Phoenix Rising: Into the Fire and out of the Ashes. The 23rd Annual Fall Sacred Path Men’s Retreat October 21-24, 2010

It’s finally here. Your opportunity to sign up for the time of your life is right now. Read about the exciting plans for our upcoming men’s retreat and join with your brothers as we are transformed by fire.

A phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely! They are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self.

In all things there is a natural cycle of endings and new beginnings that furthers the aim of making significant changes along the journey from birth until death. A phoenix is a symbol for transformation. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes we too have the ability to deeply transform our selves through determined focus and skillful actions in combination with intuitive understanding regarding our life purpose.

Let me ask you a question. When you first became aware that we were going to hold a Firewalk ceremony at the fall Sacred Path retreat, what crossed your mind and perhaps more importantly, what did you feel; excitement, enthusiasm or resistance? The most common feeling arising from those that have not done a Firewalk before is, fearful. Perhaps your mind said, “that’s dangerous” or “how stupid,” or, “what’s the point? or even, “I can’t do that.” Quite reasonable reactions and I can tell you this: I did the firewalk with the Tony Robbins Institute over 20 years ago and all of the normal feelings and thoughts came up for me as well, and I did it anyway. Even though I initially felt the fear, I chose not to let it hold me back. And what I got from doing the firewalk I credit as being one of the most compelling and life changing experiences of my life. In fact, I did it four times on three entirely separate occasions and I invited dozens of friends to join me for the experience of a lifetime.

When I was a youngster I suffered from a lot of anxiety and would typically let my fear hold me back. I would go to extremes to create excuses to hopefully legitimize why I couldn’t follow through with things that scared me. Eventually, I had the presence of mind to make an agreement with my fear. I told it that I would no longer allow it to hold me back and that it could come along with me or stay behind but I would no longer allow it to have the power over me to keep me from moving forward with my life.

Certainly it’s important to set appropriate limits and boundaries. We don’t have to do everything in order to prove that we’re courageous or manly. It’s just as important what we say “no” to as it is what we say “yes” to and that distinction can help to keep us safe and secure.

In the mid-1970’s when I experienced the Rebirthing process I learned a lot more about my fears and what had caused them. I also learned that breathing into fear allows it to transmute into excitement. It occurred to me at the time that fear was really excitement without breath and that it was a lot easier to get off of my heels and onto my toes when I didn’t hold my breath.

Susan Jeffers, Ph.D. in her breakthrough book, Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway, published 20 years ago asks her readers to ponder the question, “What is it for you? Fear of public speaking, asserting yourself, making decisions, intimacy, changing jobs, being alone, aging, driving, losing a loved one, ending a relationship?” She goes on to state, “...Fear seems to be epidemic in our society. We fear beginnings; we fear endings. We fear changing; we fear ‘staying stuck.’ We fear success; we fear failure. We fear living; we fear dying.” Dr. Jeffers posits that, “...fear is primarily an educational problem, and that by reeducating the mind, we can accept fear as simply a fact of life rather than a barrier to success.” What she discovered is that, “At the bottom of every one of our fears is simply the fear that we can’t handle whatever life may bring us.” She realized that, “If we knew we could handle anything that came our way, what would we possibly have to fear? The answer is: NOTHING!” Dr. Jeffers concludes that, “All we have to do to diminish our fear is to develop more trust in our ability to handle whatever comes our way!”

The firewalk is more than the experience of learning how to walk on fire without burning yourself. It’s a metaphor for how to confront your fears, your limited beliefs and how to take the leap of faith in all aspects of your day-to-day life. You do not need to be fearless in order to accomplish it. You just need to be intrepid which is the willingness, as Susan Jeffers encouraged us years ago, to feel the fear and do it anyway. The firewalk is a breakthrough experience that can educate and empower you to move through other barriers standing between you and what you want and need to handle in your life.

Fire is an extraordinary element. It’s transformative. Yes, it can harm but it can also heal. What do you want to burn away in your life? What’s no longer needed or necessary and can be offered to the fire? What needs to be healed and transformed in your life? This obviously will not be just another Sacred Path retreat. We’ve done a lot of things over the years while on retreat and I personally have always felt that each retreat was new and uniquely powerful. But we’ve never held a firewalk before. Yet, when we were looking at what we were going to add to make this retreat something truly new and memorable, three members of the Wisdom Council in unison said “FIREWALK.

A core group of men began to investigate what it would take to hold a Firewalk. They discovered that there is an organization based in Houston, Texas that conducts firewalks. We have completed the details and have finalized the arrangements to bring a certified team to our fall retreat. They will take us through a learning system to prepare us for safely walking on fire. All the other elements coalescing to create what has served us so well like the Inipi (Sweatlodge) Ceremony, Community Gatherings, Tribe Meetings, Breakout Sessions, Fantastic Cuisine, Fellowship and Good Natured Fun will also be present. Will you?

Based on my own experience and those of the men whom I personally know that have done the firewalk before, I believe this will be a life-changing experience. If you’ve experienced the sweat lodge and experienced the ropes course and any of the other activities that we’ve offered that may have given you pause before you made the decision to take the leap of faith, this is another step along your Sacred Path. I invite and encourage you to take this step and make that leap in your life. I know it will be transformative in many more ways than one or perhaps than you can even imagine. Why wait? Register now and begin the retreat weeks before we convene on the mountain once again in the spirit of brotherhood.

Namaste,
Stephen Johnson

Click HERE to download the Fall 2010 Sacred Path Retreat Flyer
Click HERE to download the Fall 2010 Sacred Path Retreat Application