For more information, please visit: www.questforvision.com

The Vision QuestPassage, Initiation, and Renewal in Wilderness

Since time immemorial people have gone to the wilderness to seek guidance and renewal, to let their old lives and old selves die, to find the condition where spirit may be rekindled, reborn within them.

At Circles of Air and Stone, we assist those brave individuals who seek to find their true nature in nature. In our vision quest programs the participant spends 4 days and nights alone, fasting on the earth. The first 4 days are spent in preparation with the staff, including instruction in the three-phase dynamic of initiation; the four shields model of self and psyche; emergency and survival procedures; archetypes and allegories of the heroic journey; the dynamics of fasting; and instruction in self-initiated ceremony. Preparation will include individual

counseling and instruction in passage rite forms and ceremony relevant to the specific status of the individual.

“I feel my vision quest has been with me every day since I left “the mountain.” I no longer define myself by the hole I used to have inside or by the postures and activities I used to fill it or cover it up. On some deep level I trust myself and the choices I make.”

The participants are then conducted to a wilderness setting where they cross the threshold, living alone for 4 days and nights on the earth. Upon returning, the questers spend an additional 3 days with staff. The time includes a celebratory feast, elders’ council, and other rituals of incorporation. The emphasis is on grounding and owning the lessons learned in the threshold period, for the true work of the vision quest awaits us when we return to our people.

“It is only those who know neither an inner call nor an outer doctrine whose plight is truly desperate; that is... most of us today.” --Joseph Campbell

Circles of Air and Stone exists to assist people in facing themselves and creating successful and meaningful passages through the transitions and crises in their lives.

We emphasize the authentic experience of the individual. We must face ourselves and learn to live from our strengths rather than our wounds. We must find our ground and determine our place, whether alone, in relationship, or in community. We are called to find our “medicine,” our unique path to wholeness; to find our gift and give it to “our people.”

We assist individuals to claim their own authenticity and authority; to define their own myths; to make their own decisions; to determine their own meanings and successes; to heal themselves.

Participation is open to all individuals regardless of race, gender, creed, or heritage. Emphasis is on the empowerment of the individual. The relationship of the individual to “Spirit”, “God” or “Self” is considered sacred, and our role is to assist participants in creating experiences and meanings relevant to their own lives and belief systems.

Contact may be either by writing (P.O. Box 48 -- Putney, VT  05346), email (sparrow@together.net) or phone - (802-387-6624). Upon inquiry you will be sent further information, if relevant, regarding course structure and requirements, procedures for enrollment, schedules, costs, risks and liability, transportation and accommodations.

Vision Quest Schedule – 2015

In New Mexico: May 7-17: Aldo Leopold WildernessJuly 16-26: Chama WildernessOctober 16-26: Gila Wilderness

In Vermont:August 13-23: Somerset LakeSeptember 10-20: Green Mountain Forest

In California: March 19-29: Death Valley

In Utah: April 15-25: Valley of the Gods

Guide:

Sparrow Hart, founder of Circles of Air, Circles of Stone, undertook his first wilderness rite of passage in 1971, a 5-month solo pilgrimage in the Cascades and Canadian Rockies. Over the last 30 years he has practiced modern and indigenous therapeutic approaches and has apprenticed with a variety of native and non-native “medicine teachers.”

In April, 1987 Sparrow completed training at the School of Lost Borders with Steven Foster and Meredith Little, authors of The Book of the Vision Quest. Since that time has been leading vision quests each year in New England and the Southwest. He has also undertaken over 25 quests of his own. He is a writer, creator of the Mythic Warrior training, and a frequent workshop leader around the country.

There are often other guides apprenticing or assisting during a quest.

“I want to emphasize that my gift to you is not my story, but the extent to which I can help you find your own voice, your own truth, your authenticity. There is no greater tragedy than a life unlived, and no greater joy than holding to one’s Vision through the blessings and sorrows of life.”

