Forest Quest

Have you come to a moment in your life when you are realizing that the life you are living is somehow not the one for you?  Or when the meaning that urges you to wake in the morning with energy, has deserted you? These times in our lives are rich with enticements and they beckon us to step out of the habitualized and sometimes paralyzing life we have built and called our own, and into the Mystery that resounds with longing and demands an authentic relationship with the world around you and the aroused feelings inside of you.

When we are attentive to an impending time of significant personal transition and growth, we often notice the presence of longing or a profound sense of grief.  We may experience the opening present itself in the form of a personal crisis - loss of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce or physical or spiritual crisis. Or the crack may be in the form of an impending or recent life transition such as career change, leaving home, or retirement. If you are hearing a calling from within that is demanding your attention, we have an invitation for you – and a forest may now be calling out to you… 

This July, Windhorse Farm is hosting an ancient and powerful wilderness based ceremony called a solo fast, or “quest”. The solo fast is a journey for men and women who are seeking greater depth and clarity about one’s life purpose and meaning.  Based on the Animas Quest and led by guides Jade Sherer and Jim Marsden of the Animas Valley Institute, this specific journey is a western contemporary, nature based approach to an encounter with one’s inner essence, and the gifts that are uniquely yours to bring forth in the world. 

Following a traditional form that is common across many indigenous cultures around the world, this vision fast honors a variety of ancient traditions while weaving in a mix of depth psychology and contemporary practices that renew and enliven our relationships in the natural world and deepen our understanding of our selves and life in transition.  This quest is an 8 day experience and includes fasting and a 3 day solo in nature. The solo is preceded by ample preparation that offers tools for diving into this descent-based experience, and is followed by time devoted to helping you live the insights and seeds of potential into your life beyond the vision fast.

Our co-guide to this journey is an ancient Acadian Forest at Windhorse Farm.  This pristine Nova Scotian ecosystem that is beckoning us is a vibrant mix of ancient trees, streams and lush moss and lichen, supports us every step of the way.

INSTRUCTORS:

Jim Marsden is a multi-faceted guide. In addition to guiding solo fasts, Jim guides individuals and groups of people through personal, organizational and business-oriented transitions and transformative change. He is a staff member of the Presencing Institute, board member of the ALIA Institute, and field staff at Naropa University. Jim is passionate about the wilderness and today guides wilderness experiences that help deepen individual awareness, bring forth authentic expression, and strengthen relationships with nature. Many of these are programs that support personal transformation and build upon practices found among many indigenous cultures throughout the world. Jim is the very proud father of two daughters and currently resides in Boulder, Colorado.

Jade Sherer is a wilderness guide, teacher, cemetery sexton, body-worker and artist. She has led vision quests and other wilderness journeys in California, Oregon, Hawaii, Mexico and the American Southwest. She supports human transformation through respectful interaction and deep communion with nature, seeing soulful maturation as an essential step in making meaningful and lasting change in the world. Exploring the wild for more than 32 years, Jade is fascinated with the way nature serves as a mirror, especially for the wild feminine. Her work is rooted in deep love and respect for Earth and Her creatures, and in the innate understanding that sacred reciprocity with all Beings is an essential step towards our collective and individual re-evolution. As a way of echoing Earth, she is apprenticing herself to death now in uncommon ways, including the creation and growing of a Conservation Burial Ground in Washington state.

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