“Ritual is called for because our soul communicates things to us that the body translates as need, or want, or absence. So we enter into ritual in order to respond to the call of the soul.”
~ Malidoma Some
Short on time? Here are the 30-second basics…
WHAT: Ritual and Ceremony in Everyday Life is a four-part live experiential online course that invites men to bring more meaning into their life through learning to make the ordinary significant.
Many men do not know how to engage purposefully with moments in everyday life nor with the overarching key moments throughout the lifespan. Moments of meaning often occur without men recognizing that they are in such moments, and the chance for an enhanced life of connection, purpose, and vitality often slips by. This lack of awareness for how to engage intentionally can have dire consequences in how men feel about themselves, their life, their relationships, and their work in the world.
However, a life of meaning is your birthright. And ritual and ceremony can be a doorway to discovering your own meaningful existence. Through this course you will:
- Learn some historical context of ritual and ceremony
- Examine your own historical past and the how ritual and ceremony, or the lack of, impacted your choices, beliefs, and overall life path
- Reclaim some past moments of significance as a pathway to marking major moments for the rest of your life
- Develop awareness of and commitments to ritual practices in your everyday life
- Begin to build bridges to ceremonialize a life of meaning with your family, workplace, and communities
Through embodied practices and conversations with yourself and others, along with guidance from skilled facilitators, your inner wisdom, and the intuitive knowing of everyone present in the group, you will come alive or renew commitment to a life of meaning built each and every day.
WHEN: Classes will take place on:
- Class 1: Tuesday, March 9th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
- Class 2: Tuesday, March 16th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
- Class 3: Tuesday, March 23rd @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
- Class 4: Tuesday, March 30th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
WHERE: Live online via Zoom, a free video conferencing software. All classes will be recorded and available for you to watch on replay for up to 1 year.
WHO: This course is for any man who is
- Desiring more meaning in your life
- Looking for more depth of connection with yourself and others
- Ready to step into intention within everyday choices
- Longing to encounter major life moments with significance
This course will be taught by longtime ritual and ceremony guide, Jason Geoffrion, PhD, and transformation coach, John Harrington.
WHY: Everyday life often feels mundane. When each day is seemingly only filled with to-dos and distractions it is easy to find yourself barreling forward with your head down trying to ‘make it through.’ Days, weeks, months can pass by without the feeling of meaning and purpose.
Taking a stance for meaning in your everyday life is empowering. Learning to weave ritual and ceremony into your life can embolden everyday choices and milestone moments into life-giving actions. This regular awareness and embodiment of your life’s purpose can lead to a daily life that holds more peace, joy, and contentment for yourself and all those in your world.
COURSE INVESTMENT: $297
Includes shared class times, community engagement opportunities, materials for enhanced learning and growth between classes, and a free 30-minute individual coaching session with Jason or John.
Questions about the course?
Want more information? Read on…
The making of ritual has not come from religion as such but from the evolution of the human species,
an evolution that has both biological and cultural aspects.
This being so, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, and certainly unwise for human beings to attempt to
engage in social and political life,
or establish intimate relationships,
or educate the young,
or have a religious life,
or to make and enjoy artistic things
without also making and performing rituals.
Rituals belong to us, and we to them, as surely as do language and culture.
The human choice is not whether to ritualize but when, how, where, and why.
~ Tom Driver
Many people have lost sight of the quintessential questions of life –
Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?
Thus daily life often feels like repetition of moments that don’t get you anywhere or add up to a meaningful life. To feel as though everything is ‘up in the air’ or devoid of meaning can create stress, disconnect from self and others, general malaise, depression, anxiety, or many other distressing feelings and states of being.
It is not just you! Modern society is not constructed to hold ceremony with significance, nor is value highly placed on ritualization and meaning. While some societies and communities still have formal ceremonial traditions, these traditions are often rote actions void of meaning because the individual is so far removed from the historical understanding of its significance or the understanding of their impact on his life. The ceremonies that do remain in mainstream culture are largely maintained merely for the sake of tradition, which does not instill meaning and value for those involved.
For many men, the rituals that are left in society can feel oppressive, or at the least, lacking the attribution of significant meaning.
Moments like getting a driver’s license, being old enough to vote and go to war, graduating high school, marriage and divorce, job promotion and retirement, and so on, are all marked with societal ceremony to some degree. However, it is the depth of the ritual that instills meaning and significance, and because many of these moments are not held in true significance a pattern of mundane emerges. This leads to a life of disbelief that feels disconnected from self and others.
