A Twelve-Part Program for Men: An Initiatory Journey Toward Meaning
1. Reveille: Waking up to the Call
The opening session serves as a call to action, drawing on the symbolism of reveille—the military bugle call that announces the beginning of a new day. Dr. Laughlin introduces the central themes of the program, outlines the twelve-part journey, and frames the follow-on retreat and seminar as opportunities for deeper integration and transformation.
2. The Wisdom-Teachers
This session introduces the Wisdom-Teachers whose insights inform the program’s philosophical and psychological foundations. Drawing from diverse traditions—including the Stoics, Jesus of Nazareth, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Carl Jung—Dr. Laughlin demonstrates how enduring wisdom emerges across religious, philosophical, and secular lineages, offering men timeless orienting principles for life.
3. Carl Jung: Captain of the Soul
Dr. Laughlin explores the myth of the hero as articulated by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. Men are invited to view their own lives through the lens of the monomyth—a cyclical journey of departure, struggle, insight, and return—which can serve as an inner compass during periods of challenge, transition, and renewal.
4. How to be a Hero
This session provides a clear and accessible introduction to the core ideas of Carl Jung’s psychology. Topics include the collective unconscious, archetypes, complexes, dreams, psychological typology, and the lifelong process of individuation. These concepts form the psychological backbone of the program and recur throughout the remaining sessions.
5. The Wasteland: Beyond Meaning and Value
Borrowing from the Grail Legend, Dr. Laughlin examines what he identifies as a contemporary crisis in masculine psychology. The image of the Waste Land—symbolized by the wounded Fisher King (Amfortas)—serves as a metaphor for the spiritual and psychological malaise affecting modern men. The session also explores how thinking and feeling function together to discern meaning and assign value.
6. Parzival and the Grail Legend: (Part 1)
Dr. Laughlin introduces the Grail story through the legend of Parzival (Parsifal/Percival) and his search for the Holy Grail. Men are encouraged to engage the story as a symbolic map for their own lives. The session draws on multiple versions of the myth, including the works of Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach.
7. Parzival and the Grail Legend: (Part 2)
Building on the previous session, Dr. Laughlin deepens the exploration of the Parzival myth and distills its essential lessons. Participants are invited to consider how the story’s themes— compassion, right questioning, suffering, and maturation—can function as guiding principles in their own psychological and spiritual development.
8. Symbols of Individuation: Toward a Purposeful Life
This session addresses one of the most important dimensions of male development: the capacity for mature and meaningful relationships. Dr. Laughlin introduces the Jungian concept of the Anima—the inner feminine principle within the male psyche—and explores its role as mediator between consciousness and the unconscious. Understanding the Anima helps men cultivate emotional depth, relational balance, and inner wholeness.
9. The Secret of Eros
Focusing on the ancient motif of katabasis—the descent into the underworld—this session examines the necessity of psychological descent and confrontation with the unconscious.
10. Katabasis: The Descent
Dr. Laughlin turns to Jung’s concept of individuation: the lifelong process of becoming one’s unique self. Through symbolic examples, he examines what it means to live as an individual rather than as a mere expression of collective expectations. The session emphasizes why culture should honor individual sovereignty over conformity to ideological or social trends.
11. Rites and Rituals
This practical session introduces rites and rituals that men can integrate into everyday life. Topics include working with dreams, active imagination, and psychological typology. These practices serve as bridges between insight and embodiment, helping men ground symbolic understanding in lived experience.
