Yes, you could, but it would be very different. Although the core of the vision questing process is solitary, traditionally this activity was never done alone. There have always been guides, mentors, and shamans who prepared the initiate to cross the threshold into the sacred world. These same guides were there when the initiate returned, to help him/her make sense of the journey and translate vision into the forms and terms of social and everyday life.
If our intention is to journey beyond the self we know and are familiar with, leaving the preparation in the hands of that self is poor strategy. “Old tapes,” habits, and repetitious ways of looking at the world can easily accompany us into the wilderness and back. There are important teachings about ritual, ceremony, physical preparation, and the methodology of the questing process that we would not get if we were doing this alone. And the presence of guides and companions who provide different perspectives, compassionate mirroring, honest feedback, and stories in which we see ourselves in new ways is an invaluable resource.
Going it alone can be powerful. Fasting, solitude, and the contact with the spirit in nature are excellent teachers. But the instruction involved in the preparation phase and the emotional support and help in integrating one’s story make it a qualitatively different experience.
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