Thrive! - A Modern Path of Ritual and Ceremony

What would it take for you to feel truly alive? 

I mean really alive. Imagine the health and vitality of a wild animal. 

When was the last time you felt that alive? 

Don’t you owe it to yourself, your community, to the world you live in? You playing small doesn’t help anyone. Even you playing big often times is a way of hiding that deep hurt inside you that never seems to heal.

That’s why we created this course, to answer that question. How do we Thrive? How do we live with meaning? Fuck you Nietzsche. Life does have meaning. It is deep, rich and powerful beyond measure.

First we have to realize how stuck we are. Stop trying to do more of the same thing hoping for a different result. 

You’re not stuck. You’re just committed to certain patterns of behavior because they helped you in past. Now those behaviors have become more harmful than helpful. The reason why you can’t move forward is because you keep applying an old formula to a new level in your life. Change the formula, get a different result. – Emily Maroutian

Are you ready to change the formula? Are you sick and tired of the same pattern every day? The solution to this is embarrassingly simple.

We need a Thriving practice of Ritual and Ceremony.

Ritual and Ceremony has always been used as a way to connect us to Culture. Traditionally, culture has always been a process that connects people to themselves, to each other, and to nature. Culture is about connection. It’s about meeting the connection need that human beings have in relationship with themselves, others, and nature in such a way that it’s not just sustainable it’s a Thriving regenerative system that keeps going and is passed on to the next generations.

At this point in history we need a renewal of culture and the best way to do that is through Ritual and Ceremony. 

Ritual and Ceremony is about connection. We get so caught up in our own personal growth that we forget the only way we can really heal and grow is through connection. As Maslow said:

…self-actualization is not enough. Personal salvation and what is good for the person alone cannot be really understood in isolation. The good of other people must be invoked as well as the good for oneself. It is quite clear that purely inter-psychic individualist psychology without reference to other people and social conditions is not adequate. – Abraham Maslow

What is unique about Thrive! is how deep nature connection is integrated into our process of engaging in Ritual and Ceremony. Maslow gained a lot of his knowledge about his hierarchy of needs from the Blackfoot tribe of native Americans. The Blackfoot scholar Ryan Heavy Head said this about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs:

…the one thing that [Maslow] really missed was the Indigenous relationship to place. Without that, what he’s looking at as self-actualization doesn’t actually happen.

Thrive! is a 12-month program that uses self-directed learning to creating your own Ritual and Ceremony for the purpose of creating and maintaining real culture. 

Includes:

· Self-study: personal practices, ceremonies & rituals to do on your own

· Community Connection: 1/month facilitated group online gatherings

· Mentor Support: experienced guides for group guidance & reflections

How it works: 

· Self-study: Every month, before the full moon, you will receive your self-study packet with instructions for personal ceremony.  The packet will also include additional teachings, practices and prompts to develop and deepen your personal relationship with your own Sacredness, with the Earth, with Nature, with your Ancestors / Spirit / Creator.

· Community Connection & Mentor Support: It is up to you to do the practices, but you will not be alone on the journey. We’ll come together as a group (via Zoom) on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time for a check-in, sharing, listening, and Q&A with mentors.

Cost:

• Payment Plan: $155 x 12 months

Starts:

• Registration for the next cohort is OPEN NOW through October 16, 2024. 
• Ready to get started? You will receive your first self-study packet at time of registration so you can begin right away.
• The first group zoom meeting will be on Wednesday, October 16th at 5pm Pacific.
• Registration closes October 16th.

This  is a course created by Meghan Maiya & Mark Tollefson in order to  share practical wisdom that comes through direct experience of working  with ritual & ceremony rooted in earth-based spiritual practices.