The Vision Quest

[James Standingdeer]

One medicine man call this ceremony the Pipe Fast since it has purposes other than seeking a vision. However, the vision is its highest expression. Young man, beginning in their teens, and medicine men commonly go on a vision quest, although men and women of most stages also undergo the experience.The person, alone, fasts from both food and water for up to four days on a hill within a sacred place, marked off by colored flags of the four directions and a string of tiny tobacco pouches stretched out between them. Visions are the source of power needed to perform religious ceremony praying with the Pipe through the intercession of the spirits.Is very much like being ordained a priest or minister in one of the Christian traditions. Visions and dreams, closely related, give us a rich source of religious symbols.