There comes a time when you must leave family, friends and work behind and go off alone, looking within to discover your changes in the circle of life. The Vision Quest is the name of this journey.  This is a path that has been followed by human beings for thousands of years. You hear it calling to you. These questions are pushing you, "Who am I?", "What do I have to give?" and "How can I heal my wounds?" Despite your fears, you know this is something you have to do. So you meet with others like yourself, guided by caring staff, to prepare yourself for the journey. You learn about the desert terrain, putting together the necessary equipment, about physical safety and survival, and about the inner terrain, going over the story that has brought you to this threshold. You study ancient symbols and teachings that will help illuminate your way. All the while, the small group is becoming a community, offering support and love.

Ceremonial rites of passage have been important to the social health of human societies for thousands of years, enabling individuals to negotiate their transitions with purpose and meaning, discovering gifts to be brought back for the whole community. Without them, people have no way to mark and celebrate their life-changes, unable to complete the old or begin the new. The Vision Quest programs we offer enable men, women and adolescents to engage an age-old ceremonial pattern: completion of an old life, movement through the threshold of the unknown, and return to the world reborn. People in any life stage or transition can find meaning in this powerful process.  Young people  will find particular meaning in the challenges the program presents.

We have taken the universal elements of a rite of passage in constructing a program designed for people living in our modern society. Our staff are guides, serving to mirror and support participants by helping them first to prepare for their solo and then to understand and integrate their experience. The vision quester returns to our de-mythologized society powerfully moved by having lived close to the healing power of nature and to his or her own living spirit.

The group begins at a campground near the wilderness, where we get acquainted and meet to begin preparations for the quest.  We'll review flora, fauna, first aid and safety procedures, and begin to present tools such as the medicine wheel teachings.  Then we drive to the "trailhead" (where there may be no trails, however) and  hike in up to 3 miles to set up a base camp (Note: check schedule for easy walk or no-walk base camp programs). This will be home for a few days, offering community meals, company, shelter, and a safe container for heartfelt ceremony.

There is time for sharing with other participants and staff, or for just sitting quietly. You have part of a day to look for your place on the earth, going in the direction you feel called to explore. Safety concerns are addressed again in the field, and you will have a buddy from the group that is sworn to help you if the need arises--but you will not see each other unless there is an emergency. You will leave a stone for your buddy each day at a stonepile located between your sites, a small reminder of the spirit and heart you share with others on this path. On the last evening together in base camp, the whole group will meet in council circle, where you'll have a final opportunity to share deeply of hopes and fears.  The next morning, there will be a beginning ceremony at sunrise to bless you and send you off.    

For the next three days and nights, you will enact the Vision Quest, living by yourself in the wildness of nature. In the weakness of fasting [or eating lightly], you become more open and transparent. You live between the inner world of dreams, feelings, fantasies and the outer world of cold night air, the warming sun, the sound of a coyote howling, the sight of a lizard doing pushups, the vast view of a desert plateau. You may be visited by dragons, whose names are loneliness, boredom, fear, and regret--among others. You engage them with your heart and spirit, recognizing them as worthwhile opponents. They push you into your depths.    

Time can slow down on a Vision Quest, and the stillness of the desert can be very powerful. As your thoughts begin to empty out, you can look into the pool of your own being, noticing how you are, what your dreams are made of, what you need to let go of. The sacred dimension is present there, and you can enter it naturally. It is possible to feel connected to everything, to the small fly buzzing, to the cactus in its rocky home, to the moon and stars wheeling overhead at night.     

On the last evening you will build a circle of stones to represent your life, entering it at dusk and remaining awake until the dawn releases you. During the long night, you can sit, stand, dance, sing, pray, or just huddle from the cold. You are bearing witness to your own death and rebirth. What is important to carry into your new life, and what needs to be left behind? You ask the Spirit to help you find your way. Your prayers are answered as the first rays of sunlight pierce the darkness. It's time now to come down off the mountain and begin the journey back. 

And the sunset itself in waves of ether
Is such that I can't say with certainty
Whether day is ending, or the world, or whether
The secret of secrets is again in me.

~Anna Akhmatova

 

The return from the Vision Quest can be a time of great energy and joy, celebrating the healing and wholeness that you have found.  After participants return to base camp, we'll share a delicious breakfast, then spend the balance of this day, and the next two,  exploring the teachings of the Quest, reflecting the beauty and meaning of each story, and the challenges posed for the return.  The task is to re-enter your life, bringing your unique gifts and opened heart back to family, friends and community.  As Mirabai asks, "Without the energy that lifts mountains, how am I to live?" How can I bring my vision into my world, the world of work, relationships and ordinary life? The energy of the wilderness has flowed into us as healing, and from us enters the world.