Healing Dreams – Awaken the Sacred Dream

Iatromantis: Dream Traveling Philosopher Healers

Aristeas was among those of ancient Greece who was known to be an Iatromantis, a seer healer. It is recorded in ancient stories his soul could leave his body, and return at will. This is something that an Iatromantis would be able to do, both in dreaming, and waking realities. Aristeas was a poet philosopher, who is also said to be able to take the form of a Raven.

Peter Kingsley writes the Iatromantis is part of a larger Greek and Asian shamanic tradition originating in Central Asia. A solitary practice was incubation, which was beyond the dream healing temples of the Grecco-Roman world, but enabled these seer healers to enter a state beyond sleeping, dreaming or waking, but entering a state of being described as consciousness itself. There used to be experts at incubation–masters at the art of going into another state of consciousness or allowing themselves to go if they were drawn there. They had a name that fitted them perfectly — Iatromantis

Abaras the Hyporbean, was also considered an Iatromantis, a legendary sage and healer who practiced medicine on the soul and the body. Hermotimus of Clazomenae reported to his wife the ability of his soul to leave the body during sleep, as if on a trip. She shared this oddity with the wrong person, and they came and burned his body while he slept.

Evidence of this approach to healing of body and soul is rooted in incubation practices of intention setting for dreaming for the purpose of healing as was used in the Asklepion Dream Temple practices of ancient Greece and Rome which spanned into the Thracian ( Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria) and Dacian (Romania) world. The Egyptian dream practices also included dream incubation invoking Gods such as Imhotep or Serapis, known for appearing in dreams for healing. The Serapeion in Alexandria, and Memphis Egypt were popular locations for dream incubation and dream healing practices.

The gateway to entering the dream temples were built to impress, and often devoted to the Mnemosyne, Mother of the Muses and Goddess of Memory, as gatekeeper between the realms, her presence was to help bring back the memory of the dream. Hygeia the daughter of Asclepius, brings powers of hygiene and cleansing, in preparation for the dream healing incubation ritual. After the cleansing ritual of mind, body, and spirit, is complete the supplicant may enter the abaton, a sacred sanctuary where the Dream Healing Incubation takes place, and the pilgrim sleeps overnight to incubate their healing request into their dreams. If an incubant was unable to recall a dream, a dream healing priest or priestess would dream on their behalf, and transfer the dream in the telling.

In an area in western Anatolia, south of Phocaea, in a region called Caria was a famous cave known as a Charonium or Plutonium — entrance to the underworld. Next to it was a temple dedicated to the gods of the underworld. Here the Pholarchos (masters of dreams, lords of the lair) would lead the sick into the cave and settle them down, leave them there in utter stillness. – Peter Kingsley

The Pholarchos Tarot, developed by artist, scribe and dreamer, Carmen Sorrenti, brings dreams through the portal of each card, and her alchemical writing which accompanies the deck. I met Carmen at a dream conference in Los Angeles several years ago, as she was developing the deck. She had several of her paintings in the Dream Art Gallery exhibit at the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) conference. As I stood there gazing at the paintings before me in the form of dream inspired tarot, I began to share a dream with a woman standing beside me. The previous night, I I dreamt of a Viking Goddess who emerged from out of the underworld through a doorway sized portal like a life sized tarot card, she was driving a chariot pulled by dragons.

I admired the dream tarot art before me in the exhibit and recognized the synchronicity. Little did I know, the woman with whom I shared my dream, was the artist and creator of the Pholarchos Tarot. I knew then, I would order her deck as soon as it was available. She told me she was working on creating the chariot card at the moment. When I eventually did receive her lively deck of cards, before even opening the box, I noticed the sounds of a carnival like atmosphere, coming from inside the box. The dreams interwoven inside were bursting to get out and come alive!

Indeed, the dreams realms come through in most unexpected ways sometimes, and we may have forgotten how dreams are rooted in the western modern world, but dreams have not forgotten us.

Curative Dreams

The hypogeum is an underground temple or tomb where one could be immersed in dreaming with the curative powers of the land and the numinous powers of the divine, often as part of a dream healing temple or entrance to the underworld. One of the most ancient is the Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta which dates to the Neolithic period, where the “Sleeping Lady” was recovered in 3200-2500 B.C. The reclining nature and sleeping position of the statue invokes a dreaming pose, and also evokes the popular dream temples that would later populate the Roman Greco world. Is the sleeping lady dreaming us, or is she seeking healing from an ancient creator Goddess? Cristina Biaggi writes the Sleeping Lady is a priestess engaged in Dream incubation or an Adept in giving oracles, interpreting dreams, or suggesting cures for illness. C. Biaggi (1986) p131-13. “The significance of the nudity, obesity and sexuality of the Maltese Goddess figures.”

