NCN hosts annual retreats (3-days) in Central California in July and August.
NCN has continued to honor the belief that all people are Sacred, by focusing on the affirmation and inclusion of members of our community who identify as being "two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/questioning, Transgendered (LGBTQ2S)" we invite all our relations to the CĂrculo as their full Sacred self, however they identify and choose to express that identity.
CĂrculo De Hombres Retiro/ Men’s Circle Retreat
In November of 1988, a group of Chicano, Latino, Native, and Raza men gathered for three days in Jolon, California, in a CĂrculo de Amistad y Hermanidad (Circle of Friendship and Brotherhood). The men gathered with the initial intent of addressing the many issues that they faced themselves, their families, and communities but also with the intent of clarifying their roles and responsibilities as men and individually and collectively searching for a way to rebalance the harmful experiences they sometimes brought to themselves, the women in their lives, the children, families, and communities. Through discussion, laughter, ceremony, and reflection, generations of feelings and spiritual energy were exchanged. The men present realized that the first step towards healing their relations, families, and communities started with them making a commitment to heal themselves and to commit to the journey of living as Hombres Nobles (Honorable Men)*.
These men reignited that ceremonial fire that has warmed and re-rooted thousands of men who have come together yearly since that initial gathering.
Thousands of men, grandfathers, fathers, sons, and grandsons have attended the yearly Hombres Retiros in Jolon, and from this commitment came to the “CĂrculos de Hombres” (Men’s Circle Network) movement. Many participants from these gatherings have taken the teachings from the CĂrculos to their own communities across the country. Presently, cĂrculos exist in over 50 cities across the nation and reach thousands of men and boys in a manner that allows them to nurture their positive purpose through connecting with other men and boys in their hometowns.
For more information, please contact Ariel Jimenez at (408) 484-4421 or at [email protected]
Comadres Network Retreat/Retiro
The National Comadres Network’s mission is to nurture healing informed leadership among mujeres through culturally-rooted indigenous practices and networks of mutual support. It is in this spirit of our ancestral teachings that we host our annual retreat in a ceremonial atmosphere and in friendship and sisterhood to rebalance and heal from harmful experiences mujeres face and offer gratitude for the gifts as women. This retreat is open to the larger NCN La Cultura Cura Network.
For more information, please contact Valerie Garcia at 408-484-4296 or at [email protected]