vision quest

American  

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.

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Etymology

Origin of vision quest

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

What she landed on feels both cozy and exploratory — a homecoming disguised as a vision quest.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2024

Servais briefly pondered the notion of a Kelenic-Rodriguez tandem that’s in sync and raking with consistency — a Seattle vision quest for four years and counting.

From Seattle Times • May 23, 2023

But there’s more to Shetler than such cliches might suggest — and more to this story than an ad hoc vision quest gone wrong.

From Washington Post • May 19, 2022

The accompanying Vanity Fair interview is a classic of its form, where the reader is required to wade through some agonisingly stultifying details as if it’s some kind of vision quest.

From The Guardian • Sep. 7, 2017

He does not need that, Redbird thought, remembering how White Bear had come back, seemingly frozen, from his vision quest in the Moon of Ice.

From Shaman by Shea, Robert