“The Sleeping Lady” from
Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta, 3200-2500 B.C.

The dream temples of the ancient Greco Roman world were wide spread and wildly popular. Pilgrimages to dream temples became a place to go and stay overnight as a place for healing, from which the idea for modern hospitals may stem. A symbol for western medicine is the snake wrapped staff of Asclepius. The chthonic powers of the serpent brought transformation, and changing poison into medicine. His daughters Panacea brought healing of the mind, and the powers of the mind to heal. Hygieia brings cleansing powers of healing with spiritual cleansing, mental and energetic cleansing, emotional cleansing, and physical cleansing in order to bring back health and balance. Although both of these principals are part of western medicine today, dreaming seems to be missing.

“Patriarchy associates dreaming with fiction. Dreaming can’t be quantified or measured with an apparatus. But Dream incubation was considered a cutting edge technology even well into the Roman Empire. Invalids looking for a cure, would go to sleep in the temples of Asclepius, god of healing, in order to receive curative dreams. “ – Sophie Strand, author of The Flowering Wand; Rewilding the Sacred Masculine.

The Dream Healing practices of the ancient world included making clay offerings of the body which required healing, such as an eye, a leg, or a heart, and placing them into a wall. This practice of sympathetic magic, engages the healing powers of the mind through Panacea. There was also a cleansing ritual and perhaps fasting, presided over by Hygieia, where pilgrims were disrobed and washed, and clothed in white, in preparation for entering the dream temple, where snakes were guardians of the healing temple. The word hygiene is derived from Hygieia, and her wisdom includes cleanliness, prevention, and health.

Once inside the dream temple, pilgrims would be invited to incubate their healing request into a dream, and stay overnight in the dream temple, invoking direct healing powers from the divine, or a prescription of cure for their ailments. This may include dreaming with plant wisdom, or energetic dreaming with divine intervention from the God of Healing, Asclepius. Council from Dream temple priests or priestesses would be offered upon waking to help clarify and integrate their experience.

Dream healing includes the capacity to incubate a healing dream on behalf of another. Here is a dream report from a pilgrim at the abaton. “Arata, a Spartan, suffering from dropsy. On her behalf her mother slept in the sanctuary while she stayed in Sparta. It seemed to her that the god cut off her daughter’s head and hung her body with the neck downwards. After a considerable amount of water had flowed out, he released the body and put the head back on her neck. After she saw this dream, she returned to Sparta and found that her daughter had recovered and had seen the same dream.”

The most well known dream healing sanctuary was found in Epidaurus, considered the birthplace of Asclepius, who was part mortal and part God. He was raised and taught by Chiron, the great teacher. As word of the healing powers of Asclepius spread far and wide, so did Dream Healing Temples located at places such as Corinth, Sicyon, Tegea, Megalopolis, Argos, Sparta and Messene; on the islands of Paros, Aegina and Crete (Leben); and at Alexandria (Egypt) and Cyrene (Libya).

Asclepius was such a profound healer that he was able to resurrect supplicants from death. Hades became furious because he realized such practices would decrease his powers as God of the Underworld. He demanded his brother Zeus intervene on his behalf. Zeus then struck down the God of Healing with a thunder bolt. Asclepius still resides among the stars as the constellation of the serpent bearer.

The Equality of Dreams

Body Awareness involves the ability to recognize where your body is in relation to space. Dream Body Awareness involves being conscious of where your dreambody is located inside the space of your dreams. Body Image has to do with how we see our physical body, where as Dream Body Image has to do with how we show up in dreams, and being conscious of what shape we have taken.

Dreaming beyond the Physical

Dreams allow us to have experiences beyond physical reality, and concepts of time and space. We are not limited to the physical body, and can explore physical reality in other times and places. We may embody other forms of being in dreams, including gender, race, animal, plant, star, Earth, ancestor, element, and even Gods or Goddesses.

Dreaming into the Physical World

Scientific studies have shown that dreams, imagination and visualization, bring measurable impact upon our physical body, and can boost healing, learning and performance capacity. Sports psychology taps into this inner resource to boost athletic performance. Studies have shown that students who sleep and recall their dreams before taking a test, perform better than those who crammed all night before an exam. I know I have dreamt of studying for and taking a test before actually dong so, and been able to ace it. When I was a Ballet dancer, I would often imagine difficult moves in my mind perfectly, moments before actually performing it, and never had a single fall or accident.

