"I believe that if I can sit out there long enough those crows, the trees and the wind can teach me something about how to be a better human being. I don't call that romanticism, I call that Indigenous Realism." --Dr Daniel Wildcat 

Yes, when we quest we sit out there…we also walk, wander, and explore out there. Nothing fancy. Mostly old school ways: a few pleas, some simple petitions of nature for friendship and guidance. Some personifying and praising of her gifts to us and within us. But the point is, we do something, about the calling of your soul. We leave the rest all behind, try to get as bare and raw as we can and walk out with our hearts in our hands, out into the wild nature of the world and yourself and say something about who we are and listen closely to what sky, mountain, cactus and coyote, blossom and brook have to say about it.

“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” --John Muir

You are…ready to walk into the mirror of nature with more curiosity and conviction than ever. Your night dreams and waking dreams can no longer be ignored. The deep nature of yourself and the world calls you to new meaning and new relations. Edward Abbey, nature pilgrim and rebel-saint reminds us, “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.”

Nature questing is not therapy and not religious. However, nature questing does have an eye and an ear for the psyche in psychology that is eco-bent--toward seasons of change, living and dying with more integrity, growth, sustainability, movement and vitality… And stepping one foot in foot in front of the other into a ceremony with nature can engage spirit in ways that are visceral and unexpected.

The call to quest in nature doesn't arise for everyone. But if you sense that the deepest roots of your soul are untended in some way and the hills, valleys, and meadows of nature have been a consistent source of nourishment throughout your life, the art of quest may be worth some exploration for you.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” 
--John Muir

Still registering men interested in this spirit of inner and outer exploration for the Spring Heart Arrow Quest, May 6-8. Please forward to men who might be called in this way and have them contact me directly if interested. Many thanks and sweet travels! Heartarrowquest.com