From the beginning of time, people have been sitting out in nature for the purpose of experiencing a revelation. For shorter or for longer periods, they have sat in desserts, on mountains, in forests, or in the wilderness, for the purpose of having a spiritual experience. In many cultures it is an important part of ones education. For some it can be something you do because there is a tradition for doing so in their culture. It can also be something you do because of a significant change in your life. Some do it because they feel compelled to. You can also just do it because you decide to. In all nature-societies/ancient-societies it is important to be a useful person. Often times a person will go into the wilderness to find his personal spiritual vocation. "How can I best live my life – how can I best serve my people"? To be a useful person is the foundation of shamanistic spirituality.

We are still an ancient-people although we may not feel like a nature-people any more. Our ancestors and we have lived here in Scandinavia for more than 10.000 years, and our roots go all the way back to that time. Our ancestor's ancestors wandered to this place, over mountains and rivers, through valleys and forests, from a faraway place, and their history goes back more than 40.000 years. We each have a root that goes all the way back to that time. We also have a root in our root net that goes back hundreds of thousands of years to pre-shamanic time. Through all of this time our foremothers and forefathers lived their lives based on a shamanistic/animistic spirituality, and our people had a shamanistic/animistic culture. We still do! This has been so all of the time. It has just been underground because of the things that have been going on the last couple of thousand years. They have tried to force a foreign culture and a foreign religion upon us, but they did not succeed. They never will. Deep in our hearts we know who we are.
For many years most of us have been more or less disconnected from the ancient-person and nature-person within ourselves, and we have lost touch with our roots and ancient-roots. The good news is that it all still exists well preserved. It is just waiting for us to reach out to it, and unite with it once again. Yes! It is perfectly possible to live in the twentieth century and still be an ancient-person and nature-person. You can be natural and live in touch with your nature-intelligence regardless of where you are geographically, historically and culturally.

We all belong to this people who has lived here more than 10.000 years. From the beginning of time, we have had a covenant with the Spirit of Nature / Spirit of Life, and each family/clan has always had a member whose vocation it was to be responsible or this covenant, and thus the collaboration with the Spirit World and the spirits there – and the spirits in Nature. To this day, this is still so. We are still many who sit out in nature, for shorter or longer periods, to have a spiritual experience - a vision, a revelation, a spiritual calling.

Vision Quest is one of the cornerstones of shamanism. In Danish it is called out-sitting. It is something you need to learn. You need to be well prepared, or you may have a bad experience.
Let me repeat the story about my fellow Dane, who during a trip to Egypt met a Coptic priest, who had been sitting in the wilderness for 13 years. The Dane asked the priest; if one could meet God if one sat in the wilderness for long enough.
"Yes"! Answered the priest, "but it is very dangerous".
"Why is that" asked the Dane?
"Well you se" said the priest. "First you will meet yourself".
So! If you want to learn how to vision quest, it is not sufficient to learn about what other people have done, for how long they sat, weather they were fasting or semi-fasting etc. It is necessary to learn something about yourself first.

Since 1977 I have had a spiritual love affair with the mountain wilderness in Sápmi (Lapland). I have been there a couple of times each year since then, mostly in the summer, but also during the other seasons. I have now managed to get my life arranged in such a way, that I can live in Sápmi three months during the summer. From 1996 till 2005 I lived three months every summer in a small tent camp on a mountain in the wilderness and was taught shamanism by Nature. The camp also served as a shamanic practise and teaching circle. I still live in Sápmi in the summer, and I still do vision quests with clients.

A Vision Quest with me typically takes 5 to 6 days. A couple of days for preparation, followed by one or two days out-sitting on a hilltop in the forest by a lake or a stream, and then a couple of days for processing. If you have quested before, you can out-sit for longer if you wish. Arrangements must me made with me three months in advance, and there is 4 to 8 weeks preparation and 4 to 8 weeks after-work by e-mail and telephone. I only do Vision Quests one on one. One shaman and one client!

