Visions Fasts and remembering what matters most

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“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work

and when we no longer know which way to go,

we have begun our real journey..."

Wendell Berry

Dear School,

There are times that change comes calling for us- when we find ourselves betwixt and between- what was and what will be. Things in our life are either totally static; or else all is shape-shifting so fast that we can barely keep up. These are good moments to head out to the land and listen deeply. To put down busyness and breathe deep under wide skies. To stand in the centre of our own circle and see what we might find there.

For over 40 years, the School of Lost Borders has been bringing meaningful rites of passage into the modern world through vision fasts, trainings, and transformative nature-based programs. We stand shoulder to shoulder with folks looking for wise ways and living the big questions; as we look to the land, delve deep, sit in circle and listen in together.

Over the next few newsletters we will explore the four program branches that form the School of Lost Borders core offerings.

In this newsletter we begin with Vision Fasts. In the world today, we often live connected to screens and disconnected from the land. The initiation and wilderness rites of passage ceremonies practiced for centuries by our ancestors have almost been forgotten.

The vision fast ceremony is a modern-day rite of passage that aims to support navigating the complexity of these times and to mark, honor and celebrate life transitions. This involves four days and nights out alone in nature, with minimal or no food, and leaving behind distractions and daily routines.

When we take the time to mark life's changing seasons and thoughtfully respond to the question "Who am I?" and "What do I have to offer?" we step into our true nature and a sense of belonging amongst the land and our communities. The results can be profound. Meaning and purpose can return and life can become richer, clearer, and more full.

You can find information all of our upcoming 2022 and 2023 Vision Fasts here.

We will be back again soon with more musings on our other program branches.

Sending you so much wild well wishing,

The School of Lost Borders

Vision Fasts as Radical Acts of Re-membering

"One day you may just find yourself stumbling across the crazy idea to come and surrender into four days and nights on the Earth with nothing more than the clothes on your body, a gallon of water for each day and whatever you can carry on your back. To do nothing for four days. To stop the hamster wheel and step out of the cage. To exchange the confines of our bedroom ceiling with the infinite depth of the night sky. To expose oneself to all weather, internal and external, in an unprecedented chance to meet what is, moment after moment, without a way out, is radical. To let ourselves empty, to let psyche drain, to shed and let what is no longer true fall to the ground and decompose is an act of rare courage and precious self-care. To hear the beat of our own heart in the silence of the vast desert and take up the full breadth of our belonging is no small thing... "

Read the full article by Petra Lentz-Snow here