Ohio Illuman Monthly Update - January 2019

Brothers,

Welcome to another new year!
Ohio Illuman has a lot planned for you.

A busy 2019 begins with Men Writing for Change, Transforming Men: From Smoke To Fire on January 11th and 12th right outside Cincinnati in Milford, Ohio. This retreat is being led by our own Brian Mueller and Tom Sparough, both initiated men. Brian is a poet and employs writing as a tool of his spiritual practice. He will be helping to lead us in some writing exercises intended to liberate our own inner voices. Be sure to subscribe to his poem of the day. Tom is a performer and keynote artist known as the Space Painter. He has led many retreats over the years. I look forward to seeing many of you at our first event of the year. Last year’s retreat was very rewarding.
 
Ohio Illuman is not affiliated with Spirit Of The Enneagram January 28th and 29th near Cleveland in Garfield Heights. However I wanted to mention and support this event. Presenter Richard Groves worked with Fr. Richard Rohr in bringing and offering the Men’s Rites of Passage in Oregon many years ago.
 
Continuing on with the Enneagram theme, Ohio Illuman has invited Illuman administrator Brad Pickel to present The Enneagram: Nine Windows into One's Soul in Milford, Ohio, April 5th -7th at the Jesuit Spiritual Center. Brad shares, “The Enneagram is an invaluable tool to shine a light on the parts of our soul that are most neglected. . . . The two most important pieces of my spiritual journey have been my Men’s Rites of Passage and my ongoing study of the Enneagram.” A highlight of the retreat is gathering around movie clips with snacks, trying to identify each character’s Enneagram type. We will post more details and registration for this event in mid-January.
 
May 17th - 19th we will once again be partnering with Northern Ohio Men’s Spiritual Journey to offer a Men’s Interfaith Retreat at Our Lady of the Pines in Fremont. We had over 30 men at last year’s retreat. The drumming and art project were particular highlights for me. The working theme this year is Male Friendship. Please stay tuned for more information.
 
In July, our Young Men’s Rites of Passage returns to Dover, Ohio. The Crossings is 4 days/3 nights of formal male initiation for men ages 18-30. During the Crossings men are led through teachings and rituals from the mystery of Passover. Please consider sharing this event with the young men in your lives. We will also need elders to assist with the rites.
 
All of these events are in addition to the monthly gatherings in Cincinnati/Dayton, Belleville/Mansfield, Columbus, Akron, and Cleveland. Please visit our events pages online or on Facebook for meeting dates and locations.
 
If you can’t make it to any of the in-person gatherings, consider Virtual Council. Illuman’s Virtual Council uses an Internet video conferencing system (Zoom) to connect men with one another from anywhere in the world. These virtual Councils are conducted in much the same manner as in-person Councils: with an opportunity for some grounded contemplative time, some reflective readings or poetry, and some time wrestling together with challenging prompts. Typically the larger group is broken into smaller Councils of four to eight men, so that everyone has plenty of time to respond and be present to one another.
 
The last thing I'd like to mention this month is Illuman's focus on providing new opportunities for men of diverse backgrounds to get involved in our transformative work. To that end, Umbrales, a bilingual Men’s Rites of Passage, is being offered in Southern California May 29 –June 2. Please spread the word to any Spanish-speaking men about this opportunity!

Blessings & HO!!!
Chuck Rihm, Convener
Ohio Chapter of Illuman

MEET OTHER MEN COMMITTED TO BECOMING BETTER, MORE AUTHENTIC MEN.