Upcoming Events

Physical death is the ultimate rite of passage that we are preparing for on some level throughout our entire life. Sometimes this “preparing” looks like denial; sometimes sudden illness or life-threats surprise us into looking squarely at the inevitable truth. The more consciously we can turn our attention to our mortality, the more able we are to turn our life’s focus toward that which truly matters to us during this one precious lifetime.

The month-long intensive is designed for those who seek to explore and develop their vocation as wilderness guides within the tradition of School of Lost Borders. Participants are given the opportunity and mentorship to fully immerse themselves in the ceremonial and practical aspects of modern-day wilderness rites of passage that have evolved – and continues to evolve – throughout years of experimentation and practice, and have been passed down through the teaching of our elders.

The month-long intensive is designed for those who seek to explore and develop their vocation as wilderness guides within the tradition of the School of Lost Borders. Participants are given the opportunity and mentorship to fully immerse themselves in the ceremonial and practical aspects of modern-day wilderness rites of passage that have evolved – and continues to evolve – throughout years of experimentation and practice, and have been passed down through the teaching of our elders.

“If there were a measure of ‘mental health’, it would involve the ability of individuals to grow into the fullness of each season – that is, the ability to fully become, or enact, the contents of each shield.” – Steven Foster and Meredith Little

Death is the ultimate agent of transformation—be it a physical death or “the little deaths” encountered throughout life. Indigenous cultures developed rituals to aid and guide people through these stages of change and renewal, utilizing the power of death to enhance and intensify these experiences. For the Mayan people this ceremony was played out on the Great Ballcourt. The court, and the ritual game played upon it, were an enactment of the great transformations: from life to death, from the middleworld to the underworld, from humanity to divinity.

Like the waxing and waning of the moon, our inner essence is reflected in the creative forces of nature, in the continual movement of light and dark. Throughout the stages of our lives, we flow between the stages of birth, death and re-birth.