My dreams have been teaching me about the indigenous mind over the years. I have gone dreaming with Indigenous Peoples from Kyrgyzstan, Africa, Mexico, Aboriginal people of Australia, and also U.S. Southwestern and Hawaiian Native Peoples among others. The indigenous mind might say, “I went dreaming”. Many westerners like to describe dreams they share by saying, “I had a dream” it seems almost in passing, and indeed much of the dream, may pass from our memory on waking. The indigenous mind shares dreams as an experience and a real place one can visit or where ancient ancestors may come calling on you for a visit.
Naming Ceremony
When my daughter was 4 years old, I had an extraordinary experience of a visit from the powers of dreaming. I was not yet asleep, but sitting up in bed in my darkened room, about to lay down and rest. I saw what appeared as blue lightening, streak across my bedroom. I knew it was from someone of power paying me a visit. I was astonished by what I saw, but not afraid at all. I was calm in fact, and somehow seemed to know what was about to happen. I looked out my bedroom window and saw a man standing there, somehow familiar to me. He sent me a telepathic message asking permission to come inside. I knew he wanted to take me on a journey and so I gave permission inwardly and settled into to bed. The second I closed my eyes, I was transported to a foreign land where a ceremony was going on. We were outside and there were a number of large boulders in a somewhat barren landscape at night. We were among a small group of people who had gathered for this ceremony. He let me know it was a naming ceremony for my 4 year old daughter. She would receive her spiritual name during the ceremony and I was invited to participate as her mother and hold witness to the ceremony. I was not allowed to know her secret spiritual name, but there to give my permission and blessings on the ceremony.
There have been other stories I have shared here in my blog, that recount extraordinary dreams. One thing I am beginning to learn is how this plays into my life and how I can understand the dreamtime, where time and space exist simultaneously, without separation. Indigenous peoples pass on the stories of their culture, which are interwoven and inseparable with the land where they live. In the dreamtime, one can travel to a possible future, or the storied past, all existing in the present. The Indigenous Mind does not think of time as linear, but circular where always, there is a return.
Return of the Ancient
When my son was 3 years old, I had a dream that I was sitting on a Mesa overlooking the Grand Canyon. An ancient elder sat across from me drawing a circle in the dirt with a stick. He began to trace the circle and tell me about my son, who he is and why he is here. He let me know, that my son had not reincarnated on this plane in a very long time. I asked him how long, and he pointed at the canyon and I saw it was no longer there, but now stood as one solid land mass. That is a very long time, I thought to myself.
Lizard Woman
I hear music playing in my dream and suddenly, I am looking at a map of Arizona. A journey is laid out for me on the map in rainbow colors that show a route of travel to places I must visit and tracks the path I must follow. I am then in the landscape of a dessert terrain, with some large trees that are near a spring of water. There is one Tree in particular I am drawn toward, and as I draw nearer, I can hear a woman speaking to me. She is calling to me in a haunting lilting cadence, “Come to this place, it is time for you to claim your power. It is time for you to come to this land for healing and claim your own power.” I see her working with me, and she buries me partially in the earth, as she does a healing ceremony for me. Now I am in an underground hogan, where herbs hang from the ceiling and I lay covered with a native designed blanket and I am dreaming. In my dream within a dream, I see a huge Gila Lizard that lives beneath the earth. It stretches giant across Arizona and lives beneath the ground. I am aware of this ancient place where the land is interwoven with the stories of the peoples who have lived here for centuries. The powers of the land, guard these sacred places. Years later, I learned that the Gila Lizard is sacred to the Navajo people as a great healing ally. The name Gila even evokes the sound of Heal. In this dream, my power was hunting me and singing me into being. I once again feel this place of power calling to me inside myself. I am ready to follow the rainbow tracks and songlines of the dreamtime, ready to discover my place of power on the path of an ancient people who have called to me.
Awaken the Sacred Dream 