Wilderness Quest summer solstice
June 13th - 21st 2026
In the huge silence of the wild
earth begins to speak to us
through the setting sun, the howling wind, and the rustling in the trees.
Ancient cultures performed rites and ceremonies as a way of renewing their connection with the earth, their communities, and the very order of the universe. Central to all cultures lay the ancient rite of passage, which facilitated the initiation of a tribal member into a new sense of selfhood and a new understanding of the world.
The ceremony of the Vision Fast follows the traditional stages of a rite of passage: Severance (leaving behind what is familiar); Threshold (the actual solitude and fasting); and Reincorporation (return to the community with gifts and insights). The threshold stage is the heart of the rite of passage, consisting of the solo: three days and nights without human companionship in nature, fasting, while engaging a deep process of self-reflection.
Coming home to earth and our earth body, we step forward into an unknown wilderness, which marks the threshold between our life as it was and our life as it is about to be.
This place is known as the in-between or cosmos of liminality and is a place where our vision of life can expand. If we allow ourselves to be in relation with our inner nature and the earth’s nature, we may begin to remember how to listen and feel, in the womb of our Earth Elder, to that which is essential to our life and the flourishing of all beings.
Rekindling our medicine in this way holds the potential to not only foster the personal growth of individuals, but to also assist the culture at large in the development of a sustainable relationship with our home planet, directly affect the well-being of us all.
Through group process, experiential activities and ritual, participants will be invited to experience an ancient, pan-cultural, earth-centered rite of passage/vision fast in a wilderness setting.
In our shared container we hold a critical understanding of rites of passage within a decolonial context, approaching concepts of cultural appropriation, colonial privilege, and indigenous epistemology with care and reciprocity.
Earth my Body, Water my Blood
Air my Breath and Fire my Spirit
Wild
Where
Mendocino National Forest, California
-
300 acres of private land surrounded by National Forest
- Biodiverse wildlife: bald eagles, deer, fox, coyote, brown trout
- At the convergence of two wild rivers
- Deep immersion in the natural world
- Sacred lands of the Pomo peoples
When
6 nights, June 13th – 21st
Arrive on the 13th, Leave on the 21st before lunch.
Cost
$2100
10% Early Bird Discount: register before Feb 15th!
-A Limited Number of Work-Study Scholarships Available-
Limited to 10 questers
Guides on Your Journey
Samuel Malkemus, PhD
The door to wilderness work was opened to Samuel in 2005 when he embarked on his first Vision Fast in Death Valley, CA. Since that time he has engaged deeply with the wild voice of the Earth and has been leading wilderness courses and retreats
for the past decade. Samuel views nature and the living world as our deepest teacher, returning us to our original medicine. Certified in Wilderness First Aid, he brings both practical safety and psychological depth to the sacred work of wilderness rites. A fifth generation Californian he holds a deep reverence for both the living world and the native peoples who have walked this world for millennia.
Ishtar Kramer, PhD
Having trained as a Wilderness Guide at the School of Lost Borders, Isthar brings decades of experience tending to the wild longings of groups on the land. As a scholar activist, Ishtar seeks ways to unsettle and disrupt the overculture, by creating spaces where
decolonization can truly happen. Ishtar aspires to support the process of un-learning and un-doing, such that students can re-store and re-story their own narratives, exploring relational was of being which emphasize and sustain flourishing lifeways amongst all beings.
Ocean, Marina, & Arthur
The wild team.
They bring an extended sense of tribal community and care. They add to the magic of immersing ourselves into the land and commune with its spirits. And they are willing to assist and to share the adventure.
Marina brings her own wisdom distilled from
decades of diving deep into human nature. Ocean and Arthur bring their vital exuberance and fresh wisdom of just one decade of being embodied on earth