as you read the story, picture a bonfire on a warm clear evening, the sky deep with stars. an elder sits at the head of the circle, sharing this story to a group of boys getting ready to go through their own vision quest.
"Here's a story of a boy named Alīya who lived long ago. In Alīya’s community, when a boy began to show the signs of puberty, he was taken in the night by an elder. This elder was secretly assigned sometime during the childhood of the boy to watch and monitor his growth. When the older man recognized the time of ripening, he would snatch the boy away from society and take him into a period of isolation, giving him the chance to have a vision.
Alīya was a small and shy boy that didn’t pass through puberty at the same age as the other boys of his community. One by one, he watched as each of his friends disappeared for about a week at a time and came back as a recognized adult in their society.
A jealousy began to build inside him that it was never him taken in the night, and soon that jealousy built into anger. At night, he often would wait, sitting on the edge of his bed, hoping and praying that finally his guardian elder would come and take him off to become a man.
Alīya kept asking his mother why the guardian had not come. He asked if he actually had been assigned a guardian, if maybe the guardian didn’t realize how old Alīya was, if the guardian had forgotten his duty to come in the night. Each time, his mother swatted away the questions with laughter and said ‘dear Alīya, you must be patient. The guardian is kept a secret especially for boys like you who have an eagerness that surpasses their readiness.’
These weren’t the words that Alīya wanted to hear. Although his mother didn’t think he was ready, he knew that he was. He considered himself much more mature than lots of the boys who had already gone before him. ‘It is just because I’m small,” Alīya thought. He knew that was the reason the guardian was stalling. It wasn’t because he wasn’t ready.
As years continued to pass, Alīya grilled every boy as he came back from the time of isolation. He asked them what it was like, where they went, if they were given food and water. Most boys wouldn’t share any details at all, but here and there, Alīya collected bits of information like they were shiny gems lifted from the bottom of a muddy pond.
Still, Alīya was never taken for his rite of passage vision. He was turning seventeen, and now boys around five years younger than him were already beginning to disappear for a vision. Alīya was fueled by his anger, and just after his seventeenth birthday, he decided that he would not wait even a moment longer for his quest.
In the night, Alīya left with only a small tool made from sticks and a rock that could be used as a weapon if necessary. He brought no food or water, since he’d heard the initiates were given nothing at all to eat or drink for their five day quest in the wilderness. He set off just before the sun began to rise, in search of the place where he would stay.
Alīya only had a familiarity with the areas closest to the settlement, and the guardian’s role was to find a safe spot separate from the community, but close enough to return home quickly if necessary. As Alīya walked during the early hours of morning light, he realized that he had no idea what he was looking for.
He walked and walked and began looking for small caves, where he could get some shelter and be out of view if anyone did happen to pass by. Into the late afternoon, he still hadn’t found a place that felt right to him and started to worry that he’d walked too far, that he was long out of an earshot of the settlement, and that he would lose his way back.
Just then, a little bluebird came across Alīya’s path. Right away, Alīya took notice and recognized this as a sign. For the rest of the afternoon, Alīya followed the bird, sometimes having to run just to keep the little creature in sight. The bird drew him further and further from a territory of familiarity, but still, Alīya felt safe.
As the sun lit up the sky with the last bursts of light for the day, the small bluebird stopped at a clearing. Alīya approached and saw that the bird had stopped at the edge of a rock cliff, a drop off point. As the sun set behind him, Alīya looked down into a gorgeous canyon. There were lots of trees in one area, and the faint sound of rushing water. An open meadow with tall grasses was between the line of trees and the rock face where Alīya was sitting. As he looked out, Alīya realized that he had found the place where he would do his Vision Quest.
For three days and three nights, Alīya remained in that spot, looking over the canyon. He admired the beauty and the play of the moving sun throughout the day. He felt the highs of elation in moments of clarity when he felt his own life in perfect harmony with the world around him, and he felt the depths of pain and fear when his hunger would strike or he’d hear noises that might indicate a bear or mountain lion hunting nearby.
On the morning of the fourth day, Alīya could no longer fight the urge to go down into the canyon. He wanted to see the water that he was hearing, wash in it, drink it; he wanted to see if there were some berries to eat down there.
He began his climb through a down the rock face in a spot where there were many trees to grab if he lost his footing. Luckily, there were many gaps and spaces in the rock for him to step in and grasp as he made his way down. About half-way down, rain began to pelt his back. As forceful rivers shot down the grooves in the rock, it became slippery. It was too hard to go on, and he was too far down to head back. Alīya clung to the rock with all his might trying not to move.
After what felt like hours, the rain slowed and finally stopped. Within an hour, Alīya made it down into the canyon.
He was rewarded with pristine sweet water, and a few varieties of berries that he knew to be edible. When he’d had his fill, he came out of the woods by the river and took a seat in the tall grasses. He looked up to the spot where he had been sitting for the last few days and admired how high up he’d been. As he sat and watched, he saw tons of little bluebirds flying in circles within the open area. Alīya felt a great sense of peace admiring the birds and this great place he had found.
Alīya completed his Vision Quest here in the canyon. As he looked up on the rock face, he admired the holes and patterning that often morphed into the shapes of animals and faces. In the canyon, he finally felt he was having the vision that he traveled all this way to have. After two more days of isolation, it was time for Alīya to make his way back to the settlement. He felt emboldened by the time he’d spent away, and he did have an idea to bring back to his community, a vision not just for himself, but for all of them.
He found his way back with greater ease than he expected, and Alīya was welcomed with open arms and celebration. During the feast to celebrate his transition into adulthood, Alīya told his tribe about the place he’d been, about the water and the berries, about the rock face filled with holes and small caves.
Within weeks of his return, the large group followed behind as Alīya led the way to this new ground. He assured them that they would have a time of plenty in this place and that there were many possibilities. He promised that their world could be different and abundant here.
As the tribal chief reached the overlook, he fell down in prayer. Immediately, he knew that what Alīya had said and seen was true. He knew that this place was to be their next settlement. Then and there, the chief saw the possibility of a more permanent settlement, a place for the community to thrive and grow.
In the many years that followed, the tribe did settle and expand into this canyon. They made homes in the rock and in the meadow below. They grew food to supplement the food that grew wild in the area. As time moved forward, other tribes came and were welcomed into this place of abundance.
One of the largest communities that had ever been established to that point was formed in that canyon. Alīya had a vision of how his community could be and his descendants fulfilled that vision and lived for hundreds of years on that land."
photo from rgbstock.com
