Why do a Quest?

People who attend SpiritQuest, New Dream's annual Spiritual Retreat, often become curious about the people who are questing, how they prepared and why someone would do a quest.

Because we have people doing different kinds of quests from a couple of different Native traditions, it is easy to be a little confused about what is going on. If someone is feeling called to do a quest and the experience is new, the whole thing can either seem a bit daunting or on the other extreme—insignificant.

Questing is an opportunity to dive into the spiritual essence of you and your relationship with your Creator. As you prepare for and during your quest, you can expect to see aspects of your old self that are ready to die and aspects of your greater self that wish to emerge—to be awakened and manifested into your physical reality.

During the course of a quest, people have visions, hear sacred songs, receive messages, are visited by spirits and have unique experiences with animals and nature. Yet, these are more like the confirmation of your quest rather than the heart of the quest itself. During a quest, you remove all of your distractions as you strip down to your essential self in relationship with the Mystery so that you can be born anew in the sacred.

For many, a quest is one of the most significant spiritual moments within their sacred journey.

Though powerful and meaningful, it is a process over time that prepares you and culminates in those final days alone with the Mystery. It is the preparation that removes the daunting qualities it may have for someone new to questing. By the time a person is left in their sacred circle on the Mother to quest, they are ready—usually very ready.

Each type of quest is unique. There is no single quest formula among all the tribes. Each tribe and tradition has their own quests and requirements for them. In other words, you can't assume that because you witnessed or experienced one type of quest that the quests I offer would be the same. They probably won't be.

For example, at SpiritQuest I offer quests from two different traditions. The most frequently done quest is a Song Quest in which a quester prepares for a year, eventually spending up to three nights under the stars alone listening for their sacred song—their song line in the universe. I also offer an Elderhood quest in which elder candidates also prepare for a year, but they quest alone in their tents near the sacred fire. Adulthood quests for young people are only one night out. With some of these quests, questers prepare with a sweat lodge, while others prepare by going to the creek or river to bathe. Some have sacred objects to make during the year, while still others will be keeping journals and recording their dreams.

If someone is called to do a quest and has never supported someone else in a quest, I recommend they come help at a quest first. It is a good way to become familiar with the tradition to see if it feels right and to get to know me. Since we will be working for a year to get you ready, I want you to feel confident that I am the right person to be holding sacred space for you.

Knowing how to hold space is important. I quested many times, received my calling from Spirit to quest others, and received guidance from an elder before ever questing someone else. Quests invoke powerful spiritual transformation, so I made sure I was not choosing to quest people to indulge my ego. I had to be sure I was being called and that I was ready to do this. Since I was not the best person to evaluate my own ego, I waited until my elder instructed me to move forward.

If a quest is calling you, I encourage you to do these things:

1) Go to a quest where you can support someone else first. Not every quest allows for a community to support an individual, so I want you to know that SpiritQuest does allow the community to offer their support to questers.

2) Find an intercessor who has done many quests him or herself and has permission to hold such sacred space in the way of their tradition.

3) When you have found your intercessor to hold space for your quest, have courage and ask. There is a reason you are being called and the personal freedom you can experience will be worth it.

—Reverend Misa