FAQ – In the monastic regime, where life is strictly organized, humor and irony is a welcome relief!

From the ashes of the betrayed, from the silence of the fathers and the pain of the children, the Nigredo Monastery arose – a place of purification, the rebirth of values ​​and brotherhood.

Misfortune is the measure of a person’s greatness of character. — Giuseppe Motta

The path to authentic masculinity requires separation from the literal and symbolic mother bond, while simultaneously avoiding the opposite error of completely rejecting the feminine. Jung considered this delicate balance—honoring the feminine while establishing male autonomy—essential for male psychological maturation. Few men achieve this, as they remain in constant reaction to the feminine instead of in relationship with it.

Traditional societies guided boys into manhood through initiation rituals—structured experiences—that facilitated psychological transformation through arduous instruction and communal recognition.

Modern society has abandoned these practices, leaving men helpless in their development, expected to become men without guidance in this profound inner transformation.

The result is generations of chronologically adult men who have never been properly initiated into mature masculinity. Initiation in traditional cultures was not merely ceremonial. It fulfilled important psychological functions. It separated boys from maternal influence, introduced them to male wisdom traditions, confronted them with their limitations through trials, and granted them recognition within the male community. All these elements facilitated the psychological transition from boyhood to manhood. Without them, men remain in a state of unclear identity.

Chronological Adults with Adolescent Psychology

The uninitiated man typically exhibits several telltale signs: He lacks firm boundaries, struggles with self-discipline, constantly seeks validation, competes inappropriately with other men, idealizes or demonizes women, and experiences chronic insecurity about his masculine identity. He may compensate for this through hypermasculine behavior or withdraw into passivity, but neither of these approaches resolves his underlying developmental gap. Despite his adult responsibilities, he remains psychologically adolescent.

This developmental stagnation has profound consequences. Uninitiated men often seek pseudo-initiations through destructive behavior, excessive risk-taking, substance abuse, violence, and sexual conquest. Others retreat into a perpetual state of adolescence, avoiding adult responsibility altogether. Neither path leads to authentic masculinity, which Jung understood as conscious initiation, not regression or compensation.

Modern men must create their own initiatory experiences, as society no longer provides them. This requires seeking out older, psychologically mature men as mentors who are willing to undergo oral examinations that challenge their own limits, studying male wisdom traditions, and finding male communities that support authentic development rather than reinforcing identification with the individual.

The uninitiated man must seek his own initiation

Without this conscious engagement with the initiatory process, men remain in a state of developmental inhibition. They function like adults, but they lack the psychological transformation that makes boys into men.

The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of their parents. Uninformed fathers cannot initiate their sons and thus create generations of psychologically incomplete men who pass on their developmental gaps to their children.

The dropout rate is around 90%. The Nigredo monastery is not a comfort zone, but a place of inner work – a school of truth, maturity, and transformation.

Those who choose the Good soon encounter resistance. The devil – or the inner opposing force – places many stones of trial along the path. These tests reveal how sincere one’s choice truly is. Old attachments, especially to the mother (see Death Mother), often resurface. To transform them requires courage, perseverance, and devotion. Many can only sustain this inner work for a time and eventually return to their former life.

Yet some come back regularly – to continue their practice, to grow, and to walk their path toward freedom.

The monastery remains a place for those willing to face their trials – and to choose the Good again and again, even in the midst of light and darkness.

Individuation! It refers to the inner development process in which a person gradually finds their true self and integrates the conscious and unconscious aspects of their personality.

In this process, the individual confronts their inner contradictions—such as their light and shadow sides—and grows into a greater whole. Jesus Christ is the living symbol of the self because he embodies the unity of opposites and the fully developed wholeness of the human being.

A conscious attitude or action inevitably creates an opposing force in the unconscious to maintain psychic equilibrium. As long as you don't make the unconscious conscious, it will determine your life and you will call it fate. – Carl Gustav Jung

Piety and Chastity, so one has the two most important basic needs and powers (God and sexuality) in the right order.

Jesus Christ is the central, living symbol for the Self. He embodies the archetype of the God-man, representing wholeness, the inner union of opposites, and the path of individuation. Christ symbolizes redeemed humanity, while the crucifixion and resurrection reflect psychological processes of maturation.

Younger people before midlife can tolerate the seemingly complete loss of their anima without harm. In any case, a man should be able to manage to be a man. The growing young man must be able to free himself from the mother's anima-like fascination.

