The hunter is the mythic father who can deal an ax-blow, even to his own son, in the interest of awakening consciousness and stimulating the search for masculine maturity.  The story of The Hunter and His Son depicts the imagination of the son hunting for purpose in life by stepping into the tracks made by his father.  As we step into the tracks of our fathers, we encounter the differences in the expectations we hold and the inevitable wounding that results.

                                                            

            The half giantess is half personal mother, half inner mother, and half Great Mother.  Three halves make her whole.  That’s her style of math and humor and intentional shocking of logic. She only appears where a person needs to go, and she always appears when an important area of life is approached.  The story of The Half Giantess is an excursion toward the inner mother, the inner feminine, and the great mysteries of feminine figures in mythology.  As we engage these feminine entities, our relationship to the feminine becomes deliteralized and begins to move toward the psychological and the mythological.

            This retreat offers a place to find an emotional and truthful response to our experience so we do not have to pour all our emotional issues into one relationship or our families.  We will enter into the great feminine and masculine energies that have shaped our lives.  We will enter the territories of sorrow and anger so that they may be known and our emotional bodies may grow.  Through the stories of The Hunter and His Son and The Half Giantess, along with poetry, discussion, and spirited engagement, we will encounter and address the woundings we have experienced and the great blessings that can result.

TOM McGEE is a psychotherapist in private practice in Fentura.  He employs dream work, nature practices, wilderness experience, trauma work, focused attention, compassion, and a good deal of imagination in his work.  He spends as much time as possible at the beach and in the mountains.

RICHARD PALMER has been a counselor for the past twenty years.  His love of soul and his devotion to restoring the community of men has led Richard to become active in bringing initiation practices to the community.  He cofacilitated the most recent cycle of initiation in Ojai.  He is a poet, a lover of beauty and a fierce advocate for the impassioned life.  He has studied many forms of healing and brings his wisdom and experience to the mending of culture.

$295 for the weekend
Scholarships available

Please register by April 11

Directions and further instructions will be sent upon registration.

 Register for this Retreat

Workshop will be held from
6 PM Friday, April 25th to 12 noon, Sunday, April 27th, 2008

ACCOMMODATIONS:  This retreat will take place in a secluded campground near Ojai, CA.  Participants must bring a sleeping bag, tent, and any other accessories desired for camping.  Participants must also bring ready-to-eat breakfasts for Saturday and Sunday, lunch for Saturday, and snacks and water.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Written requests posted at least 15 days before the retreat are eligible for a full refund.  Requests made in less than 15 days before the retreat may be honored if the applicant’s spot is filled by another participant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR MFTs and LCSWs:

This course meets the qualifications for 15 hours of continuing education credit for MFTs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

 In this training you will learn through study of the four archetypes listed in this brochure:

• Group facilitation methods that elicit emotional responses

   

• Use of myth and story in addressing male/female relationships

   

• Use of story in understanding and conveying dynamics of male development

   

• Methods of understanding and working with couples in conflict

   

• Role of mentoring in male development

   

• Methods of accessing archetypal masculine and feminine energies in the service of emotional development in men

   

• Role of the feminine in promoting self-esteem in men

   

CEUs provided by BBS provider # PCE 3783,

Thomas McGee, L.C.S.W.

 Register for this Retreat

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Contact Tom McGee at 805-648-5574 or tommcgee@sbcglobal.net

Or Richard Palmer at 805-428-0393