Abstract
The life-altering personal experience of the author on her first three-day vision quest is interwoven in this article with the experiences of other women questers and the knowledge the author has gained as a leader of wilderness experiences and as a therapist with women questers. Five phases of any quest, or wilderness experience, are described using personal and anecdotal descriptions of each phase to offer both a subjective and objective understanding of the questing process. The five phases are preparation, severance, threshold, reincorporation, and implementation. The threshold phase, the time spent alone and fasting in the wilderness, is described in greater depth than the other phases. This is often the most memorable part of the questing experience. The final section of the paper offers thoughts on the lasting benefits of this type of wilderness experience. Included in this section are thoughts on why the awakenings from such experiences are life-altering for some and seemingly transitory for others.
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