Upcoming PeerSpirit Wilderness Quests
Following is a chronological listing of our scheduled Wilderness Quests that are open to the public. If you have questions about registration, travel logistics, etc., please contact the people listed below. If you have specific questions about the nature of questing, or if you'd like to look into booking a private questing experience for your organization, please contact Ann at the PeerSpirit office.
Note: At this time, our questing experiences are for women only. However, we plan to offer mixed gender quests in the near future. Please check back here from time to time for updates!
- WomanQuest at Abundance Summit, North Carolina
- Elder Passage Wilderness Quest, Inyo Mountains, California
ELDER PASSAGE WILDERNESS QUEST
Guides: Anne Stine and Ann Linnea
This nine-day immersion into the sacred Inyo Mountains, CA beyond the eastern Sierras is an opportunity for women age 50 and older to explore what it means to become an elder in the world at this time. Informed by the wisdom of nature, we will enter the initiatory passage into this next stage of life. In addition to the traditional practices of solitude, fasting and exposure to the natural world, we will sit in council, sing, dance, journal, drum, walk and create ceremony together. By honing our abilities to listen to the earth, ourselves and each other, we will begin to forge our own unique paths to claiming our eldership in our homes, communities and places of work.
Anne Stine, MA, MFT (www.wildernessrites.com) is founder and director of Wilderness Rites, with many years experience as an ecopsychologist and rites of passage guide. Through guiding, teaching, training, mentoring and council work her intention is to offer initiatory earth-based healing rites and practices that assist people to reclaim their true place within the wisdom and cycles of nature. Her programs have been offered in the wilderness areas of California, Oregon and Idaho as well as at several universities and retreat centers across the country and have been greatly informed by her own extended periods of solitude and fasting in wilderness settings. Her writings have appeared in "The Soul Unearthed" (Tarcher 2001)
Ann Linnea of PeerSpirit has been a wilderness guide for four decades. She has devoted her life to sharing the wonder and wisdom of the natural world with people of all ages. In her book "Deep Water Passage: A Spiritual Journey at Midlife" (Pocketbook, 1997), she chronicles her courageous journey around the 1800-mile shoreline of Lake Superior by sea kayak. Through a lifetime of wilderness work and a decade of bringing the wisdom of council into the mainstream, Ann has developed a deep-seated belief that true, internal, systemic change is facilitated by extended immersion in the natural world in the creative company of peers.
Participants enter a careful preparation process upon signing up that includes written materials, a phone consult, and suggested soul preparation activities. All food will be provided except the final celebratory dinner in town. Participants provide all their own camping gear--list provided. No prior camping experience is required. Hiking and other movement is not strenuous, though base camp is located at 9,000 feet elevation. If in doubt about your physical abilities for this quest, please feel free to call either Anne or Ann and discuss the issue with them.
DATES: July 17-27, 2008
COST: $1,225
REGISTRATION: Limited to 12 women, age 50 and older
LOCATION: Inyo Mountains in eastern California's high mountain desert
DEPOSIT: A non-refundable $325.00 deposit holds your place. Register by check or money order through the Wilderness Rites office, 541-488-4899, 480 Herbert St., Ashland OR 97520
CEUs (for MFTs and LCSWs): 36 units
SCHOLARSHIPS: We have a limited amount of funds available for scholarship. Please let us know if you'd like more information about our scholarship process.
The Vision Quest for elder women being offered by Ann Linnea and Anne Stine is part of the larger network of vision quests being offered by a variety of organizations.
For more photos, see our Gallery page.
At the request of Abundance Summit in Jefferson, North Carolina, Ann Linnea will be co-leading an introduction to vision questing for women. See the complete details, including how to register, below.
WOMANQUEST: AN INTRODUCTORY VISION QUEST FOR WOMEN
May 28 - June 1, 2008
WomanQuest is a five-day, four-night introduction to the ancient tradition of vision questing. Women will participate in ceremony and instruction that will prepare them for a 24-hour solo on the rolling, Blue Ridge mountain land of North Carolina's Abundance Summit retreat center. Meeting in council, we will form a community that attends to the safety and well-being of each woman's sacred journey on the land. We will explore the practices of drumming, solitude, and optional fasting, closing with a storytelling council.
Participants will provide their own equipment for tenting on the land or sleeping inside the communal yurt. All food provided will be simple, vegetarian fare. No prior camping experience required, and all activity will be gentle.
About the Facilitators:
Ann Linnea of PeerSpirit has been a wilderness guide for nearly four decades. Through a lifetime of wilderness work, she is committed to bringing the wisdom of council into the mainstream through vision questing and circle work. Ann is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Pam Noble is a retired psychotherapist and poet who has led groups for over thirty years. She believes that vision questing is a powerful way to facilitate the deeper consciousness of Nature that transforms us and heals the earth.
Paulette Lawrence is a psychotherapist and retreat leader who lives on an organic farm that is part of Abundance Summit. She is committed to deepening the vision quest experience of women.
Judy Flavell, a specialist in community outreach and group facilitation, is committed to supporting people in discovering their own Wisdom through connection with nature. She has led wilderness canoe trips in Maine and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
DATES: May 28 - June 1, 2008
COST: $450.00 (an early bird discounted cost of $400.00 is available for those who register by March 15, 2008)
LOCATION: Abundance Summit Retreat near Jefferson, North Carolina
DEPOSIT: A non-refundable $100 deposit holds your place.
CEUs: 25 CEU credits will be available through Appalachian State University for social workers and therapists
REGISTRATION: For more information or to register, please contact Amanda Gentry by email at mail@abundancesummit.org or by phone at 336-982-2431.
For more photos, see our Gallery page.
