Author: Valley Reed

Dreamer, Lecturer, Writer, Healer, Activist. Chrysalis Healing Arts Individual sessions on Collaborative Dreaming, Monthly Women's Groups, Depth Workshops and retreats locally, regionally, and Internationally.

Dream Healing with the Benu Bird

At a recent Dream Healing workshop I was teaching in Grand Junction, Colorado, there were themes of heart and soul interwoven with the dreams shared. I incubated a healing dream while catching an afternoon nap, prior to giving a lecture that evening on the Healing Powers of Dreams.

“Bennu Bird” by Michelle Celebrielle

During my dreaming, I was gifted with the presence of a large white bird which flew overhead.  I could clearly see the huge white wings until it landed on a tall tree upon bare branches.  I looked closely at the face of the bird,  noticing the streaks of black coming out from the eyes and long narrow feathers reaching out from the crown.  I recognized it as the mysterious Benu bird of Egyptian myth, bringer of renewal and capable of retrieving and bringing forth the energy of soul.  A wonderful ally to accompany our dream journeying for the weekend.

There were themes of the heart and relationships which presented themselves over and again from our group of dreamers. One participant shared a dream which was full of opposites and polarities which gave the opportunity to dance with each of the polarities represented in the dream. The dream was brought to life through the movement accompanied with the intent of each of the polarities. The dreamer was able to reach a resolve toward wholeness through the movement and integrate the separation of loss into complete freedom. The wings of the Benu Bird were flying through the dance at the end, to bring about healing liberation. Another young woman brought through a vision of seeing a possible love relationship which culminated in the couple riding off together on black and white horses. The dream also gave counsel and warned her of the need to be willing to wait and not hurry into the relationship.

A doctor who attended was eager to see how dreams could help her better care for her patients. She journeyed with two power animals, that of the cougar and the eagle which became one creature. She was on call during the whole workshop and was indeed living in two realms at once. The bringing together of these two animal protectors will help her to better navigate the challenges of her dual life.

The energy of relationship and the balance of opposites flowed throughout the day, and in the end, the feeling of connection was the gift, like the egg of the Benu bird in the tree of life, which promises renewal for the future.

The Benu Bird according to Egyptian mythology recounts the bird as a carrier of “Ba” or soul energy. The soul energy is able to leave the physical body and travel at will, something we can do nightly in our dreams.  The Benu Bird is akin to the Phoenix and bringer of renewal which comes with each era. It is a rare occurrence to witness a Benu bird, as there is only one such bird in existence.  The Benu bird has no mate but continues through self regeneration. It has the capacity to integrate both polarities of Masculine and Feminine into one being. It builds its nest in the tree of life, laying a single egg to break open a new era of soul.  It was the song of the Benu bird which sang creation into being. The mysterious Benu Bird is a beautiful story of how, we may each give birth to ourselves and participate in this renewal of soul and spirit. Through this transformation of death and renewal, we can bring all parts of ourselves into wholeness as a way to help heal the past and bring about a brighter future for coming generations.

Included in this healing and to honor the Benu Bird, I offer this poem of prayer;

Dream of the Benu Bird

May we walk in beauty as we step upon the earth,

and sing our lives into being.

May our souls learn to soar as the Benu bird,

and dance awake our dreams.

May we bring about more balance in connection to each other,

the Earth we all share,  and all the creatures upon it.

May we honor those who came before us,

and the gifts they have given.

May we remember where we came from,

and what we each came here to do.

May we honor and protect the children,

and future generations, through our actions today.

Following the Rivers and Stars of My Life

The Canoe is your Life 11-13-10

In my dreaming recently, I saw myself aboard a canoe following down a river. I hear a voice tell me, “The canoe is your life”.  In the journey of my dream,  I travel through many different levels of ceremony and initiation, one where I am at a higher level of  awareness and I see two beautiful long citrine or amber crystals that appear to be power objects, like a kind of wand.  I reach for one and then drop it as I hold it,  as I couldn’t quite grasp it.  I watch as it falls many levels below until it breaks at the bottom.  I feel the loss of this,  especially when I held in my hands ever so briefly. I then notice I have another wand waiting for me, which is easily accessible to my right, and I am now on much firmer footing.   I do not try to pick it up just yet however, perhaps when I am ready. I will be more careful next time when reaching for the other one and the power it wields.