Vision Quest at Circles of Air and Stone

Participation in a vision quest starts long before one walks into the wilderness. The seeds of participation may have been planted long ago, in childhood, and your arrival may seem part of a process unfolding steadily and naturally. Or the decision may be sudden, a crisis or transition causing something long hidden to burst forth with compelling force, a force one cannot deny or refuse. Or it may just seem "the right thing to do," an affirmative way to answer a question, mark a change, or renew the spirit.

Whatever path brings one here, whether you feel called or driven, participation brings one to a process that is solitary, unique, and universal. Alone, in wilderness, we stand naked before our mother, the Earth; we stand before our gods and goddesses; we stand before ourselves. As kindred souls have done for millennia, we come to enact our dying and rebirth.

Preparation begins well before leaving home. You will be asked to write a letter of intent, responding to questions designed to help the process of focusing and clarifying your purpose. When your participation has been confirmed, you will be asked to read The Trail to the Sacred Mountain, a handbook for those undertaking a vision quest. This book gives detailed information about the concrete, mythical, and allegorical structure of the quest experience. (See below)

Upon your arrival, we will establish our preparation camp. Having said good-bye to friends and family, having left home and packed the equipment and belongings deemed necessary, one's purpose becomes intensified. For four days we will hold

council, our meetings devoted to completing your preparation. Others may be preparing with you and, though focused on their own solitary quest, their presence lends support and provides insight. Deep friendships are often established here.

The days will pass quickly and there is much to be done. Our meetings will focus on creating physical and emotional balance; refining and clarifying one's myths, goals, and life story, and how these relate to the time at hand. You will receive instruction on traditional forms and vision quest "events:" the dynamics of fasting; the mirroring aspects of nature; ceremonies, myths, and allegories of the vision quest; emergency and safety procedures; medicine wheel teachings, and ritual forms of purification and attunement. There will be times of solitude and individual counseling, helping you to integrate these teachings into your personal worldview and situation.

We then journey to an area where you will find your place of power, there to live alone for four days and nights. In sunrise ceremony you will take your leave and cross the threshold into the Sacred World. During this time you will be completely alone, but close enough to base camp to receive aid, should you need it. Once a day you will visit a designated place (your stone pile), leaving a sign that communicates your safety. Other than this minimal requirement, your time is yours to be in intimate contact with nature in its many forms, with yourself, and the Spirit-in-all-things.

Returning to base camp marks the beginning of incorporation. You will be welcomed with simple ceremony and the sharing of food, your first in four days. With reflection and with celebration, we begin the journey back into the human world. The work of incorporation is to again take on the cloak of our civilized life and to wear it gracefully.

This phase of the program lasts three days. After washing off the dirt and dust of wilderness we will feast together, observing the fast-paced world we left behind. We will participate in an Elder's Council, sharing stories of our time in the "Sacred World." Your story will be attentively witnessed and listened to and, with traditional and thoughtful questions, you will be assisted in finding your truths and meanings, owning your gifts, and claiming your power.

How are the seeds we bring back to be planted in the daily world with its dysfunction and distraction? How can we protect them, nurture them, and make them grow? What gifts do we have to give to our people? We must ask and answer these questions if our vision is to guide us in daily life. We will also purify and give thanks through ceremony and a giveaway.

After we have held our councils, had our feasts, and shared our ceremonies we must part. With renewed commitment and gratitude for the insight, rich experience, and friendship we have shared, it is time to walk our "path with heart," re-entering the world we left behind to realize our vision. There the living work of the vision quest awaits us.

Enrollment in a Vision Quest Program

Enrolling in a vision quest involves three steps: 1) choosing a date or dates for participation; 2) placing a deposit to secure your space; and 3) writing a letter of intent stating your reasons for undertaking a vision quest at this time.

Registration, costs, and cancellations: The fee for a vision quest program is $1295 if a participant registers a month or more in advance, and $1395 thereafter. Advance registration with a non-refundable deposit of $400 is required, with the balance due 30 days before the start of the program. Refunds will be returned, less deposit, only in the case of cancellations received at least a month before the beginning of any program. You will receive a full refund for any courses canceled by Circles of Air and Stone.

