Reflections From My First Men's Retreat

This past weekend, a dream came true. 

My brother Cam Hogan and I hosted our first men’s retreat, and it was absolutely magical. It felt like I was on a weekend getaway with all my best friends, staying up chatting until 2 AM, waking up early and waking out, and spending the days basking in the sun.

But different than a typical boys trip, the weekend featured deep inner work in addition to a lot of fun and play. Everyone, including Cameron and myself, experienced incredible transformations. Here are 6 highlights from this past weekend’s retreat!

1) Reading Tarot Cards

Since returning from Peru, I’ve gotten super deep into Tarot. My intuition has strengthened tremendously from doing readings for myself and others. I’m tapping into what feels right in the moment, looking for signs, listening for clues, and picking up on subtle energy shifts in my body and the environment. When I’m tapped in, I can connect and weave a story together that I could have never predicted because “I” am not really doing anything. I’m just watching it unfold before my eyes.

Similar to the Tao, the cards provide a jumping-off point for deeper introspection, or “clues” the subconscious mind can piece together to tap into the natural flow of the universe. A few people had pretty profound insights and heightened clarity from the readings. I was up until 1 or 2 AM most nights reading cards with people and having deep chats. It was the time of my life.

2) Danny Jumps In Pool

One afternoon, Danny Miranda, Jack Sweeney, and I are sitting in the grass playing with Tarot. After Danny and I pull our cards, it’s Jack’s turn, and Danny says, “If you pull ‘The Fool,’ I will jump in the pool.” I’ve pulled The Fool multiple times in the past week and the card has been quite important for me lately, so this is where the idea comes from.

There is one card sticking out a bit, and I say, “It’s that one.” Jack doesn’t feel it, so he picks a different card called “The Star”, which has been very relevant to him lately. After he picks that one, Danny starts to feel the other card might be the fool.

We check. It’s The Fool. Danny goes running in his full clothes, hoodie, socks, and shoes and jumps straight into the pool. We got it on camera too.

Every time I’m around this man, magic occurs. He is a walking miracle. If you’ve met him, you understand. Follow him on Twitter and sign up for his newsletters and you’ll start to see what I mean.

3) Tao Te Ching Men’s Circles

Each night, Cam and I split to different corners of the house in groups of 5. My group was the Tao Te Ching room.

We treated the Tao like a deck of Tarot Cards, setting intentions into the book and flipping to a page that felt right. This way, everyone usually got a unique verse (besides the time Danny Miranda and Jack Sweeney picked the same verse sitting next to one another).

The verses in the Tao were jumping-off points for deeper introspection and conversation. Because each verse is dense with profound truth, every verse always applies to some situation in everyone’s life. Subconscious programs, blind spots, or areas that needed to be looked at tended to bubble up to the surface. 

One verse in particular was very relevant for me, verse 55. Here’s a snippet:

“Do you have the patience to wait

till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving

till the right action arises by itself?”

This highlighted two very relevant themes in my life right now. The first being the desire and practice of more stillness and meditation, and the second being how I am approaching decision-making for my next season of life.

I am yet again at another fork in the road. I am either going to go back and play one more year of college football and finish my degree, or continue to travel and create online. The decision has been looming over my head and bringing worry, stress, and decision fatigue to the surface. But from this verse and other realizations during breathwork and meditation, I have come to peace with allowing the right decision to arise in the moment, so long as I am present and tapped into my heart and Source. I don’t have to decide preemptively. I’ll know when the time is right.

It was beautiful for the Tao to bring this to my awareness. I feel grateful to be a vessel to propel this 2500-year-old piece of art forward to our generation. It is the most profound book I’ve ever read.

Here’s a link to the book or a free audio version if you’d like to check it out.

4) The Spiritual Teacher Tom Ross

A few days before the retreat, I had a strange experience with a female friend named Denise. Without going into too much detail, we were having a beautiful experience together, and all of a sudden, some dark energy was triggered in both of us. We both realized we were experiencing past life karma rising to the surface. I’d never experienced this before in my life, and neither had she.