Out of Body Dreaming Awake

As a dancer, I once had an anxiety attack, before it was my turn to practice a set of moves I had just learned. When it was my turn to perform, my mind went blank. I was so frustrated from being exposed to fear and humiliation as a common tactic in dance training. I decided I had enough, and instead chose to fully trust that my body knew the movements, even though my mind was blocked from fear. What happened next was both surprising and exciting. I found myself outside my physical body hovering above, watching as body wisdom took the helm and performed the movements perfectly. At the end of the sequence of dance moves, I popped right back into my body! I looked around the studio, wondering if anyone had seen that move!

Years ago, when I was a member of a Contact improv dance theater, a telepathic dream came over me in the middle of the day. I found myself in a secret meeting arranged by a rival dancer, who went behind my back to try to vote me out. Upon waking, I was able to act on the dream immediately, and went to the place my dream had shown me, only to discover the exact scenario playing out in real time in physical reality! They were very surprised to see me! Luckily, I was able to dream into resolving this conflict peacefully. I incubated a dream about it, and dreamt about seeing myself and my rival performing a dance of open hearted vulnerability and trust. We performed the dream dance together in waking reality bringing healing to both of us just like in the dream, and expanding also to the group as a whole. This amazing experience inspired me to create a form of embodied conflict transformation called Peace Moves. I now offer trainings for facilitators to share this form of embodied wisdom and conflict transformation within their own communities.

The Equality of Dreams

Our dream body is beyond the limits of race, gender, and sexual orientation. In dreams, we can embody different race, culture, class, gender or sexual orientation, to bring us more empathy and compassion into our everyday lived experience. By doing so we embody a wholistic view of humanity based on equality, that does not see one race, gender or sexual orientation, as more dominant over anyone else. The equality of dreams is a common bridge where we can stand shoulder to shoulder, because we all dream. It is a language we all share, and a potent opportunity to affect change on global and societal levels, as well as individual, ancestral, and cellular levels of healing trauma and transforming racism.

Valley Reed leading a blessing ceremony for the Future of the World’s Children at the 2007 World Children’s Festival on Washington D.C. National Mall for Drum, Dance, Dream for Peace event by the World Dreams Peace Bridge.

Social Dreaming and Natural Paths of Energy

As Dreamers, we are not just individuals concerned with the workings of the psyche and unconscious mind, nor gazing at our navels to bring enlightenment. Dreaming can be a social experience where we are dreaming together with others we may know and love, those who have passed on, those who have yet to be born, or those we have yet to meet. Dreams connect us with alternate personalities in other realms of experience, past lives lived, or glimpses of possible future timelines. They can bring us into contact with realms that are close to the Earth, where we may connect with relatives who are more than human. We can meet up with our wild instinctual nature and our animal allies, and flow with the elements and natural paths of our energy. We can connect with our cosmic counterparts in the upper realms where spiritual guides and star beings reside. Dreams are a place we can go to visit both human and beyond human, and they can also visit us.

Healing Patterns of Trauma

The place where our stories of trauma gets held is on the cellular level in the body. Each phase of our lives, from birth, childhood, teenage years, young adulthood, and into old age, our trauma stories reside within us physically and psychically, often disconnecting us from our Body, Soul and Spirit. The same stories and coping strategies of survival, get passed on to future generations with transgenerational trauma held in our DNA. Studies have shown the echoes of transgenerational trauma in historically oppressed populations, decreases resiliency in future generations. Ecopsychology posits the Earth as a sentient being, and like us, her stories of trauma are also held in her body. Generations of atrocities, creating community cycles of repetitive trauma. The body of the community, the Earth and the individual, can be healed from the stories of trauma held there, through bringing out those stories and honoring the victims, while also releasing them to transcend, and reveal the deeper stories of the Soul of the Earth. The time is now to dream into healing our relationship with our body, our connections with each other, and the Earth.

Valley Reed © December 2020

Upside Down World

“To have sensed something sublime in the life/death/life movement of the seasons, to know that contained in you is the knowledge to pull the sword from the stone and to live well in fierce woods in deep winter.” – Martin Shaw

Recently, I was sharing with a friend, a story of when I carried my daughter in my womb. It was close to her due date and she was not ready, not yet. She was not head down in position to be born into this upside down world. My OB told me I needed to do something about this, or else schedule a C-Section birth. I wanted to have her naturally if possible, so I was determined to turn her around. Nothing I tried was working, so I decided to ask my dreams for help. I incubated an intention into my dream for assistance turning my daughter into position. What came was this surprising dream.

