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.
Youth Rites of Passage hosted by Illuman of Texas
When:
July 23, 2023 – July 29, 2023 all-day
Where:
South Fork, Colorado
YOUTH RITES OF PASSAGE For young men ages 14-16 and their fathers/guardians/etc. July 23-29, 2023 South Fork, Colorado The Youth[…]
Mirror, Mirror in the Wild – Texas JOI Retreat
When:
April 21, 2023 @ 6:00 pm – April 23, 2023 @ 3:00 pm
Where:
Ebert Ranch, 30700 RR385, Harper, TX 78631
MIRROR, MIRROR IN THE WILD A JOURNEY OF ILLUMINATION EVENT SPONSORED BY TEXAS CHAPTER OF ILLUMAN Facilitated by John Lew[…]
Illuman Town Hall: We Want to Show You Illuman’s Money
When:
March 14, 2023 @ 8:30 pm – 9:45 pm
Where:
Held virtually via Zoom, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9225123855
We Want To Show You Illuman’s Money, and How We’re Stewarding It How does Illuman steward my donations? How is[…]
Illuman Town Hall
When:
February 21, 2023 @ 8:30 pm – 9:45 pm
Where:
Held virtually via Zoom
Illuman is a broad community of thousands of men with many moving parts to our organization. To help increase the[…]
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.