I later find myself in a ceremony where I am placing ceremonial objects in a line where others have already been laid.  I notice that this is not the usual way I would place ceremonial objects to create an altar, usually it would be in a circle.  I am laying them out this way because I am creating a path and including the properties I will bring with me.

I lay a red clay mask of a woman, along with other objects I have in my possession.  I seem ready for the journey.  I later find myself in a submarine where I am told, “This is for diving into your subconscious”.   Ha! I enjoy the pun of my dream maker, of course a “sub” marine for journeying into the “sub”conscious.  I like the help of this vehicle taking me deeper into the depths of my unconscious mind.  EOD.

Upon reflecting on this dream,  I recalled another dream of a canoe following a river from several months ago that held a deep message of healing and transformation.

Star Grandmother  June 2010
I am given a task by a peace and justice community activist leader to go down to Central America and retrieve  something. I take a canoe trip following a river all the way down to Nicaragua. I am on this journey alone. When I reach my destination, I find myself at a small village.  I walk to a mountainside nearby made of volcanic rock and find an altar has been carved into the side of the mountain next to the ocean. Sitting inside the altar is what appears to be a blue star, that at one time was a starfish, but over time it has turned to stone.  I look deeper into the starfish and discover it has a presence.  I can see two tiny eyes looking back at me.  I begin to talk to the starfish coaxing it back to life,  saying sweet and loving things to the starfish.  It begins to transform before my eyes into a living star and I call it grandmother. The grandmother wants to go with me wherever I go,  and so I place her lovingly on my shoulder.  I continue to talk to her saying sweet and loving things to her and my loving words transform her to become human once again.  She eventually changes completely into a human and I am able to return her to her family.  Her family is so happy and appreciative that she has returned.  I feel a beautiful loving connection with the grandmother who I have helped nurture back to life and return her once again to her family and community.   EOD

As I continue to follow the flow of these dreams in my life, I am reminded of another dream.  It connects with the star grandmother from the dream above.

I am looking at several different classes that I would like to take, and going between the setting of each class already in progress. I am having a difficult time choosing which one I would like to participate in as I would like to take them all, but since they are all happening at the same time, this is not feasible.

Galaxies in my hands 11-7-10

I am looking at a choice between 4 different classes going on. I find myself in a class with a teacher and the class is being lead by her graduate students who are giving presentations. I find myself drawn into another class setting where I am with a man who is a guide that looks like he is perhaps Spanish with shoulder length dark hair, eyes and skin tone. He is showing me what appears to me to be a keystone or some kind of marker for a path to follow as one would see on a pilgrimage. I feel strongly drawn the follow him on this journey and so I choose this as my path of learning. I return to the other class briefly before departing to speak with my teacher. I am told that she is already gone, and her students are there cleaning up the class room after giving their presentations. They tell me my teacher was very disappointed that I did not come to the class. I feel a tinge of disappointment myself, but then look down at my hands and see there are stars and galaxies shining in the palms of my hands.  I exclaim, look! I have galaxies in my hands!

I then turn around to see a projector which is shining the image on the back of my head at the nape of my neck.  I at first doubt the experience as being just and image reflected on a projector, but then realize there is more than that going on, it is shining outward through my third eye and also reflected onto the palm of my hands. I am in awe! EOD

These dreams all speak to me of a spiritual quest and learning from mistakes made as well as choosing the teachers and paths along the way.  They also speak to me of retrieving that which has been lost and also a sense of destiny, not only for self but for the greater good.  May we each follow the rivers of our lives, where we may find our most beautiful dreams come true.

Persephone and Opening the Pomegranate

  In a dream from just the other night, I encountered the Goddess Persephone. She offered me a Pomegranate which she held in her hands and told me.  “If you never open the Pomegranate you can not plant the seed and the tree will never grow.” She then took a single seed from the open Pomegranate and planted it from which a beautiful tree grew tall, full and strong like magic. EOD

This dream is rich with meaning and nourishment as is the Pomegranate. In this time of the year as we edge toward the winter solstice and the turning of the wheel from the harvest of Autumn to the cold dark days of Winter, it is the season when Persephone makes her journey into the darkness of the underworld. She will make her ascent and return during the season of spring when all things come to life and begin to grow once again.