Faery Queen

I see beside my bed, a Crone of Asian lineage. She has come to help in response to my dream request. She places her hands on on the top of my womb, and when she does, her hands light up. She moves her hands down, step by step, making a path of light for my daughter to follow. I feel my daughter flip inside my womb, and move her head into the portal of her birth in my pelvis. The Asian wise woman, who has interceded on our behalf, tells me one last bit of information before she departs. She says, “You know, your daughter is a Faery Queen.” I am thinking to myself in the dream, What’s a Faery Queen and does that come with a manual?

I was thinking about that powerful experience of my daughter turning, head down to be born, assisted by a mysterious dream midwife, and it got me thinking about my connections with the good folk in dreams over the years, and also the dreams my daughter reported of visiting other realms, where she had two beautiful women teachers from the Faery folk. She would visit there often and learn from them. I once dreamt into a dream with her, when we both had the same exact dream of her graduation from her learning in the otherworld. My dreaming was a waking dream that appeared before my eyes clear as day, while my daughter slept taking a nap, and when she woke, she described the same dream I had just seen. I was told by the beings in my vision, to create a portal to the otherworld in my back yard. I was quite concerned by what they described asking me to build, I felt it was too big of a responsibility to manage a portal like that in my back yard. I did not understand the importance of it at the time, now looking back, I can see it was a portal between her more than human people in the otherworld, and this world. It was so she would remember who she is. I suppose the portal closed after that, she no longer reported dreams with her Faery mentors any longer. She began to forget who she was. I determined to remember the connection to the Faery Queen and the Otherworld, and on the Fall Equinox, a time of balance, I did a conscious dream journey guided by the drum, with the intention to set things right between this world, and the world behind the world.

The Portal

I see my guide, from the wee folk, he holds out his hand, and I place an Irish coin in it. He then smokes his pipe, and I tell him I will bring him tobacco next time. He takes me before the Faery Queen. She is tall and beautiful with her long silver and white hair. Her dress is a gossamer material glowing in white and blue light. Her staff is silver with a crystal ball a top. She takes me over to a reservoir of water illuminated by a blue and white light. A mythical blue phoenix flies around the perimeter, and across the surface, in a magical display of beauty. I stroll around the magical pool of water, and the Faery Queen tells me, “It is a portal”, and says, “Get in.” As I walk towards it to enter, I am moving deeper into the Earth, like stairs descending, and I enter it from underneath it. Just then the pool surface changes into a vortex swirling with great force in the middle. A White Lion jumps into the vortex joining me in a watery realm of blue and white light. We move through it together, traveling far across time and space until we approach a golden gateway. The White Lion enters the golden gate and turns from white into a Golden Lion in a land of sun and sand. I follow behind him and notice we are in the Middle East. I hear the voice of the Faery Queen instructing me what to do. She speaks of an imbalance that has occurred, “Magic was stolen from the otherworld, and placed in sacred objects, to use the power for selfish aims.” I see before me a man whose face is covered by a black scarf, and he holds a golden jeweled dagger in his hand.

“You must retrieve the dagger” the Faery Queen says, “It holds magic from the other world. You must return it where it belongs, to return the worlds to balance.” I approach a man with a black veil covering his face, realizing he is an Assassin. I then take on an invisible cloak, so that I may move about undetected. I walk right up to the Assassin and take the dagger from his hand and make haste to return it to the Otherworld.

Upon my return I stand before the Faery Queen, and she takes the dagger from my hand. She places it’s blade onto the Silver blade of her Sword. She then places the sword into the water of the Faery Pond, and the magic moves down the blade and into the magical pond. The Balance of magic between the Otherworld and Earthside has been restored.

Dream Travel in the Age of Social Distancing

My beloved was in the hospital this week, having surgery in the midst of the Covid Apex. I could not be there at the hospital with him because of concerns of me getting exposed to the virus. It was difficult for me to not be there with him as his advocate, and my concern about his safety due to Covid were hard to take. My worries felt unbearable at times.

Finally, I decided I had enough of worrying, and not able to be there for him and with him at his time of need. I traveled to meet him in a conscious dream.

