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Published in Magical Blend, Issue 39, July 1993 by Peg Jordan - VISION QUEST
Eager for connection with an ailing planet and with their own inner lives, many are turning to the tradition of vision questing. Can you expect transformation in the woods-or do you simply pack out exactly what you packed in?
Sooner or later you'll hear that someone you know went on a vision quest. And when you do, even the woods - vision quest - will seem to radiate a certain power for you. "Vision quest" will drop in like a universal quest, startling you, perhaps pointing out your own semi-neglected soul. You may balk: What would posses someone to go out on a quest, and what do they know that I don't? Is it a solo journey into the wilderness, filled with dangers and unrelenting hardships, really necessary anymore in this convenience age of video seminars and weekend workshops? You may be baffled, but still and all, the concept of vision quest retains its mysterious pull on your psychic heartstrings, as if something very old was reawakened. And in this time of reawakenings and resurgences of tribal wisdom, this ancient rite of passage known on several continents for thousands of years, is back and bigger than ever.
In the past few years, over dozen vision quests companies have sprung up through the West and in pockets on the East Coast. Some profess an Eastern contemplative asceticism. Others teach a strict Native American practice. Still others sound like eco-dudes backpacking for a weekend adventure. Quest have become so popular, there is even an annual conference for vision quests guides who share information on everything from surrendering to ego death to safe treatment of snake bites. What follows is a basic primer on vision quests, with advice from some well known leaders as well as stories from a few experienced questers. A diverse crowd, everyone from spiritual emergence counselors to AT&T executive coaches are venturing out into the wilderness. I'm convinced that the chief reason why vision quests are regaining their popularity can be found somewhere between the stories of the questers and the environmental backdrop against which this ancient tradition has remerged.
The Politics of Questing
"Famous Questers Through History" could be the name of a vision quest slide show, featuring Jesus of Nazareth, and his emulated duplicated 40-day trek into the desert without food or water. Then there is wichasha wakon Black Elk. whose solo quests brought visions and predictions of a day when the white man would learn spirituality from his people and those who followed the Medicine Way. There are also vision quests in communities throughout the world which serve as rituals for transition to new life stages.
Several Native American nations practice vision quest with strict, secret codes of conduct and ceremonial practices. Many of them are distressed about non-Indians latching on to traditions. They feel the concept of Americans rediscovering vision quest is a bit like the one-sided school tale of Columbus "discovering" America. As Eagle Man Ed McGaa, author of Mother Earth Spirituality (Harper-San Francisco:1991) and Oglala Medicine Man initiate explains, some Indians teachers feel the new popularity of quests is just one more in a long line of cultural misappropriations and the utmost in political incorrectness.
However, McGaa points out that vision quest itself is a transcultural ritual and therefore should perhaps be universally taught and explored. "I follow the traditions of my teachers - in the lineage of Black Elk - taught openly to Indians and non-Indians with, of course respect to not disclose those teachings that are sacred to a particular tribe. But I believe that if the heart is sincere and the learner is ready, then we should share that which will heal Mother Earth and all of it's people." Ironically, when McGaa first tried bringing his message of renewed Native Medicine spiritually to the reservations, he was often rebuffed, so he taught whoever requested the knowledge- usually whites. explains, McGaa, "What more effective means of healing the Mother than to work with those who have been her greatest abuser?' Out of her sensitivity to this issue, Colorado guide Leav Bolender has renamed her vision quests "wilderness rites of passage" out of respect for the Native Americans who have protested.
Some guides, such as San Diego alcoholic and drug counselor Susan Lynee Griffen, author of The Healing Circle of Stones (Griffen & Wong Institute, San Diego:1992) and Greg Welch, a Seattle -based executive consultant for AT&T, are embracing quests as an annual retreat for their continued work on issues including co-dependency, spiritual growth, and emotional release. For Susan Murphy, an initiate ceremonialist in moon-based rituals, she vision quested with John Milton, founder of "Sacred Passage." Her Sacred Passage with John offered a profound experience of "self-love" and "clarity of my appropriate path in life." Some questers report experiences that resemble an accelerated therapy session. "I got in touch with childhood memories and grieved into the earth. The sense of healing that I felt in one week was just amazing - I don't believe I could have received healing to that degree even after years and years of therapy." said Griffen.
Becoming an Earth Healer
So what are questers seeking alone in the wilderness that they can no longer get in support group? Plenty, according to John Milton of "Sacred Passage" who is also a Tantric teacher and veteran environmentalist. At a time when America is searching for its very soul, vision quest resurfaces as a means for soul retrieval.
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