The Mountain, the Waterfall, the Circle and the Vision Quest
Pistyll Rhaeadr July 2021 - Abigail Brown
As an animist I have always felt a strong connection with the natural world, and this is something a I strive to honour in my silversmithing and metal art. A few years ago I decided to undergo further training in ways that could strengthen that connection, so I have been undertaking a three year training program with Northern Drum led by Chris Lüttichau. I can honestly say, this has been an invaluable journey of personal and spiritual development that has permeated every aspect of my life, not least my creative vision.
In July, I spent 12 days in the Berwyn Mountains for a training camp and Vision Quest. Base camp was at Pistyll Rhaeadr, the tallest waterfall in Wales, which provided my 6am bath in the rather chilly mountain waters. A Vision Quest is time spent alone in nature with no distractions - no phone, no deodorant, no toothpaste, and, on this occasion, no food. The point of this time is to ask a question, to go with intention, and to wait for your answer. What can I say….I loved every second of my quest this year…even the fasting! I spend three days and nights alone on the mountainside, next to a stone circle, watching the landscape and listening. I am not complacent about this experience, every Quest is different and has a different teaching, so I know that next time it may prove to be the hardest thing I have ever done…because that will be a different journey.
The teachings I have taken away from this training, and from the Vision Quests, have imbued my creative practice even further and some of that ethos can be seen in the Lichen Collection and the film about this work body of work that I have been making in the last few months. I will be releasing this film on my website at the Autumn Equinox.
The process of working with silver, or any metal, has become an honoring of that material, the skills passed down by the Ancestors, and of nature Herself.