A nature-based ritual of passage dedicated to your soul’s unfurling, centered around a 3 night fast in the wilderness.
We all come from cultures that practiced nature-based rituals and rites of passage. These ceremonies that were so vital to our ancestors have mostly
been forgotten in modernity, and the evidence of their absence is all around us in the lack of belonging, lack of meaning, and lack of purpose that so
often defines our times.
The wilderness fast—commonly known as a vision fast in this corner of the world—is one of these ceremonies that thankfully has not quite been
forgotten. Sitting alone in nature and holding vigil without food or shelter has been practiced in cultures around the world for millennia.
There are many occasions for a wilderness fast. It may be part of a rite of passage, or it may be undertaken as a prayer, a spiritual offering, or as an
invocation for a deeper connection with the more-than-human-world. Sometimes it is a plea for a clarity of vision that cannot be achieved amidst
the hurl and burl of a busy modern life. Often it will contain elements of each of these things.
No matter your specific intention, the common thread is this: a wilderness fast is a ritual passage into a deeper and more expansive life. It is the ceremonial ground where the little deaths that feed life are courted, conjured, and served. It is where that which is no longer yours to carry can
be released and composted so that your unique bundle of gifts can be seeded, received, shaped, and honed.
The arc of this ceremony will follow the three main stages that are
common cross-culturally for initiatory passages:
Severance
Severance is leaving your
old life behind, letting go of
what cannot be, composting
habits and patterns that are
no longer serving you or your
community. On one hand
this begins the moment that
you say “yes” to this
ceremony, but matters of
the soul are never simply
linear and “self-chosen”, so it
is likely that the severance
already in your life is what
draws you to this ceremony
in the first place.
Severance often appears as
a rupture, as everything
falling apart. A death, an
illness, a loss of something
that cannot return (including
a dream), a growing loss of
meaning and purpose. We
all experience severance
many times in our lives, but
often we attempt to hijack,
bypass, or short circuit the
process, leaving us bereft of
the initiating medicine that
is there for us to receive.
Threshold
If severance is the leaving behind and the falling, the threshold is the liminal space where in your hollowness and silence, you
might just be able to see clearly who you are, why you are here, and how you are meant to serve Life.
The threshold in this ceremony will be sitting alone and holding vigil in nature for 3 nights without food, shelter, or distractions.
That which is waiting for you out there that cannot be found inside a screen nor can it be cultivated in comfort, blind-habit, and the
daily grind. But it has been calling you…
Return
The return, also called Incorporation (literally the returning to one’s body), is what lies on the other side of the threshold. It begins when
you are welcomed back into your group to share your story and then have that story mirrored by your guides.
You will then be supported towards bringing your learning, your gifts, and your medicine back to your community in a good way, in
a way that serves life. The return is a long process, but you will leave this ceremony walking the first steps on the road to that integrated
return.
In this powerful threshold space the veil between you and the otherworld is, as an old Seneca proverb says, as thin as the edge of a maple leaf. You are connected with what Irish philosopher John Moriarty called your bush soul, and Martin Prechtel calls your indigenous soul.
This is meaning-making, soul-centered, and village-minded work. Your community needs you. The people coming need you. The people you come
from need you. Mother Earth needs you. There is work to be done.
The time is now.
****
Friend, it’s time to make an effort,
So you become a grown human being,
And go out picking jewels
Of feeling for others.
– Ansari, 11th Century
****
THE FLOW
There will be specific practices offered in the months leading up to the program start date to root you into the fertile soil of this work.
Evening 1 (Arrival + Orientation)
Days 1 – 3 (Preparation)
The first days of this program will take place on a private 13 acre property near Lund, BC. In these first few days together we will establish a framework
centered around the 4 cardinal directions and seasons, giving us a shared language and map as we deepen into working with the medicine of story
(myth), ritual, poetry, council circles, dreams, and embodiment practices in nature to crystallize your intention for the threshold time.
