A vision quest is a solitary retreat, usually in nature, for the purpose of receiving spiritual guidance. This practice has been an important part of many tribal cultures. A vision quest was not a time to go and figure something out, it was a time to receive divine guidance to benefit oneself and one's tribe. In modern times, a modified vision quest format can bring people raised in contemporary cultures similar benefits to the traditional vision quest. For our global "tribe" there is a crying need right now for as many of us as possible to receive the divine grounded guidance that can come through vision questing.

There are two main types: prayer-quests, in which the quester goes to receive guidance about a specific concern, usually before doing something important, and alliance-quests, in which the quester goes to seek "powerful awareness of life's sacred web and nourishing connections within it." (Loren Cruden, Compass of the Heart, 1996, p. 196). "Believers or seekers . . . go in search of many things . . . but above all they seek to know, to put themselves and their lives in a cosmic context and to seek an understanding of their place in the scheme of things." (David Maybury-Lewis, Millenium, 1992, p. 223)

In tribal cultures, vision questing was often a rite of passage into manhood. In Plains Indian cultures, the classic vision quest usually involved such elements as months of preparatory cleansing through such things as special diets, ceremonies, and sweat lodges. Once the time came, the quester would be led to an area by the medicine person who had guided the preparations. Usually, the quester would stay in one spot praying to receive a vision for 3 or 4 days. The quester fasted and usually drank nothing. Once the time was over the quester would return to the site where the medicine person would hear the story of the vision received.

Such visions could guide a person for a lifetime. "Visions and vision quests are of utmost importance to our people and to myself personally. Through dreams and visions we receive power and the gift of "seeing ahead," of getting glimpses of the future. A young man's first vision quest often determines what kind of life he will lead. Visions are not imaginings; they are messages from the Supernaturals. True visions have a reality distinct from what the white man usually calls "reality". A man who never had a vision is impoverished indeed." (Archie Lame Deer, "Gift of Power" in Shaman's Drum, Fall 1992, p. 59) It was also felt that the community grew stronger through the quester's strengthened relationship with the Great Spirit.

The vision quest was often an ordeal that proved that a person would be a worthy adult, capable of taking their place in protecting, nurturing, and providing for their people.

In our modern times, when so many people feel disconnected from their natural source and alienated from their spirituality, the vision quest can be a powerful way to reconnect with both. Since most modern people are not hardened to being outside and need not prove to their tribe their ability to withstand an ordeal, the traditional format can be modified so that questers can receive guidance and healing safely and comfortably. In adapting traditional formats, those of us without a remembered cultural tradition of questing need to be mindful of not appropriating other cultural traditions. This means not taking ceremonies and rituals from other cultures without permission, and not doing the ceremony unless one has been taught somehow to do it properly, keeping in mind the spirit and purpose of the ceremony.

In my experience, and in reading accounts, of some modern day vision quests, simply staying alone in the wilderness for a few days may bring a feeling of connection with nature and a chance to reflect deeply, but that alone rarely brings the visionary component that marks a successful traditional vision quest. Learning a spiritual practice that can open one to receive vision, and using it to prepare oneself before seeking a vision in nature, works best.

As a shamanic healer and teacher, trained in Michael Harner's core shamanism, I first experienced a vision quest led by Armand Huet Degrenier, a psychotherapist and shaman from Nova Scotia. He had developed a six day retreat format in which not more than 15 participants opened to receiving spiritual guidance through four intense days of shamanic meditation practice in group, nightly ceremonies, natural vegetarian food, and a sweat lodge. We were at a camp in the wilderness. At the end of four days, all of us were in the shamanic state of consciousness, a slightly altered state in which one is aware of spiritual realities at the same time as ordinary reality. We then spent 24 hours alone in the wilderness, fasting but drinking fluids, praying for a vision. All of us met at the end of the solo time to share our stories with the group. All of us had transformative experiences.

I have since participated in two more of Armand's vision quest retreats, and have led three similar vision quest retreats. In them, almost all participants made profound shifts and most received visionary guidance they've since found important to their lives. Three main results seem to occur for participants, and participants can experience one or more of these: deep healing of a past issue; a deeper understanding of oneself and one's place in the cosmic scheme of things, including a deeper connection with nature; clarity about one's future, either a path to take, gifts to express, or ways to be.

A woman who attended one of these retreats was a manager of a small busy firm with two teenagers and a working spouse. She worked and lived at a fast pace and often found herself getting angry and agitated--she broke her thumb banging her steering wheel in rush hour traffic! After the retreat she has slowed her pace. She wakes early to pray and meditate every morning and is constantly grateful for everything in her life--she thanks the morning sun or the rain that nurtures her flowers. She thanks the flowers and the deer that eat her flowers. She walks away when others are angry and speaks with them later. She doesn't work through lunch anymore and is a force of calm at work. She says she is changed forever for the better--it was the best thing she has ever done in her life.

Another man had struggled to find his voice to speak his truth. In the middle of the night of the solo wilderness time, we all heard him chanting and singing loudly. He said he felt that spirit had given him a microphone to use to express himself. Those of us who knew him as a friend know that he surely did after that!

In one of my solo times I was led through experiences that allowed me to accept the pending death of someone dear to me. It was a six hour process where I felt guided totally by spirit to accept that I could live well without this person, that I could take on her responsibilities, that she had led a full and rich life and was ready to move on. I asked for a ceremony to honour her life, did it, and asked her spirit what I could do to help her prepare to move on. That night was a turning point in my life and has been the basis of "Dance for the Dying" work I do to help others release and support their loved ones who are dying or have died.

In my vision quest development, I read about other contemporary vision quest experiences and spoke to participants of them. In most, they camp in the wilderness for a few days as a group, and spend a few days alone before reconnecting with the group. In these it seems the visionary aspect is rare. Although the connection with nature and self do occur, and the experience is very valuable, the experiences do not seem as profound as the accounts of those who have had some spiritual practice to prepare and work with during the quest.

I have found my vision quest experiences to be foundational to my life as it is now and to who I am. In many traditional cultures, every man quested at least once in his lifetime. It was seen as an essential step in the life journey. I believe we can reclaim this tradition and make it a powerful part of contemporary life for men and women.

Laureen Rama is available to lead retreats and workshops for private groups. She also teaches advanced shamanic healing techniques and offers shamanic healings in person or by distance. Laureen can be reached at info@soulrestore.com or 1-403-851-1198.