I gathered my protective energies around me, and cloaked in a golden light I transferred myself there to his hospital room. I came surrounded by a bright golden light and shared this healing energy with him, directing it to any places needed for his healing, protection and speedy recovery. I told him to remember my dream visit and the golden light.

The next day we spoke on the phone, and I asked if he recalled any dreams. He said, “You were in my dream.” Oh really, what else? ” I asked. A golden light” He said. “I thought it was morning, and so I asked the nurse what time it was, 3 a.m. she said.” That just happens to be around the time I made my dream visit.

Later that day, he was released from the hospital a day after his surgery, I picked him up and brought him home and we are now focused on his speedy recovery. I am so grateful.

Dreaming Matters

If you have lost touch with the wisdom of your soul, or creative muse, or perhaps your inner healer, now is the perfect opportunity for you to look inside to rekindle these connections. I invite you to step through the doorway to your inner worlds, or perhaps the other world, is ready to step through you.
The key to enter is through dreams.

At a retreat I offered in 2020 of January, on Dream Healing in Hot Springs, Arkansas, I introduced participants to Rainbow Woman. She is very special to me, because she revealed herself to me over 10 years ago, when I was camping with friends, and we were hiking in the mountains. I had noticed an energetic ley line, that I had stepped through as we hiked, and it got my attention. I stopped to investigate what I felt and saw, and when I did, I saw a beautiful rainbow colored woman, made from a plasma like energy. She stepped right from the core of my being, and through my physical body. She turned around, staring me in the eyes, face to face. Her beauty, wisdom and magic astonished me. How could such a being step from within me, in such away? She then shot up the mountain in a flash of white light traveling the energetic ley lines I had seen. Later, she visited me in dreams and shared with me the 7 Rays of Healing, and asked me to share this with others. She took me into the stars, and showed me how to birth new galaxies.
Now when I return to Hot Springs on Dream Healing Retreats, I always end with a journey to connect with Rainbow Woman, and her healing energies, because she is very special to me, and she asked me to share her with others.

January 19, 2020 Healing Journey with Rainbow Woman

Finding My Way
Down into the Earth a small circle of Ancestors gather around a small fire, and Rainbow Woman appears as a maiden with her white buckskin dress and braids, dancing to the drum. The song of the Grandfather sings into the fire, as she dances. The song carries her into our world, on rainbow energy lines. She flows her rainbow energy into our circle, and she follows the rainbow to the West, where it ends, and a doorway between the realms, opens into another galaxy.

The dance continues, she invites me to follow her, the song is sung supporting this dance, this journey. We are dancing with starlight, a new galaxy, as we focus prayers of healing for the Earth. We shine rainbows on the children enslaved and in prison, afraid and abused, offering them love and healing, freedom and support.

Then we dance through another doorway of light. White light, a circle of sisterhood is dancing in a circle. I am told it is good I found my way here, and I welcomed into the circle. Only a few are ready and willing to enter into this Sacred Sisterhood. We dance visions and open the way with courage and wisdom for the women on Earth bringing change. The light is shining on each Woman, shared with each other, and for the Earth. We are birthing a new world with vision, courage and heart. Grandfather is singing our song, for this dance of beauty, strength and healing.

Last week I was invited to participate in the online Earth Sky Woman Summit held on 4/4/20. Over 1600 people signed up to participate but the space itself was limited to only 100 people. There were about a dozen presenters and the vision of it was was put forth by the courage of heart and brilliance of Tami Brunk. It was an incredibly meaningful experience to be part of seeing so many women sharing their powerful spiritual gifts, and courage of heart, and healing wisdom.

There was a discussion about Mayan healing and the Goddess Ix Chel, and it reminded me of Rainbow Woman. Ix Chel means Rainbow Woman, I began to recall my journey, and realized that it had come true in part, by being invited into this Sacred Sisterhood as a presenter, even though I did not know anyone personally. It was the journey that opened the door, and presented me with a key to healing and showing up. A powerful realization for me personally, and a deep gratitude for me being able to find my way and being welcomed into the circle.

In February, about a month prior to the pandemic storm. A dear sister and healer invited me to try her newly created float tank, and knowing my connection with dreams, she was keen to have me try it to see how it might be a helpful modality for conscious dreaming. I was also keen to try it and the liminal space created by the body floating in salt water, could provide a primal womb of dream incubation. I focused my intention in my float session on personal healing and gaining any insights that would be helpful for me at this time. I had been doing a lot of private healing sessions on individual clients, and knew the salt waters would be restorative for my energy field as well.

