2025 saw the inception and planting of our Seven Directions Vision Quest ( North- Eastern USA
In 2025, 10 Questers went to the mountain, 10 Questers fulfilled their 4 day commitment and returned well and happy.
Our support camp ran smoothly and all hands and hearts made good work. This year we had 13 people in the support camp, 15 if we include children.
We are open to receive applications for support spaces for our 2026 Prayer - at least one year of support is necessary before making the journey to the mountain as a Quester - so we can learn more about each other and the prayer, and ensure good understanding. In 2026 our camp will be for 8 days, held in mid to late August or early September.
Our location is in the oldest mountain range in the world, the Appalachian range, located specifically in West Virginia in a pristine 30 acre forest. I have made my personal permission quest there and found the land to be in agreement and support of this prayer.
So, with the blessing and support of my own Vision Quest Chief, who has - and will continue to - travel with me to support the planting of the quest for the first few years, the time has come to make this commitment to the mountain and all of its medicine. The Quest is held in our Seven Directions design and works within the Four Altars framework. This is a minimum of 4 years commitment ( not necessarily consecutive years ), a profound work and deep commitment to self, service and community.
Year 1 - EARTH - we make our prayer for 4 days,
Year 2 - WATER - for 7 days
Year 3 - FIRE - for 9 days
Year 4 - AIR - for 13 days
- we look forward to this next phase greatly and the building of a strong, supportive community in the land of the Eagle and the land of the Condor. As we are a new Quest, we plan to start small, we realise we shall expand in time, but at present we are looking to a Quest that receives no more than 12 Questers and up to 18 Supporters for the initial 4 year cycle - we are in no rush. In my heart I understand the origins but there is much to learn, for this I am grateful to have my chiefs with me for this beginning, to teach me what I do not yet know, and to support my growth and understanding of what this commitment to becoming the chief of a Vision Quest entails. I understand this is a personal commitment for one and all, numbers mean nothing, nor do years walking a path if you don't do it correctly, or trying to take on more than you can handle - but I also recognise the power and strength of a group prayer and commitment - and these - especially in these times, are more important than ever - to provide real spaces in which we can meet, learn and grow as a community - reclaiming the space of the real in a world that is becoming more un-real each and every year. For me, it doesn't get much more real than a Vision Quest camp.
Costs for Vision Quest are traditionally kept to a minimum, however both questers and supporters will be required to make a payment which will help to cover the travel of the chiefs and family, basic organisation, supplies and also ensure that there is no economic loss incurred. Anything gathered above the red line will be used for adding to the infrastructure and ensuring the longevity of the work.
I made my commitment to hold this now for as long as I am able, so with all hope, we have many years to grow our community in a healthy and real way. In line with this, we have found land here, close to my home in the mountains of Peru to make another yearly Vision Quest here some time in the future, completing the commitment to make one VQ each year in the North and one each year in the South.
For more information, please fill the contact form below. Blessings.
MORE ABOUT VISION QUEST.
The Vision Quest is a profound initiatory and learning experience in the life. Some may call it a rite of passage, but for me it goes beyond that - this is an initiation into a deeper relation with life, and an initiation into a new path.
We draw much from the tradition of Hambleycha ( crying for a vision ) which is most usually attributed to the nations of the North ( America ). My own chief received blessing to carry this responsibility from a medicine / holy man of the Lakota Nation over 35 years ago, and this is the origin point for me in this regard. I am not Lakota, nor do I attempt to be, but I recognise the medicine of the mountain and the great and beneficial effect it has had on my life, and the lives of many. Our Vision Quest is held in The Seven Directions design and incorporates The Four Altars as its structure of prayer.
The idea of going to nature to pray, to be immersed in prayer, solitude and in communication with the Great Spirit, or the Great Mystery is not unique to the nations of the North. Throughout human history we have made our way in ritual way to these encounters, and this is part of the reclamation of such rituals and the great medicine they gift into our lives.
The Vision Quest Camp is comprised of two parts, those who quest and those who support.
Support is essential, and usually a pre-requisite for questing and pledging commitment to this way. However, in some cases this can be overlooked, usually if one has completed a year or 2 elsewhere and has permission from the chief of that quest to leave and continue their prayer somewhere else.
Support is a space of learning, of community, and of holding. We pray, we sing, we gather and split wood, we tend the fire, we cook, we eat, we drink, we enter the Inipi each day- all for the benefit of those who are on the mountain abstaining from food, water and human company. In the support camp we not only learn, but we also enjoy our time in prayer - and our prayer is deep. Supporters are welcome and invited, to share the prayer, to come as they can, for the duration of the quest or for whatever length of time they can manage - we always have work to do in camp.
The Camp is a child and family friendly space - humans of all ages are welcome. We wish for our children and the children of our community to know these ways, to be a part of them, to learn with us and pray with us, and when they are ready, they are welcome to go to the mountain also, should they so wish.
For those on the mountain, surrounded by their prayers, literally, they spend 24 hours a day under the sky, feet or body on the earth - again, learning, praying, fasting, healing, celebrating existence so that they may have a clearer vision of their lives, and life in general.