For Rites of Passage

“Almost every culture throughout history has traditions involving the initiations or rites of passage in the wilderness by which individuals confirm the attainment of new life stations i.e.: manhood, womanhood, or elder years and other important life decisions. The wonder year, the pilgrimage, the vision quest and the underworld journey are typical of such initiatory experiences. Rites of passage are deeply embedded in mythological consciousness as well the fasting prophets of Judaeo-Christianity, the questing ancestors of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the pilgrimages of the Buddha and Mohammed, the medieval knights and their quest for the holy grail, the underworld journey of the great matriarchal deities, and Native Americans such as Crazy Horse, Black Elk and countless others. ”

— FOSTER AND LITTLE, BOOK OF VISION QUEST