An initiation to Vision Questing

I had a calling to go on a vision quest for many, many years.  I didn’t necessarily know this is what it was called but after finally reading the book ‘Buffalo Woman Come Singing” by Brooke Medicine Eagle.  This book came to me in my 20s, and I had travelled with it all around the world and back again without reading it.  I knew that I really had to make this trip and dig deep into the work that I do with myself.

You may not know what a Vision Quest is or if you do that you’ve not yet been on one.  To explain it in its simplest form it is a trip or a spiritual trip of self-discovery to connect with yourself on a deeper level, a spiritual path.  By sitting in stillness and ‘be’ing with nature and to allow whatever comes up, to come up.

It originates from American Indian culture and actually when you go and look at any indigenous culture you will see that many have a similar type of initiation.

I’ve always been drawn to traditions and indigenous cultures. I found them fascinating and on my travels and time living overseas, I spent time exploring them, to understand them on a different level.

My own experience growing up was very much one based on religion and connecting with the Earth.  I found my own path repelling organised religion and choosing one of connecting and convening with nature and spirituality, although in no particular order.

Nowadays I connect much more with being a Green Celtic Witch, Animal communicator and Apprentice Shaman Healer.  I am always learning new things, aren’t you in training all of your life too?  I found the more that I embrace the work that I’m here to do, then my calling to connect with nature increases.

A recent tarot reading pointed me in this direction and my heart seem to truly lean towards time spent deeply connecting with nature, especially when the global pandemic hit and the world was turned upside down.

Preparing to vision quest.

Being my own boss means I create my own schedule, so I carved that out some time in my diary and I actually started to prepare for my Vision Quest. As soon as I set my intention that this was going to be happening in July, things started to come together.

I started to collect herbs to prepare for drying for use in cooking, bathing and space clearing as well as making concoctions.  We had some work done in our house which meant that I was spending much more time in the garden, creating a more lovely space to enjoy outside.  Living in Essex I was very surprised to come across a hag stonemade of slate in the garden.

What is a Hagstone?

In short, a hagstone is a stone with a hole in the middle of it.

Why are hagstones so special? Folklore is rumored to help farmers protect their animals from being bewitched or ridden by witches.  It acts as protection.

It’s created when water and other elements pour through stone and can be collected with other hag stones tied together and laid outside your home as a form of protection. Sometimes it is sometimes known as a ‘holey, ordin, seeing or adder stone’. They are sometimes seen as gifts from the Fae or naturally occurring phenomenon. The symbology of this hagstone was very important to me.

As I went into lockdown with my family, we were adopted by a stray cat a black cat taking our cat colony of black cats to a total of four rescued black cat, that you may’ve seen some of my posts about Eddie. With so many familiars in my life, I chuckled to myself and decided to go on a short journey ahead of my VisionQuest with one of my cats.

On my journey

When I went on the journey I went into a cave made of slate, I was surrounded by slate and I’d forgotten to lay my slate hag stone next to me to accompany me on this journey.  When I came to I realized I’d left it in my apothecary and looked up the meaning of slate and hag stones.

Hagstones are meant to be gifts from the fairy kingdom, I was delighted by this as there is lots of folklore around them.  The end of my garden and the wilderness behind my house is part of a big fairy kingdom.  I’ve been lucky enough to see fairies in my garden, believing in magic and miracles is something that is easy for me, and I know children who’ve seen them too.

In Essex as the soil tends to be clay and rocky stony sandy, not slate. Slate comes from Wales and slate symbolize enhancing growth and ability, increasing my mental capacity.   It’s meant to improve luck and flow and connects and revive the passion that you’ve lost.  I very much felt that in 2020 I lost some of my joie de vivre.

I went out and checked out the woods I wanted to do my journey in, to make sure they felt good and that I could find a spot to hide in while I quested so to speak.

I also took some time out the day beforehand to disconnect from work and home life, connect with nature and step from my comfy bed to my camper van and then into the woods.  This to me was a vital part of my transition to quietening my mind and stilling my body so I took a book with me, all about pleasure and reconnecting to parts of oneself.  I highly recommend taking this time out before diving straight into the quest itself.

If you are stuck or disconnected with your spiritual path and want to talk, to receive guidance, ask questions, reconnect and find your way once more. To someone who’s been there, and is walking her talk book a one-to-one intuitive session with me here.

With thanks,

Ruthy D xx