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CONFERENCE ARTICLE 2011

The School of Lost Borders offers vision fast and wilderness rites of passage trainings and experiences that

cultivate self-trust, responsibility, and understanding about ones’ unique place within society, the natural

world, and the mystery that surrounds us. Its programs provide guided opportunities, perspectives,

teachings, and much needed self-reflection time in a non-judgmental yet challenging environment.

The Vision Fast ceremony is one example of what indigenous peoples around the world have created to

support the natural cycles of human transition throughout life: Childhood to adulthood, marriage,

parenthood, loss of loved ones or health, elderhood, death and whatever might be beyond. Moving from

one phase of life into the next mirrors the natural world around us, one day or season maturing into another. 

These natural changes and crises of human nature are celebrated with passage rites that enable people to

understand, find meaning in, and develop resources to take on the new life stations, rather than to just

“suffer through”. It is understood that it is in our very nature to be in the process of change and

realignment as we mature; initiated by life and death into deeper relationship with ourselves and the world

around us.

The ancient, pan-cultural wisdom of the three-phase process of rites of passage teaches us that first there

must be a dying, a letting go of those basic assumptions and self-identities that no longer serve the new

circumstance and truth of our lives (“severance”). Then a step into the all-important fertile ground of the

pause between “what was” and “what is becoming” - the “threshold ” time of opening to the teachings of 

the land, spirit, and our own inherent nature while tapping the deepest resources within us. Finally the

challenge of “incorporation”, stepping back into our personal and social lives to act in alignment with these

new understandings, and creating a life style that supports this new story and serves our people.

The natural life transitions that humans move through have mostly remained the same. But the issues

surrounding them, the cultural differences, and the global condition of our modern awareness, continue to

change. It’s important that those who guide wilderness rites of passage have a good understanding of the

modern and cross-cultural topics associated with our times and phases of life. The context and content of 

teachings, preparation, threshold challenges, and return to community, must be appropriate for developing

the qualities necessary to thrive in the givens of our world.

We have always considered ourselves to be midwives to this birthing process. Not therapists, not gurus,

not priests or healers. It is not our place to instill our own values or personal story onto the initiate. If thereis a “therapist” or teacher, it is the interplay between human, nature, and the mystery that enfolds us. As

guides we provide a trusting and non-judgmental environment for  diversity of values and spiritual practices

to be respected and cultivated, for fears to arise and to be explored, for the confusion often inherent in

transition to be witnessed, and for encouragement to support risk taking. Rather than being “problem” or 

goal oriented, this ancient ceremony is about empowerment, and providing a meaningful context for the

unfolding of the new developing story of each initiate.

The bottom line for any rite of passage guide is providing, as best as they are able, safety on all levels:

physical, psychological, mental, and spiritual. The element of perceived risk is essential, pushing the edges

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of the “unknown” within us. Fear of hunger, aloneness, boredom, panic, and the elements and wildness of 

the land are common. These fears are not to be taken away or assuaged. Instead they are witnessed,

honored, and resources are explored to deal with them. Experience with people in crisis is important, as it is

necessary for a guide to be comfortable with the discomfort of initiates who are about to step into unknown

territory within themselves. 

In order to do this honestly and with confidence, we ourselves must have intimate experience with

ceremony and the natural world. If we only understand this work conceptually, the wind will blow all

words out of our mouths. If we try to impress initiates with what we think they need, we will only be

humbled by the much deeper wisdom of the story they return with. Being a rite of passage guide is a way

of life; service arising from who we are, our love for the people, and how we have been honed by surrender 

to the ceremony and the land we are a part of. At the School, guides go out regularly for personal,

ceremonial time in nature; going directly to the land for teaching, understanding, and guidance. They bring

curiosity and apprenticeship to their own human nature, and to their own natural process of crisis, initiation,

and change. In this way each guide cultivates an innate compassion and love for human capacities and

fallibilities through acceptance and appreciation of their own.

Some of the basic tools and practices that we offer our trainees are: The shaping and honing of intent as a

foundation for threshold experiences, the 3 phases of a rite of passage, rites of passage as dying practice,

the Four Shields of human nature, the basic ingredients and components of self-generated ritual, nature as

“mirror” and the interplay of psyche and nature, deep listening and the practice of mirroring stories, theWay of Council and the Council of Elders.

It is up to each individual to seek out and apprentice with teachers, guides and elders; and then to ultimately

find their own way to honor their ancestors, the land, their people, and their personal relationship with this

ceremony.  Appreciation and study of the historical underpinnings and pan-cultural traditions is

fundamental for deep, inherent respect and understanding. And this ceremony has its own life and wisdom,

honed by generations of those who went out to the edge of knowing for guidance and support. The

ceremony and nature continues to teach us. We must listen … to those who have gone before, and to the

wisdom stories that our people return with again and again.

Meredith Little and her husband, Steven Foster, co-founded Rites of Passage Inc. in 1976 and The School

of Lost Borders in 1981 – pioneering the methods and dynamics of modern pan-cultural passage rites in the

wilderness, and “field eco-therapy”. The essence of their work is captured in articles, chapters, an award-

winning documentary film, and books that include: The Book of the Vision Quest, The Roaring of the

Sacred River, The Four Shields: The Initiatory Seasons of Human Nature, and Lost Borders: Coming of 

Age in the Wilderness. Since Steven’s death in 2003, she continues both nationally and internationally to

guide and train others in this work. Along with Dr. Scott Eberle, she has also co-founded a new arm of the

School entitled “The Practice of Living and Dying”. In this partnership she hopes to crack open the taboos

surrounding Death and help restore dying, both symbolically and physically, to its natural place in the

cycles of living.