersey for a five-day intensive that serves those beginning or already on the eldering journey.
47 - Midlife Crisis Passage
Are you feeling stuck, restless, or searching for “something more” in the middle years of life? Join 47 – Navigating the Midlife Passage, an online community for men navigating the challenges and opportunities of midlife.
Together, we’ll explore themes of renewal, purpose, and connection through the guidance of Norman Fischer’s Sailing Home and other wisdom traditions.
Recovery Monastery
Recovery Monastery is a 12-month, online cohort for men committed to long-term recovery and personal growth. Led by Matthew Lyda, long-time Illuman leader and ritual elder, this course invites men into a deeper, rewilded experience of recovery. Inspired by the rhythm and intention of traditional monastic life, this year-long experience offers structure, community, and sacred space for reflection, challenge, and restoration.
Pacific Northwest MROP
This immersive experience is set in the beautiful surroundings of Sky Camp Retreat Center, offering a tranquil space for introspection, growth, and connection with other men on the same journey. This is an opportunity to embrace vulnerability, release what no longer serves, and step into a renewed sense of life and belonging.
West Coast MROP
The West Coast Men's Rites of Passage (MROP) / Umbrales is a unique five-day ceremonial event designed for men ready for a significant life transition. Rooted in the Judeo-Christian Catholic tradition, this transformative experience integrates elements of ritual, reflection, and wilderness immersion to help men reconnect with their inner self and their journey.
Great Lakes MROP
Join us for the Men's Rites of Passage (MROP), a powerful five-day experience designed to guide men through a significant spiritual and personal transition. This immersive journey is ideal for men who are spiritually searching, have engaged in men’s inner work, and are open to transformation.
Participants should be prepared for physical challenges, including hiking, crawling, and fasting, and must have the mobility and health required for these activities.
Germany MROP
Dates: June 25-29, 2025
Location: A stunning wilderness region in northern Bavaria, Germany
Easily accessible by flight, train, or car
Contact for Inquiries: mrop25@maennerpfade.org
Ireland MROP
In today’s world of speed, distraction, and disconnection, many men never experience an intentional rite of passage. They move through life without being witnessed, without being challenged, without ever fully stepping into the depths of their own soul’s journey.
Australia MROP
The Men’s Rites of Passage (MROP) is a five-day, four-night experience grounded in the wisdom of ancient initiation. It is not a retreat, lecture, or workshop. It is a sacred threshold—a chance to awaken the soul and remember who you are.
Southwest MROP
For the first time, Illuman’s foundational Men's Rites of Passage (MROP) will be held in Oklahoma at St. Crispin’s Conference Center and Camp. Nestled in central Oklahoma’s rolling, wooded hills and featuring three pristine, spring-fed lakes, this scenic location offers the ideal backdrop for this life-changing spiritual journey.
The Prophet's Path: Evolution In The Male Jourey
At certain moments in a man’s life, the path forward is no longer clear, and the call to deeper wisdom becomes undeniable. The Prophet’s Path: Evolution in the Male Journey is an invitation to explore this liminal space—where growth, transformation, and surrender intersect.
First Rites Virginia 2025: Young Men Rising
First Rites: Young Men Rising is a three-day camping experience to guide boys through the essential and sacred transition from boyhood to adolescence. Grounded in the tradition of rites of passage and rooted in the belief that every young man deserves intentional moments of reflection, challenge, and belonging, this experience invites boys to step more fully into who they are becoming.
Youth Rites of Passage Michigan 2025: Drum Making with Dads or Mentors
In a world that often leaves young men to find their way alone, Youth Rites of Passage (YROP) offers a sacred invitation: a shared journey between a teenage boy and his father or mentor. This 24-hour experience is intentionally designed as a threshold moment—an opportunity to mark the movement from adolescence into deeper maturity through hands-on ritual, storytelling, reflection in nature, and the building of a ceremonial drum.
Awaken 2025
Not just a typical “conference,” Awaken incorporates the touchstones that make Illuman’s work unique: deep inner work featuring ritual, teaching, nature wanderings, poetry, drumming, song, small group Councils, and open time to just rest, recreate, and connect.
The Masculine and the Muse: Rediscovering Eros
What does it mean to be a man and rediscover the passion, romance, and creative power of Eros? How do we step beyond the routines of daily life, work, and relationships that may have left us feeling disconnected or uninspired?