I had the strong intuitive download to text Tom Ross on Twitter and ask him about these entities and energies that arose during that night. I’d connected with him previously and knew he specialized in something called “karmic release.” I didn’t have much of an idea of what that meant, but I just knew I had to text him. He verified that what we were experiencing could very much be linked to past lives and past life karma. I felt I wanted to invite him to the retreat, but wasn’t sure, so I waited on it.

A day or two later, Denise messaged me. She said, “I intuitively feel you need to invite Tom to your retreat.” At this point I was convinced. I messaged him, and he made it happen within a few days.

At the retreat, Tom stepped into his power as a true spiritual teacher. He taught us about muscle testing and demonstrated it on me, helped individuals release negative karma from this life and past lives through forgiveness, and held an hour-long session that raised the collective consciousness of the group by 86 points (verified with muscle testing based on David Hawkins's work).

Having both Tom and Danny there highlighted the importance of the retreat not being about me at all. It was okay, and actually great to have teachers there who were wiser and had more experience than myself. My unique gift was having the vision to set up the container and bring geniuses, wizards, and teachers around me. This began to broaden my perspective on what could be possible for future retreats with Transcendence.

5) Workouts & Breathwork

Two mornings, we hit intense group workouts with an incredible personal trainer and human being, Justin Lovato. It was so fun to get outside in the morning, lift weights, swing kettlebells, and throw sand bags with a group of guys. It felt like high school or college football, and each day felt blissful after training.

We also hit two breathwork sessions. The first session was with the same personal trainer, Justin.  He called it his “transcendental” breathwork session, and it felt exactly like the word suggests. By the end of the session, I felt a profound peace and presence similar to taking 2 grams of psilocybin. 

The second session was with a great friend, Rocco Dipietro, who took us through a pranayama breathwork session that releases DMT within your body. It was incredibly powerful for everyone there. I described it as feeling like “ayahuasca’s little cousin.”

As I wrapped up this session, I took a walk in solitude to grab the football, and as I was walking and gazing at the sky, I broke down in tears. I realized I never had to worry about anything. Everything has always been unfolding perfectly, and God’s plan is always greater than anything I could imagine. I felt so much gratitude for life, for my brothers, for the retreat, for the land, and for the Universe. I felt so deeply in my dharma and soul’s purpose.

I never experienced the profound power of breathwork until this retreat, and I feel it’s something I’m going to incorporate into daily life going forward.

6) Transcendence Realization

A particularly interesting idea has been floating in my awareness for the past few months… 

Building Hogwarts.

Not just some castle in the countryside.

But a real virtual and in-person school for raising consciousness.

After our last breathwork session, as I took my moment of emotional solitude, I looked at the group of 11 men before me, having profound internal experiences and raising their consciousness, and realized this was the beginning of Transcendence, a universe of schools, retreats, festivals, and communities designed to raise human consciousness. In other words, it was the seed of Hogwarts, but in real life.

I also realized it was already in motion, without me necessarily having to “try” and build anything. It’s almost as if the Universe is building it before my eyes.

Thank You For Reading

Both Cam and I’s initial thought after the retreat, along with many of the participants, was that “This work needs to be spread to as many people as possible.”

Because of this, I am certain we will be hosting another retreat in early 2025, possibly around January.

Stay tuned for email updates on this, and email me if you want to secure a spot early!

I will be in touch soon,

Have a blessed night and day tomorrow,

Jack <3

PS…

A few things in the works…

1) I’m releasing a December exclusive coaching and acceleration offer on Black Friday, November 29. Stay tuned for an email from me.

2) I’m releasing a podcast, likely Wednesday the 27th, with Tej Dosa and Danny Miranda. Be on the lookout for that email, and subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

3) The vision is slowly but surely crystalizing for Transcendence. The team, roadmap, and projects are building themselves. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for updates on future programs, retreats, and festivals.