Wrestling with Patriarchy // What is Healthy Male Spirituality?
Date: May 13-15, 2022
COST: $135.00 per person
“What is the focus of this retreat?”
This retreat will explore how men have absorbed and incorporated the centuries old thinking and the cultural constructs and constraints of Patriarchy. We will try to see how this has affected our personality/ego and silenced our awareness of meaningful spirituality. We hope to break open our own inner anima, and get a glimpse of what real male spirituality looks like.
What to expect:
As we move away from the first anniversary of the attempted insurrection of January 6th, 2020, we should not fail to notice the greater majority of participant were male, men of every age level – angry men. We saw the enormous shadow energy that was generated that day – “What we don’t transform, we transfer.” If we are on an authentic spiritual journey, it is our duty to be ever more deeply awakened to our own shadows and understand where it may be leading us unaware. This retreat hopes to help with that exploration.
“Society, the world, is transformed by people who believe, who celebrate the presence of God, and who transform the world using symbols, gestures, and the old stories of belief and religion. The starting point is always in community.”
-RITES OF JUSTICE, by Megan McKenna
“Only when [humanity] feels [itself] responsible for the future can [we] have hope or despair, but when [humanity] thinks of [itself] as a passive victim of an extremely complex technological bureaucracy, [humanities] motivation falters and [it] starts drifting from one moment to the next, making life a long row of randomly chained incidents and accidents.” – THE WOUNDED HEALER, by Henri J. Nouwen
“One must face the fact that “good intentions” are only good as long as they are faithfully re-examined in light of new knowledge, and in the light of their fruit.” – CONJECTURES OF A GUILTY BYSTANDER, by Thomas Merton
“Who then, girds us and lead us to be transformed into loving human beings? Our loved ones, spouses, partners, and children, also our leaders and those marginalized by society who are also the instruments of our transformation–all lead us in certain aspects of our lives. Each one wraps us in the swaddling bands of commitment before taking us beyond our expectations of love to the path of greater and greater intimacy and gratitude.” – THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON, by Henrie J. M. Nouwen
“The universe not only has a profound space, but there is also a penetrating interrelationship among all its dimensions and aspects, a web of relationships, that can be described as organic, holistic, and ecological.” – THE HOLY WEB, by Cletus Wessel
Gathering Protocol Details
Safety Protocols
IN-MI Illuman Gathering Protocol Details – As of 03/17/22
In order to make this gathering as safe as possible for our participants, the Elders’ Council for Illuman of Indiana-Michigan has implemented the following protocols:
- Accomodations are dorm style rooms with bunk beds and include attached bathrooms.
- Participants are required to be fully vaccinated and must provide proof of vaccination when registering for the retreat or upon arrival at the retreat center.
- Wearing a mask is optional; however, masks will be available if you prefer to wear one.
- Registrants not feeling well are asked to stay home and upon request will receive a full refund.
We hope these protocols meet with your approval. They were established in an effort to create a reasonably safe gathering space for our first in-person retreat in over two years. They are also in place to reduce the risk of contracting something that you take back to your families and communities.
-The Elders’ Council for Illuman of Indiana-Michigan
The retreat leader:
Michael Whitman –
Weaver: Co-Convener for Illuman of Indiana-Michigan, Mike has been involved with the Illuman of Indiana-Michigan chapter in its earliest formation when it was still MALES of Indiana/Michigan. He has led retreats and been part of the leadership teams on other retreats in the chapter and in his many years working in faith formation and youth ministry. He choose this retreat topic from his growing awareness of both his white privilege and male privilege. He hopes he can both grow from this retreat and bring some experience and wisdom to use in it.
Ritual Elder: Mike Whitman will also function as the primary ritual elder for the retreat. He was designated the Ritual Elder for the chapter in its early formation.
