The note below is from a therapist I worked with and respect in the Washington, DC area who is involved in the men’s movement. This could be a good opportunity. There are way too few opportunities for men in our society to grow as men — and especially so when coming from gay, bisexual, and transgender backgrounds. Please consider it and pass along as appropriate. There is a weekend event in mid-October in Washington, DC and they hold events elsewhere around the country as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello, all: As most of you know, I have been involved with an international men’s organization, the Mankind Project, for the past several years. The Mankind Project runs personal growth weekends called New Warrior Training Adventures, based on the work of Carl Jung, Robert Bly, Robert Johnson, Robert Moore, and others–work on uncovering and facilitating “archetypal” masculine energies to allow men to step into their authentic power as men.
The weekend functions as an “initiation” into mature masculinity–an initiation that many theorists have noted is a missing element in the growth process of males in western culture. Through a series of exercises, workshops, periods of reflection, and play, men receive the basic tools they need to start showing up in their lives with integrity, accountable for their actions, and able to begin developing a vision for how they can make a difference in the world.
The NWTA weekend in this area, coming up in early October is a special weekend, a “Gateway” into the mankind project for gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning men–men who in our culture have frequently been DOUBLY blocked from being mentored into mature masculinity: blocked by the systemic pressures that keep our fathers from providing active mentoring to their sons; and blocked by a culture that tells them that who they are is always already NON-masculine–that they cannot have the gifts of masculine maturity: purpose; authenticity; balance of heart, mind, and body; integrity. The Mankind Project offers a way for ALL men to claim their rightful heritage as men.
If you have gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or ANY male clients or friends who you feel would benefit from an encounter with other men in a context of mentoring, support, and challenge, I invite you to direct them to the following links: http://mankindpride.com/
http://mankindproject.org/
http://mankindproject.org/
