Vision Quest
On a sacred ridge deep in Hoosier National Forest for the past 20 years we have been facilitating this ancient rite of passage. A ceremony so simple and universal surely has been guiding the human family for countless generations. Our mission to connect people to place, community, ancestry, traditional cultures and skills sees its greatest fulfillment in this ancient ritual.
The ‘Now’ is often praised as a path to clarity, as it should be. Yet the present day ‘now’ is one of relentless distraction, division and aimlessness. The pressures of modern life are often coped with by surrendering our attention to the next information bite… And the years slip by. We may love our families and find purpose in some of our choices, yet a deeper calling for much more can become one of the important voices drowned out by distraction.
Could it be the past and future that can help us now?
The ancestors gave us life, our greatest passions are their lives expressed through us. Purpose beyond self is the voice of the future generations.
A palpable connection to spirit can come about through direct confrontation with fear, through the conquering of distraction and discomfort, through the guidance of solitude, and the timeless medicine of nature. In short, by unifying our present with the past and future, an essential aspect of finding our place in the world.
The Vision Quest is deeply personal to each participant. Some come grieving the loss of a loved one, others come seeking clarity on their next step in life. Some come to break the bonds of generational trauma while others come seeking peace, power and purpose. The Quest can be all this and more and it can be deceptively simple and humble. Some cultures referred to this ceremony as ‘the little death’. Upon the completion of the Quest the location can feel like a grave. The old self is buried and space for the new finds fertile ground.
In our experience the Quest has an agenda for each. If you have arrived here it is because you have already felt her calling. You will know it is your time when the calling won’t relent.
The Vision Quest is truly a ‘fast’, a going without. We go without community, without food, fire, or shelter, we go without an agenda, opening ourselves to the elements. We do require participants to take water.
Each participant can decide the degree of fasting they are willing to undertake. For example one person may take only a wool blanket, while another may take a tarp. One may take a headlamp and another a bag of nuts. It is not our role to regulate these decisions in any way. It is also not our role to regulate your ceremony in any way. We are here as guides, protectors and facilitators.
Details
Saturday morning departure from Indianapolis to carpool and caravan to Hoosier National Forest.
A 3 mile hike will take us to our sacred ridge. We will spend the day making camp, orienting and exploring. Participants can begin selecting their Quest locations on the land and prepare them for the ceremony.
Sunday we will cover various ‘tools of the quest’ that participants can utilize on their journey if they choose. We will build a sweat lodge that will open our ceremony before dawn the next morning.
Monday (Day 1 the physical) – Pre-dawn sweat lodge of 2 rounds followed by the silent walk to each person’s own Vision Quest site. The first day of the ceremony is a difficult one where one comes face to face with the reality of their undertaking.
Tuesday (Day 2 the mental) – Each ceremony is totally unique, but we have found these patterns to be relevant. Day 2 is often the hardest, confronting the deeply entrenched mental habits.
Wednesday (Day 3 the emotional) – Passing the halfway point of the ceremony can be elating, emotional releases often accompany this day.
Thursday (Day 4 the spirit) – Now the cup has been emptied and the new has a place to enter.
Friday – Participants return to camp for a final 2 rounds in the sweat lodge to close the ceremony. We spend the remainder of the day in ‘reintegration’. This can be a euphoric time of community sharing and nurturing. We also take care in renourishing back to strength. In the afternoon we return our sites to the earth and depart… anew.
The Vision Quest is a very difficult undertaking. We open this experience to 10 participants only. We do require a phone touch in before registration approval.
This ceremony is open to all faiths and denominations including secular and atheist.
We do not want financials to be a barrier to anyone who is called to this ceremony. $1200 is our approximate cost of facilitation per participant. If you are not in a position to pay full tuition let us know and we will do our best to make it work.
Address: Hoosier National Forest
Date: September 6-12, 2025
Cost: $1,200
Ages: 16 and up
Participants: Open to 10 participants