During the season of Winter and the descent into the darkness of the underworld, there are opportunities for growth to come from within.  This call from Persephone to break open the hard shell which surrounds the deep juicy fruits inside is a kind of death of the protective hard shell and an opening of the heart and soul.    The seeds planted will grow to provide more fruits and opportunities for growth, as well as a path to travel in dreams toward the upper realms.

The Return of Persephone by Frederic Leighton

In the Myth of Persephone’s abduction by Hade’s into the underworld her Mother Demeter, Goddess of the  Harvest, is devastated by the loss of her maiden daughter. She searches the earth for her daughter and becomes forlorn by her loss and refuses to bring the sun to grow anything upon the earth. Finally, her father Zeus is persuaded to bring his daughter back from the depths of the underworld where she sits as queen alongside Hades over the souls of the dead.

Zeus sends Hermes to go and bring her back but before he is able to do so Persephone eats the seeds of the pomegranate and is destined by the fates to stay in the underworld.  Hermes manages to negotiate a time settlement where she is able to serve part of her time on earth but must return for a portion of the time to reign as queen of the underworld alongside Hades. It is agreed, and Hermes returns her to her awaiting mother goddess Demeter, bringing the return of spring and the end of winter.

“Eclipsed Moon” photo credit Martin Pugh

The Winter Solstice honors the descent into the longest  night of the year and celebrates the hope of renewal and the return of the Sun as is portrayed in the myth of Persephone.  This year the Winter Solstice will shine under the light of the full moon and also be brought in with a lunar eclipse that will at its apex appear like a giant pomegranate in the sky.  In the spirit of Persephone, I honor this time of year with remembering loved ones who have passed into the realm of  the underworld where Persephone sits as Queen.  I will celebrate the hope of the return of the light, just as Hermes served as guide to Persephone to help her return to bring about the season of planting seeds.  Before the return though, the winter season of breaking open is upon us , an opening to bring about change and transformation and growth.  May your Winter Solstice be juicy and heartfelt!

The Gifts of Dreaming

Dreams call out to us in the night showing us a possible future, crossroads past and timeless sacred pathways.  We can look into sacred libraries of remembering to discover our sacred contract for our life purpose. Dreams bring us in contact with healing energies that restore a sense of wholeness and well being. They can introduce us to our creative communities where we may dream our brightest dreams and grow them in the waking world.  Dreams help us remember who we are, why we have come here and the people with whom we may share our journey.   Spiritual and creative gifts are often revealed to us in dreams.  If we have the courage to go beyond our limited self concepts and explore the potential that dreams offer, then we are indeed ready to receive the gifts of dreaming.

The Gift

In a dream not long ago, I encountered an invisible guide who sat beside me. My guide held my  hand and was showing me the paths written there in the lines on my palm.  I was shown a large “W” shape across my palm made from the lines on my hand and was told “this is your gift, you know how to move energy”. The “W” shape was an indication of being a magical person, or a “W”hite “W”itch.  I was then shown two vertical lines running parallel down the center of my palm in which small w’s were streaming one after the other as this universal energy was pouring into my palms  which could then also be directed outwardly.  Suddenly, aware I was dreaming, I began to wonder what I could do with this gift in the palms of my hands.  I considered the fact that I already do healing work and have been an energy healer for many years.  I was then shown in the dream a possible path as a successful writer on book tours.  I saw a yellow palm card advertising the date of my next book signing. EOD

It strikes me that the universal flow of energy is that which is beneficial on many levels. The  hands touch everything in our world allowing us to give and receive energy that is loving, sustaining, creative, nurturing and healing. They provide us ways to communicate through writing, gesture and touch. The image of the hands being a sacred portal to the divine is truly a gift worth receiving and learning more about the ways the hands may serve in the flow of this energy into my life and relationships, our community and world.

I am now on a path of exploring the book  I have glimpsed in dreaming.  In this writing, I am sending my RSVP to the universe! I accept the invitation to write this book.  I only need to let the “w”‘s flow in the universal stream of energy and send them back out onto the page.

