Journey
Together
The Journey of Illumination involves five touchstones:
CENTERING
Show Up and Observe
Each day challenge yourself to make contact with your true Source, that which makes you come most alive.
GATHERING
Show Up, Share, and Listen
Regularly look for support and accountability with other committed brothers and listen to each other’s stories.
CONNECTING
Show Up and Practice
Find spiritual disciplines that keep your mind and heart open and connected, your body centered, and your emotions grounded.
RELEASING
Show Up and Let Go
Living in the present requires us to release the past and let go of ways that no longer serve us.
SERVING
Show Up and Act
Honor the earth and serve the whole human community. Find ways to positively impact your family, community, and world.
Ready to take the next step on your own personal Journey of Illumination? There are a number of ways to start:
- Be initiated into the Journey at a Men’s Rites of Passage – an immersive experience of ritual, story, nature, connection, and more to help awaken you to the adventure and mystery of your own life’s purpose.
- Already done your initial rites? Return to the MROP and go even deeper through the Initiator Program.
- Find supportive connection with fellow men at a local Illuman Council Circle or join one of our Virtual Councils or online Passion Circles.
Or continue below for blog posts, events, and book recommendations to help you along your Journey…
The Illuman blog has a host of inspirational content to encourage you on your Journey. Check out some of our latest posts below!
Upcoming Events
Illuman offers multiple events throughout the year, both online and through our local chapters, to help you deepen your spiritual journey. Take a look below or click here for our full calendar.
Everything is Holy Now: Alive to the Contemplative Path
When:
January 27, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – January 29, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Where:
Carmelite Spiritual Center, 8419 Bailey Road, Darien, IL 60561
Everything is Holy Now: Alive to the Contemplative Path “The key to life is finding the kernel of pure truth[…]
Watering Hole with Adam Bucko
When:
December 15, 2022 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Where:
Online via Zoom
lluman is pleased to present our December Watering Hole online event with Adam Bucko on Thursday, December 15, 7-8:30pm Eastern, exploring Bucko’s new[…]
Elders at the Gate
When:
December 2, 2022 @ 8:00 pm – December 4, 2022 @ 3:00 pm
Where:
Virtual
Elders at the Gate is a three-day virtual experience, built from the ground up on the collective wisdom and work[…]
Wild and Precious Life: A Men’s Writing Retreat Inspired by the Works of Mary Oliver
When:
January 6, 2023 @ 5:00 pm – January 8, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Where:
Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning, 4400 Shakertown Road, Beavercreek, OH, 45430
At this year’s in-person writing retreat, we will soak in the wisdom and beauty of the poetry of Mary Oliver.[…]
SPIRITUAL REFLECTION
Suggested Reading List
Bill Plotkin - Soulcraft
Richard Rohr - Adam’s Return
Henri Nouwen - The Return of the Prodigal Son
James Finley - Merton’s Palace of Nowhere
Richard Rohr - From Wild Man to Wise Man
Since 1980, depth psychologist Bill Plotkin has been guiding women and men into the wilderness—the redrock canyons and snow-crested mountains of the American West—but also into the wilds of the soul. He calls this work soulcraft.
Based on decades of work, travel, and experience, Rohr, a Franciscan brother and best-selling author, unearths the complexities of male spiritual maturation and helps us to understand the importance of male initiation rights in both culture and the church.
A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within where God has chosen to dwell.
This one door is the door of the Palace of Nowhere. It is the door of God. It is our very self, our true self called by God to perfect union with himself. And it is through this door we secretly enter in responding to the saving call to ‘Come with me to the Palace of Nowhere where all the many things are one.
From Wild Man to Wise Man is a revised and updated edition of Richard Rohr’s earlier best-seller, The Wild Man’s Journey: Reflections on Male Spirituality.