Native American cultures often mark the passage from adolescence into adulthood with a Vision Quest. During this quest, the participant often fasts for several days and spends time alone in nature. Several things may happen during a Vision Quest. The voyager overcomes their fear of being alone, learns about their personal limits and may even discover a power animal which will act as a guardian for their journey’s in the future. They return to the tribe as an adult, ready to perform their duties with confidence and insight.
Growing up in modern America, I learned that we have largely dispensed with formal rites of passage. Instead, rites of passage are usually conducted in an ad-hoc manner with other adolescents at a party, in the back seat of a car or over the first weekend away from home. The lack of structure and guidance leaves many American adolescents traumatized – and, sometimes, dead.
It seems that today there is a hunger for the structure and guidance that follows from the wisdom of our elders. When we have no clear path to follow, we must re-discover new paths. Fortunately, there are teachers willing to help.
I did my Vision Quest as I was approaching my 60th birthday in 2021. I had completed a 14 month shamanic apprenticeship of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition and the final step in the apprenticeship is a vision quest called the Paqo Wachu. This is the story of my Paqo Wachu and the lessons I am deriving from that experience.
(Acknowledgements: This would not have been possible without the wisdom and guidance of my teacher, Amy Mermaid Isakov, the founder of PMT, don Oscar Miro-Quesada and my fellow students. Munay! (Love!) )
The Paqo Wachu – Facing the Unknown (To be written)
Lessons from the Paqo Wachu – Where to from here? (To be written)