After midlife, however, a persistent loss of anima leads to a progressive decline in vitality, flexibility, and humanity. It usually results in premature rigidity, if not calcification, stereotypical behavior, fanatical one-sidedness, stubbornness, rigid adherence to principles, or the opposite: resignation, weariness, sloppiness, irresponsibility, and ultimately a childish effeminacy with a tendency towards alcohol.

After midlife, therefore, the connection to the archetypal realm of experience should be restored as much as possible (religion). No man can become a complete human being without a positive relationship to the archetypal feminine. Therefore, at the latest by midlife, he must (voluntarily or involuntarily) embark on a journey into the depths of his own shadow for the integration of opposing forces and the discovery of the self. In religion, Jesus is understood as this living symbol of the self.

The tragedy lies in the fact that modern society has removed men from the initiatory processes that once transformed boys into men, thus leaving them dependent on their mothers.

Authentic masculinity requires a psychological and religious journey that few men complete.

It is martial! The Sword of Wisdom killed the old witch and her eunuchs and at the same time brought the king and queen to life.

Lord's Prayer!

• • The Bible
  • Parzifal
  • Psychology and Religion (Carl Gustav Jung)
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • Peter Pan
  • Pinocchio
  • Sleeping Beauty
  • Bambi
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • Snow White
  • Rumpelstiltskin

  • The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Goethe)

Basic military training.

Wokeism (toxic femininity) is the offspring of feminism and the '68 movement. The sexual revolution is devouring its own children and grandchildren. After 60 years of hysteria and delusion, we are returning to reason and morality: There were and still are only two genders, man and woman, and they are not equal, no matter what or who you feel like. Thus, king and queen rule again instead of witches and eunuchs.

What appears to be freedom is often the most subtle form of slavery.

The men must leave their mothers and their homes, symbolically devoured by a maternal monster (Death, Chaos), and then initiated into the tribe's religious tradition (Christianity). Once a "young" man has completed this rite of passage, he is a full member; he is a man and knows death.

The first bearer of the soul image is the mother; later, it is those women who arouse the man's feelings, whether positively or negatively. Because the mother is the first bearer of the soul image, separation from her is a delicate yet crucial matter of paramount educational importance. Mere growing up and physical separation are insufficient; particularly profound initiations and rebirth ceremonies are necessary to effectively complete the separation from the mother (and thus from childhood).

Just as the father acts as a protector against the dangers of the outside world and thus becomes the model of persona for the son, so too is the mother a protector against the dangers that threaten his soul from the darkness. In the initiations, the initiate therefore receives instruction, enabling him to dispense with the mother's protection.

In a society without initiation rites for men, men remain dependent on their mothers and are devoured by the mother of death. In a sociological matriarchy (there is no religious matriarchy), women are happy, fat whores who boss men around. And men are thin, submissive, and nervous mama's boys who work the fields and do the work for the women. Wealth, the instinctual world, sexuality without responsibility, and earthly happiness flourish. But there are no intellectual achievements at all, a world of utter stupidity, without religion or meaning. Peaceful but stupid. (Marie-Louise von Franz)

When man and woman are divided, the intelligent pagan rules. If the king is spiritually blind and absent, the queen inevitably becomes a witch (death mother), devours her own children and grandchildren, and needs eunuchs at her side to rule. When men are no longer men, women can no longer be women.

For the blessing of a father strengthens the houses of children, but the curse of a mother uproots the foundations. For the blessing of a father strengthens the houses of children, but the curse of a mother uproots the foundations. Do not boast by dishonoring your father, for dishonoring a father will not bring you glory. For a man's glory comes from the honor of his father, but a mother of ill repute is a disgrace to children.

The consequence is that the anima, in the form of the maternal imago, is projected into the woman, resulting in the man becoming, upon marriage, either childish, sentimental, dependent, and submissive, or, conversely, rebellious, tyrannical, and sensitive, always preoccupied with the prestige of his superior masculinity. The latter is, of course, merely the reverse of the former. The protection against the unconscious that the mother provided has not been replaced for the modern man, which is why he unconsciously shapes his ideal of marriage in such a way that his wife may have to assume the magical maternal role.

