Description of Challenge
In our western civilization, responsible and truly connected adults are rare. To Change this, our culture is, among others, challenged to again develop and perform encouraging rituals for initiation which are sustained and valued by society and the community.Solution
A Vision quest has its origins in the Tradition of the northern american Indians and was part of the culture of most ingigenous People. The Vision Quest, as it is perfomed more and more these days in our culture, was developped by Steven Foster and Meredith Little in the 1970ies. It’s not an simple imitation of an indian ritual. Foster and Little took three important elements of the indigenous practice and created a new form of Vision Quest from it:
1.The Methods fasting, being alone in the wilderness and deprivation of sleep
2.The participant finds insights through deep introspection in his own psyche, he consecrates himself.
3.The universal structure of a traditional rite of passage: “Separation – threshold time – Rehabilitation”
This rite of passage now works quite well, but the integration into, and valuation by, society and communities remains a challenge.
