Wild Goose Festival
Illuman spreads its wings.
Brothers,
I recently returned from representing Illuman at the Wild Goose Festival. This was my third Wild Goose. I had heard Richard Rohr talk about it in the past, and in 2018 on a whim, I decided to go. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the Wild Goose Festival. Joy Wallis, who is married to Jim Wallis of Sojourners, was a founder of the festival and explained how Richard was the inaugural keynote speaker in 2011. The Wild Goose Festival was inspired by the Greenbelt Festival in the UK which is in its 47th year. They describe themselves as where artistry meets activism, the secular meets the spiritual, and politics meets positivity. It is the same at Wild Goose: Spirit, Justice, Music & Art.
When I first attended in 2018 I felt very comfortable at the Goose. Conversations flowed easily for this introvert. It was a very safe place to show up and engage with like-minded humans. I was surprised by the number of men present, which is why I proposed that Illuman become a festival partner and secure a tent on "Main Street" to engage with festival goers and increase Illuman’s visibility. In a normal pre-pandemic year, upwards of 4000 people will attend the festival on a weekend in July. This year thanks to the Delta COVID variant, the festival was much more subdued at around 1500 attendees and postponed until September 2-5, yet we were still able to engage with many men familiar with Richard Rohr as well as some who were just curious about what we were up to. We had several conversations with women who wanted to know how they could engage with groups of men in their churches back home. Our Slim Jim swag attracted lots of hungry Goosers but was not as popular with the vegans.
Brad Pickel (Illuman Administrator) and I were co-creators in the Convo Hall on Friday and Saturday afternoon, a large tent filled with 12 round tables to engage in dialogue on a variety of topics, ours being on Integrative Male Spirituality. Each session, we introduced Illuman and our work, explored the male journey of descent, and engaged in a short period of council. On Friday, eleven men showed up to discuss male spirituality. Saturday eight men and three women did the same. One woman joined us because the table she was looking for was empty and we invited her to join us. She discovered a deeper understanding for her husband’s journey and was so glad for the chance encounter.
Illuman is hoping to be back at the Wild Goose Festival next July 14-17, 2022 to talk all things male spirituality. We hope to see you on Main Street. With 24 venues and numerous sessions throughout the day and cutting edge music on the main stage at night, you will find plenty of Spirit, Justice, Music, and Art to spark your imagination and engage your soul...
Soularize, the annual Illuman conference was going to be a hybrid event this October 21-24, both in-person in New Mexico and virtual. The decision has been made to transition to an all virtual event on October 23 and 24 because of the spread of the Delta COVID variant. Men are being asked to offer the full in-person registration fee of $375 to defray the lost income and cancellation expenses. Soularize is Illuman’s main revenue source...
We had an awesome turnout for our Wild and Wise online journaling retreat. Over 30 men registered to participate each Saturday afternoon in September. Regardless of whether you were able to attend, you can still order a copy of the Wild and Wise journal/ workbook.
As always, please stay in touch. Let me know what is happening in your life and what you would like to see happening at Ohio Illuman.
If you have any questions please contact me at connect@ohioilluman.org.
🔥 A-ho!
Chuck
📬 Chuck Rihm
Convener, Ohio Chapter of Illuman