If your intent to undertake a quest is sincere and strong, and you truly cannot afford the full cost of the program, payment plans and/or scholarship assistance is sometimes – up to two people per program -- available.

Upon confirmation and receipt of your letter of intent and deposit, you will be sent further information regarding preparation**, transportation, equipment, accommodations, etc. (These vary as locations vary.) In addition, you will be expected to fill out and return a medical questionnaire and liability release form.

Scheduling: The experience of a vision quest is profound and can be a pivotal point in major life transitions. It is therefore highly recommended that one declare one's intention early to allow for a thorough personal preparation. Early enrollment also facilitates scheduling. Since enrollment is quite limited programs sometimes fill up. Timely registration can also prevent unnecessary cancellation of programs and makes travel arrangements simpler and often more economical.

Most participants choose from the scheduled vision quest dates. There are, on occasion, exceptions. If scheduling alone deters you from participation, there may be flexibility in the program dates, depending on commitments of the other participants. Earlier contact increases the chance of this.

Programs may also be scheduled to meet the needs of specific groups. These may range from a weekend to extended stays or pilgrimages into the wilderness, and focused around various group needs or processes. Often existing groups - friends, support groups, etc. - choose to undertake a quest together to deepen their relationships to Spirit and each other or accelerate their healing process. Costs and logistics will be worked out between the parties involved. Inquiries are welcome.

Writing a letter of intent: A letter of intent will not only help you to organize your thoughts and deepen your focus, it will help me to better prepare to help you. Some questions to consider in a letter of intent might be the following:

Issues of severance: "What parts of my life do I wish to bury, say good-bye to, leave behind? What attitudes, stances, situations, habits, no longer serve me?"

Issues of incorporation: "What do I wish to call into my life? What do I wish to integrate, take on, accept? Are there aspects of a new life that call to me?"

Questions of the threshold, the passage: "What are the monsters in my life? What do I really fear? What are the obstacles? What blocks me from letting go of what I wish to sever from, taking on what I wish to manifest? What are my allies, my sources of strength? What is my 'higher power' and what tools do I have to call on these allies, or this higher power?"

** As part of the preparation process participants will be expected to have read a copy of The Trail to the Sacred Mountain: A Vision Fast Handbook for Adults (Foster and Little, Lost Borders Press) before arrival. This handbook answers many of the questions concerning the process and experience of a vision quest, focusing on the issues

related to the three stages of all rites of passage: Severance, the Threshold, and Incorporation. It includes sections on terrain, flora, fauna, equipment, self-created ceremony, and safety. With study it will help the participant further clarify his/her intent, and relate this to the forms, allegories, and mythic structure of the quest.

This book will be included as part of the preparation packed upon registering. However, if you’d like to order it separately, The Trail to the Sacred Mountain is available from Circles of Air, Circles of Stone – P.O. Box 48; Putney, VT 05346 -- for $16.00, (this includes postage and handling).

Common Questions about the Vision Quest

I don't know if I could go four days without eating? Is this something a normal person can do?

Surprisingly, fasting is rarely a problem for anyone. Eating is highly conditioned by routines, schedules, or stimuli such as the smell of food. Or it can often be driven by unconscious emotions, such as escaping from stress. Away from the everyday patterns and habits of our lives, it is a much different experience.

Hunger itself is usually momentary and fleeting during the first two days of a fast. Later, it often disappears altogether. The main purpose and effect of fasting is the expansion of awareness and the change of consciousness it engenders. There can be physical challenges to not eating, such as a lower level of energy, but hunger is unlikely to be one of them.

Do I have to be in good physical shape or need significant experience camping or hiking?

Many people have undergone a vision fast with little or no camping experience. You will be sent an equipment list long before you leave home, and be well-instructed in safety procedures and shelter techniques during the preparation phase. The basics, such as backpack, sleeping bag, etc., can often be borrowed from a friend or rented from camping equipment stores if you don't have them. We can sometimes be of help (especially in Vermont programs) recommending or providing equipment.

