What is a Vision Quest?
From August 21–29 I, along with a group of ten others, began our Vision Quest (VQ) here at MAPLE Monastic Academy. The VQ was guided by Darren Silver. Darren has been guiding VQs here at MAPLE for the past eight years. It has become something that many residents at the monastery look forward to each summer. This article is part of a series. Here is the link to the entire series.
What is a Vision Quest?
In essence, the vision quest is a ritual of remembering our belonging to ourselves and to our planet. — DS VQ
Going into the VQ I did not really have an idea about what the quest was all about. Darren had sent us materials beforehand to read. Being busy with my roles at the monastery, and not very good at doing homework that I do not assign myself, I quickly skimmed the reading materials.
Most of my knowledge about the quest came from hearing past residents explain their experiences. Pretty much all I knew was that we were going to be camping out for nine days, and that for four of them we would be alone in the forest and not eating food. Beyond this, I didn’t really have a clue what I was getting myself into.
Nevertheless, I was intrigued. I was excited. And, given the stage I was at with my work and creative explorations, I was ready!
Anthropologist Arnold van Gennep first defined the dynamics of a wilderness fast, or of any rite of passage, in 1909. The model we describe followed his classic three-phase formula: severance (“separation”), threshold (“marge”), and incorporation (“agregation”) (van Gennep, 1960). First, the child was severed from parents and childhood home and prepared for the trial that confirmed his adult, not his adolescent, abilities and sensibilities. Then he went alone and without food to a wilderness place and remained there for a period of time. The solitary experience of this time of seclusion was called the threshold. Alone and hungry in the threshold world, the candidate was “in the passage,” moving from a former to an antecedent life stage. When the trial was over, the candidate returned to his community and to his life as an adult. The third and final phase of the passage rite involved the incorporation of the candidate. He “in-corporated” by taking on the body of the adult world. — David Wendl-Berry in conversation with Martin Shaw
Darren structured our quest based on this three-phase forumula: Severance, Threshold, and Incorporation. The sections below will describe the areas that Darren focused on and some of my direct experiences in each of the stages.
Severance
After severing from our monastic schedule we spent three nights at basecamp as a whole group. The bullet points below are the areas that Darren focused on during this stage of the quest. These are extracted from the Vision Quest section on his website. This acronym — DS VQ — will be used to depict that throughout this article.
- Awaken the indigenous soul through land-based connection, meditation and activities
- Experience elemental rituals
- Clarify your intention through council and reflection
- Learn physical, emotional, and spiritual skills and resources
- Explore the surrounding landscape to find your vision quest site
Before leaving for the quest our teacher at the Monastic Academy, Soryu Forall, instructed us to let go of the mindfulness practices and spiritual philosophies that we regularly use at the monastery. We were now entering into a new spiritual training ground, where new practices and ways of seeing and being were required (read more about this shift in Article 2 — What the Vision Quest Taught me About my Meditation Practice).
During this period we were introduced to many philosophies, practices and rituals that helped us to prepare for our solos. We were guided through Meredith Little and Stephen Foster’s Four Shields framework, which enabled us to each, as individuals, and as a whole group, to reflect on and more deeply connect to our deeper nature. This helped us to surface our bright spots, as well as our shadows. The latter proved to be a lot of the grist, that was put through the mill during my solo.
In addition to being introduced to these various practices and ways of seeing each one of us was guided in the process of finding our deepest intention for wanting to go on the quest. We were given time to individually reflect on and journal what our intentions were for the quest. Then each of us went through individually and shared them with the group. Darren supported us to sparse out our vision through asking questions and picking up on subtle energies. It was a very powerful experience. At one point I felt the urge to get up and scream, and was guided to do so. It was a relief. The scream, perhaps more than any of the other words that were shared, was a deep expression of my intention for the quest.
My intention is to be open enough to be touched and to skillfully feel and express what I am feeling
There were many other powerful experiences during the severance phase. You can read more about the different practices and rituals that we were introduced to during this phase in Article 4 — Practices and Rituals. On the last day of the Severance phase each one of us left basecamp and walked around the surrounding forest to find the piece of land that called to us. The space we found would be the space we would inhabit during the Threshold phase of the quest.
