WILD –

Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state; not domesticated, cultivated, or tame.

WILDERNESS –

Something characterized by bewildering vastness, perilousness, or unchecked profusion.
a wild, uncultivated, uninhabited region, as of forest or desert.
A large tract of land that has not been significantly affected by human activities.

FASTING –

A voluntary abstinence or limiting of one’s food, especially as a spiritual or religious observance

Wilderness Fast, Medicine Walks
Rites of Passage & Solo Time

Deep listening and feedback through Nature,
Self-Reflection, Quest and Fasting

 

Whether it be in relationship to ourselves, our interactions with the world, with another, a group or situation, Council offers not therapy, (as in councelling) but huge potential for remedy, focus and empowerment, cross-pollination of ideas, conferring embodied wisdom and experience.

Wilderness Fast Also known by many as the Vision Fast or Quest, the practice of leaving the known, the safety of the way things are to enter into the deep search for transition, renewal, acceptance or vision, putting space into the way for what is and is coming to be. Most often, it is a testing time to be alone in the naural world without the distractions of 'normal' life, or the way we have been accustomed to live, without the usual comforts of food, conversations and material means.

Such work is undertaken as a serious commitment to a person's deepening evolution as a human being in the world.
The Wilderness Fast is offered as a 12-day ceremony for group and individual Preparation, Threshold and Severance, into return and Incorporation. 4 days thus are spent alone without food with only essentials for survival.

Medicine Walks & Solo Time These prepare the way for the deeper questions we may be asking, offering a shorter time than the wilderness fast for the questing of a answer or contempation toward a particular direction. Medicine walks can be any amount of time, 30 minutes or a few hours best suited to the task, and are usually marked by walking with or without a destination on a rescibed theme or specific question we may be engaged with. The componants of a walk and solo time are similar to the wilderness fast in using the basic ingredients of preparation, threshold severance and incorporation. Fasting is more an option, but recommended. Solo time is usually held for 12 or 24 hours.

Rites of Passage A Rites of passage as specific ceremony focuses on the way to mark a major transition in life such as puberty, teenage to adult, adult to elder, father or mother for example, and is based on a version of the wilderness fast. It is initiatory in some way and both supported and recognised by the community as such. Rites of passage ceremonies are held when a number of people are gathered with similar intent, both supportive and supported by members of their particular communities.

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"The way that we preserve our ceremonies, our culture, is by sharing the knowledge with those who would take the time to listen."
- Grandmother Mona

 

RITES OF PASSAGE in the modern world

Coming from the ancient and still preserved traditions, the Rites of passage to mark an initiation into a new experience or phase of life, exists in our modern-day with a name-giving ceremony, the 18th birthday party, wedding or funeral. Here offered with fasting and nature-based ceremony, is a deeper and more closely aligned work to strengthen our connection to the living world, our communities, life, death and meaning

RITE –

A formal ceremony or prescribed procedure, any customary observance or practice.
A ceremonial act or series of acts

MEDICINE –

The science and art of diagnosing, treating, or preventing dis-ease to the body, mind or soul.
Something that serves as remedial or corrective:
a. Shamanistic practices or beliefs,
b. Something, such as a ritual practice or sacred object, believed to control natural or supernatural powers or serve as a preventive or remedy.

QUEST –

The act or an instance of looking or seeking for; search:

All photos taken by Rob from SOAR
(School of all Relations, Greece 2016)