Welcome

Circles of Air and Stone offers vision quests, workshops, and trainings in the American Southwest, New England, and Mexico. Scheduled throughout the year, these programs are intensive, offering participants a deep encounter with nature, both inner and outer, and the often shifting boundary between the two. They are appropriate for men and women wanting to access deeper levels of awareness, gain insight, and move forward on their spiritual path; for anyone facing change or wanting to live more deeply; or for people searching for tools and skills to help themselves or others. Further information is available on each program you'll find on this website. Please inquire.

Vision Quests

Since time immemorial, people have gone to the wilderness to seek guidance and renewal, to let their old lives and old selves die, to find the conditions where spirit may be rekindled, reborn within them.

At Circles of Air, Circles of Stone, we help individuals to find their true nature in nature. Our vision quest programs are 11 days, during which the participant spends 4 days and nights alone, fasting on the earth.

The first 4 days are spent in preparation with others in a small group (maximum 8). This time includes instruction in the archetypes of the heroic journey and the three-phase dynamic of initiation; the four shields model of Self and psyche; emergency and survival procedures; what to expect from fasting; and a full array of teachings about self-created ceremony. In addition, we work with individuals providing counseling and instruction in forms of ritual and ceremony that speak to where they are in their lives and journeys at this moment.

The participant is then conducted to the wilderness where he/she crosses the threshold and lives alone for four days and nights on the earth. Upon returning, the group spends an additional three days in council with the staff. The time includes an elders' council, celebratory feast, and other rituals of incorporation. The emphasis here is on grounding and owning the lessons learned in the threshold period and finding ways to bring the gifts and lessons back into daily life... for the true work of the vision quest awaits us when we return to our people.

Adventures of the Spirit Retreats and Workshops

We are committed to assist and train individuals to face themselves and create meaningful and successful passages through the transitions and crises in their lives.

Our Adventures of the Spirit workshops emphasize authentic experience. We must discover, face, and know ourselves in order to live from our strengths rather then our wounds. We must find our ground and determine our place, whether alone, in relationship, or in community.

These workshops assist and challenge men and women to find their "medicine," their unique path to wholeness, and to realize their gifts and give them to their people. They provide tools for individuals to claim their own authenticity and authority; to tell their own stories and determine their own myths; to face their own pain and monsters. Participants are supported in finding their passion, purpose, and power; in creating their own meanings, defining their own success, and making their own decisions -- in healing themselves.