3 Days Deep Initiation
A more accessible introduction to wilderness rites of passage work.
There is an old Aboriginal saying that says our modern culture is just three day’s deep. It takes three days for the rush and buzz of modernity to fade and something much older to rise up.
Wilderness rites of passage have held people through change for thousands of years - Celtic, Nordic, and countless other traditions built their health around them. A rite of passage was never just an internal experience. It was a social contract. The community had to see you (& feel you) differently afterward, or the passage hadn't actually happened.
Without important life transitions being held and processed, (like becoming a parent, losing loved ones, changing jobs, relationships and aging), they become something that happens to you instead of something that becomes part of you.
The Flow
Day 1
Arrival & Myth Mapping
Our small group arrives in the morning. We meet the land and each other. We offer practices to shake off the outside world, get comfy and foster connection. By lunch, the communal fire has been lit by the ancient art of fire by friction and we begin the work of mythic mapping. — naming the life stage you're standing in.
At dusk, the solo fast begins. You set out to your vigil site and enter your 24-hour ritual fast in service to the world and in service to your self.
Threshold Crossing — the Solo Fast
This part is the 24 hours alone in the wild. It will be just you out there and your tarp, and the living web you are a part of. There will be no food, and no distraction. The guides will be back at base camp, tending to the fire, sending prayer and song to guide you.
The Quest & The Return
The solo quest continues until dusk on day two. Then you return: you're called back by song and drum, back to the hearth, to be held and fed. Stories are shared and mirrored in council. What happened out there gets mapped to myth — the seeds of it tended and we move into an earth based ceremony together.
Day 2
Carrying It Home
We wake at first light and watch the new day arrive. We make fireside vows about what you're carrying forward, these commitments are spoken aloud so they are witnessed, not just felt. A commitment to what comes next.
Day 3
This work asks something real of you: a full day and night alone outdoors, without food, in whatever weather arrives. You don't need wilderness experience, knowledge of ancestral practices or a high level of fitness. We hold the container so you don't have to know how to survive out there, just how to be present to it and to drop into deep listening.
This isn't the right time for this work if you're experiencing an active mental health crisis, pregnant or unwell. If you want to eat small amounts during the 24 hours for personal or medical reasons we absolutely support this. Fasting is not for everyone's bodies.
If you're unsure whether this is for you, reach out and we can walk through it.
Is This For You?
What's Held, What You Bring
We provide: Guidance of rites of passage process/ communal meals at basecamp / firewood and fire-keeping / presence and check-ins throughout the fast / ceremony materials
You bring: Your own tarp and camping gear / weather-appropriate clothing / water and vessel for your fast / journal, if that's your practice / anything specific to your own preparation
Your Guides
The Narrative Animal Team (Bio’s on our About Us section)
Guides remain at basecamp for the full 24 hours of your fast which is walking distance. If you need to come off the land early, at any point, you can.
Safety
Dates: 29th September- 1st October
Location: Wild location in Asheville
Group size: 4
What to expect after you book: Prep call / reading materials / packing list sent closer to the date