What is a vision quest?
A vision quest is essentially a solitary nature ceremony – a sacred rite of passage marking a time of profound transformation and spiritual clarity. In some American Indian cultures, a vision quest is a spiritual practice for adolescents entering adulthood, similar to an initiation. For example, in traditional Lakota culture, the Hanblecheyapi (vision quest, literally “crying for a vision”) is one of seven main rites (1) and involves isolation, fasting and attaining guidance or knowledge from supernatural forces.
I first learned about American Indian vision quests in the early 1990s, soon after receiving a dreamcatcher adorned with bright, yellow feathers for my birthday. Whilst immediately resonant with its energy and beauty, I didn’t know what it was and my friend told me that dreamcatchers catch our negative dreams and let the good ones pass through, and to hang it over my bed. The yellow feathers signified joy, optimism, creative energy, uplifted spirits and new beginnings - exactly what I needed.
Although the dreamcatcher tradition originated in the Ojibwa (Chippewa) Nation, during the pan-Indian movement of the 1960s and 1970s, they were adopted by Native Americans of a number of different Nations. Dreamcatchers are recognized as a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations. (Source: All Tribes)
When I held my dreamcatcher for the first time, I felt a subtle inner shift, as though my previously rocked spirit had returned to its rightful place, and I kept it close to me for a long time afterwards. Little did I know that it would serve as profound catalyst and gentle guide that helped me gradually transition from my traumatized and disillusioned inner world, to a new place of strength, healing, solace and happiness
Jamie Sams passed away in 2020 and described herself as ahalf French and half American Indian, with ancestral ties to the Cherokee, Seneca, Choctaw, and Mohawk tribes. I will always be grateful to her and the American Indian tribes for helping me restore my faith in humanity after a mighty bumpy ride. of Self Through Native Teachings. The cards were accompanied by a substantial, hardcover book which provided extended sacred wisdom teachings of many tribal traditions related to each card and I spent many hours immersed in my inspiring newfound world of knowledge and wonder. I also recall reading that Jamie Sams was hesitant about publishing her book and cards but dared not argue with Great Spirit who urged her to share the wisdom teachings because our world was careering along a dangerous trajectory that needed to change course for the sake of future generations.
Jamie Sams passed away in 2020 and described herself as a half French, half American Indian, with ancestral ties to the Cherokee, Seneca, Choctaw, and Mohawk tribes. I will always be grateful to Jamie and the American Indian tribes for many reasons, including helping me restore my faith in humanity after a mighty bumpy ride that came close to prematurely ending my life when I was 27.
My first vision quest - Aussie style
After reading about traditional vision quests in Jamie Sams’ book, the thought of spending a few days alone in nature felt a little confronting but I innately knew that I would one day embrace the experience. And for some reason, despite fearing the darker side of shamanic rituals and practices, I also knew that shamanic practitioners would eventually play a significant role in helping me heal my deeply buried wounds.
My first vision quest transpired in April 2018, a couple of years after meeting Medicine Crow, Principal Chief of the New Jersey Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians. He lived about twenty minutes away from me on the Central Coast in New South Wales and co-hosted ‘Aussie-style’ vision quests with Chantel TwoCrows on a private property near the regional town of Forbes. By that stage, funnily enough, crows had become my constant guides, and still are, so everything about my first vision quest felt somewhat serendipitous. At that time I was also studying the shamanic healing arts under the tutelage of Peruvian born shamanic healer and teacher Oscar Miro-Quesada Solevo, and had previously completed four levels of Deborah King’s life force energy medicine studies, all of which made a significant contribution toward healing and strengthening my inner world in conjunction with my personal healing work.
Curiously, I declined the first opportunity to join Medicine Crow’s 2017 vision quest because I was moving through a challenging yet necessary ‘life redesign’ process and didn’t feel strong enough to undergo such an intense experience of solitude, introspection and fasting. I later learned that group quests invoke the medicine needed to aid the transformation process and the 2017 vision quest was accompanied by fierce 'thunderstorm medicine’; the 2016 quest invoked 'fire medicine'.
