We
live in a world marked by borders. We have borders between continents,
between people, even between our own hearts and minds. Perhaps one of
the most pervasive borders is the one we have placed between ourselves
and nature, and the ensuing belief that the natural world is both deaf
and mute. Thus, we live as if we were no longer informed by the seasons
of change, the ebb and flow of the river, the movement of stars, or the
waxing and waning of the moon. As Steven Foster would put it, the Big
Lie is that humans are not a part of nature. Or even more so, that
humans are not nature. When borders get old and worn out, they bind us to a life that is half-hearted and incomplete.
The
modern day vision fast is a border crossing practice. When one steps
across the threshold and into the unknown wilderness, boundaries begin
to dissolve and our vision begins to expand. The threshold place is a
dreamscape, where everything is pregnant with meaning, and nature, once
again, speaks to us in the voices of rock, tree, and wind. Following the
ancient pathway of this rite of passage, we step into our true nature
and remember our home among the wild. We become who we were born to be.
Vision Quest as a Rite of Passage
From
the beginning time, cultures from around the world have created
meaningful ways to help both young and old move from one life stage into
the next, to assist each person in finding and retrieving their gifts,
and for cracking open the inner door to a greater relationship with
nature and Self. Although these rites of passage have been largely lost
in modern society, the truth of the ceremony still rings true deep in
our bones. Drawing from ancient traditions world-wide, the modern day
vision quest is a powerful means for finding clarity and healing in the
midst of life change, or for simply renewing you relationship with self
and nature. For four days and nights, you go alone into the wilderness,
with empty belly, where you will enter a world both ancient and new, a
world where nature speaks her living language. This twelve-day ceremony
involves four days of preparation, four days and nights of fasting alone
in a wilderness place, and three days of story council (elder’s
council).
Founded by Steven Foster and Meredith Little, for
over thirty years, the School of Lost Borders has been the leading
center for wilderness passage rites in the modern world. We offer
pan-cultural vision quests, training courses, and seminars rooted in
traditional initiatory and teaching methods that reflect the changing
seasons of our lives.
We
live in a world marked by borders. We have borders between continents,
between people, even between our own hearts and minds. Perhaps one of
the most pervasive borders is the one we have placed between ourselves
and nature, and the ensuing belief that the natural world is both deaf
and mute. Thus, we live as if we were no longer informed by the seasons
of change, the ebb and flow of the river, the movement of stars, or the
waxing and waning of the moon. As Steven Foster would put it, the Big
Lie is that humans are not a part of nature. Or even more so, that
humans are not nature. When borders get old and worn out, they bind us to a life that is half-hearted and incomplete.
The
modern day vision fast is a border crossing practice. When one steps
across the threshold and into the unknown wilderness, boundaries begin
to dissolve and our vision begins to expand. The threshold place is a
dreamscape, where everything is pregnant with meaning, and nature, once
again, speaks to us in the voices of rock, tree, and wind. Following the
ancient pathway of this rite of passage, we step into our true nature
and remember our home among the wild. We become who we were born to be.
