Frequently Asked Questions
When people hear about a vision quest, the spending
of three or four days and nights in the wilderness,
fasting, alone....for some there is an immediate
attractive mystery, a striking of some deep almost
primal chord in their hearts and soul. For others..it
is an immediate headlong journey into fears, denial
and absolute rejection. And for others..it is
simply .."Why
would you want to do that?" .
For many older cultures and traditions, spending
time alone in isolated places, deserts or 'wildernesses'...fasting,
reflecting, meditating or praying was an accepted
form of self discovery , initiation, guidance
, conjuring, or calling to Spirit. If a person
was facing a deep transition, crisis or just wanted
to deepen their connection to their Creator it
was not unusual to take this with them to face
alone in an environment free from the everyday
distractions of day to day life. An effort was
made to enter into the sacredness of time and
place in order to commune not only with in themselves,
but through the catalyst of Nature, seek inspiration
, clarity and guidance that they could then return
with to their community.
Quite naturally , in this day and age and particularly
amongst the majority of us who live in cities,
the idea of a quest raises important issues of
safety and self preservation.
Will I survive not eating for three
days?
Yes you will. The body will survive many days
of fasting before the slow process of turning
on itself begins. Freeing itself of the digestive
process and the energy that that entails allows
our bodies to rest and to detoxify as well as
giving rise to emotional clarity and vision.
I have a fear of snakes!
The snake question can have other inserts, ie
the dark, being on my own, insects, too much sun,being
in a group...the list can
go on and on. First of all I encourage people
to respect their fears and for a lot of people
the process before the actual quest can be a true
examination of these fears. Many fears are in
fact unfounded, they exist only in our minds,
ie it is the 'thought' of being on our own that
causes us anxiety rather than the actual experience
of it. Other fears are well founded based on our
past experience. This is the opportunity to face
the hold that the past can have on our psyche
in our present lives. Many people who fear being
on their own return from their journey realizing
that it is actually impossible in this universe
to be on your own, that we are actually connected
to every living thing and primarily connected
to ourselves. This can change your life.
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Over the years I have come to realize that the
basis of a lot of our fears as adults is that
we are inexperienced and unpractised in the journey
of TRUST.
We have no trust in ourselves, in the universe,
in our creator, or in our relationship with these
things. Albert Einstein apparently once expressed
that the question human kind must ask itself is....
Is the universe a friendly place?
The quest is a vehicle to begin this journey of
trust.
The utmost care and consideration is given to
each quester so that even before they go out on
their solo journey all these issues are addressed
and prepared for. There will always be an edge
that we will need to approach in our lives if
we wish to live as conscious human beings.
It is completely normal to feel fear when contemplating
doing a quest. Initially people think and feel
..yes I want to do this and feel positive and
inspired.And then for some, the doubts surface,
the fears, the 'what about this , the what about
that,' and for some this is fed and fed until
it becomes overwhelming and anxiety can surface.
Already, in this state if we are wise enough to
recognise it the mirror is pointing out to us
how much we live in fear, how much our own mind
controls us. We abandon our inspiration, our clarity
that initially inspired us to do this for our
doubt and fear. And then we find excuses to ourselves
why we cannot do it. We do not trust that part
of us that is our heart and soul, that part of
us that deeply needs to experience our real natural
state of clarity , peace , freedom and beauty,
that can open us to the joy that is already within
us waiting to be felt, practised , discovered
and lived.
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And all this happens before we even step out
the door!
The quest is designed to take us slowly and
gently into each part of the journey step by step.
If you were just dropped off somewhere and told
"see you in a few days!" yes, you might
be entitled to feel unprepared , abandoned and
afraid.
We of course encourage concerns to be expressed
and personal factors( ie medications, etc ) are
treated confidentially. Above all , this is your
journey, your quest, your life and our part in
this is to provide you with a safe and purposeful
space so that the gifts and insights for you are
discovered and revealed, all with a foundation
of many years of experience and thorough training. |