Some reasons for this disconnect is that most men have no one to ask the questions of, no examples to inform their choices, and no one to guide them into a self-defined life of meaning. For generations now humans have been so far removed from the idea of a self-defined meaningful life that it is no wonder they are disgusted and disgruntled with what does exist.
Conversely, when moments are infused with meaning rather than expectation and happenstance your life can suddenly feel like it has come alive!
Rituals are lenses through which to magnify the experience of something, a way of focusing and making more visible the important aspects of life, the reasons for being alive. Rituals and ceremonial markings infuse a sense of pride and empowerment in life. Ritualizing moments helps frame life into a celebratory existence and brings a lens of healthful challenge necessary for growth and development. The effects are an embodied wakefulness to your life that is rooted deep within your existence and presence during times of stability and times of transformation.
When you are in a ceremony, an event becomes something that transcends the bounds of normal daily life. This ‘sacred space’ embodies the symbolic internal world. In essence what is happening is an altering of a physiological sense of time, slowing it down by filling the moments with impressionistic events. This, in and of itself, is a primary way of bringing meaning to the mundane – extending instants and making them impressionable solidifies the moments in the cellular and cognizant memory.
Here in this liminal space you are able to be more present with your deeper self because you have a deeper relationship with the essence of, or seeming lack of, time. No longer does time just pass by. Sacred moments transports you out of the tedium and creates the room, and the time, for the spectacular.
This being awake to your own sacred moments can then allow for a profound attunement to the vitality and vibrance of others. Ritual and ceremony actually has a significant impact on the health of a family, workplace, and community. When others are enrolled in ritual and ceremony shared moments occur that transcend the bounds of normal daily life. Your attunement to a life of significance and meaning can help transform the pervasive disenchantment with the world that is present in others, and in turn create a shared existence of depth, wonder, and joy.
By exploring your inner world while expanding the ways you interact with your external world this course will help support you in developing and enhancing a life of meaning through ritual and ceremony.
You can have a profound impact on your own life,
your family and friends, your workplace, and your communities.
This impact begins with presencing yourself as a man who is awake to your life each and every day.
Course Curriculum
- This course will feature 4 x 2-hour online classes.
- The classes will happen live so that you can interact and engage with the course guides and other men.
- All classes will be recorded and available to watch on replay for 1 year.
- Journal prompts, readings, and other activities will be offered between classes to enhance your learning and growth.
Class 1: Introduction to Ritual and Ceremony
Tuesday, March 9th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
Class Guides: Jason Geoffrion & John Harrington
Guiding inquiry for this class: How does societal and familial histories with ritual and ceremony impact my identity and how I present myself in the world?
The course begins with an introduction to the concepts of ritual and ceremony. You will share about your call to be here, speak about your current life, and identify your desired outcomes for this course.
During this class you will be introduced to the basic tools that we will use throughout the course:
- Grounding meditations
- Large group councils/listening circles
- Embodiment practices
- Paired and small group sharing
We will also look at our basic practices and agreements for fostering a safe learning environment for all present:
- Group agreements
- Confidentiality
- Speaking from your own experience/ I statements
- Council and Deep Listening
We will then dive into the exploration of the concepts of ritual and ceremony, historical enactments of them in various settings and communities, and the personal and communal impact of ritual and ceremony, or the absence of them.
In the last portion of our class we will begin excavating your personal history with ritual. Through guided meditations and council we will entertain questions such as:
- What did ritual and ceremony look like in your household and community growing up?
- How did you relate to rituals in your childhood?
- What are some experiences with ritual or ceremony that impacted you deeply?
Class 2: Exploring Your Personal History with Ritual in Major Life Moments
Tuesday, March 16th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
Class Guides: Jason Geoffrion & John Harrington
Guiding inquiry for this class: How can I reclaim major life moments that weren’t ritualized in service of living a life of meaningful moments from this point forward?
During this class we will dive more extensively into your personal history with ritual, or the lack thereof. We will explore how your experience with ritual has influenced your belief system, actions, and view of yourself and the world.
Through a shared ritual process we will engage in a life review to remember or discover the presence or absence of ritual at key moments and in everyday life. We will then utilize these remembrances and discoveries to illuminate your current understanding of self.
We will entertain questions such as:
- What key moments in your development were ritualized?
- What moments were not?
- Were the ways moments were ritualized meaningful for you?
- With the wisdom you have now, what would have been helpful for you?
With this self-wisdom we will then turn our attention to beginning to explore how to create a meaningful life based on intention and connected to your purpose through everyday rituals.
Class 3: Ushering Ritual into your Present Everyday Life
Tuesday, March 23rd @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
Class Guides: Jason Geoffrion, John Harrington & Tom Daly
Guiding inquiry for this class: How can I ritualize everyday moments to bring more meaning to each day?
