⟁ Winter Rite Details
January 16–18, 2026
Location: Within 90 minutes of Portland (exact location shared upon registration)
Group Size: 9 boys, 2 male guides
⟁ Overview
This is a 2.5-day, 2-night passage—into the deep stillness of winter, and the firelight of becoming.
Out in the forest, we will tend a fire—starting it, fueling it, listening to it. Through rain or snow or star-studded quiet, the flame becomes our teacher.
This is a winter camping rite. Together, we will gather wood, split it, dry it, and keep company with the flame that supports our lives.
Around that fire we will share stories. We will walk the land. We will eat, and laugh, and sleep. We will wake in the dark to tend the fire, two boys at a time, with a guide nearby. And we will listen. To the fire. To the land. To ourselves.
There is no program here—only a threshold. What comes is what is ready to come.
⟁ Why Now?
We live in a time where boys are constantly plugged in—yet rarely connected.
Where challenge is gamified, but not embodied. Where stillness is rare, and deep listening even rarer.
This rite offers something different.
No phones.
No mirrors.
No performance.
Just the forest, the fire, and the ancient memory of who we are.
This is not about becoming someone.
It’s about remembering what’s always been there.
⟁ Field Holding
Brad and his co-guide hold decades of experience in wilderness leadership, rites of passage facilitation, and nature-based youth mentorship.
The field is held with deep care and clear structure:
Wilderness First Aid Certified (WFA)
Garmin Satellite Device for emergency contact and location-sharing
Group safety protocols for night watch, water, shelter, fire, and emotional support
Attention to emotional processing, integration, and the unseen layers of the work
⟁ What to Bring
Each boy is responsible for:
Warm, layered clothing (including rain gear)
Sleeping bag + sleeping pad (appropriate for winter conditions)
Personal mess kit + utensils
Water bottle (1+ liter)
Headlamp or flashlight
Personal items for comfort/sleeping
We will organize carpooling, shared group tents, and group meal prep ahead of time. Boys will help prepare food together before we depart.
⟁ Candle Offering Ceremony (Pre-Rite)
A few days before the journey, we will hold a small ceremonial circle with the mothers and caregivers.
Each mother is invited to craft a handmade candle for her child—infused with intention, herbs, oils, and ancestral resonance. These candles will travel with the boys into the forest, anchoring the line between home and the threshold.
⟁ Reciprocation
Sliding Scale: $432–$555
(We trust families to choose the level that honors their means and the value of this offering. Additional scholarship support may be available.)
⟁ A Note to the Young Man Reading This
You won’t find a phone signal where we’re going.
But you will find something else:
The smell of smoke in your clothes.
The sound of owls in the trees.
The feeling of waking up in the dark and knowing—this fire is yours to tend.
You don’t have to be a certain kind of kid.
You just have to come as you are.
The forest remembers.
And maybe, you do too.
⟁ How to Register
There is a measure of preparedness asked for this terrain—not of skill, but of care. Of intent.
This rite is open to anyone,
but it is not for everyone.
If this feels like a “yes” in your heart,
it begins with a simple email to Brad:
brad@newearthpathways.org
A quiet raising of the hand will do.
We’ll take it from there.
The rhythm of this offering is different.
It isn’t accessed by a click.
It’s entered through presence.
In gratitude,
Brad
⟁ About Brad
Brad is a guide of thresholds and a steward of the wild within and without. His work over the past two decades has unfolded in forest classrooms, riverside rites, and quiet fireside circles with youth and elders alike. Rooted in nature-based mentorship, he serves as a bridge between worlds—human and Earth, inner and outer, ancestral and emergent.
His path has never been one of conquest but of quest—one of listening deeply to the subtle song of the Earth dreaming through each of us. Brad sees life itself as a ceremonial unfolding, where every moment offers an invitation to remember.
He’s currently walking with New Earth Pathways, a soul-rooted offering that weaves rites of passage, sacred masculinity, and generational healing. Brad is not here to teach as much as to tune—to stay awake to the mystery, and to mirror back the coherence already alive in each being.