“I returned from the vision fast with a greater sense of my need for community, knowing my gifts, how I contribute, and a greater sense of my place in the world. I brought back to my community much more than I set out to find.”

“My son participated in the Young Men’s Initiation in the summer of 2016 with Cascadia Quest. I cannot say enough good things about his experience and how it directly affected our whole family. He became more self regulated and motivated. He started to take his responsibilities around the house more seriously. He volunteered to help with cleanup after meals on a school retreat without being asked, and has been doing his home work without reminders. He has been more compassionate toward his brothers in his play with them. He bends for them, and genuinely has fun with them without the need to be the winner at everything.

Overall, I think his experience at the Young Men’s Initiation has guided him to become a more grounded and conscientious young man. It was a solid way to usher him into adulthood with a clearer purpose for him and his intentions to be a helpful human being. I highly recommend it to other families with young men in their care.”

“My family has had numerous experiences with this organization. Our first involvement was the Young Men’s Initiatory Retreat that my son participated in. He went for 10 or so days into the wilderness, went through a number of rites of passage type exercises, and did a solo 2 day vision quest. He came back from this absolutely on fire. He was ready to take life on in a bigger way than he ever had before. When we picked him up, he was just beaming. Since then, he has taken on more responsibilities and has an increased sense of well being and self-esteem.

My husband had the privilege of being in the Men’s Fast. Our son also chose to be an assistant for this fast and got to go with his father into the desert and help provide support for him on his journey. This was a most touching and heartfelt experience for them and for all of us that got to witness and hear about it. They both came back with wide open, loving hearts and a strong drive to bring healing and leadership to their communities and to the larger population.

My Vision Fast gave me a deep sense of connection with myself, with others, with nature and with the vast source of all these. The clarity that came out of this has returned me to my life with a greater sense of purpose and strength. Solo time in nature was a profound experience, one that brought a level of peace that I had never felt. I returned to my family and community with greater conviction that I wanted to contribute more deeply to others and to the environment.

Cascadia Quest has been immensely helpful to my family. It brought us all closer together and opened up meaningful lines of communication. We are stronger and kinder and are continuing our journey in providing help and support where we see it is needed. Cascadia Quest provides transformation on a personal level which then ripples out to create a positive and healthy climate in the world.”

“When we met in Sisters to gather before our journey into the desert, the sky was orange from a nearby fire’s glare. When we woke one morning in base camp, there was ash on our sleeping bags. On other days, there was a smokey haze. The first day of our fast was the eclipse day where we were newly alone but soon viscerally reminded of our community with communal howls at the corona’s blazing glory. All of these metaphors for how the Vision Quest ignited a fire that will kindle within us for a lifetime.

I was looking for a Vision Quest within the eclipse’s path of totality and during my birthday. I was willing to fly from the East Coast to meet this objective. Later, I realized this was *the* Quest for me, not for those somewhat superficial reasons, but for the perfect powerful alchemy created by the exact community of individuals (fasters, guides and assistants) that became deeply united in those 9 days. Everything about the experience exceeded expectations. The Vision Quest is quite a primal experience in itself and the eclipse intensified that connection with our primitive nature and connection to the natural world. I only now know what worship means and I worship the sun. We experienced an unprecedented level of awe and appreciation for beauty during those days in the wilderness. Awe at the gifts of nature, our community and the transformative power of raw vulnerability in its ability to shift a being into a greater sense of wholeness.

In our society, we are often confronted with a struggle to balance a need for increased community-mindedness while not wanting to sacrifice our self-expressive individuality. In our rite of passage, we enjoy the opportunity to honor both. We join together in sacred council, offering one another a human’s greatest gift: authentic heart-led presence. Insights about our individual personhood are increased by the mirroring of our brothers and sisters. Together, we reconnect with all sides of ourselves in childlike playfulness, adolescent uncertainty and performing ceremony to increase our sense of wholeness on an individual and collective level. We commit to something greater than ourselves under the accountability of people intimately sharing the journey. Then, we take it one step further and bring home the bounty of the Vision Quest wilderness meat, for our various local tribes to eat.”