Youth Rite of Passage Date: 07-22-2011 to the 27 Location: Somerset Lake, Vermont
6 day program, including 2 day & night solo fast for boy ages 14-17
This program is designed to offer young boys an introduction to the themes and experience of a rite of passage. There will be 3 days of preparation camp. During this time the boys will be instructed in the dynamics of rites of passage as found among indigenous peoples throughout the world, in particular the American Indian Vision Quest. They will be instructed in an American Indian Medicine Wheel, which symbolically depicts the soul’s journey through the stages of life. There will exercises of attunement in nature, which will help to enhance their solo experience. There will be storytelling with the theme of initiation into the mysteries of soul and spirit. In addition, we hold an Elder’s Council, during which men from our community will speak to the boys of their experiences of being a man.
On the final night of preparation camp, we hold a Sweat Lodge ceremony, as a rite of purification and cleansing. The next day we will drive to the trailhead and hike 3 miles to base camp. That afternoon the boys will seek a vision quest site. When they return to base camp, they will talk about where their site is located and we will determine who will be stonepile buddies. The stonepile buddy system is our safety mechanism, with each person making a change in a designated stonepile at a certain time of day. If a change has not been made, we check on the person.
The next morning after a brief Threshold Ceremony the boys will cross the threshold into the sacred space of their quest, where they will re-enact an ancient practice of seeking to discover who and what they truly are, beyond the limits of family and dogma. They will be undergoing the archetypal quest to uncover their uniqueness and what gifts they have to bring back to the world. Each person comes into the world with a seeded story that contains in embryo the particular qualities of soul and gifts that will give shape and texture to an individual’s life. These boys will be seeking to begin the life-long process of unfolding the unique story of themselves. In this regard, they will be making themselves open and vulnerable to the eternal that beckons to them on the other side of ordinary life.
After 2 days & nights the boys will return to base camp. They break fast with some fruit and bread and then we will hike out and return to our “campus.” Here they rest and recover from their fast. Then we will hold a council in which each participant speaks about their experience of the solo fast and is given feedback by the guide. Following this we will hold a closing ceremony to which the parents and guardians are invited to attend. The boys will briefly recap their experience before their loved ones and be given acknowledgment for what they have accomplished. Although this experience is not a full-fledged 4 day & night Vision Quest, it is still a significant introduction to the beauty and power of the quest and may plant the seed of longing in the boys for a longer, more arduous experience. Before a boy can cross the threshold into manhood, he must learn what he is made of.
Guide Fee: $450
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
