Not offered in 2008
For traditional indigenous peoples, the Earth was home and teacher: their sense of themselves as a person took shape in relation to the beings, elements, forces, and rhythms of the natural world. Sadly, many of us have lost this intimate connection to our original home. This program is designed to help you recover your original sense of belonging to the wild Earth by re-awakening the indigenous soul that lies just beneath the surface of your modern, busy life.
The four days prior to the vision quest are devoted to preparing you psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually to meet this challenge head-on. Together we will create a safe, supportive container within which you may clarify your intention for the quest and open your heart to the longing that brings you to this turning point in your life. There will also be instruction in the dynamics of rites of passage, dream circles, storytelling, attunement to nature, a Purification Lodge, and in an ancient Medicine Wheel that will help you to place your struggles and longings into a wider archetypal context.
On the Vision Quest you will go to the Sacred Mountain where you will, as the Sioux say, “cry for a vision” for four days and nights with water but without food. To cry for a vision is to throw yourself at the feet of what you hold to be sacred and to pray for guidance, healing, or whatever the longing in your heart cries out for. As you surrender to the process, you will awaken to a new way of seeing. You will be challenged again and again to face and let go of the personal demons that hold you back from flying into the freedom of your authentic self.
Following your return from the vision quest, there will be three days of incorporation, during which you can decompress from the intensity of your solo time, tell your vision quest story in council, and receive assistance in understanding and integrating the lessons learned on your quest into your daily life.
The whole experience offers healing, vision, purpose, communion, and a renewed sense of community that can deeply enrich your life, relationships, and work. The program takes place on a beautiful lake in southern Vermont and is limited to eight participants. Participants provide their own camping equipment and food. We invite you to join us on this powerful, transforming experience. Early registration is strongly encouraged, since it takes time to prepare for the quest, and this program fills quickly.
Flynn Johnson, founding director of The School of Natural Wonder, and his wife, Jill Neitlich, have been leading vision quests for fourteen years. Both are psychotherapists who received their training as wilderness vision quest guides with Steven Foster and Meredith Little. Flynn and Jill share backgrounds in Jungian psychology, Core Energetics, Native American traditions, meditation, and yoga. They combine their love of nature and their love of people in creating exquisite rites of passage. Flynn is a Wilderness First Responder. For more information, please visit their website at www.questvision.org.