In the Mouth of the Dragon, An Immersion into the Wilderness of Challenging Times
The dragon provides an image that draws us into the deep struggles we each must face at some point in our lives…of being thrust into the uncertainties of Liminal Space.
Watering Hole Event: A Journey with Dr. Randy Woodley
Join us as we enter the warmth of the spring season together with music, connection, and wisdom from nature. Led by CAC affiliate faculty, author, and Cherokee descendant, Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, this event invites us to learn how Indigenous values and lifeways offer profound guidance for living in harmony with the Earth.
Beyond The Armor: Personal Transformation Through The Narrative Enneagram
True transformation begins when we remove the armor that no longer serves us. Beyond The Armor is a retreat that invites men into deep self-exploration through the Narrative Enneagram, an approach that emphasizes learning through personal storytelling.
The Enneagram Journey of Self-Discovery
For those new to the Enneagram or just beginning their journey, this online retreat offers a guided exploration of the core characteristics and traits of each Enneagram type. The goal is to help participants gain clarity and confidence in identifying their dominant type and understanding how it shapes their personal and spiritual growth.
Holden Men’s Retreat Co-hosted by Illuman of WA
Theme–Integrating the Masculine: Welcoming Home the Loyal Soldier
What holds you back from living fully out of your own belovedness? What holds you back from loving the world in a bold and beautiful way?
Healing After the Split: A Workshop for Separated and Divorced Men
This program is designed to help separated and divorced men navigate the often painful and disorienting experience of loss. If you are feeling hurt, angry, or lonely, this workshop invites you to work with others on a similar path toward healing and renewal. You do not need to have attended Men’s Rites of Passage (MROP) to participate.
We will use spiritual practices and introspective tools to gently crack open the "hard nut of the ego" and let the light of healing in. Each session includes practices such as grounding, prayer, journaling, and shadow work.
Shadow Workshop: Exploring and Embracing the Shadow Within
Richard Rohr describes the Shadow as “the part of us that we do not want to see, our unacceptable self by reason of nature, nurture, and choice.” Barry Michels, co-author of The Tools, refers to it as "everything we don’t want to be but fear we are, represented in a single image. It’s called the Shadow because it follows us wherever we go."
This transformative workshop invites men to take the emotional risk of confronting their “inner yuck” and to begin developing a relationship with the Shadow.
Our Wild God: Exploring the Masculine Spiritual Journey
Join us for three transformative days at the Carmelite Spiritual Center in Darien, IL, from January 31 to February 2, 2025, as we embark on a journey to reconnect with our inherent masculinity and explore the four major masculine archetypes: King, Lover, Warrior, and Magician.
Watering Hole Event
Our brains are the most complicated objects in the known universe.
"The human brain has 100 million neurons, each neuron connected to 10,000 other neurons. Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe." – Michio Kaku
Join us for an evening of discovery and insight with acclaimed author Iain McGilchrist. Together, we’ll explore the marvels and mysteries of the brain—an extraordinary organ that guides us all forward.
The Ocean of God's Love: A Men's Writing Retreat Inspired by Rumi
You’re invited to join us for our annual writing retreat this coming January 10-12, 2025 at the Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning. At this year's in-person writing retreat, we will open our hearts to the words one of the most beloved poets of all time - Rumi!
Illuman Watering Hole Event – Dreamwork
Join us online for a free night of exploring our dreamworlds and remembering our Spiritual Guide Thomas Merton.
Elders At The Gate
Presented by Illuman NorCal but open to ALL, Elders at the Gate is a three-day virtual experience inviting men into deeper brotherhood with themselves, others, and the Spirit.
47 – Navigating the Midlife Passage
“47 – Navigating the Midlife Passage,” is an online community for men who are navigating the delicate time of midlife. We will use Norman Fischer’s work, Sailing Home, as our companion on the Journey, along with other Wisdom Guides, to help show us the way Home.
Practicing Presence: A Spiritual Intention (Online Workshop)
A 10-week online workshop beginning on Monday, October 7, 2024 thru December 9, 2024.
Awaken
Whether you are new to Illuman or not, you are invited to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of your brothers as we renew old bonds, build new friendships, and engage in this transformative process together.