To raise healthy, self aware, Earth-conscious men, from boyhood, through adolescence into early adulthood. So that they may become mature men connected to their purpose and place.

Emotionally articulate.

Spiritually assured.

Embodying a balanced life held within both masculine and feminine forces of doing, giving, and receiving– sourcing their own power from within rather than from external gratification.

Directing that power to be a force for harmony, love, and beauty. Guided, in their desire for action, towards the protection of our Earth– the body of us all– and the betterment of humankind.

We recognize maturity as a function of human development; a development that charts a path from the primary consciousness that begins in identifying (and connecting to) the individual self, eventually giving way to an expanded sense of self that recognizes the interconnectivity of all things– all beings– serving this interconnectivity.

Maturation is not an inevitability. It takes work and care by those who’ve navigated those waters (and continue to do so). 

This path of awareness into the Self is a transformational journey. It isn’t learned in books. At desks. Through concepts. It is forged in lived experience, as hard as those experiences may be.

Through grief, through loss– of all forms– our heart grows to embrace the entirety of this world.

Raising boys in this way requires men– mature men– and the village. A village that is mostly absent in modern society. So we must re-weave our relationships to form a new village– one that isn’t as defined by geographical boundaries– but one that arises out of commonly directed purpose and intent. One that is interdependent. 

Raising boys to become men comes with some hard truths. 

• As parents we need to let them go. As children, they’re nurtured in our image. Our love is their love. The intrinsic umbilical cord of attachment is strong– and rightfully so. It’s our role as parents of infants, toddlers, children– to support them in a loving, safe garden so that they may be self-assured and solid in their body, psyche, and spirit.

• But as they approach the end of their childhood, and the onset of adolescence, our role must change. As mothers, in particular, we must make a conscious effort to let our boys become who they are Here to Become.

This means loosening those reigns of safety and protection. Let the Father, and other male guides show the way forward.

You might be quietly yearning for this for your son, but that last line initiates a feeling of grief. Where are the male guides to show the way forward? Who do I trust outside of my husband/partner to hold a wise, mature space for my son to discover his Soul? 

This is why we’re here. Not because we have all the answers, but because we’re willing to ask the questions. And we’re willing to take the time to do so.

• By raising men in this way, we all have to look in the mirror. And we might not like everything we see. Are we willing to acknowledge the unconscious programming impacting our parenting? 

The invitation for healing that this work initiates isn’t relegated to the boys doing the work– it involves us all– asking us to consider how we were raised, who we are, and where we’re going…through compassion and understanding. No more divisions. This work is here to unite us more deeply.

 To raise boys (and girls) we need full engagement from parents, grandparents, siblings, friends; along with recognition that we need to re-learn vital life skills that have receded from modern practice– that even as adults we have much to learn.

We need to revitalize our cultural norms to become more aligned with the natural cycles and micro-initiations that are continually present but often hidden from view. Living life in this way empowers us to step into life fully, as purpose-driven recipients of the gift of life itself. 

This isn’t achieved over a weekend workshop or a weeklong retreat. There is no magic pill to take that unlocks the renewal of the deeper relationship to self and life.

Instant gratification is a means for economies and technologies; not for real human growth.

Stepping into this work is a lifelong commitment. 

In the spirit of the warrior, we track our success over the trails of failure, disappointment, and loss. Deep soul work does not come easy.

And yet through hardship we will come to know love in its fullness. We will know peace. We will know ourselves.