You travel to Kiruna in Sweden by plane or train and meet me on the mountain the same day or the day after. This is your arrival day. On the mountain I will have set up at camp for us. I will supply all necessary equipment – tent, sleeping bag, cooking gear, food, shamanic tools and "medicine".
The day after is your 1st day. During this day we will do different shamanic rituals and other preparations, and you must find the place you want to out-sit. The day after is the 2nd day. I will escort you to your vision circle in the afternoon. You now sit out through the night till they day after witch is your 3rd day. Most people sit out one more whole day and night until the 4th day. I will pick you up in the morning and escort you back to the camp. You may sit-out for longer if you are an experienced vision quester and have prepared yourself sufficiently before you come. A longer out-sitting is not necessarily a better out-sitting.
The following day is your departure day and you leave me and the camp.

During the 4 to 8 weeks leading up to the vision quest there are certain preparations to be made. If you are not familiar with being in a shamanic state of trance you must learn. You need to be in touch with a totem animal who can help you with the whole project. We will talk about how you should cooperate with your totem animal and possibly other spirit helpers, and the spirits must also prepare themselves for the vision quest. There are other exercises you must do to make your soul clean, strong and open.
If you are addicted to nicotine and want to be nicotine free while you out-sit, you must stop using nicotine at least 3 months before, but you can smoke (use snuff, chewing tobacco or nicotine gum) while you out-sit.
If you want to fast or semi-fast you must begin to prepare yourself at least 8 weeks in advance. Perhaps you have read about Indians or others who fasted for many days during their vision quest. You must remember that such people have many years experience with fasting. Fasting is a skill one must learn – it takes a long time and is hard work.
There are also other physical and spiritual things that must be worked with in advance.

It is implied in the words, Vision Quest, that there is something you are supposed to "see" during your out-sitting. It is also implied in the word revelation. There is a veil in front of your eyes, which must be lifted. There will occur an "opening", that you "see" through. An unveiling. A reveal-ation. You see this world differently, and you see a different world. Most revelations, to call them that, are very personal and people rarely speak about them. Other revelations become world famous.
It is important to understand a couple of things in this regard. You do a number of out-sittings, often with regular intervals, for example a couple of days once a year. Along the way, you become better at it. Some people may have a dramatic experience witch changes their life utterly, but that is the exception to the rule. Often it is this kind we hear most about, because they are so dramatic.
The purpose is not to have a dramatic change in your life, although it does happen to a few. The purpose is to become better at being the person you are, and better at living the life you are living. The purpose is, to become more useful to yourself, your relations and all the rest.

More often than not, nothing much happens the first time you out-sit, except that you learn to out-sit. The next time you might have a vision, who's purpose it is to make way for the "real" revelation, but the experiences from the first time are necessary for the events that are to unfold the following times.
Once you have had your revelation, it may take a long time to digest the experience. Sometimes many years. The vision may well have consequences for you the rest of your life. Never go out-sitting, if you are not prepared to take responsibility for the consequences of the vision you might have.

Let us say that you have had your revelation. For example, it was in a vision/revelation that I was told that the spirits wanted me to set up the Midnight Sun Circle – witch was the name of the shamanic wilderness camp I ran in Lapland from 1996 till 2005. I was a little overwhelmed at first, but then I thought about it. We talked, and discussed things for a while, and to cut a long story short, I made a covenant with the spirits, that I would do this for a period of ten years.
Afterwards, realizing your Vision can be a lot of hard work. If you are not prepared to realize your Vision, you are better off not having one. I should ad, that I have had Visions and covenants with the Spirit World before, and have learned how this is done. For instance, there is usually lots of room for negotiation. And by the way, negotiating with Spirit is a shamanic skill in its own right.
To people whom practice shamanism one might say, that out-sitting, in a sense, is a shamanic journey of a different dimension. It creates a good frame for our every day shamanic life and practice. It holds everything together. We renew our covenant with Life.
We know what we want, and have a clear idea of where we are going. Everything becomes more meaningful and fulfilling. We become happier and feel more alive. We breathe. We dance. We soar. We live. We are still here.

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