What is a Vision Quest?
The
Contemporary Vision Quest
Reconnecting Individual, Community, and Earth Spirit
Come quest in the Green Mountains for that which is calling you into deeper levels of relationship with Family, Community, Earth, and Spirit
• Listen to the voices of the earth and sky and all the dwells within for that which you are being asked to bring forth in your life at this time
• Foster a relationship with Earth and Community that is based in gratitude and service
• Practice stillness of body and mind
• Learn from old stories, earth’s stories, the stories of others in the circle, your dreams and your story
• Express yourself in song and dance
• Create symbols of what is ending in your life and what is beginning
• Step with clarity, vision, and purpose into the next stage of your life
People choose to enact a vision quest for many reasons. Often something is
shifting or has recently changed in their lives and they seek to deepen their
understanding of the transition. Some feel a yearning that can not be named
or a specific spiritual call. Others have crossed a specific threshold in
life such as finishing education, recovery from disease or addiction, marriage,
parenthood, job change, divorce, menopause, children leaving home, becoming
a grandparent, retirement, elderhood, or a life threatening illness. Some
people quest because there is no available rite of passage to mark a life
transition and they seek not only the ritual but the knowledge that is gained
that informs their next stage in life. The vision quest is a practice in living
and dying. Something is being left behind, dying; and something is beginning,
being born. The quest as a ritual supports both the dying and the rebirth
by allowing space and time for new knowledge and understanding to develop
and manifest.
The contemporary vision quest is based on traditional forms of rites of passage and initiation in many traditions and cultures that prepare, support and witness the transitions and role changes throughout life. It has three elements: severance – intentionally leaving behind your life as you have known it; threshold – the time betwixt and between what you have known and what is emerging; and incorporation – the return with new knowledge, understanding and skills that will be integrated into the next stage of life. Those enacting the quest do so willingly and with intention. They are guided in ceremony and experiences that enable deep listening to self, dreams, stories, nature, and spirit. People are offered ways to identify what is standing in the way of moving with clarity, purpose and intention into the next phase of your life. Time alone in nature, often fasting, opens the way for teachings from the natural world, the seen and the unseen, heard and unheard. Participants are given the opportunity to develop practices that will support continued spiritual path and development. Before returning to family and community, individual stories are mirrored by the guides to insure that each person recognizes the gift that has been received and will be given. Finally, there is a ceremony of incorporation back to community represented by previous questers and participant’s family and friends.
This last stage of the vision quest, the return to the community, is where the individual intention and gift meet the community need and future. The individual’s story brings new hope and inspiration to the community. The community supports the return path of the person who has quested for meaning and purpose. It is an age old story – those who go to the mountain to fast and pray return with information and wisdom from another realm that is critical to the future of the community. This last stage is critical to our society and world today that has strayed so far from an honoring relationship with Earth. Reconnecting individual, community, and Earth Spirit is the ultimate gift of the vision quest.
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”
---From the 1st Quartet, Burnt Norton
Quest
Settings
Vermont Vision Quest has fostered relationships with private landowners in North Central Vermont who are committed to ecological and spiritual Earth stewardship. Base camp locations are car accessible and yet afford privacy for the quests. Undeveloped wooded areas, meadows and streams grace the land where groups meet and spend solo time. Landowners and guides are fully ensured and follow comprehensive protocols and guidelines to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all participants. On occasion, programs are conducted on permitted state lands.