When I decided to commit to the April 2018 full moon vision quest, I was in need of peace, tranquility and rejuvenation, and the thought of solitude and soaking up nature’s healing energies felt like just the tonic. My inner scaredy cat naturally wondered what our group would invoke, and hoped it wouldn’t be ‘flood medicine’ so I put out a special request to the weather faeries to ensure calm, sunny weather, just in case. Raring to embrace the unknown, I set off on the four hour drive to Forbes where I met a diverse circle of 'questers'. After gathering together for a pow wow, of sorts, our vision quest began with a ceremonial fire, where Medicine Crow and Chantel TwoCrows would hold space for us for almost three days.
Medicine Crow initiated the vision quest with a sacred pipe ceremony, a significant ritual known for connecting the physical and spiritual worlds.
"Nothing is more sacred. The pipe is our prayers in physical form. Smoke becomes our words; it goes out, touches everything, and becomes a part of all there is. The fire in the pipe is the same fire in the sun, which is the source of life." White Deer of Autumn.
After the ceremony, I prepared my sacred space near a canopied, dry river bed - home for the next two nights. My companions were nature, a drum, rattle, fountain pen, journal, water, sleeping bag, tarp, prayer ties and mesa bundle and sage. Though not encouraged, I brought my camera because I love nature photography.
As I settled into my solitude, stillness and silence, nature’s healing energies rapidly soothed my soul. Over time, I felt myself flowing with her gentle cycles and rhythms as day turned to night and night to day. Revelling in the frequent visits from inquisitive birds, bees and tiny critters, I happily lost myself in the beautiful surrounds; admiring magnificent craggy trees, full moon gazing, listening to sweet morning sounds of my waking feathered friends and thanking the warming rays of the rising sun.
The weather faeries also created perfectly peaceful conditions for which I was truly grateful and my words flowed out like a waterfall as I journaled my experiences, thoughts and intentions. Pure, creative bliss.
My Lucid Encounter
Questers are encouraged to stay awake for as long as possible to intensify the experience but I must confess to nodding off here and there in the wee hours of the morning. During my second night of solitude, I had a semi-conscious lucid dream encounter with a dear friend and former Channel 9 colleague, Gordon ‘Gordy’ Constable. When he died, nobody in his longtime Adelaide TV tribe was informed about his death or funeral and when I received the belated news, I had an inkling that his spirit was earthbound and hoped that our paths would eventually cross.
Gordy was hysterically funny to work and mentored me through the heady world of producing on-air TV promotions during my calamitous, party loving twenties. An insanity watchdog, if you will. The scriptwriting part was fun but having zero technical experience when I was promoted to Promotions Director was a daunting task because I had to learn how to use an analogue studio mixing desk. But Gordy and the other promo guys were a great support and I bumbled my way through the heavy workloads, constant deadlines and ridiculously long working hours as best I could.
Breaking the news to Gordy
My lucid dream unfolded in a setting that felt like a hospital waiting room. I walked into the spacious, wood-panelled room and saw Gordy sitting in a black leather motorised armchair with a portable oxygen machine attached. Silicone tubes protruded from his pallid nostrils and even though he looked comfortable enough, I sensed that he had been in this ‘limbo space’ for quite some time.
Gordy spotted me and slowly raised his left hand to greet me, oblivious to the blue tinge that gradually washed over his fingers and hand. When his neck and face began to turn blue, I knew I had to say something but didn’t have the heart to tell him he was dead.
I broke the news as gently as possible: “Gordy, you’re blue. You are blue.”
At first, he looked surprised and I smiled at his signature ‘faraway look’ that used to crack me up when we brainstormed script ideas in our glamorless ‘dogbox’ office. Surprise gradually changed to recognition and I could see that the reality of his death had finally dawned upon him. Without uttering a word, Gordy pressed a button on the arm of his chair and silently rolled out of the room. Exit, stage right.
I watched him disappear through a door and waited a while, just in case he returned. Confident that he was on his way to wherever we go after our earthly walk, I left the 'waiting room'. Then I woke up and beheld the glimmering moon, thrilled from head to toe at what had just transpired with Gordy. And that was that. Or so I thought.
Emerging from my first vision quest
Around noon the following day, Medicine Crow appeared and told me that it was time to return to the group at the ceremonial fire. I packed my belongings, bid farewell my sacred nature space and reunited with the other questers. There we offered our prayer ties to Great Spirit and took it in turns to drop them into the fire. Prayer Ties are traditional sacred bundles of tobacco imbued with an individual’s wishes, prayers, intentions and gratitude. My prayer ties ended up a little tangled while everyone else's were neat and tidy, but I'm fairly confident that Great Spirit doesn't mind how the prayers arrive. It's the heartfelt intent that really counts.
