Chapter 53 - My Second Vision Quest - from my book Changes

Chapter 53

My Second Vision Quest

That second summer we stayed at the property and worked on the snail shell house for 4 months.  During that summer I was scheduled to go to Tom Brown Jr’s Scout Class at Trackerschool.  Not only to Scout class but three classes in a row: Vision Quest class, Scout Class, and Ancient Scout Class.

When one of the young men at Trackerschool heard I was planning to take those three classes in a row, that big tall strong guy suggested I spread out those three classes.  He said they would take a lot of energy and would be tough to try to do one right after the other.  After he walked away, one of the female elders at the school suggested I not listen to him.  She said if I feel called to take all three in a row, then I will be able to do it.

I did take them together, and it was not a problem.  I lost 25 pounds during those three weeks, but I felt fine because I could afford to lose the weight.

The vision quest was being held up on the place we call Spirit Hill. Spirit Hill is near the primitive camp in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where most of the Trackerschool classes are held during the summer months.  There are several fire break trails that lead onto Spirit Hill and we questers were led along those trails by the quest protectors, as we each found a secluded place to quest, well separated from the other questers.

As usual we each set up our quest sites and had them approved by the protectors to be safe and appropriate for the quest that was being run.

Both my sister Cheryl and my son Marshal attended that Vision Quest class too, and were questing on Spirit Hill in their own quest sites.

Marshal had done a two day quest previously with a group of Native American dancers he was a part of, but this quest would be four days, alone, without food, only water.

The first day, when I got to my quest site and after I put my day 1 marker in the marker box along the trail, I began doing the quest dance in my quest circle.  I was stepping in a circle within the borders of my site, moving energy and connecting with the earth.  As I danced, I put my hands in the pockets of my pants and discovered a handful of almonds.  I pulled them out of my pocket and looked at them as if they were some foreign substance, they were so unexpected.  Then I threw them away, as far as I could, into the trees and bushes so I would never find them.  I did not want to be temped later.

On the second day my favorite thing that happened was when a flurry of little chirping birds flew right through my quest circle.  They were so pretty, and the energy they carried with them was pure delight.

On the third day we experienced a drenching downpour.  With no one around, I stripped off my clothes and took a rain shower.  It felt so refreshing, being a hot summer day.

That night, I slept in my sleeping bag, within my tarp, which was under and over me like a taco shell.   It was still raining a little bit and that kept me dry.

During the night I woke up suddenly.  Something ominous was pressing up against my back!

I rolled out of my sleeping bag and crouched in the center of my quest circle, facing the darkness that was threatening me.  I yelled at it, “Get out of my quest circle!  Get out of my quest circle!  You are not supposed to be in my quest circle!”

Then it attacked me, pinning me to the ground and trying to kill me.

I screamed for help!

Then all went black.

The next thing I knew I was waking up in bed, in a dingy motel room.  There was a man there, standing by a little kitchenette on the other side of the room, cooking some food.  He told me he was a shadow.  He said, “We had to take you out of your quest site because of the attack.” My first thought was maybe he was one of the shadow scouts who were preparing for the upcoming Scout Class the following week.  I did not feel afraid.

I was disappointed, however, that I had been taken out of my quest. Typically, if a person leaves the quest, that means they are done and they don’t go back in, but  I wanted to be able to finish my quest.

Next, Matt and Carmen showed up.  They are two of the teachers at Trackerschool.

Then my youngest two kids showed up, Juliana and Ryan.  I wondered how they got to New Jersey.

The shadow told me I should rest now, so I went back to sleep.

When I woke up, it was morning and I was in my sleeping bag in my quest area.

What a relief!  I was still in the quest!  I was very happy.

The rest of the quest went without any more problems.  When I came out of the quest site after it was over, I asked Debbie T., one of the protectors, why I had been attacked, and if any of the protectors had been aware of it.

Debbie said she had been awakened in the night, feeling something may be wrong, and had come up and sat at the trail by my quest site, waiting to see if she was needed.

My sister Cheryl and son Marshal both finished the quest too.  They both said they had to finish because they knew I would and they didn’t want to quit if I didn’t.  I was proud of both of them for questing with me.