As I floated in the tank in a conscious dream state, that place between waking and sleeping reality, I saw images come and go, which included some helpful psychic information. Then suddenly, I dropped deeper into a dream, which opened before me from the core of my being. I was now inside a conscious dreaming reality with an African Oracle Goddess, who emerged from a mountain. Her face, her hands, and her breasts became visible. Her strong voice was heard inside my dream. She said, I have not been seen in a very long time. It is time for me to emerge. I tell her I had set the intention to work on personal work, and not focused on collective energies right now. It is personal! She snaps back! Alright then, I am paying attention! I then see a volcano next to her, with lava flowing down, and molten lava erupting from the top, as the face of the Goddess Pele is reflected in the fires of the Earth. I feel her powers of destruction and creation. Suddenly, I hear cows mooing and see them grazing in a peaceful green pasture, and then the Blue Faced Goddess Hathor descends from the Pleiades, with her nurturing and peaceful, loving energy. Finally, I see the Three Goddesses before me, a blazing fire beneath HER feet. I am human sized, standing before them, but in the body of Kali Ma, Black Mother Earth, Treasure House of Compassion, Giver of Life to the World. I run toward the sacred fire with fierce love and compassion and lunge my ceremonial knife (truth) into the Sacred Fire (Life). The Oracle Goddess says, It is done…and it is good.

A month later the pandemic arrives in full force, now we are sheltering inside, dreaming dreams, parents teaching children, cooking meals, worrying about our elders, digging in the Earth and planting gardens. Tapping into creative problem solving and innovation to keep business flowing. Listening to Spring bird songs. Death arrives while numbers grow each day. We grieve and feel the losses, we remember to appreciate life, we feel how fragile we are.
We see how truly connected we are, there is no separation.
We focus on what truly matters.

Dream Healing and the Sacred Imagination

In the Pandemic we are facing collectively, it is so important for each of us to be able to support and strengthen our health responses, and not Panic. One of the means we each have within us to seek healing, is the power of dreams and imagination. The path has been laid before us by Aesculapius, the God of Healing, invoked in the Ancient Dream Healing Temples of the Greco-Roman World.

I recently lead a retreat on Healing Dreams in Hot Spring, Arkansas in February. Part of our exploration included forest bathing, hiking along trails and rivers, soaking in the Hot Springs Mineral Waters, and creating sacred space to Dream together. One dream that came through for me, was seeing beautiful, clear, large quartz crystal points, growing within my second chakra and into a crystal temple within. I had the feeling at the time, it was a protective restructuring of my energy, in case of a viral outbreak. I did not have a conscious understanding of the coming pandemic at the time, and thought it a strange idea to need protection in that way at the time of the dream. I later read results of a research team lead by Dr. Hyo-Jick Choi, where they are developing salt covered masks, as a preventative and protective measure against Corona Viruses. Tests revealed that Corona viruses are punctured and weakened by the sharp crystalline structure of salt or sugar (Secon, Business Insider Feb. 8, 2020 ).

Incubating healing dreams overnight, as was done in Ancient Dream Healing Temples, was a powerful way to connect each with our inner healer. Sharing dreams together over breakfast opens up our dreams, and the energies held inside. Our insights and actions, create a space for dreams to to take root and healing to happen. Journeying together on conscious shamanic group dream journeys, guided by the drum, with our group healing intention, was a way for each to have a direct experience with divine healing energies.

Direct experience through dreams and conscious shamanic dream journeys, are one way to engage with these healing potentials, another is to dream on behalf of another, and share a healing dream with them to make it their own. This is known as Dream Transfer, one of the core practices of Active Dreaming. It is a powerful mode of transferring healing energies and potentials held inside a dream. Dreams hold collective energy, and can be shared with others for the purpose of healing with great effect. Robert Moss pioneered Active Dreaming, and he likes to say, “Dreams are a place we can go, not something we have.” When we enter inside another person’s dream, it is a place we are experiencing, and the wisdom of the body also translates this as a real experience.

The Goddess Panacea is a daughter of Aesculapius, and as a Dream Temple Priestess, a potent embodiment of the powers of the mind, and the imagination. Scientific research reflects the Panacea effect often is more promising than the actual medicine. Science has also shown that what we imagine or dream, is translated by the body as a real experience, and the body does not differentiate between if it is a waking embodiment or a imaginal embodiment. The ancients knew one of the secrets to healing, is the dream world is the real world, a place where direct experience with Gods and Goddesses are possible, and primordial healing energies are available.

