A Vision Quest

 Ilene was a talented artist.  After her death, I self-published a book of the writing, poetry and art she created in the last years of her life titled Dancing with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  In the book I describe how Ilene was very aware that she wanted to live out her last months with a heightend sense of awareness.  She wanted to be creative in art and poetry and in affirming and providing closure for family, friends and herself.

To help with that process, she reconnected with the Delicate Lodge Teachings, a Native American spiritual practice she had participated in about fifteen years earlier.  She found White Eagle, who came to our home in February to lead Ilene through a five day intensive Vision Quest. She wrote a “Letter to Mother Earth” to declare her intention in preparation for going into the ceremony.  One outcome of the ceremony was her Journey Shield, a deerskin on which she painted her life journey, depicting it as a flowing river. 

The Journey Shield was created in two parts.  The first part was completed shortly after her Vision Quest ended.  It was marked by a ceremonial feather at the lower right corner.  The second part, from that feather to the gate at the center with the magical fairy on the other side, was completed the week before her death.

The Journey Shield continues to inspire me to build Living in Light of Dying as a site for anyone facing a life threatening illness.  It reminds me that whether we see life as a river, a wandering path, an ascent, or a descent,  each life is a story, the telling of which will make each of our lives richer.  And, usually, it is when a life nears its end that the storytelling becomes compelling for everyone.

What would you write to Mother Earth in preparation for a Vision Quest?

What would you want your Journey Shield look like?