By Steve Hicken, on behalf of the community of Illuman men

We write to you today to ask you to contribute the financial support that Illuman requires to heal the masculine so we may authentically serve our families, communities, workplaces, and the earth itself.

Per oral tradition, the Vision which Illuman inherited from Fr. Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation was the dream that in five generations, men's rites of passage would become commonplace in our society. Thanks to Fr. Richard’s work and after nearly ten years of experience, Illuman is seeing an emerging vision that in five generations healthy masculinity will be commonplace in our society.

This is Illuman's emerging dream, which guides us now as we mold Illuman into a vessel, really an organism, in which men find belonging and from which they each draw focus, energy, and support for what is theirs to do. Let's remember that individually and collectively, we are all works in progress! As Illuman turns ten in 2022, we are learning that:

To respond to the needs and opportunities for nurturing healthy masculine transformation locally, regionally, and internationally, we can no longer be sustained by a strictly volunteer effort with one paid administrator and very modest contracted services. Our journey and aspirations have outgrown that container. We will need to build more paid services to achieve this vision. Examples include:

Healthy masculinity must replace toxic masculinity, which, to a large extent, is responsible for present political, environmental, cultural, and economic crises.

This is the dream and vision that energizes Illuman. Does this dream resonate within you? Will you financially support the dream? The money needed to do this work is simply a concentrated ingredient to bring about change. It is just one part of the collective input required— though without it, we aren't going to get where we want to go.

We hope you can join us in this great work! See below for how to do that.

In gratitude and solidarity,

Join Us for These Upcoming Illuman Events

Masked and UnMasked

We have been through a lot these last 20+ months and have been challenged in a variety of ways. This retreat will give us an opportunity to finally meet in person, unpackage our experiences, look into our hearts and discover lessons that are waiting to be revealed. We will explore multiple understandings for what it means to wear a mask and what it might mean to take our mask(s) off.

“Spiritual maturity is to become aware that we are not the persona (mask) we have been presenting to others. That is why saints are humble and scoundrels are arrogant. We must become intentional about recognizing and embracing our shadows. Religion’s word for this is quite simply forgiveness, which is pivotal and central on the path of transformation.” -Richard Rohr

(held virtually on Zoom)

Illuman is dedicated to helping men on a spiritual journey. That quest is what this writing retreat is about. What are the myths that are guiding your journey? We will draw some of our inspiration from the work of author and storyteller Michael Meade.

You don't have to think of yourself as a poet to greatly benefit from this Illuman writing retreat. The weekend is open to men of all writing experiences—from complete novice to published author. We mainly focus on free-verse, open-form poetry. You won't have to worry about rhyming, cadence, nor other aspects of some classical poetry.

This will be the fifth year for the writing retreat sponsored by Ohio Illuman. No past attendance or special writing experience is necessary. We are thrilled to invite men from around the world to join us in this reflective writing journey as we gather virtually to share our real-life mythic experiences.

In this year-long discussion of Matthew Fox’s book The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, we will explore ancient and new masculine images that allow men breathing room to be our best and deepest selves; our wild and fierce selves; our gentle and loving selves; our soaring and mystical selves; our prophetic, sharing, earth-loving, cosmic, and expansive selves; our generative, creative, compassionate, fatherly, and wise selves; our gay, straight, bi, pan, or asexual selves. In short, our true selves….

M.A.L.E. ANON

(held virtually on Zoom)

M.A.L.E. ANON is a fellowship of men who share their experience, strength, and hope in order to find spiritual solutions to their common problems. It is open to all men of any description, any background. Anybody who identifies as a male is welcomed, including those in transition. Men in M.A.L.E. ANON gain great relief from attending meetings and great recovery from working the 12 Steps. Therefore, attending meetings and working the steps are essential to our program. We believe that the 12 Steps offer a blueprint for becoming better human beings and better men and that changed attitudes can aid recovery.

Visit our online shop and pick up an item to show your support of Illuman!🎗

Be sure to visit Illuman's Online Shop where you can order t-shirts, hats and other Illuman logo items. Every purchase helps support our work!

Illuman is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose vision is to see men transforming men and, through them, families and communities for generations to come. Our mission is to engage those seeking a life-long journey of spiritual transformation.