PATTERNS
OF INITIATION
An 8-Week Online Course for Men Charting the Architecture
of Male Initiation
RECOVER THE LANGUAGE OF INITIATION
Learn an ancient framework for understanding challenge, growth, and the making of mature men.
CONNECT WITH OTHER LEADERS
Join a community of thoughtful men committed to intellectual rigour, honest conversation, and the work of becoming trustworthy leaders.
CULTIVATE IMPECCABLE SPEECH
Develop clearer thinking, richer language, and the ability to speak with precision and weight.
MYTHS AS MAPS & MENTORS
Learn the enduring stories that illuminate the inner landscape of initiation and provide orientation through life's most demanding seasons.
RESTORE RITUAL TO EVERYDAY LIFE
Discover why ritual has always accompanied life's great thresholds, and learn simple practices that bring greater intention to modern life.
LEARN THE STAGES OF
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
Learn to identify the stages of the hero's journey in your own life and use them to better support other men through periods of change.
COURSE OVERVIEW
THE STAGES OF INITIATION is an eight-week study group for men who want to understand the architecture of initiation and the recurring cycles that shape a man's life. Through the great myths, poetry, philosophy, reflective writing, and conversation, you will develop the capacity to see your life mythologically rather than merely psychologically. Whether you are seeking greater clarity in your own life or already work as a mentor, coach, therapist, wilderness guide, or facilitator, this course will equip you with a practical framework for understanding the arc of initiation that has been used for millennia—both in yourself and in the men you accompany.
It is, above all, an apprenticeship in becoming a man who can recognise the deeper patterns of transformation, help others navigate them, and build a life of integrity within his family and community.
MODULES
week 1
INTRODUCTION
We begin by exploring initiation, the structure of the Hero's Journey, and the role of myth in human life. Together we'll examine the four communities every initiate needs—living mentors, ancestral voices, mythic stories, and the more-than-human world—while cultivating the qualities of apprenticeship: humility, sincerity, and deep attention.
week 2
LIVING THE QUESTION
Every genuine journey begins with a question. We explore the call to adventure, the relationship between soul and character, fate and destiny, and what it means to live in service to a deeper vocation. We will turn to several stories to elucidate the archetypal force of the calling that influences and disrupts all our lives, and leads us towards the path our souls would have us live.
week 3
SORTING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF
Not every invitation is our calling, and not everything that appears benevolent means us well. How do we then sort the wheat from the chaff? This week explores discernment, the refusal of the call, true and false mentors, and the thresholds that separate one stage of life from another. An old idea suggests that the male psyche only begins to mature when it comes into relationship with the art of appropriate sacrifice.
week 4
WHEN THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD
The early excitement of the journey gives way to the work of apprenticeship. We explore the tests, allies, enemies, and resistances that shape every initiate, and
despite our best intentions, what it means to come into relationship with consequence, limitation, and transgression. How then do we proceed when things don't go as intended?
week 5
THE UNDERWORLD DESCENT
All human lives will eventually encounter the underworld initiatory forces of loss, failure, grief, and uncertainty. Though these encounters are inevitable experiences, they do not guarantee maturation of the male psyche. We will turn to the Underworld of Greek myth to discover a particular etiquette that must be paid, so that these encounters become regenerative without pulling men into cynicism.
week 6
THE RETURN
The return phase of the initiatory cycle is the most perilous, the most difficult, and often never completed. In the same way we refuse the call to adventure, and require a meeting with the mentor to cross the threshold, a similar encounter is necessary to undertake the long journey of the return home. The Odyssey will offer a chart for mapping our way home that sees the male psyche reach full maturity.
week 7
THE STORIED TONGUE
The famous philosopher Paracelsus said “Speech is not of the tongue, but of the heart. The tongue is merely the instrument with which one speaks. He who is dumb is dumb in his heart, not in his tongue…As you speak, so is your heart.”
So how do we develop a language that can hold the weight and seriousness of initiation without diluting the potency? In the mythic world evidence is everything and a storied tongue – a language of mythic relatedness - is evidence of the cultivated heart.
weeK 8
A LOVE STRONGER THAN DEATH
What does it mean to work for a time we won’t see, nor taste the fruits of? What is the serious business of culture making, and how can our art reach out over the things of the world? In the final module we turn to some of the great love stories of mythic proportions to see what they have to say about that elusive iteration of love that is stronger than death. What would be the consequence of loving in such a way?
JOIN THE NEXT COHORT
EARLYBIRD (UNTIL OCT 31): $1,397 AUD
FULL RATE: $1,997 AUD
THIS STUDY GROUP IS FOR YOU IF:
You feel drawn to initiation rather than self-improvement, seeking a deeper path of growth and responsibility.
You are captivated by myth, philosophy, poetry, and their relevance to modern life.
You long for older traditions of masculine apprenticeship, shaped through study, ritual, mentorship, and lived experience.
You want greater clarity of thought, and words that carry integrity and weight.
You coach, mentor, or lead men, and want a deeper understanding of initiation and life’s great thresholds.