Awakening from a Cultural Trance: An Ecopsychological Case Study by Molly Young Brown

This is a story of awakening -- to the cultural trance and mythology of a home town, and to the psychological and spiritual effects on someone growing up in that culture. It is an ecopsychology story because of its implications about an individual's interrelationships within the larger human world and the more-than-human world, and because the awakening took place on a vision quest in the wild.

I was raised in Los Alamos, the "Atomic City," the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Los Alamos is nestled in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, so my childhood playground was nature. From an early age, I camped, picnicked, and played in the woods and canyons which interlaced the town, establishing a strong relationship with trees, mountains, creeks, and critters. I believe it was this relationship which sustained me and eventually helped me to awaken to the cultural trance of my home town.