Time for a vision quest

[_Lucid_]

my spirit guide, is weak and i think it has essentially left me. According to my beleifs, this means i need to get another one, or find it in a vision quest so i dont get sick or something happens. its been a really, REALLY long time since i last took a vision quest and i was wondering if anyone can remind me how long you fast before the quest (for ancient celtic shamanism). thanks in advance!!!

lucid

[BearDancing]

4 days

[BearDancing]

my spirit guide, is weak and i think it has essentially left me. According to my beleifs, this means i need to get another one, or find it in a vision quest so i dont get sick or something happens. its been a really, REALLY long time since i last took a vision quest and i was wondering if anyone can remind me how long you fast before the quest (for ancient celtic shamanism). thanks in advance!!!

lucid

my beliefs are that they spirit guides find you..........or you evoke one to help you with their specific gifts they have to share...........Is the spirit weak and leaving you or are you not paying enough attention to said guide..........or are you being respectful.............

[_Lucid_]

my beliefs are that they spirit guides find you..........or you evoke one to help you with their specific gifts they have to share...........Is the spirit weak and leaving you or are you not paying enough attention to said guide..........or are you being respectful.............

yes, i've always been respectful to it, and everything. it just seems like its leaving. in my faith, the spirits can change and leave, but it just saddens me and at the same time makes me eager for this quest

[MonSno_LeeDra]

Not to be a killjoy but I'm not sure you know what a vision quest is.

One typically fasts for anywhere from 3 - 7 days when they are preparing for a quest. Along with that one often goes through a sweet lodge ceremony or some other purification type ceremony. After completion of that they then select or have already selected a companion to go into the wilderness with them.

While in the wilderness the questor will usually arise before sunrise and head off into the mountains, forest, etc to find a place of solitude to begin thier opening to receive a vision. They will usually be gone from before sunrise to after sunset adn will sit and mediatate the whole time. Often simply watching and listening to see what Spirit will reveal to them. Or they may actually journey and receive a vision from Spirit while they meditate and pray.

While they are gone the companion acts as their caretaker. He / she ensures they have food and water, overseas all the conditions of camp are maintain and agree's to watch out for the questors general health and welfare while they are there. This may take anywhere from a single day to a week or more.

But at no time is the quest to find a spirit guide / totem or power animal. It is usually very focused and highly detailed as to what the person hopes to do.

What you are speaking of takes place often in dream time. It is when the practioner asks Spirit to either send thier totem / guide to them or they ask the universe to allow thier guide / totem to come forth to be revelaed to them. It may all occur within the dream period or may actually carry into the physical and they receive guidance / lessons from the physical form of thier guide / totem.

Usually there is no purification or fasting for such an event.

The thing about a Vision Quest is that it is very formal and structured. Biblically it is very close to what the prophets would do when they retreated into the deserts to ungo purification and enlightenment. Very taxing upon the body, spirit and mind.

About the main difference between today and yesteryear is that a caompanion accompanies the quester where in the past it was just the questor themselves.

[MonSno_LeeDra]

With regards to actual guides and totems it is not uncommon to have totems / totems come and go. Some are here for short periods and are designed to help us overcome specific ideas. Other's may be with us the entirity of our lives though they are not always apparent to us.

Some are power animals and will be visible when we need them or they have a message to speak to us but beyond that they will only be a sensation about us.

Some also confuse a totem with thier guide or power animal. A totem is usually assigned to either a tribe, a clan or a specific family. Very seldom does one have a personal totem in Native American Lore. Yet the words totem / power animal / spirit animal / spirit guide are getting pretty crossed over as they are being incorporated into the neo-pagan world. One really does not see the notion of personal totems in Celtic / Nordic or the Med basin belief systems.