“He was a gaunt looking character, tall and thin. He had one of those long brown greatcoats like you see the defeated German troops wearing in the films as they retreat from Stalingrad. He had a sort of pilot hat with padded ear flaps, white arctic boots, and a rucksack on his back. I could only guess at his age.”

The ManKind Project runs intensive weekend trainings for men and supports peer-facilitated men’s groups. They have 750 men’s groups operating in the United States and in 26 countries around the world.

What we have lost, in particular, is the journey of soul initiation — a psycho-spiritual undertaking that connects us in the most profound way to both the Earth community and the source of our deepest humanity.

Alnoor Ladha interviews Francis Weller, a psychotherapist, writer and activist who pioneered the method of soul-centered psychotherapy.

Ritual initiation radically reshapes our sense of self. It is meant to break us open to the widest possible experience in identity.