Archive for the ‘Vision Fast’ Category

Drumming for the vision fast

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

I was interviewed this week on Vancouver's Co-op Radio (CFRO 102.7 FM) about the vision fast. The interview was for a radio show called Conscious Living. Listen to the interview to find out more about this thing called a vision fast. The interview concludes with a song for calling in ...

The gift of fire

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

 Meeting in Circle with the Wilderness Guides Council Fire is the element of the east, the direction of springtime. When I first sat in circle at the Wilderness Guides Council, on Monday, April 13, I deliberately sat in the east. This is a part of the wheel that I am least ...

Learning and transformation — ouch!

Monday, May 4th, 2009

I wasn't always a happy camper at the 4th International Wilderness Guides Gathering, held in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains this April. Previous gatherings have been held in Germany, South Africa, and the UK. People from these countries attended, and many more besides. The gathering was hosted by the Wilderness Guides Council, ...

One last glimpse of winter

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

I seem to be a little reluctant to make the turn into spring. So here's one last look at the winter of '08. This is my sister Katherine, shoveling snow off the roof of her shed in Horsefly, BC. This picture was taken in March! That's a lot of snow. ...

Cougars: spirit guides on the vision fast

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

When you are on a vision fast or medicine walk, you enter into a mystical realm where all events and encounters take on a significance that is bigger than what most of us experience in ordinary waking life. During this time, an encounter with an animal is not just a ...

Soapberry Indian ice cream

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Indian ice cream—a gift from the land At the August vision fast at Monkey Valley, the spot where our council circle met had some translucent reddish-orange berries that looked very succulent. I licked one and found it to be very bitter. The faster asked what they were, but I didn't know, and ...

Vision quest—maintaining sacred tradition

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Cultural misappropriation of sacred ceremony Cultural misappropriation is a danger in adopting traditional ceremonies for contemporary use. It is true that peoples on every continent have used solo time in nature for spiritual purposes. It is a human birthright—a way of connecting directly to the natural world and to deeper realms ...

Vision quest—background

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

A rite of passage Peoples of many cultures have created traditions and ceremonies involving solo time in wild nature. In North America, the plains peoples are the most well-known groups to use the ancient practice of the vision quest. John Murray recounts, in editors Michael Tobias and Georgianne Cowan's The Soul ...

Vision Fast Retreats at Monkey Valley

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

2009 Dates July 5 - 11 (fast for all ages, 16 - 86)  $800 - $1,200 September 13 - 19 (fast for business executives)  $2,500 "...by the time you step out of your purpose circle into the broad daylight, something has happened, whether you know it or not." Steven Foster and Meredith Little The vision fast ...