A vision quest
Vladimir Solovyov: Sophia in Egypt (from Three Meetings)
An expanded version of this poem is on the same site and there is more detail in the accompanying biographical sketch,
The vision quest is life long. The aboriginal child is born to people who have experienced the quest and the residue of his or her own quest follows the person through life. Solovyov's quest begins at age nine and resumes almost thirty-six years later. Sophia, the personification of YHWH's holy wisdom is the goal. For Daniel Quinn, and for myself, modern culture deprived us of such goals, but our similar quests were initiated anyway (by the grace of God?) But whether Coyote, White Buffalo, Shiva, the Sacred Heart, or something nameless and unnamable, the vision potentially shines before us all.
What I have not yet done has been to formalize my quest. Aboriginals do this at the end of childhood, but modern men, and especially autis mature slowly. In a way Solovyov's quest is "accidental." He is told, "Meet me in Egypt." then "Go to the desert." without (perhaps) even knowing what a desert is. He goes unprepared becauee he is penniless and has no way to prepare,; he goes where he goes because thats where his captors take him; but it is the right place. And the lesson is, as always, true.