Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you
- David Whyte
A week long journey of transformative self-exploration and group ritual, with a three-day solo in the wilderness.
About Ancient Path Vision Quests
Since 2004 I have been guiding small groups into the lap of the Great Mother to sit in the Earth. Traditionally called by my Lakota teachers "Crying for a Vision", colonists to this country have coined the name Vision Quest for this experience. I don't claim to guide a traditional Vision Quest, because I am not initiated by my elders in this way, yet I do follow what I was taught as closely as possible in an adapted version of Vision Quest. Ancient Path Vision Quest offers those in the Western Mind to remember their Indigenous mind/heart, through a three-day solo fast in a remote wilderness.
FALL VISION QUEST 2010
September 29 - October 7
Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California
Register Now
FEES are offered on a sliding scale of $850 - $1,100.
Your Guide
MARIA GUTIERREZ went on her first Death Valley vision quest at age 19, which eventually led into a five year apprenticeship with a Lakota medicine man and her adoption into a Hopi family. She has sat on the earth in her own questing six times, including in South Dakota and California with traditional teachers. Her background and personal experiences with indigenous wisdom create the foundation of her skill in facilitating groups through this journey in a wild environment. Maria is also practicing Hypnotherapist, Intuition Medicine Counselor, and Self-Awareness workshop facilitator.
(415) 686-9238 :: ancientpathvisionquests@gmail.com
THOUGHTS ON VISION QUESTING
The Power of Rites of Passage Rituals
At different times in our lives we go through transformations that can encompass and affect every part of our being. What happens when we don’t slow down to mark these passages consciously, allowing not only our cognitive mind to grasp how we’re growing, but also making space for our emotional, psychological and physical bodies’ to integrate? Indigenous peoples the world over knew the power of Rites of Passage rituals to mark these major life transitions, and help not only the individual, but the whole community to make the shift gracefully.
To decide to Vision Quest is a choice to sacrifice something of yourself to benefit others. On the quest you will have an opportunity to spend three days and nights alone, at a sacred place on the Earth, fasting. We give up our comforts for this short amount of time, to pray for our people and cry for a vision. When we move into the silence of nature, away from the distractions of every day life, our minds can quiet and we have an opportunity to reconnect with the Earth and our Souls, and perhaps experience ourselves in a way we have never known before. The weaker we become from fasting, the stronger we become in Spirit. All the ways we kept ourselves small and out of harmony with nature become blatantly obvious to us. This is the time to face your fears - whether you’re afraid of animals, the dark, not eating, or your own chattering mind, this is your time to be present with what is and not run away; to make a commitment to live differently.
The real work comes after the Vision Quest is over and the quester begins to incorporate the various teachings and experiences back into their lives. It takes focus and courage to integrate and implement the visions received while questing; and it also takes patience and respect for the process, as this could take years.
Preparing Yourself to Quest
PRE-QUEST MEETINGS
Before departing for the quest we will gather for an all-day intensive to talk about preparations, logistics, safety, expectations, fears, and visions. We will discuss the power and meaning of the Medicine Wheel, as this ancient map will be holding and guiding us throughout the journey.
Our first three days at base camp we will be holding rituals, councils, and group processes to further create a container of trust and safety within the group, as well as helping us surrender our “urban minds” and open to our “indigenous or nature minds” and the Spirit World. This is a time of deeply opening to the process of transformation at hand and preparing emotionally, psychologically and spiritually to pass through the Severance gateway on the fourth sunrise, with clear intention.
The three-day solo is a microcosm of how you’ve been living your life thus far. It can also be a visioning of how you now wish to live in relationship with yourself, others and the world. Everything that happens on your solo is your Soul and Spirit speaking to you, no matter how subtle or insignificant it may seem. The solo-time is also the time to pray for the well-being for others in your life and the planet as a whole, and also to pray for help in the specific life transitions you’re currently undergoing. The pre-quest meetings and rituals help clarify these prayers and intentions for the questers, and it is important to attend them all.
PERSONAL PREPARATIONS
- One month prior to quest: Set intention, buy a journal and write about your anxieties, expectations, excitements, visions, track your dreams. Go on a Spirit Walk.
- Two weeks prior to quest: Pre-quest meeting.
- One week prior to quest: Sweatlodge ceremony to purify body, call in spirit helpers, pray, receive clarity. Stop using any mind altering substances, including caffeine. You don't want to be dealing wth withdrawal headaches on your quest. This week, drink lots of water and eat clean food to help prepare for fasting.
THE SPIRIT WALK
To help you get a sense of what it is like to fast for three days, we encourage strongly that each quester take a day to do a Spirit Walk. A Spirit Walk is a full day, sunrise to sunset, spent walking and sitting in nature. It is helpful to bring along plenty of water, a journal, and perhaps even a book of writings on mindfulness or poetry. Walking will help you physically get a sense of how it will feel to fast for three days because it keeps your metabolism going, and you will get hungrier faster.
You may want to collaborate with other questers for your Spirit Walk. Carpool to a natural area and go in different directions, planning to meet back to watch the sunset together and talk about your experiences. If you go alone, make sure someone knows where you are and when you'll be home.
VISION QUEST JOURNAL
Keeping a journal to write about your experiences before and after your quest is an invaluable tool for witnessing your personal transformations, challenges, triumphs, feelings, visions and dreams. It is a sacred testament to your courage to live fully that you can read again and again, in times when you need to remember, or just reflect.