Day 4 (Severance)
On day 4, we will pack up camp and drive into the mountains, where we will set up basecamp and you will find your vigil spot. That night we will share a final meal together and sit in our final pre-threshold council. The following morning we will say our goodbyes and you will be escorted out of your old
life and into the threshold at the place of your solo.
Days 5 – 7 (Threshold)
Wilderness Fast
Days 7 – 9 (Incorporation)
After spending 3 nights holding vigil, you will be reunited with the group, welcomed back to basecamp with a hearty and healthy breakfast (and
almost certainly laughter and tears). Later that day we will return to the Lund property, where a group of community members will have prepared a return dinner to further honour and welcome you back from the mountain.
In the final days of this program, you will share your story and have it mirrored back to you by the guides, and you will be witness to the stories of
the others. Using the framework and practices introduced during the first few days, you will be guided in taking the first steps of returning to your
community with the threshold medicine you carry. You will receive practical tools and rituals to help you integrate the profound lessons of your time on
the land into the fabric of your daily life.
LOGISTICS
Lodging: This is a camping program. Participants need their own tent, sleeping bag, and basic camping gear. The full equipment list for the
wilderness fast portion of the program will be provided to registrants. There is nothing out of the ordinary needed, and some gear may be available on
loan for people coming from afar.
Food: All meals are provided, with much of the food coming from the very land that we are gathering on or the farm up the road.
Location: Lund is a 30 minute drive north of Powell River. Powell River is a 5 hour trip by car (including 2 ferries) from Vancouver. There is also a ferry to Powell River from Comox on Vancouver Island. Powell River has a small airport served by Pacific Coastal Airlines. The nearest major airports are in
Comox and Vancouver.
Cost: $1450 – $2500 sliding scale ($500 deposit)
We care a lot about making our offerings as accessible as possible, and for our work to be financially viable we need there to be a mix of contributions
across the sliding scale. If you give more, you support those who cannot pay as much to be able to attend. If the lowest end of the scale still does not feel possible for you, or a payment plan would make it easier for you to attend, please reach out.
We trust you to make a wise choice based on what is possible and realistic for you, taking into consideration the value of the offering and all the work
that goes into it. As a guide we offer this:
Low end of the scale: I am regularly not able to meet my needs
Mid-scale: I am able to meet my basic needs
Mid-high end of scale: I am able to meet my basic needs as well as, for
example, to go on holiday without worrying about it.
High end of scale (or higher!): I have savings / own my house and would
like to share this abundance so others with less financial means can
benefit from this support.
THIS MIGHT BE FOR YOU IF:
– You are in or approaching a profound life transition. For example:
– Entering into a new life stage such as adulthood, parenthood, elderhood.
– Going through a major relationship change.
– Stepping out of the shadows of past wounds and traumas and into your gifts.
– Entering into your vocation and claiming that title for yourself.
– Stepping into the pursuit of your dreams.
– Going through a major physical, mental, or spiritual relocation.
– You are feeling called to live a deeper and more expansive life.
– You are seeking a deeper connection with the more-than-human-world
– You believe that you are here for a specific reason, and that you have unique gifts to offer, and these specific gifts are being either
sought after or celebrated and affirmed in your life.
– You are interested in an animist view of the world.
– You are interested in village-building work and want to meet a community of people with shared values.
– You are drawn to the works of Stephen Jenkinson, Martin Shaw, Martin Prechtel, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, James Hillman, Bill
Plotkin, Steven Foster & Merideth Little, David Abrams, Michael Meade, Sharon Blackie, Tyson Yunkaporta, Robert Bly, Francis Weller,
Malidoma Some, Sobonfu Some, Daniel Foor, Bayo Akomolafe.
THIS MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU IF:
– Everything in your life is going exactly how you want it to.
– You believe that people with European ancestry have no connection to spirit, soul, culture.
– You cannot hold paradox and differing viewpoints and opinions.
– You are not aware of your trauma and your triggers, or you are not at a place in your life
where you can work with these from a place of curiosity as they come up.
