This semester, I have decided to take a Human Spirituality class, which I believe will help me figure out certain questions and voids in my life. Each week we do several practices, such as attention and being present. I have not yet done the questing practice yet, but I believe that my experience will be elevated and will be more of a benefit for me once I have completed further research into the topic. Questing is used to increase adventure and risk-taking, while countering timidity and certitude. My professor, Margaret M. McKinnon, Phd, DMin., states that, “Questers venture into the unknown, confront difficulties and dangers, and return home with new understandings of themselves and of the world. A pilgrimage, part trip and part ritual, is prescribed in all the religious traditions for those seeking healing and renewal. The impetus for the journey could be an urge to explore one's spiritual roots, a desire for absolution, a wish to pay homage, or a question that needs answering. To practice questing, you have to leave home, both literally and figuratively. Travel to a sacred place where something has happened before and see what happens to you now. Don't stop, even if you stumble, until you have found a gift or an insight to bring back with you. If you can't go far, make an inner journey. Ask questions. Look for replies in areas where you have never thought to go before.” Many of the “rituals” that are spoken of are used to connect on a higher level with ancestors, as they were thought to be close to the gods, or whichever deity. I am hoping to not only answer questions, but possibly get some sort of insight into the past by connecting with nature just as those from the pre-axial period onwards. I feel as if this is an appropriate extension of my thoughts last week on a search for my provenance. I hope to connect with certain aspects of my life that I am not able to grasp at the moment.
“Unless one says good-bye to what one loves, and unless one travels to completely new territories, one can expect merely a long wearing away of oneself and eventual extinction.“
Jean Dubuffet quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub
“Breathe out three times. See yourself turning a globe in your hand and putting your finger on one spot. This is the place where you need to go on your quest. Know what your intention is for undertaking this journey. Breathe out three times. See yourself as a knight finding your way to this place. Arriving at your destination, discover what gift is there for you. If it is a meeting with a being, ask for the lesson you are to bring back from this journey. If the gift is an object, examine it carefully and decide whether you will put it back or take it with you, knowing its significance to you. Breathe out one time. See yourself returning triumphantly to your home. How do you look and feel? Breathe out again and open your eyes.”Jean Dubuffet quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub
This is an example of an imagery exercise created by Gerald Epstein of New York, New York, and found online at http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices.php?id=25&g=5
Films such as Cold Mountain, O Brother Where Art Thou, and October Sky all include a questing aspect, each different yet equally as important and influential to their separate characters. The idea of questing is also described in Phil Cousineau’s “The Art of Pilgrimage.” He describes questing as, “"a transformative journey to a sacred center." This book is the quintessential traveling companion with its perennial wisdom, ample insights, and juicy quotations and stories.”
Yoga is seen to be a practice that can allow questing within the mind.
The act of pilgrimage to a sacred place is an actual, physical quest to enlightenment.
Frederic Remington
The Unknown Explorers
1908
Oil on canvas
30 inches x 27 1/4 inches
1908
Oil on canvas
30 inches x 27 1/4 inches
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