[Online] 7.27 and 7.28 The Diamond Rite: 2-night Initiation with Manu

The Diamond Rite is centered on Saint Bonaventure’s The Journey of the Mind into God, one of the most luminous works of the medieval Latin West. Composed in 1259 after Bonaventure’s retreat on Mount La Verna, the text presents contemplation as a path of transformation, guiding the mind from the created world, through the depths of the soul, and toward divine encounter.

Across two nights, participants will move through the structure of Bonaventure’s contemplative ascent.

The first night focuses on the outward and inward stages of the journey: learning to read the visible world as a mirror of divine traces, then turning attention inward toward memory, understanding, and will as signs of the divine image within the soul.

The second night enters the higher stages of contemplation, where the mind passes beyond ordinary concepts into sacred illumination and union. Through lecture, guided meditation, and brief Latin recitation, the rite invites participants into a symbolic world where language, contemplation, and sacred vision refine perception and open the soul toward divine presence.

The diamond serves as the guiding image of the rite: clarity, refinement, luminosity, and the perfected ascent of the mind toward God.