When Medicine Crow closed the vision quest, we returned to the property’s beautifully restored manor and gratefully broke our fast with fruit and herbal tea, followed by a hot shower, light dinner, engaging conversations, and a welcoming warm bed for the night. And we all looked younger and healthier.
On the road again
After parting company with my fellow questors the next morning, my spirits were high and I felt dangerously creative. I decided to extend my adventure with a visit to a nearby radio astronomy facility, Parkes Observatory. Heading back towards Forbes via a blink-and-you-miss-it country hamlet called Bedgerebong, I blinked and missed the Forbes turn-off and did a U-turn. As I mosied back in the right direction, I nearly ran off the road. Just before the turn-off was a prominent, worn, yellow sign saying, CONSTABLE’S (Hay Supplies & Contracting).
Laughing out loud at seeing Gordy’s surname, I stopped the car and said, “Hey Gordy! It’s a sign, it’s a sign!” I didn’t photograph it because the moment was too much of a joy to glory in without having to fossick around for my camera, so this link will have to suffice as confirmation: Constable’s business listing
When I arrived in Forbes, I grabbed a cappuccino and guessed my way to a shady parking spot near the lake. After several cyber-free days, I quietly browsed through my endless emails and lo and behold, a Google Maps notification informed me that my location was Gordon Duff Drive. I laughed out loud again and took it as yet another clear sign that my dear old buddy had indeed found his way ‘home.' As I was leaving, I double-checked the physical road sign. Yup. There it was in black and white: Gordon Duff Drive.
The Parkes Observatory was well worth visiting and I revelled in the sunny, music-filled drive to my farmstay digs where I enjoyed one more night of the silence, reflection and writing about all kinds of wonderful things, including the amazing confirmation signs of Gordon Constable. I also disabled the unnecessary location tracking function in my phone which I didn’t know existed, even though it did serve a rather amusing purpose.
Conclusion
In hindsight, the combination of my yellow-feathered dreamcatcher and Jamie Sams’ Sacred Path Cards marked the beginning of a nourishing and insightful lifelong journey of learning, healing and wisdom gathering that continues to this day. And 2018 turned out to be quite a synchronous year. A couple of months after my first vision quest, my brother-in-law Peter, who had started a new business called Adventure 8 Tours, called me from the outback Queensland town of Birdsville. He said that he was heading to the Simpson Desert with an American Indian companion called Adam Shield of the Feather and that he wanted to speak to me. By that stage, I was feeling called to the Hopi Lands in Arizona and was naturally excited to connect with Adam.
He asked me if I knew anything about the Egyptian glyphs in Kariong and I told him that I recently became aware of their existence and lived quite close to their location. We arranged to meet up and visit the glyphs upon his return to Sydney and he also asked me if I was interested in attending his Autumn Equinox retreat in Sedona’s Upper Sonoran Desert in September. The synchronicity at play was extraordinary, as I was in the throes of planning my Hopi Lands odyssey with a friend who lived in Phoenix. The dates aligned perfectly and I immediately added Adam Shield of the Feather’s sacred retreat to my itinerary. A truly uplifting and fascinating story for another day.
Additional Information
Mesa Bundle: also known as Medicine Bundle – originating in the Peruvian Andes and other Latin American countries, the mesa is the shaman’s primary healing tool which represents the world in sacred balance and wholeness. The various power objects and stones are used for moving energy in service of healing.
Oscar Miro-Quesada Solevo - Heart of the Healer: https://heartofthehealer.org/about-don-oscar-miro-quesada/
Deborah King: https://deborahking.com/
Medicine Crow: https://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/connect/medicinecrow2/about/60890
Chantel TwoCrows: https://chanteltwocrows.com/
Recommended Reading
Austrian biologist Clemens G. Arvay wrote several fascinating books including The Biophilia Effect which explores the scientific and spiritual benefits of connecting with nature, while The Healing Code of Nature explores the immune-boosting benefits of nature. Arvay was a pioneer of health ecology (Gesundheitsökologie) and eco-psychosomatics, focusing on the relationship between biodiversity and human health. Sadly, he died in 2023, aged 42.
References
1. https://medicineofone.com/vision-quest/traditional-native-american-vision-quest/
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