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K6vi—FoGARASsy—MIRNICS—MERSDORF—VASS
are ancient rituals practiced in many cultural groups, like Native Americans
and Australian Aboriginals, with the original goal of assisting the transition
of adolescents into adulthood by sending them into the wilderness with a safe
mission to perform. This practice was adopted for commercial use, letting
anyone into the mysteries of this experience for a certain amount of money.
With more than 200 participants responding to follow-up questionnaires,
the authors concluded that the participants’ main motives for going on
these quests was a search for self-discovery and personal renewal. Also,
they reported that the wilderness experience (like solitude and naturalness)
had first brought them closer to themselves, after which they had started to
connect better with nature. Thus, nature first directed participants’ attention
towards themselves and, secondly, enabled a higher level of connection with
“others” (e.g. being part of something bigger). Reported benefits were greater
connectedness to the self (self-awareness, self-discovery, self-understanding,
self-knowledge, self-acceptance), self-empowerment (self-confidence, facing
fears, and increased sense of strength), and connection with others (nature,
community, and the world as a whole). Interestingly, participants in the vision
quest programs did not emphasize the significance of the group setting.
An insightful study by Schroeder“ attempted to describe “The spiritual
aspect of nature” and approached it from a Jungian perspective. Schroeder
defined spirituality as something that refers to the experience of being related
to or in touch with an “other” which transcends the individual’s sense of
self and gives meaning to one’s life at a level deeper than the intellectual.*
“Other” could be anything that evokes spiritual transcendence, and
evidence suggests that nature may have this effect. Jungian psychologists
view spiritual experiences in nature as projections of archetypes (e.g. Great
Mother, Mother Nature); therefore, nature is deeply rooted in the collective
unconscious. Schroeder, following this line of thought, suggested that in the
predominant Western societal paradigm, rational, logical thinking is related
to the Ego, which tries to repress the intuitive, spiritual part of personality,
the unconscious, which is symbolized by nature and earth. Returning to
nature can lead to spirituality because rationality is left behind, and a deeper,
more whole self is revealed.
White and Hendee’s’® study suggests that the benefits of wilderness
experiences can be grouped into three separate categories. (1) Development
Herbert W. Schroeder, The spiritual aspect of nature: A perspective from depth psychology.
In: Proceedings of the 1991 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium 1992, 25-30.
Herbert W. Schroeder, The spiritual aspect of nature: A perspective from depth psychology.
In: Proceedings of the 1991 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium 1992, 25-30.
1 Dave D. White and John C. Hendee, Primal Hypotheses: The Relationship Between
Naturalness, Solitude, and the Wilderness Experience Benefits of Development of Self,
Development of Community, and Spiritual Development, USDA Forest Service Proceedings
RMRS-P-15, 3 (2000), 223-227.
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