The Call To Quest
The Vision Quest, also known as a Vision Fast, or Wilderness Vigil, is one of the most ancient rites of passage and initiatory experiences available to us in the modern era.
Most familiarity with Vision Quests perhaps comes from the native traditions of North America, however similar practices of extended time and solitude in nature as a passage rite can be found cross-culturally across our world.
If you're conceptually -or experientially- familiar with the wilderness vigil, you'll know that it often involves:
Fasting alone in the wilderness, often in a small circle, with no food, sometimes no water, no tent, diminished sleep, no technology, no entertainment, and no contact or communication with others in the outside world —essentially, sacrificing many comforts and familiarities-- for several consecutive days and nights.
It's no small feat to undertake a Vision Quest.
Many people hear the call, few take heed and follow through.
There are many reasons as to why someone might tend to this calling:
Seeking answers to life’s profound questions
Personal transformation and reconnection
Claiming one’s personal power and life purpose
Seeking clarity, meaning and purpose
Finding one’s authentic soul path
Purification from the busyness and distractions of modern living
Navigating the challenges and complexities of life
Experiencing one’s heart and soul in a deep and meaningful way
Life transitions; including severance from the old, and birthing the new
Divine communion with spirit
Exploring the mysteries of life and the wonderment of nature
To dream and be dreamt by the wild and mythic stories of the land
Marking, honouring, or celebrating the story of your life and the unique place you find yourself to be in this time
Whatever the case, Vision Quest presents a clear invitation to become more attentive to the ever-changing seasons and cycles of one’s life, and to thoughtfully address some of the bigger life questions.
I had already been exploring the multi-dimensionality of shamanic wisdom ways for years before my first formal Vision Quest eventuated.
Mountain valley cocooned me, my humble nest situated in dense forest, surrounded by bracken fern and eucalypt trees, young and old.
Relentless rains and howling winds formed much of the backdrop. Some moments were hair raising. Ancient trees and heavy branches would fall in the dark of night. Some of them were earth shaking. Thunderous.
So it is, when we surrender ourselves to the wild mysteries and ever-changing seasons of nature.
Those days and nights out there fasting alone in the wilderness were revelatory, affirmatory, subtle, profound, and so-many-shades in between.
Make no mistake, wilderness vigils can be one of the most real deal, no bullshit, raw and humbling initiatory experiences and rites of passage available to us.
What a challenging and grand thing it is indeed, to have been initiated time and time again into these wisdom ways, and to have touched upon some mark of the soul; some overarching and underlying prayer, to guide –and continue guiding- others into the mysteries of life in these ways.
There’s some shred of truth in the words of Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho:
“Seek not the paths of the ancients; seek that which the ancients sought.”
Perhaps, this is the path of the ancients in some way, with a few twists; adaptions; curations, to appropriately reflect the challenges and complexities of our own times. And perhaps, what we’re seeking may indeed have some semblance of similarity to what the ancients sought.
The call to Quest can be a faint whisper, or perhaps a great roaring bellow from within.
Whatever that sound may be, the invitation and opportunities are waiting to be claimed, if we dare heed that call.