The White Tiger and the Cave of Innocence

Summer Solstice 2010
The Dream
I am in a dark mountain cave where the light of my soul hovers above dark waters. I see a white tiger emerge from the mountain and sit by the side of the water looking into the darkness. The water surface is covered with a dark, thick, sludge and a being crawls out of the water, its body covered in sludge. The tiger looks at the sludge covered creature and turns her head away, wanting nothing to do with it. The white tiger finally decides to jump into the water, and  the contrast of  her beautiful white fur against the deep darkness in the water is amazing to see. The tiger is a powerful swimmer and moves swiftly through the dark waters until it reaches a place of  murky astral waters, where many spirits are floating. The tiger continues to swim through the murky waters of spirits until the water begins to clear and she is now swimming in the clear open sea.  She finally emerges on another shore with a rope in her mouth from which she is pulling a boat from deep within the ocean waters onto the shore.  Inside the boat is a woman dressed in gold trimmed and maroon colored vestments and wearing a regal shaped head dress. On the shore of the beach is a small girl of about 7  with blond hair and fair features, who runs toward the boat ecstatic to see the new visitors.
The dream shifts, and now I am back inside the mountain cave with the white tiger and the black covered creature still lying beside the sludge pond. The white tiger moves toward the creature and begins to wash it. As the tiger continues washing, it reveals the creature is actually the small girl who was seen running on the beach. The child now lays her head on the huge strong arm of the white tiger as she is lovingly being cleaned, nurtured and restored by her new protector.  EOD
I returned from this experience deeply moved by what I had seen and how deeply I felt it inside my being. I understood it to be a soul retrieval, however it did not feel as though it were connected to me individually. I was later to find part of this story unfold in pictures which were shared with me from a friend and teacher who was in Kyrgyzstan at the time. She was participating in the lighting of the Sacred Fire Ceremony of Uluu Ot where indigenous elders from around the globe had gathered to light the sacred fire on the Summer Solstice under the full moon. I looked through the her pictures of the ceremony and found myself staring back at the woman dressed in traditional dress who was an Altai Medicine Woman. She was dressed just as the woman I had encountered in my dream vision who came riding onto shore in the boat pulled by the White Tiger. I thought about the dream and decided to share it with my friend to see what she thought. She was able to confirm my experience and told me that the mountains of the Uluu Ot are known as Tien Shen, home to the Snow Leopard. During the Uluu Ot ceremony, the Altai Medicine Woman I had seen in dreaming and also a Japanese Medicine Woman, both individually reported seeing the spirit of a young girl dancing around the fire. They realized she had been murdered and her soul wanted to be part of the ceremony.  According to the hosts of the ceremony, a genocidal event occurred on the grounds where the ceremony had taken place. The story goes that while 100’s of men’s bodies were being buried, a young girl came upon the scene. They murdered her too and threw her in the grave along with the other bodies. She was remembered in this ceremony and her soul retrieved.

According to this account, I was connecting in my dream with the Uluu Ot ceremony going on the very same day in Kyrgyzstan, and the soul of this child was restored during the lighting of the sacred fire. She continues to be held and protected by the spirit of the White Tiger.  I give thanks the White Tiger and all of my relations and teachers who share their connection with me in dreaming and the waking world. We are all connected and part of a larger story. I am grateful to participate in this journey of healing the past, while healing the earth.

The Dream Tree

Listen and Dream
Listen and Dream

I had a short dream about a month or so ago. In the dream I am shown an unusual looking tree that has a spiral like trunk. I am told, “This is your tree” by a disembodied dream voice.

That was all of the dream I recalled.

I thought the tree looked familiar somehow, that it was a tree I had somehow seen somewhere before, and that it was a real living tree, as opposed to an ethereal dream tree. I put the information away in the back of my mind and did not think about it much after that. Weeks later, while walking at the lake along the usual path that I take with my partner, I was astonished to see the exact tree I had dreamt about.  It was my Dream Tree! I excitedly showed my partner my discovery and went over to make a connection with “my tree”. We then proceeded on finishing our walk, but I began to notice as I walked a pain and heaviness in my chest which was making it difficult for me to walk or breath. I returned to the tree as we followed our route back and just hugged the tree, I felt the heaviness lift from my heart and felt an infusion of healing energy into my heart.

I then felt lighter and full of energy as I finished my walk.

Dream Tree
Dream Tree

In the picture here you can see there are light orbs appearing in the photo as I am listening to and hugging my tree.

Notice the orb over the back of my head.

In the many visits I have made with my tree since then, I have seen and heard many wonderful things.

The tree has an amazing energy field around it, and when I walk close to it I begin to see differently. I can see many colors of light coming from the tree at times and even after leaving the space as I walk back to my car I am still seeing these colors appear.

When I put my ear to the tree I have heard  a woman’s voice speak to me.

