vision quest

noun

, Anthropology.

1. (especially among some North American Indians) the ritual seeking of personal communication with the spirit world through visions that are induced by fasting, prayer, and other measures during a time of isolation: typically undertaken by an adolescent male.

Word History and Origins

Origin of vision quest¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

At Temple, Coltrane no longer operated as a jazz artist improvising melodies, but more like a mystic on a vision quest.

From The Daily Beast

You will embark on a vision quest that refocuses intellectual drives in the coming year.

From The Daily Beast

Peters had wanted to use tracks from the then up-and-coming Madonna in the 1985 film Vision Quest.

From The Daily Beast

I once saw Redbird going to White Bear when he was on his vision quest.

From Project Gutenberg