If you can walk for a mile and a half with a backpack on, you are likely in good enough physical condition to participate in a quest. Since people often enroll months in advance, you can practice walking with a pack and build endurance if you are in doubt. Over the years people with various physical disabilities and conditions have been able to successfully undertake vision quests.

During the solo time, your activity level will be up to you. Some questers are very active while fasting, undertaking long walks, performing ceremonies, or staying up through the night, while others are quiet or contemplative, staying in a relatively small area.

Couldn't I go out in the woods by myself and do this alone?

Yes, you could, but it would be very different. Although the core of the vision questing process is solitary, traditionally this activity was never done alone. There have always been guides, mentors, and shamans who prepared the initiate to cross the threshold into the sacred world. These same guides were there when the initiate returned, to help him/her make sense of the journey and translate vision into the forms and terms of social and everyday life.

If our intention is to journey beyond the self we know and are familiar with, leaving the preparation in the hands of that self is poor strategy. "Old tapes," habits, and repetitious ways of looking at the world can easily accompany us into the wilderness and back. There are important teachings about ritual, ceremony, physical preparation, and the methodology of the questing process that we would not get if we were doing this alone. And the presence of guides and companions who provide different perspectives, stories in which we see ourselves in new ways, honest feedback, and compassionate mirroring is an invaluable resource,

Going it alone can be powerful. Fasting, solitude, and the contact with the spirit in nature are excellent teachers. But the instruction involved in the preparation phase and the emotional support and help in integrating one's story make it a qualitatively different experience.

There are vision quests offered in various parts of the country. What difference might this make in my quest experience?

In thinking about a vision quest, you might consider it as an interaction between ‘set’ and ‘setting.’ ‘Set’ encompasses what you bring to the experience -- emotions, expectations, motivations, intentions, etc. -- while setting is what appears to be outside -- landscape, climate and weather, animals, etc.

Your set, whether positive or challenging (desires and demons, purposes and fears) will likely be the same regardless of where you undertake a vision quest, while the settings can vary widely in different locations and different times of the year.

Particular settings do have unique qualities and differing energies. Death Valley is a land of grand vistas and immense space, is dominated by the elements of air and fire, while, Vermont, with its wildlife, streams, and lakes embodies the elements of earth and water. (A more detailed description of sites is provided under Enrollment)

Some people consider it important to quest within the area and ecology closest to where they live, while others feel drawn to go outside of what is familiar to them. However, a quest always involves the encounter between the known and unknown, and the desire to discover what is unknown and wanting to emerge in ourselves will lead us to approach even the most familiar settings in new and unusual ways.

I am currently taking medication. Would I have to go off it to do a vision quest?

That question is between you and your physician. There are some medications that it may make sense to lower the dosage or do without during the fasting phase. For some conditions that is out of the question, and many of these medicines should not be taken on an empty stomach.

Many people who have to take medication have undergone vision quests, bringing with them small amounts of crackers, juice, or other supplements to allow them to continue a healing regimen.

Medicine is about becoming whole: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Taking care of you physical health is important. It is not ‘cheating.’ A vision quest contains many kinds of ‘medicine,’ for healing the heart, soul, and spirit. Remember that you will be alone, in wilderness without books, conversation, electric lights, hot showers, and entertainment. You will be ‘fasting’ in many other ways.

I feel drawn to do this, but it seems overwhelming. How do I know if I'm ready?

Everyone has fear when approaching a vision fast, even those of us who have gone out twenty times or more.

Remember that you do not do it all at once. From our living room it seems an enormous leap, but it is in fact many smaller steps, each one do-able. We write a letter of intent, arrange our schedule, make travel plans, pack. We arrive in a new place, meet our guide and companions, tell our stories. In a small group we share our fears, address physical and safety needs, learn about ceremony and what to expect, practice sleeping out under the stars. By the time we walk alone out of base camp, we have already left behind most of the fears and questions that seem so imposing to us now.