For instance on one of my walks I was talking with my partner and told him,

I wanted to make the earth my teacher over  the coming year.  I then went over to my tree to check in, and as I put my ear to her trunk,

I heard “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

My tree was very excited to know I was “getting it”.

I will continue to visit my dream tree to listen, and learn, to heal and be healed, and share energy and make prayers in connection with other realms.

To dream with the tree as the tree is dreaming me.

Refuge Mountain

Where do the dispossessed go, the refugees, the homeless, the thieves, pirates, star crossed lovers, the broken hearted, the heretics, the politically oppressed……..they go to Refuge Mountain. This mountain is hidden from the waking world, it exists in the world beyond the dream world in a location interwoven with time and space, a place where you can find your lost ancestors, their knowledge, and the places where they lived, that was perhaps swept way and taken over by their oppressors. They have not been lost, they only await your return.

By Valley Reed

Where do the dispossessed go?  The refugees, the homeless, star crossed lovers, pirates, heretics, the politically oppressed……..they go to Refuge Mountain.  A mountain hidden away from the waking world, existing in the world behind the world, in a location interwoven with time and space.  A place where you can find your ancestors or recover sacred knowledge.  You can return to the places they once lived which were  perhaps swept way by cataclysmic forces, or taken over by forces of ambition and colonialism.  They have not been lost, they only await your return.

Refuge Mountain is a sacred place of forgiveness, healing and regeneration. A place where you can be protected from your oppressors, and a place where you can make your home if it has been taken away.  Refuge Mountain is a place of respite for trouble makers and saints alike, but here you may find a very fine line separating the two.

I stumbled across Refuge Mountain as I drifted into my dreams one night after I had stayed up late researching my ancestry.  I had just discovered that I was connected to an ancestral line of heretics from France, the Huguenots who sought refuge in America from the oppressive forces of the Catholic Church in France in the 1600’s.  Larrabee is of my matrilineal ancestral line, which I was able to track back to Pau, France at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains.  I also discovered the name can also be spelled,  L’arabie which is french for Arab.  I later would come to know that Larrabee is a name rooted in the Basque areas of France and Spain. I went to bed that night, thinking about my French Huguenot ancestors and I had this dream.

Refuge Mountain

I am on a mountain which is hidden from sight, in the center of the mountain grows a huge tree that reaches deep down into the earth and stretches up through the top of the mountain. This giant tree reaching down and moving upward is a pathway one can travel to access different places within the mountain. Hidden inside the mountain there are many who have come here seeking  protection.

Mountain Prayer

Tibetan Buddhists, pirates, star crossed lovers, a German monastic brewery, a French tea house run by Wise Women Herbalists where they serve lavender tea and cultivate fields of lavender to make the tea.  An Irish bard musician, outlaw cowboys living in a world with no boundaries, Spanish Sufi poets, African slaves, Jewish mystics, a Romani trickster, a Wicca high priestess drawing down the Moon, alchemist scientists, Communist philosophers, mothers and their children, a caravan of Arabian dancers and drummers, a Siberian shaman,  Apache horse thieves.  These wanderers have all come here to find peace and safety at refuge mountain. They know they are protected and they can pursue their lives without fear of being attacked, destroyed or imprisoned. They can practice religion, speak their mind, love who they love, and make their own living. They can live in their own homes and raise their children.  But just in case of danger, the pirate ship is waiting to set sail at the drop of a hat.  This get away shoot was dug through the mountain where an escape hatch on the other side awaits your hasty exit.

Escape to Refuge Mountain in your dreams tonight and discover the hidden paths of your ancestry, or places in your life which have been dispossessed and banished from the light of day.  Set sail on a pirate ship across the seas of time, and find yourself the hero of a tale yet untold. Let your life unfold and the adventure begin, because if you get in a bind, you can always return to Refuge Mountain.

Pirate Ship Dream

Dream Wayfinding

I was transfixed by the images in this dream, the energy was so inviting and mysterious. The next day, I set up the space for the workshop to create a sacred ceremonial space within which to work in the basement of an airport hotel. I put out about 30 chairs and I thought I must be expecting a good crowd. I imagined all the chairs being filled for the workshop. I also decided to lure people into the space down in the basement by playing my Native American flute.

