Advanced Council and Mirror Training Spring 2027

Conflict Engagement and Shadow

All religions in their original form aim to recognize and recover the divine image in all people and things. The goal is to mirror others faithfully, deeply, and fully, until all beings know who they are.

Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ

The Purpose of Council & Mirroring

A young child cannot know that he or she is invincibly lovable just for who they are. Their innate self-love must be mirrored back to them by father, mother, and others, which, if done well, becomes their self-esteem. But under the stress of modern society, parents fail to mirror their children anywhere near well. Not being mirrored well is the primary wound for all individuals. 

The purpose of Council is to recover the mirroring that was lost on us as children. Advanced Council and Mirror Training is an Illuman Journey program aimed to rigorously train men in the art of mirroring others within the safe container of Council. At the heart of the training is the participant's personal development. The theme of this immersion is: “Conflict Engagement and Shadow Work”.  

The core training will be a five-day in-person immersion in the spectacular desert wilderness of Aravaipa Canyon, AZ. Council facilitation and mirroring will be practiced in large- and small-group formats, as well as one-on-one. The ultimate intention of mirror training is to become intimately attuned to your comrades in Council and to all others in your daily life. 

Training will take place against the backdrop of the Sonora desert, amid the natural beauty of wild desert land—the wilderness being the ultimate mirror of the true Self. In addition to council work, participants will engage in various wilderness practices, ceremonies, rituals, and wanders into the beauty of the physical world and the underworld of the psyche, all in the name of connecting with the soul.

Hiker standing in a shallow river with a backpack, surrounded by lush green trees and high cliffs under a partly cloudy sky.

Preparation for the in-person immersion will comprise six Council sessions on Zoom. The themes are as follows: 

  • Trauma and the Story of Conflict: Locating trauma in conflict situations and understanding how it affects our experience.

  • Listening with the Heart; Observing with Clear Eyes: Developing compassionate listening while seeing clearly.

  • The Gifts of Shadow and Projection: Reclaiming the parts of ourselves that have been disowned.

  • Sitting in the Tension: The Third Way: Allowing the tension of opposites to pull us open creates space for a third way—the transcendent function. 

  • Integration Work: Forgiveness, Repentance, and Repair: Healing those places we have harmed in ourselves and others.

  • Engaging Conflict with the Heart of a Warrior: Facing our growth edges with a trusted conflict partner.

The program will finish with three Zoom council sessions after the in-person immersion.


The cost for the entire program is $675.


If you have questions, please email John Lew at gjohnlew@gmail.com or Terry Symens-Bucher at tsymensbucher@earthlink.net.

Submit Your Application

NOTE: This is an advanced course in Council facilitation and mirroring that assumes some basic familiarity with Council. Illuman offers a more basic course here.

A scenic view of a canyon with tall rocky cliffs, green trees, and a dry riverbed at the bottom, with a few cacti on the cliff tops, under a clear sky.

Dates & Times

  • Feb 16, 2027 5-6:30 PM Pacific

    First council session. Subsequent council sessions will be held every other week. Council sessions are on Zoom. 

  • May 3-7, 2027

    In-person immersion, Aravaipa Canyon, AZ. Accommodations in either the ranch house or camping are available. 

  • May 18, 2027 5-6:30 PM Pacific

    First of three final council sessions, every week, ending on Jun 1, 2027. Council sessions are on Zoom.

Our Guides

Smiling older man with glasses wearing a beige flat cap and a plaid button-up shirt in a garden with greenery and a small decorative statue of a woman.

  • Terry is the co-founder with his wife Anne of an intentional community in Oakland, California called Canticle Farm, living and learning at the intersection of faith-based, social justice-based and Earth-based activism.  He has practiced law for thirty years and is especially interested in the role trauma and conflict play in personal and organizational development.  In particular, he has explored how trauma integration and shadow work can transform relationships and deepen the social field.  Terry attended the Franciscan School of Theology, is trained in Nonviolent Communication and facilitates the Work That Reconnects.  Terry did his Rite of Passage with Illuman in 2007 and currently serves as a Trustee.  He has experience in youth, men’s, and elder’s rites, as well as various faith-based initiations.

John Lew Headshot Illuman

  • John is a wilderness guide who revels in depth psychology and the wilderness of nature and soul.  He is trained in the Wild Mind work of Animas Valley Institute, as a Vision Quest guide with the School of Lost Borders, and is currently a Jungian Analyst in training at the CG Jung Study Center in Los Angeles, CA.  He is a lover of depth analysis, the wisdom traditions, mysticism and esoteric religions, dreams and deep imagination, and the symbolic life.  His sense of adventure is a wander into the underworld, an encounter with Self and Mystery, and the pursuit of wholeness for the unfolding of the world.  His passion is to know you deeply, to be in relationship with both humans and “more-than-humans”, and to live fully alive.  He did his Rite of Passage with Illuman in 2014.