Animas Quest: Under the Dark Moon, Dancing Into the Mythic Wild – July 2026, Latvia
July 9 - 19, 2026
With Doug Van Houten
This contemporary Western embodiment of the ancient, pan-cultural vision fast is a dynamic wilderness rite for all who are seeking greater depth and clarity about life purpose and meaning. As a rite of initiation, the quest is a ceremonial descent to a mythic underworld — a journey witnessed by the dark moon’s watchful eye. There, you die to your familiar way of belonging to the world, uncover the passion and wisdom of your soul, and retrieve the gift that is yours alone to bring to the world, enhancing personal fulfillment and genuine service to a world aching for renewal.
The Animas Quest is catalyzed through five primary gateways: (1) solitude for three or four days and nights alone in nature; (2) fasting (i.e., drinking water only); (3) fully immersed in the forms and forces of the wild Earth; (4) ceremonial enactments that mark thresholds, open doorways, and invite transformation; (5) and soulcraft practices that guide you beyond the surface mind into the mysteries of nature and psyche.
The Quest spans 11 days, all of which are lived under open sky along the Baltic Sea. The first five days are devoted to preparation, designed to loosen the grip of everyday consciousness and awaken your mythic imagination. Through dreamwork, poetry, deep imagery, drumming, dance, nature dialogues, art-making, the way of council, and creative expression, we slip out the back door of ordinary life and into the wilder stream beneath.
The heart of this Quest consists of solo time on the land, auspiciously timed with the rhythms of the moon. The journey begins as the moon grows dim. Its waning brings a summons to stop what you are doing and becoming and surrender to the death of what once was. Around the New Moon, fasting begins (thus) marking the liminal threshold between what has been and what is to come. Then, as the moon begins to wax, you enter the solo — three days and nights alone in the wild, without food or human companionship. It is just you, the land, the sky, the stones and the stars — and the quiet voice of your soul. In this sacred solitude, you are invited to grieve, praise, speak, sing, dance, sit in silence, bear witness, listen deeply and offer ceremony. This is a time of cosmic magic and mythic remembering — when the story that truly belongs to you begins to take shape, growing brighter and fuller, under the guiding light of the waxing moon herself.
Upon return, three days of reincorporation support the integration of your experience. Through storytelling, mirroring, and reflection, we begin the work of weaving the vision into your daily life, your relationships, your choices. The final day is spent preparing you to return to the world not as you were, but as who you have become.
This journey is a moonlit passage — a deep dance with shadow and mystery, where something wild and ancient stirs within, and the lodestar of your true path begins to rise on the horizon.
No previous backpacking or camping experience is required — many who come have never before slept under the moon and stars.
Guide
Doug Van Houten
The singular dream that has been a perennial guide for Doug van Houten’s own guiding practice is one where humans thrive in a mutually enhancing relationship with Earth, know our cosmic origins, and see ourselves as integral and yet necessarily unique participants in the ongoingness of the universe. His lineage of teachers and inspirators includes: Bill Plotkin and the Animas Valley Institute, Joanna Macy, Matthew Fox, David Whyte, Mary Oliver and Brian Swimme to name a few. In co-creating wild, ceremonial and soulcentric spaces for human development, Doug draws upon the wisdom of deep imagery and dreams, somatic and embodied…
Learn more about Doug Van Houten
The singular dream that has been a perennial guide for Doug van Houten’s own guiding practice is one where humans thrive in a mutually enhancing relationship with Earth, know our cosmic origins, and see ourselves as integral and yet necessarily unique participants in the ongoingness of the universe. His lineage of teachers and inspirators includes: Bill Plotkin and the Animas Valley Institute, Joanna Macy, Matthew Fox, David Whyte, Mary Oliver and Brian Swimme to name a few. In co-creating wild, ceremonial and soulcentric spaces for human development, Doug draws upon the wisdom of deep imagery and dreams, somatic and embodied…
Learn more about Doug Van Houten