Four Laws of the Vision Quest

 

The Four Laws of a Vision Quest

Law 1: Every person needs a rite of passage into adulthood (a “Vision Quest”). 

Many individuals have not experienced a personal, individual initiation into adulthood (a “vision quest”).  Because of this, young men and women wander (either partially or wholly), with no clear mental blueprint of what it means to be a full-blooded, vibrant, thriving, self-reliant, independent thinking human being.   As a result, individuals grow up physically, but often do not mature psychologically into true adulthood.  They have not experienced a primal, inborn, unconscious, archetypical initiation into adulthood.  The authors have used the model of the Native American vision quest because it is a specific three-fold method of Preparation, Solitude/Rebirth and Returning back to community.

Law 2: The Vision Quest is unconscious, archetypical and autonomous.  And therefore it is unknowable. 

The secret, hidden, incomprehensible unconscious mind is the realm within which the vision quest originates.  Because it is archetypical, the vision quest is also autonomous: it happens in its own way, in its own time and with its own methodology.  We can prepare the way for a vision quest to happen (for instance, through cultural initiation, through a spiritual retreat, through a prayer vigil, through a pilgrimage, or by going out into the wilderness and experiencing nature).  But we cannot cause a transformation to happen.  We have to just let it happen.  And—if it doesn’t happen, this is OK: it will happen in its own time.  It will “happen when it happens.”

A certain amount of nonattachment helps us to let go and just let nature and nature’s calling on our life take its course.  Preparation is good.  But, in the end, the vision quest must happen in its own self-governing way, and meet us individually, according to our own unique experiences. 

Law 3:  Each individual experiences his/her own unique Vision Quest in a different way. 

No two vision quests are the same.  Instead, each quest is crafted to the individual.  Some experience a vision quest in a dramatic one-time vision, trance, or experiential crisis.  Still others experience it slowly, naturally and quietly over time.   Various means by which young men and women transform into adulthood include military service, spiritual retreat, baptism, confirmation, bar mitzvah, embarking on a pilgrimage, dipping into the Ganges River, creating a Native American Healing Circle, spending time with nature in solitude, recovering from a life-threatening disease, experiencing a vision or experiencing a dream. 

It is best to enter the quest with no expectations and simply let the spirit lead in its own way.  It is best for us to “get out of our own way” and not “step on our own feet” and simply allow nature to take its course.  As mentioned above, some may experience a slow awakening; others may experience a dramatic shift; still others will experience a delayed reaction after the quest.

Law 4:  The Vision Quest results in Mystical Illumination--but not without suffering and pain.

Cleansing, refinement, death to the old self and rebirth to the new self are all vital elements of the vision quest.  We enter the vision quest questioning, wondering and wandering.  We emerge from the vision quest renewed, spiritually reborn, transformed and transfigured into a new life, a life that we were born to live, a life of focus, a primal self-governing life, a life that is lived unapologetically and consistently according to our own self-discovered values.  This new, reborn life inevitably leads compassion and service to others, which is the reason why we exist on this planet.