Threshold
During this phase each one of us went off on our own and spent four days on a select piece of land. We were instructed not to go 100 feet away from where we set up our camp. The only items that we brought with us were: a tarp, mosquito net, sleeping bag, headlamp, 4 gallons of water and any clothes/personal items that we needed. We were told not to bring: food, phones/laptops/gadgets, books etc.
The morning that we left we gathered as a group and sang as a group. One by one, as we were singing, we stepped into the threshold, received blessings from Darren, and then left off on our own. I was the second to last person to leave. At that point the singing had become quite emotional. As I entered the circle, I was full of emotion, tears were welling up in my eyes.
I will share more about my experience in this phase in much greater depth than the others. For the most part, the following six articles in this series will be a description of how these four days unfolded.
We really need to understand, the way these traditional cultures have understood, that the most effective way of moving from one life stage to another, is by “marking” that transition with ritual and ceremony. One of the most effective and simple ways of doing this is to allow our selves to really feel, deeply feel our connection to the land, and allow the land to move us. — David Wendl-Berry in conversation with Martin Shaw
Incorporation
Just as we left, each one of us came back alone. One by one we came back to basecamp. It was incredibly joyous to see each person in the group again. To hug. To talk. To eat.
Even though I was ready to feast, Darren instructed us to take it slow and ease into eating again. We broke our fast with a hot vegetable soup. Gradually, I was able to build back my appetite and regular eating/digestion patterns.
Perhaps what surprised me the most was the shift. The four days alone in the forest felt like an eternity. It felt like a long, long, trip to a foreign land. But hours after returning, it had felt like nothing. It reminds me of a line from a poem I once wrote describing how 100 years of war ended with 1 day of peace. Not saying that being alone was like war, and being back was like peace, but rather emphasizing that the shift was so drastic, and that it happened so quickly. It was alarming, and also a deep reminder of temporality and impermanence.
Like we did with our intentions, each one of us was given space to share the insights, visions, and clarity that we gained during the threshold phase. These shares were filled with laughs as much as they were filled with shares. Similar, to the previous phase, I will share more about these stories/insights/moments of clarity in a later article: Article 7 — Moments of Clarity.
We capped of this phase with a sweat lodge, which Darren led, a ceremony of relinquishment and reciprocity and, lastly, a trip to a pizzeria.
Many come to the vision quest in major life transitions. They seek a distinct ceremony to recognize the changes that are taking place, and to be witnessed and supported in what is asking to be birthed. Feeling the call to vision quest is like a tug at our soul, beckoning you to live fully into your life. — DS VQ
If you are interested in reading more about the history of the Vision Quest from an experienced guide I highly recommend reading the entire article that I have been quoting throughout this piece with Martin Shaw interviewing David Wendl-Berry at https://earth-encounters.com/encountering-the-earth/. Below is one more excerpt from that article where Martin asks David what it is actually like to do a Vision Quest:
M.S. Could you try to tell us what it’s actually like to do a Vision Quest?
D.W.B. My experience of Vision Questing is that it can be hard work, especially in North Wales. Anyone who goes to do a Vision Quest thinking that they are going to spend a few days in a spiritual wonderland without having to work too much, are in for a shock.
Very often you find yourself sitting on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain, or in woods or open moorland with a cold wind gusting around you. Your sleeping bag is probably damp and clammy, your belly is empty and grumbling, you’ve probably got a headache and you feel as miserable as sin.
Even if the weather is beautiful and sunny, and you spend most of your time bathing in its glory, you will probably find that you can’t avoid your own darkness sneaking up on you. It’s quite remarkable how the weather will start to reflect your inner state. I was told that on a Vision Quest you always get the weather you need, I found that to be quite true.
Four days and night can seem like an eternity, fear will probably raise its ugly head, and so will boredom. You might well find that an awful lot of suppressed pain, anger, hatred, grief, guilt or whatever will start to surface, and it’s you that has to work it through. — David Wendl-Berry in conversation with Martin Shaw
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Dan Rudolph is currently a resident at MAPLE Monastic Academy. You can get in touch and/or learn more about his professional background here.
You can find links to all of the other articles in this 7-part series here: Vision Quest _ August 2021 _ MAPLE Monastic Academy + Darren Silver
