June Vision Fast
This modern life can feel exponentially challenging these days. The world doesn't seem to slow down enough for true connection and reflection. We get distracted by technology, by screens, bombarded by media and it becomes easy to lose connection to the deeper intentions that reside in us; wanting to come out. As culture and politics are divided in growing disarray we can tend to focus on just getting by.
But when trouble comes - whether circumstantially outside us or from our own inner world - taking time to make council with the land, ourselves and others seeking to do the same is wise.
Why Go on a Vision Fast?
People need to mark the end of one thing and the beginning of another. A life stage transcended or a threshold crossed such as the passage from childhood to adulthood or from adulthood to elderhood. People go out to honor the loss of a marriage or the death of a loved one and to begin anew. The threshold can be more subtle, more personal - a need to honor one's intuitive, soulful path in life and let go of what they've been told to do or who they've been pressured to be. The reason to go can often be mysterious to some - just an intuitive knowing they need to go. People have so many reasons as to why they choose to go out on the land.
This ceremony is a very powerful way to show up to the central conversation of your own life, bring it to the presence of creation and listen for a response. It is a ritual ordeal, meant to "evoke your higher nature" - meaning the challenge of hunger, solitude and exposure to the elements often pushes us to have experiences of who we are underneath our social presentations, family roles or our trauma survival adaptions and behaviors. It calls us to step toward our fears, hesitations and doubts and look life and ourselves square on.
The Ceremony
From a bird's eye view this ceremony is simple: Four days and nights in wilderness solitude. The entire outing will be about 7-8 days with a few days of preparation with the group in base camp and a day or so of return from the Fast.
Some of you may know this Ceremony and to some, this may be an unknown. This is an ancient undertaking - likely being part of life either deep or recent in the history of each of our ancestries.
It is pretty simple: We meet early one morning and go out at as a group in some shared trucks to a wilderness area in the Cascade foothills and set up a base camp. We spend a few days connecting in circle and sharing meals together as well as branching out from base camp to find each of your individual fasting sites - usually no more than a mile or so from base camp. We spend another day or so in group circles in different modes of preparation; from setting intentions, to keeping safe and healthy while out there, to sharing deeply with one another. Then on the third morning, us Guides will send you out at dawn to begin your ceremony in which you spend four days and nights on the land in solitude and most fast from food, but we drink water.
After four full days, on your fifth morning, you will pack up your site and walk back to base camp where us Guides will sing you home. You’ll spend the remainder of that day and maybe another morning, listening to each participant share their first iteration of their story as well as sharing your own story. We’ll pack up and leave soon after the stories end, and go back to our worlds at home.
Preparation and Integration
Beginning in March we'll meet once a month for an hour to prepare you for your Ceremony; some meetings will be individual and some with the group. As we say from experience - your ceremony begins the moment you say yes.
After the Ceremony ends, we’ll take a break for the summer and then begin meeting monthly from September until November as a group to support integration of what your ceremony brought to you.
(A note for those out of the Central Oregon area: We’ll have some way of supporting you in group gatherings such as zooming you into group space or meeting individually)
How do I know if this is for me?
We find that people often have an intuitive knowing that they want to go out. Having a conversation with one of us can be helpful to determine if this is the right time - so feel free to reach out to us via text or email to schedule a free 30 minute call.
How much does it cost?
The price of the fast including four monthly preparation sessions, the week long ceremony and the autumn integration sessions is a sliding scale $1,400 -$4, 400.
The sliding scale is set up so that people can pay according to their financial means. Some people will be able to pay $1,400 with some ease, and for some it will be a stretch. Others are able to easily pay $4,400. We trust that you will pay what is most suitable to your financial situation.
How do I register for June?
Please email us at: Jared@cougarbuttecounseling.com
or call or text at: 541 639-2059