The Goddess Iaso is known as having the wisdom of Remedy, and another daughter of Aesculapius. She holds a mirror in her hands, reflecting the principle often found in medicine of “like reflects like” in finding the remedy or cure. During this time of disruption and social distancing, self reflection can be a potent healing ally. Invoking Iaso can help restore the natural order of balance and health. It also means to put things right. This can refer to the collective health system, financial markets and political policies, which support the recovery and well being of the country and the globe.

The Goddess Hygeia from where we get the word hygiene, is another daughter of Aesculapius. She has been invoked repeatedly in this Corona Virus pandemic, with the mantra “wash your hands. She holds the healing powers of the serpent, known as sacred by the cult of Aesculapius. The temple priestesses cared for the serpents residing in the Abaton. The transformative energies and wisdom of snake, are known in ancient cultures throughout the world. The venom of serpent, brings forth the medical principle of “changing poison into medicine.” The symbol for the World Health Organization, reveals the staff of Aesculapius.

The God Aesculapius was the Greek God of Healing, and Temples of Dream Healing devoted to him were widespread throughout the ancient Greco-Roman World. He was the son of the God Apollo and Coronis. His mother Coronis, was in the Hyades family (the rainy ones), a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. The hyades were daughters of atlas and sisters to the Pleiades and the Hesperides. She fled from Poseidon and was changed into a crow by Athena.

The Cult of Aesculapius made pilgrimage to the Asclepieia, for the purpose of seeking healing remedies and direct visitation from the Gods. The Abaton was a place one could sleep overnight for the purpose of incubating a healing dream, or a visit from the God Aesculapius or Goddesses of Healing, for direct experience to their healing energies. The animal powers were also present in the form of the Snake, Dog or even Rooster, in connection with the God Aesculapius (Moss, p. 90-93).

It can be said that perhaps the idea for hospitals, a place one can stay overnight for the purpose of healing, is rooted in the Dream Temples of ancient Greece. The Hippocratic oath comes from Hippocrates, who studied at the Asclepieia at Kos. Across the Western World, the snake wrapped staff of Aesculapius, can still be seen as the symbol for western modern medicine. Perhaps we need to bring back the healing potentials of dream incubation into hospitals in collaboration with healing professionals once again. Aesculapius was very popular, because his approach to healing was available to anyone from anywhere. It was not based on how much money you had, or from what level of society you came. Dreams are also like this, available to all. We all dream each and every night.

I invite you to enter the Temple of Dream Healing and tap into the healing potentials of a conscious shamanic group dream journey, guided by the sound of the drum, lead by Active Dream Teacher, Valley Reed. Become a subscriber to hear future podcasts, and shamanic journeys guided by the drum. https://www.patreon.com/chrysalishealingarts

Sources:

Moss, Robert; The Secret History of Dreaming, (New World Library, 2009)

Secon, Holly; “A biomedical engineer created a mask coated in salt that he says could neutralize viruses like the coronavirus in 5 minutes” Business Insider Magazine, Feb. 8, 2020, Web.

https://www.businessinsider.com/mask-coated-in-salt-neutralizes-viruses-like-coronavirus-2020-2

Dream Ritual for Peace and Healing

clootie-tree The edge of Imbolc is near and it is here that we can requicken the seeds of what is ready to grow into being. This magic of light and darkness, breaking through and growing forth, held and nurtured by the unending love of the earth, and watered by prayers of love and peace. Tie your brightest intentions to the magical clootie tree and make wishes at the healing well of the Goddess Brigid. Beckon the Well Keepers and ask what promise is left to keep and protect the sacred waters of the healing wells and springs of the Earth. What role am I to play in restoring balance on the Earth? Brigid teaches us the practice of magical small acts and intentions, which can be nurtured to grow into larger creations of love and healing.

Imbolc Eve Ritual

Air

Tie colorful cloth strips of your prayers to a tree that knows you and let the wind carry them.

Request a visit from the Goddess Brigid to bring into your dreams her gifts of healing, protection, and peace.

Earth

Plan what seeds you will be planting in the coming year and make a planting calendar for the opportune time for your seeds to grow. Determine what conditions are necessary for their growth.

Fire

Light a candle of inspiration and revelation in honor of the fire Goddess Brigid.

Bake a loaf of bread in her honor, drench in the senses of baked bread, knead the dough with love and intention, practice patience in letting it rise, bake it carefully and share with loved ones.