Under the guise of an ideally exclusive marriage, he is actually seeking protection from the mother and thus seductively caters to the woman's possessive instinct. His fear of the dark unpredictability of the unconscious gives the woman an illegitimate power and shapes the marriage into such an intimate community that it constantly threatens to break apart due to inner tension - or he does the opposite in protest with the same success.

A man's feminine aspect (anima) is unconscious, and therefore he must integrate it internally and not project it outwardly. Because his feminine aspect is unconscious, he either idealizes it as a good mother or demonizes it as a death-dealing mother, depending on his personal upbringing. To break free from this, he must acknowledge both sides. When a man becomes aware of his feminine aspect, he can understand women and no longer see them as inferior, but as equals and complements. Hence the one-sided focus and symbolism in our Nigredo Monastery, because it is for men.

A woman's masculine aspect (animus) is unconscious, and therefore she must integrate it and not project it outwardly. Because her masculine aspect is unconscious, she either idealizes it as a good father or demonizes it as a blind, violent tyrant, depending on her personal upbringing. To break free from this, she must acknowledge both sides. That would then be the Nigredo Monastery for women, with its own symbolism. However, if a woman becomes aware of her masculine side, she can understand men and see them not as enemies, but as friends, complements, and helpers—something very few women manage to do.

I sincerely hope that one day there will be a Nigredo Monastery for women, with an exceptional and powerful abbess whom young and old women can look up to as a role model. Master Reding

When giving birth, women naturally grapple with death and their own transience. The contractions of giving birth (pain) are necessary to be spiritually born into motherhood. The child and the mother are born at the same time!

For a woman, the initiation into motherhood begins by giving birth as natural as possible.

The woman unites her own eros (physical love) with the philia (spiritual love) of the husband in order to experience divine love (agape). So the woman should make sure that she has a healthy body, not for herself, but for her children and her husband.

You!

Hansel and Gretel!

Women are warmly welcome to stay at the monastery. Exception: The novitiate and the initiation ritual are only for men.

Be quiet and pay attention! Always take the greatest possible personal responsibility in your situation and role.

Anytime with advance notice. Whether for a cup of coffee, for sitting meditation, for a day, several days, weeks or months, you are most welcome.

7 hours and 1000 meters of altitude. And we will go hiking, daylong hikes!

Pay for the oblations before your stay. Cancellation conditions: A processing fee of CHF 60 will be charged up to 2 weeks before the retreat; the total amount will be forfeited within 2 weeks before the retreat. If the amount has not yet been transferred, it must still be paid. In the event that the retreat is canceled on our part, we will refund the entire amount.

Do not cause additional inconvenience to those around you.

Sometimes you are alone (not during the retreat), sometimes there are several people. The daily routine continues continuously.

You are welcome

Yes.

Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit.

No! The monastery is not a shared apartment, hotel, therapy location, day nursery and sanctuary!

No! It has cushions, chairs and various seating options.

Perhaps

Nothing is free in life!

Pssst

During free time, personal needs can be pursued outside the monastery.

The abbot determines the schedule.

Every Sunday we attend Mass at the local catholic church.

The abbot determines.

Of course, especially during the breaks. Only the bare essentials are spoken during work or the modules.

Reexamine life and death with all what you have.

In the beginning was the Word, and the living Word was with God, and the Logos was God. When you understand that there is no way to say it, then you should know how to say it, because in the beginning was the word. Zen removes confusion and is not a way of teaching. Zen Master Pohwa Sunim

While everyone is meditating non-stop, standing or sitting, it's always together. If you don't believe this: look carefully! What is talking now all the time? Zen Master Myo-Vong

Yes, of course. You get no preferential treatment.

Adam and Eve are playing in the Garden of Eden.

The factual error! When you confuse life and death, pain and suffering, compassion and pity, guest and host, men and women, equality of outcome and equality of opportunity, teacher and student, etc.

The food comes to the mouth and not the other way around. This is more important than making a knot in your legs.

Yes, during the break.

Take it or leave.

Etiquette is a behavior and rule that provides a framework so that one's own words and actions can be consciously carried out and processed and shows that one is under control. Life in the monastery is physically and mentally challenging. The monks and nuns are happy to share temple life with you. If you cannot adapt to the rules, leave the monastery immediately.

Please note: Master Reding lives with his children at the small monastery, meaning you must be very discreet, child-friendly, and independent. The rules are very strict to protect the children and the family.