Discussion Questions, Storytelling, Sharing

  • Share the story of a quest — exterior or interior — you have undertaken.
  • Discuss the importance of questions on a spiritual journey. If you are part of a religious tradition, what is its attitude toward questions?

Imagery Exercise

The quest is one of the most common experiences in the realm of imagination. This exercise was created by Gerald Epstein of New York, New York.

Breathe out three times. See yourself turning a globe in your hand and putting your finger on one spot. This is the place where you need to go on your quest. Know what your intention is for undertaking this journey.

Breathe out three times. See yourself as a knight finding your way to this place. Arriving at your destination, discover what gift is there for you. If it is a meeting with a being, ask for the lesson you are to bring back from this journey. If the gift is an object, examine it carefully and decide whether you will put it back or take it with you, knowing its significance to you.

Breathe out one time. See yourself returning triumphantly to your home. How do you look and feel?

Breathe out again and open your eyes.

Journal Exercises

  • Any time you go on a journey, imaginably as in the exercise above or by traveling, write an account of your actions, illustrating it with sketches, and then adding readings of the significance of each element.
  • Keep a list in your journal of the key questions you are living with. You might put the list on the first page, thus signaling that you want to work with the questions in this journal. Or after reading a journal, compile a list of the questions you considered during this period of your life.