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September 11th- 16th, 2012
28th Annual MN Men's Conference
Camp Miller, Sturgeon Lake
As the earth continues its natural upheavals, contemporary men struggle with disasters, social imbalances, persistent stresses, and the horror of multiple conflicts. A cultural wealth of old stories, rituals, companionship, artistic expressions and thoughtful questions would traditionally give men the clues for thriving in the darkness around us, which is deep.
For twenty-seven years men have gathered at The Minnesota Men’s Conferences to look for those clues and patterns as they strive to live with more purpose. Old folklore reminds us that the gifts of nature, in the feminine and the masculine, can bring heat and renewed joy into our lives. According to the Spanish poet Frederico García Lorca, something moist, dark and vital rises from the earth to provide great value for the soul.
Please join us this year as we make room at our table for the returning warrior, for the young man learning to struggle gracefully and for the refugee far from home. As we take nourishment and drink from the earth’s gifts let us share in the healing companionship of other men and search the cumulative experience of those who came before us to find sustenance for soulful living.
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This Year's Conference:
When the Waters Rise:
Men and the Work of Renewal
Gifted teachers will collaborate and celebrate this year. This year we welcome Dr. Edward Tick, Director of Soldier's Heart, a national not-for-profit working to heal the emotional, spiritual and moral wounds of war in our nation's veterans, their families and communities. John Lee will offer his profound insight into how we can navigate the trouble of regression and men's anger. Mythtellers Daniel Deardorff and Martin Shaw will join us together in a story. Malidoma Somé and Miguel Rivera, with their deep feeling for the indigenous world of nature and ritual, will help us stay connected to these primary sources of the masculine heart. Tom Gambell, with his compassionate, open-hearted Aikido, and Doug Von Koss, with his love song arrows, will engage us in two ancient expressions: the power of movement and the power of song. Timothy Young, Thomas R. Smith, and Jay Leeming will lead us through the forest of words to find our own poems of depth and praise. Robert Bly will hopefully be with us again reading new poems & old poems, and creating mischief as usual from his unique vantage of being an Elder.
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