Comparing a vision quest today to traditional quests of centuries ago, the range of issues in modern life is far greater than in the small, tight-knit communities of the past. Communities of the past were relatively homogenous and lacked wide diversities of
1. Wealth, class, and economic status.
2. Racial, ethnic, and gender identities.
3. Family dynamics, upbringing, and personal history. Read more »

Wounding is part of initiatory rites in many primal cultures, and childhood wounds — and their healing — play a part in almost every workshop and vision quest I’ve ever led. But along with the commonality, there are obvious differences.

A basic condition of childhood is that the child is small and the world around it is – relatively – immense. When nurturance is lacking, this fundamental truth can lead… Read More »

In our current worldview, dreams are considered nonsensical and irrational. They don’t satisfy our requirements for “reality” and are judged as irrelevant to our daily lives. But in the view of many peoples throughout history, we’re dreaming all the time. Unaware that we might be dreaming, we call our dream “reality,” and in so doing, consign other states of awareness — the “realities” of primal peoples, the ecstatic journeys of… Read More »

A Post-Election Assessment

“The Superior Man doesn’t waste energy fighting Evil. He makes energetic progress in the good.” – the I-Ching.

The recent election has a lot of people rattled – and perhaps it should – but I’d like to suggest that giving too much attention and fixating on the new President-elect robs us of the energy and focus we need to make the “energetic progress in the good” needed… Read More »