By Valley Reed

The Annual Conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams was held last month in Chicago, Illinois.  I was there to participate in a panel on Listening to the Earth Dreaming chaired by Jean Campbell along with Wendy Panier, Jody Grudy & Teresa MacColl, a powerful group of women leaders and dreamers.  I also co-facilitated a workshop with Teresa MacColl on Dream Way Finding.   I have been a presenter at several of these conferences over the years, including last year in Montreal, Canada where I chaired a panel on Dreaming Across Borders with Indigenous Peoples.  The presentation I gave last year is listed on my blog as “The Call of Quetzalcoatl and Dancing with the Moon” which has also been published in Dreamtime Magazine.  I flew to this years conference in Chicago directly after attending a week long Dream Teacher Training with Robert Moss in Connecticut at a beautiful seaside retreat. The circle of 18 women was a powerful, grounded group that attended the training and we have all become bonded on this journey we are embarking on together.

The Dream way finding workshop seemed to pick up right where I left off from my experience in Teotihuacan, where I did ceremony with De Leon the keeper of the staff of Quetzalcoatl. It was in response to a prayer I had offered for my father two years ago, who was dying of cancer that I had the dream of an Aztec  Gatekeeper who told me he was directing my fathers death. This dream lead me to go the Teotihuacan to do ceremony in Teo at the temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Jaguar Palace.  I have been told by a Mayan friend that the name Teotihuacan means “Valley of the Reeds” and my given birth name is Valley Reed.

temple-of-quetzalcoatl
Teotihuacan The Temple of Quetzalcoatl

My father has since crossed over last fall, and during the past Summer Solstice of this year, which was also Fathers Day,  my oldest brother spread my fathers ashes over the Garden of the Gods in Colorado where my father grew up.  Teotihuacan is also known as “the place where men become Gods”,  so it seems fitting that my Father would finally come to rest in the Garden of the Gods.  I wrote about my experience as being a “Gatekeeper” in my previous blog entry and serving in the role of psycho pomp to help my father to cross over into the next stage of his journey.

I found in the workshop on dream way finding we did in Chicago that the journey was continuing.  I had a dream the night before the workshop of a mysterious princess or priestess who had a star on her forehead and wore a beautiful transparent veil in shades of blue, which just barely covered her head.  In the dream, she handed me a Crystal Skull and also a small crystal spiral.  I was transfixed by the images in this dream the energy was so inviting and mysterious. The next day,  I set up the space for the workshop to create a sacred ceremonial space within which to work in the basement of an airport hotel.  I put out about 30 chairs and I thought I must be expecting a good crowd.  I imagined all the chairs being filled for the workshop.  I also decided to lure people into the space down in the basement by playing my bamboo Native American flute I had bought at the Mohawk reservation in Montreal last year. The first person to come into the circle through the East was Dr. Tricia Torres an Anthropologist from Guadalajara. We had the opportunity to visit briefly, as she entered the circle and put her offering on the altar my colleague Teresa had set up in the center.  Dr. Torres told me she was the Dance Elder for a dance circle of women in Mexico, and they did sacred precolumbian dance.  I asked her if she knew De Leon, the keeper of the staff of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan, and told her I had danced with him and his wife as their guest in the annual Moon Dance Ceremony in Mexico City in 2007.  She affirmed to me she did know him, I then felt moved to ask her if she could tell me anything about the Crystal Skull. I shared with her that I had a dream last night of a crystal skull and it seemed to me to be from Mexico, or Central or South America.  She told me the crystal skull had to do with higher transformational energies.  I left it at that and thanked her, allowing her to take her place in the circle and continued to play the flute to help guide other dream wayfinders to our workshop. We managed to fill each of the seats we had set out for the workshop. It was a wonderful mix of bringing the ancient practice of dream way finding through the voices of the elders who Teresa MacColl had interviewed and recorded.  Teresa has her Masters through the Indigenous Mind Studies Program at Naropa University now directed at Wisdom University by Dr. Apela Colorado.  It is important to follow the protocols of honor and respect toward elders and these ancient practices by honoring the ancestors.  Within the protected ceremonial space we had created together, I was able to lead the workshop on a shamanic group dream journey with the help of the drum to dream our way forward.

