June 9, 2018

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

I first met Tim Corcoran when I was looking for a local plant expert to teach me more about wild plant foraging.  Not only did he come to my house to record this podcast episode, but we also shot a host of videos in which he taught me and my boys how to harvest plants from our land such as wild nettle, mullein, comfrey, Oregon grape root, wild mint and beyond.

This guy is a true wealth of wilderness knowledge.  As a matter of fact, each year I send my children to attend his wilderness survival camp and also his winter adventure camp. Tim himself is a heart-centered father of two brilliant boys and husband to a magnificent wife.

Recently, I was talking to Tim about the concept of vision quests and rites of passage – for both youth and adults alike, and he told me about a new program he is creating to achieve just that – a program based on a concept he calls “Purpose Mountain”. Tim is the founder of Purpose Mountain, where he offers Nature Based Purpose Guidance to support people with a love for wild nature who feel a deep yearning and a burning desire to discover their purpose, as well as work with resistance and fears through the Ecology of Self and Voice Dialogue.

Tim also serves as co-Director of Twin Eagles Wilderness School, an organization he co-founded with his wife, Jeannine Tidwell, in Sandpoint, Idaho in 2005 dedicated to facilitating deep nature connection mentoring, cultural restoration, and inner tracking. Tim is a leader of men’s groups, holistic rites of passage for boys, and wilderness quests, guiding and initiating men and boys into the new paradigm of the mature masculine.

Since 1999, Tim has dedicated his life towards consciously furthering this vision of living in balance with the Earth, community, family, and self. Healing the cultural rift between the mainstream and indigenous cultures, transformational consciousness work, the spiritual journey, ancestral work, deep nature connection, family and health are all deep commitments in his life.

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-Why men and women these days suffer from lack of a proper transition from childhood into adulthood…10:00

-Ancestral societies that have a rite of passage, such as the Australian aborigine walkabout…12:00

-The difference between a vision quest and a rite of passage…17:45

-The right age to embark upon a rite of passage, and why adults should also do a rite of passage…23:00

–How a moose nearly killed Tim during his rite of passage but eventually became part of his growing experience…44:30

-What a rite of passage actually looks like for a boy vs. a man…55:30

-Why Tim refers to his rite of passage as “Purpose Mountain”…1:09:00

-And much more!

Resources from this episode:

–Twin Eagles Wilderness School

–Purpose Mountain

–We Are Nature Rising website

-My first podcast with Tim about how to find wild edibles in your backyard

–My podcast with Paul Chek in which we discuss vision quests and rites of passage

–King, Warrior, Magician, Lover book

–Way Of The Superior Man book

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Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Tim or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

Since the original release of this content, Ben has changed many of his thoughts and practices regarding plant medicine. To learn more, please read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.