After developing a more realistic picture of your present self, you will be invited to begin to look at your desires for change or enhancement in various areas of your life. The goal of this class is to begin to build bridges between your past experiences with ritual and your current daily life. You will learn ways to sustainably bring ritual into your daily life, embrace and honor the significant moments, and live with more intention.
Through taking a closer examination of your past selves and how that informed your current choices and the patterns you enact, which might be largely void of daily moments that feel meaningful, you will learn ways to sustainably bring ritual into your daily life, embrace and honor the significant moments, and live with more intention.
We will look at concrete ways to consciously infuse ritual into your personal life, daily choices, self-care, relationships, and routine by asking questions such as:
- How do I awaken each day to a life of meaning?
- What areas/aspects of my life will I bring more intentionality to ritual?
- What daily practices do I already engage in that can be enhanced with more intention?
- What other practices do I want to add to my routine?
- How does my daily choices impact those around me?
Near the end of class you will be invited to identify ways you can begin to practice weaving ritual into your daily life in the coming week. You will be asked to try some things on and bring your experiences to our final class, to reinforce your commitments to yourself, and to weave the threads of personal ritual as service to communal attunement and the needs of your family and friends, workplaces, and communities.
Class 4: Living an Intentional Life for Yourself and Your Communities
Tuesday, March 30th @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm US Mountain Time
Class Guides: Jason Geoffrion & John Harrington
Guiding inquiry for this class: How can I extend my ritualized life in service of my family and friends, workplaces, and communities?
In this final class you will gain depth of understanding about the man you are becoming through this course. You will have the opportunity to review all the discoveries, internal shifts, and changes that came about throughout this course.
We will begin by exploring how opening to life of ritual and ceremony has already begun to impact your quality of life. You will share your personal experiences, triumphs, and challenges from the past week of intentional conscious everyday engagement. We will then complete the circle of self growth by forming some connections between your everyday ritualized life and your larger purpose in this lifetime. We will ask questions such as:
- What is my larger calling?
- What do I see my life expanding into over the next year? 7 years?
- How does my conscious life of ritual impact and influence my choices in the coming days/week/months/years?
From a larger understanding of your purpose and next steps, we will then turn our attention from individual enactments of ritual to the necessity of shared ceremonies in communal settings. We will look at concrete examples from all of our lives to help us all grow in our implementation of ritual and ceremony with others. You will look at concrete ways to help set up a future of ritualized living in your various circles of impact by entertaining questions such as:
- What daily practices can I enroll others in?
- What risks am I willing to take to invite ritual and ceremony with others?
- How can I co-create ritual with others?
- What support do I need to maintain these commitments to this way of being?
We will end our course with a shared communal ritual to embody all we have learned together and to infuse the spirit our shared commitments as strength for the next steps ahead.
Course Guides
Jason Geoffrion, PhD
As a guide, psychotherapist, teacher, and mental health counselor over the last 20 years Jason has felt a deep desire and hunger from men of all ages to have meaningful connection with themselves and others. And he has seen the dire ramifications when that connection is absent. Jason is actively working to create spaces for men to access their authentic selves, connect meaningfully with their families and communities, and discover their work in the world. He has served as Executive Director and facilitator for Men’s Leadership Alliance for 12 years, and is creator of the Holistic Leadership Training Program. His dissertation is entitled Defining a Masculine Self: A Phenomenological Study on the Impact of Men’s Retreats. Jason lives in Riverside, Colorado with his wife, Ellen and their daughter, Coraleigh.
John Harrington
John is a Transformational Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, and MLA Holistic Leader. He has a strong calling to be of service to people and the world. He has dedicated much of his life to personal growth, helping others on their own unique path, and deepening the connection within oneself, nature, and whatever one holds as sacred. John is known for his big heart and brings the intention to hold all that emerges in circle with love, compassion, and sacredness. He feels a foundational aspect to men’s work is “All of you is welcome here” and honoring each person’s experience. He invites each person to openly share with courage and witness the beauty that emerges in each of us through sitting together in circle. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Cristina.
Course Investment
The investment for this course is $297.
Your investment includes:
- 4 x 2-hour classes (a $100 value per class, a $400 total value)
- Access to a private Facebook group where you can ask questions and engage with your colleagues and course guide (priceless!)
- Reflective Prompts and other guidance between classes (a $150 value per class)
- A 30-minute individual coaching session during the course (a $75 value)
That’s over $625 of guidance, content, and community for only $297!
Questions about the Course?
