Yes, you can sail all day and night long with no reference but the wind... but where are you going? If the wind shifts, how do you know... you are just a wind rider.

Frankly I actually prefer to sail without references... just following the wind, listening to the water move past the boat, keep the shadows on one side. That's what this stuff is all about.

But if you are trying to make landfall somewhere... don't you need to know where that somewhere is? or at least approximately?

I will give you that there are some broad clues as to general direction... certainly the sun and moon and stars, and that perhaps us "modern sailors" are a bit too enamored with modern technology such as compasses...