Yesterday I closed my second Vision Quest. This time I closed it in our own wood. That made it special.
A year ago, I completed my second Vision Quest. This is a Rite of Passage where you spend 4 days, and nights out in nature.
A vision quest is a ceremony to facilitate change and to help people to move from one stage of their life through to the next. My first one was to help me to decide on the focus of my life, a year on from ending my marriage and how best to make a change in the world.
After three days of preparation, you go out on your own, with no tent (you can take a tarp) and no food (you take plenty of water). During these 4 days and night you can focus on a particular intention and you address your fears.
I have written previous blog posts about Vision Quests. Since my first in July 2019, I have immersed myself more in nature, enjoying the feel of the earth beneath my feet and the wind on my body. Listening to the messages I get from nature. In 2020 I was camp assistant at a Vision Quest, as part of my apprenticeship to lead Vision Quests.
It was important to do another one. The experience should be different, and it was. I’ve moved on from the lessons gained from the first one and expected to go deeper. What I hadn’t expected was the weather. It was like being at a typical Glastonbury Festival. So much rain in the week leading up to it, I was in wellies every day. Thank goodness I’ve also gained the skills of tarp erection and how to keep dry. You can read more about it here.
On a Vision Quest, you keep a journal, making notes of what you see, experience and your thoughts. After the four days we tell our story. For a full year we need to keep the story within ourselves, and not to share it with anyone, as the experience needs time to develop. Every 3 months I rewrote my diary, keeping the content fresh in mind.
Being close to home I woke at 6, my car was packed and drove to the wood. The day was spent in nature – listening to the birds and the wind, and slow intentional walking. Life has been busy so good to have some time to myself and to really clear my head and get a greater focus.
I’d created a Threshold Circle, see picture above, and to start this 24 hour period I stood in the centre, spoke my intention and in the morning, as I returned, went back thorugh the circle.
I decided not to take notes this time, as I tend to write a lot. This time I wanted to experience more. When I returned, I created a video and this has me talking from my heart. I hope you can take the 3 minutes to watch.
Any questions, or if you are interested in the Vision Quest experience for yourself, please get in touch.