In the circle, we called out the names of our ancestors and shared dreams and experiences on dream way finding.  I felt called to mention that each person in the circle had found their way there that day, and that it was also an example of way finding.  I made the connection with Dr. Torres and that she knew the gatekeeper from my dream that lead me to Teotihuacan.  She told me on June 21st during the Summer Solstice her womens’ dance circle had performed a sacred dance to help heal relations between fathers and daughters, the same day my fathers ashes were spread over the Garden of the Gods. The name of the sacred dance these women performed is called the skull dance.

Dr. Torres offered to teach the whole circle the skull dance to close the circle. We all did the dance together beautifully, picking up the steps as though we already knew the dance.  The dance was offered as a closing prayer to our dream way finding workshop and offered further closure for me on the journey of my father’s crossing over.  The workshop was so magical, and the weaving of the bigger story into the circle was overwhelming to me in the sense of how incredibly blessed I felt to be a part of this work and to be able to dance together into the realm of the ancestors.

The dance continues and the journey of dream way finding with plans to bring Dr. Torres,  director of  The Mexican Research Institute of Interdisciplinary Anthropological Studies to Dallas to begin a sacred womens’ dance circle.  I will also to travel to Mexico to dance with my sisters there.  To find out more about workshops and classes scheduled on dream way finding visit www.chrysalishealingarts.org

The Gatekeeper

The next day I determined upon reflection that I was doing exactly what was needed. I did not go through the portal, but helped keep it open, and that was what gatekeepers do, keep the space open or close spaces that should not be open. They do not go through them.

At a recent week long Dream Teacher Training with Robert Moss on the East Coast, I kept noticing an ongoing theme. I got there early to the seaside villa where we were all staying and I was making myself at home when I heard an inner prompting telling me to go to the front door. I did, and found a knock at the door and standing before me was Robert Moss pronouncing me as the “Gatekeeper” ! This theme has continued with me over the past 2 weeks, and it seems a path I am now learning to traverse.

My roommate showed up late to the training, and since I only had one set of keys to our room, I had unlock our door to let her in. I once again found myself in the service of being a gatekeeper. After we adjourned from our first nights session, I had the opportunity to reflect on the gatekeeper and what that might be trying to tell me.

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and began to notice the lights were turning on and off, and then the sink began to look as though it were moving. I quickly removed myself from the space telling my roommate, there was something weird going on in that bathroom! She finished getting ready for bed and closed the bathroom door and it was then I noticed the bathroom door was now locked and it had a bolt lock that could only be locked from the inside.

We were beginning to feel as though there were some poltergeist activity going on in our room. We finally got into bed and were discussing what the dream intention would be for the nights dreaming. I decided mine would be “What does it mean to be a gatekeeper?” I glanced up at the picture on the wall in front of me, and noticed it was a picture of a door on a barn, another portal! It was too much, I decided it was time for bed and so I laid down to sleep. As I lay there with eyes closed, I immediately saw the image of an open portal of green light which had infinite kalpas of swirling Buddhas. The portal was in front of the locked bathroom door which had exhibited the poltergeist activity earlier.

Previously in the evening, a ceremony by my two older brothers had been performed for the release of my fathers ashes over his childhood playground at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado. I was now seeing the portal which was open for my father to cross over. I felt like there was something I needed to do to help him, but I was afraid, and I was feeling the energy of the portal and a pull on my spine as though something was trying to pull me through it. I did not want to go through this portal and kept saying “I am not ready”.

My teacher Robert Moss appeared in my dream and I asked him to help me because I was not ready to go through this portal. He told me that I was at a teacher training and that I would have to do it myself. I said thanks alot! I kept feeling afraid to do anything.
I felt bad that I was not able to go through the portal, or assist whatever was trying to go through.

The next day I determined upon reflection that I was doing exactly what was needed. I did not go through the portal, but helped keep it open, and that was what gatekeepers do, keep the space open or close spaces that should not be open. They do not go through them.

The next day upon reflection, I determined what was needed from me was for me to chant for my fathers passage as part of my Buddhist practice. I decided to meditate and chant as I entered the portal and I could feel my fathers energy move through the portal until finally reaching the other side where his parents and brothers and sisters where waiting who had already crossed over. Everyone was so glad to be reunited. I was glad to see everyone there too, but I was only there on a day pass and it was time for me to return home, back through the portal.

Dream Pathway
The Gatekeeper
May our doors and gates and paths be open,
and may the doors and  gates and paths between the worlds,
and may the doors and gates and paths of any who wish
to do us or those we love any harm be closed.
May it be so.