| New
Perspectives
- Apr, 1993 Issue #21 |
PASSAGE WAY
Bonners Ferry, Idaho
Carol Wilburn
208-267-7297
Review by Lon Woodbury
Founded in 1992
by Carol Wilburn, the goal and focus of Passage
Way is self-empowerment, to help young adults, and older,
to demonstrate to self and others in a real, physical way
the readiness and ability to leave childhood behind and to
be self-responsible. The heart of the experience is fasting
alone for 3 or 4 days and nights in a natural setting. With
four days of preparation, and three days after to "incorporate,"
the usual program lasts 10 or 11 days. Scheduled programs
for this Summer and Fall will be in the Bonners Ferry, Idaho
area, a community just south of Canada nestled between the
Selkirk and Purcell Mountain ranges. Out-of-town
programs are available also. Group size is normally a maximum
of six.
Carol points out
that "Many traditional peoples around the world have fasted
alone 'on the mountaintop' to mark their passage into adulthood,
to face their fears, to seek their life's meaning. Similarly,
Passage Way participants fast with an intent, usually to mark
the ending of an old life stage and their readiness to assume
new responsibilities."
Carol participated
in her first fast in 1989, and subsequently did intensive
training with Steven Foster and Meredith Little
of The School of Lost Borders in Big Pine, California,
who authored THE BOOK OF THE VISION QUEST, first published
in 1980. She also trained with The Bear Tribe, a non-profit
educational organization with a Native American focus in
Spokane, Washington. Prior to founding Passage Way, her
work included professional engineering, small-scale farming,
and timber-frame carpentry.
"Fasting for Vision:
What Is It?....With the distractions of our modern life, it
is a powerful way for today's people to reconnect with who
we really are, to seek answers, to celebrate our lives, to
take on new life purpose."
"Passage Way draws
on broad, cross-cultural traditions, emphasizing a rite of
passage which candidates fill with their own value systems,
life-stories, and needs."
Copyright
© 1993, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper
publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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