– You do not have a support system in place.
– This work is likely to bring up challenges and this program is not a replacement for
trauma informed therapy, friends, mentors, or community. A good support network is vital for both before and after this program.
TESTIMONIALS
Trevor and Carolin created an incredible container for journeying within; woven with
magic, poetry and attention to detail. They were both prepared to meet participants in
the vulnerability this work requires and committed their time and energy towards working with every individual’s soul mission,
so we could make the most of our time on the mountain.
-Jessamyn, 30
This program was an outstanding and meaningful experience for me. The nine day framework was perfect, and the conscious ritual space created was surprisingly powerful. I recommend this work to anyone who is willing to get to know themselves more deeply.
-Carsten, 55
GUIDES
Trevor Mervyn
Trevor is a father, a ritualist, a storyteller, and a wilderness fast guide. Trevor spent 20 years building containers of cultural belonging through
music before a soul descent in the guise of a mid-life crisis at the age of 39 took him down and broke him open. With the help of a variety of
teachers and guides, both living and dead, Trevor was gathered and remembered into a deeper life of ritual, myth, grief, and reverence.
Since 2021, Trevor has been organizing culture-tending events in the qathet, BC region. Some of these events include hosting Medicine Story
nights, Grief Rituals, and Ancestor Feasts from his forest home, as well as being a local host for storytellers and culture workers from afar.
Trevor has studied at The School of Lost Borders (Vision Fast Guide Training) and Stephen Jenkinson’s Orphan Wisdom School. He apprenticed in Ritual Leadership and Storycarrying with ritualist Randy Jones, and has attended immersions with storyteller Martin Shaw and The Animus Valley Institute. Trevor is trained in Dreamwork and Way of Council circle facilitation. In 2022, Trevor completed an 18-month adult-initiation sequence that culminated in a 4-day Vision Fast.
“My passionate curiosity around the intersection between ritual, myth, initiation, grief, and nature has laid claim to me. I believe in the sacredness of mystery, and the deep wisdom of the more-than-human-world. I believe in the night.” Trevor’s recent ancestors come from Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany.
Carsten Hubert
Carsten holds a German Master degree in Carpentry/Timber framing and is a mostly self taught artistic natural builder. He is a farmer, a musician, and a volunteer firefighter. His passion for nature and for living with the land is especially enacted through his farming of dairy goats and chickens using the concepts of regenerative agriculture.
Carsten bridges his love of the natural world with a deep connection to the spirit world through repeated excursions into sacred geometry and geomancy, as well as travelling with the shamanic drum and the MerKaBa.
Carsten was drawn to wilderness fasting via his own intuition. At the age of 28 while in a time of personal uncertainty, he went out to the
forest and fasted for clarity and vision. Years later, while at another one of life’s crossroads, he again took himself out to the forest to fast. In 2024 Carsten found himself at another precipice of uncertainty, and turned toward a guided fast for the first time, learning the value that a container can bring to this work. Carsten moved from a small town in Bavaria/Germany to Powell
River in 2006, when he was 36 years old. All of his known ancestors
are from that area in Bavaria.
Carolin Goethel
(To be confirmed closer to program date)
Carolin was a co-guide for this program last year and she hopes to return for the 2026 offering. Her availability won’t be known until closer to the
start date as she is in the process of emigrating to the USA from Germany and her ability to cross the border next summer depends on the speed
and success of her pending residency application.
Assisted By
Erica Govier
Erica has a passion for holistic health. She grows and raises food and enjoys gathering people to share in that nourishment at her forest home in Lund, BC that she shares with her partner, Trevor.
Erica did yoga teacher training in India and has practiced Buddhist meditation. Her philosophy degree and deep interest in classic literature give her an expansive world view which is equally informed by her infectious joy and enthusiasm for life.
Erica’s recent ancestors come from Canada, America, Denmark, England, Germany, and Scotland.
More info and registration here:
https://sacredgestures.com/