Vision Quest Date: 07/07/2012  to 07/15/2012 Location: Somerset Lake, Vermont

9 day program, including 4 day & night vision fast

The Vision Quest has spoken to your soul in some way.  You may be called to this path by a crisis or transition, which has rocked your world, and you are seeking guidance or renewal.  It may be a part of the natural unfolding of your life as you seek to empower yourself within Nature.  You may be seeking a deeper connection with your soul, or with Nature, or with Spirit, however you may conceive that.  You may be seeking renewal in the arms of solitude and silence.  You may be seeking to heal old wounds and give birth to a new story about yourself.  You may be seeking guidance about an important life decision.  Whatever motivated your inquiry, we honor your interest in this ancient, transformative process.  As we enter the heart of Mother Earth and stand naked before Spirit, we re-enact an act of surrender, of death and rebirth, which women and men have done for thousands of years.

This Vision Quest will take place on Somerset Lake, a gem within the southern Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont.  Stunning views and the haunting call of Loons will enrich your solo time.  Blue Herons and Bald Eagles are inhabitants of this region, along with other wildlife including Otter, Beaver, Moose, Deer, Coyote, and Bear. The two days of preparation camp will be held in a meadow behind our house, surrounded by mountains and a stream.  A variety of exercises and earth-based rituals, including a Purification Lodge, will promote a descent out of your conditioned, thinking mind into the deeper layers of inner knowing, the true source of healing.  Instruction in the dynamics of rites of passage and  a Medicine Wheel, along with a story of passage, will help you place your journey within a larger archetypal context.  We will come together as a tribe supporting each other on our unique personal journeys towards fulfillment.  The group support and rituals will melt the armor from your heart and create an opening through which Spirit may enter.

On the third day we will hike 2.5 miles into Somerset Lake and set up base camp.  That afternoon you will find your solo site.  The next morning after a brief Threshold Ceremony you will begin your 4 day & night solo fast in the heart of Nature.  Solitude, silence, and fasting will help create an opening in your psyche and heart to receive the guidance, renewal, and healing that you are seeking. Upon the completion of your solos, we will return to the meadow behind our house.  The next two days will be to devoted to the process of incorporation, during which you will be helped to integrate the lessons learned on your solo into your daily life.  This will be a time of celebration and support for having completed the challenge of the Vision Quest. Through this whole process your personal safety is our number one concern.  While on your solos, a stonepile buddy system is in place for your safety.  Although the Vision Quest is an intense process that will challenge you at many different levels, it is not an endurance test.  First and foremost, it is a sacred undertaking and each person must be honored for what they are capable of doing. We hope you can join us for this transformational experience.

Guide Fee: $875

Click one of the options below to register:

Non-refundable downpayment of $250 (balance due on arrival):

You can also pay by check. Make checks payable to Flynn Johnson and mail to:

Flynn Johnson
35 Fairview Rd.
Wardsboro, VT 05355

August 19-26, 2012

The School of Natural Wonder has been leading this trip for incoming
students at Marlboro College in southern Vermont for the past 17 years. What
better time to conduct a modern day rite of passage than when the young people are
transitioning from home to a new life at college. Before they enter the college we
take them out into the woods for 9 days where they make new friends and also have
time alone where they can learn more about themselves. It has proven to be very
popular among the students.

The trip begins with a mythic journey by canoe across a large lake into the
wilderness of the Green Mountain National Forest. During the first four days we
weave together instruction and experiential exercises. Instruction is given in the
dynamics of rites of passage as found among indigenous peoples throughout the
world and in a Native American Medicine Wheel that beautifully charts the
psychological and spiritual significance of the soul’s journey through the stages of
life. We also go over the flora and fauna to be found and safety protocols.
The experiential exercises are designed to draw the participants closer to the
voices and rhythms of the natural world. We help them descend out of their heads
and more into their bodies as the sensitive receptors to the sounds, smells, touch,
and movements of the world around them. For example, a blindfolded trust walk
helps them to get in touch with other senses than the eyes and to surrender control
and fear.

Another important activity of these days is our Council process. Each person
is given the opportunity to share his or her life story in the safety of sacred space.
They are encouraged to go as deep as they wish. Their stories are beautiful to
witness; they contain all the longings, the anguish, the pain, the fears, and the joys of
young people struggling to come into their own.
After these days of preparation, they set out on their sacred quest into the
unknown where they spend 2 days and nights fasting alone in nature. The solitude,
silence, and fasting of the quest opens them to the mystery and beauty around them.
They connect with nature in ways they may never have before. They tap into
strengths and resources they may not have known they possessed. They learn soul
truths about themselves that can serve them in their life ahead at the college and
beyond.

When they return to base camp, they are shining. During the next 2 days we
celebrate their accomplishment. In Council, they are given the opportunity to tell
their vision quest story, what happened while they faced their fears and opened
their hearts to the mystery around them. Their stories filled with their courage, the
innocence of their self-discovery, their pain and joy, and the depth of their wisdom.
Their passage culminates in the heat of a Purification Lodge, in which we pray, sing,
hoot, and laugh. The next day we canoe back to “civilization” profoundly changed
and happy with new friends.

July 20-22, 2012       Location: Wardsboro, Vermont

In today’s fast-paced, technological world, it is easy to loose our connection to the natural world.  Even our spiritual journeys can become more mental than experienced-based.  In this program, we will seek to come “home” to our original home in Nature.  As indigenous people do, we will approach Nature as a mirror of our own souls.  In the rhythms and voices of the natural world we will see reflections of our own true nature.  The indigenous soul within each of us will awaken from its slumber and become enlivened to the wonders and beauty that constantly beckon to us, if we have the eyes to see.

Through readings, journaling, alone time in Nature, various exercises of attunement with the natural world, a group-generated ritual of gratitude, and a Purification Lodge, we will slowly decompress from our busy lives and enter into an open receptivity to our inner and outer worlds.  When we quiet down and slow down we begin the descent into soul and awaken the creative juices of our longing and vision.  Through ritual we enter fully into the present moment, which is the sacred source of our beauty and truth.

You can also pay by check. Make checks payable to Flynn Johnson and mail to:

Flynn Johnson

35 Fairview Rd.

Wardsboro, VT 05355