Water

Set out a shawl overnight for the blessings of the magical dew of Brigid for healing and protection.

Visit a sacred well or wishing well or spring and make magic wishes for the Earth, Community, Family and Self.

Blessed Be!

The Well of Human Kind – A Place of Remembering and Healing – Part 2

The Pool of Bethesda – A Place of Remembering and Healing

In dream archeology, we are called to dig deeper into our dreams, and into the earth itself, where layers of past cultures lay asleep and dreaming of our awakening. In my dreaming of the Well of Human Kind, I determined the healing pool with troubled waters by the light of angels, could in fact be the place known as the Pool of Bethesda located in Jerusalem. In my research of this sacred place, I discovered it was indeed a crossroads of many layers of cultures who have used these healing pools. Many interesting correlates exist with elements of my dream and the different cultures that came to rest there.

Troubling the Waters is associated with the Jewish perspective of intervening angelic powers of healing, as was reflected in my dream previously shared in Part One of of the Well of Human Kind. Troubling the Waters is also spoken of in the bible and the pools of Bethesda are one of the locations where Jesus is reported to have performed healing miracles. The tradition of healing goes even further into the Greek and Roman Ancient traditions of Asclepians, as the healing pools were known, as well as a temple devoted to the Greek God of Healing, Asclepius and also the Greco-Egyptian God – Serapis. This cross cultural pool of humanity is indeed the Pool of Human Kind. It was later during the Byzantine era changed toward Christian leanings, and then during the reign of the Ottoman Empire held Islamic influence where the pools are still held today in the Muslim part of Jerusalem. The Ottoman Empire gave away a part of the pools to the French Anglican Church where St. Anne Cathedral was constructed, next to the location believed to be the grotto and birthing room where the Virgin Mary was born to her Mother Anne. It is interesting to note how this relates to my dream, in that I was flown by angels to meet a woman named Anne Light, who claimed to have adopted me at age 13, and was in effect my spiritual Mother. If these correlations are followed through the dream with the ancient bees as guide along with the angelic light, it would in fact take me to the place of the goddess, and into the ancient virgin cult of the goddess. This tradition is embodied in Anne and onto her daughter Mary, but it was a much older tradition connected to the lineage of the ancient goddess.

This connection to St. Anne and the Birthing Room of the Virgin Mary brings me to another dream which I had this past December 12, the feast day of the Santa Maria de Virgin De Guadalupe.

Birthing Room of the Virgin Mary – Dec. 12, 2013
Last night I dreamt of seeing the Virgin Mary. She was showing me her birthing room, that was a small space carved out of 3 earthen walls, with the fourth wall absent and open to the waters of the grotto. She was preparing to birth the child she was carrying, whom she had just conceived. She also told me she would give birth to 4 children and would be staying here in the birthing room until she had conceived and given birth to all 4 children.

I feel deep gratitude for my connection to the Goddess, in all her forms and her guidance in dreams and waking life, guiding toward healing, protection and birthing new life.

Rainbow Serpent Dreamtime

Rainbowserpent

Rainbow Serpent Dreamtime

In the midst of a conscious dream, I see three Aborigine men playing music and singing a sacred song. The songlines take me into the Dreamtime. I begin to see the mythic Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent emerge and it spreads giant across the stars looming before me. I also become aware that this same energy exists within me, and the rainbow serpent begins to emerge from my heart and solar plexus. This creative energy is undulating in and out of my heart weaving between my heart and the stars. The creative pulse of this ancient cosmic dance, brings tremendous energy into my body and my being. I am expanding ever outward into the spiraling dance of the dreamtime, and returning again and again to the universe expanding inside of me. EOD

The Aborigine Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime and the songs that evoke her, create the world. The energy of the ley lines tell where to find water and navigate the land. The energy lines are evoked by the songs and carry the stories of universe, stars, people, plant animal, river and stone. The stories carry me into the dreamtime. Many indigenous peoples understand that the dream world is the real world, and where our waking reality is created. The songlines and dreamlines are also connected with the energy ley lines on earth, as a map to navigate during dream travel. We are connected with the universe and the ground upon which we walk, as integrally as with our own breath. Our body carries the stories of our lives, just as the earth and the universe carry the stories of creation, that is ever being created. We are ever creating the sacred stories of the universe, the earth and our body, with each breath we take, and every beat of our heart and every dream we enter. This dance is being dreamed by our ancestors and they are inviting us to dance with them, out of which a new world may be born.

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