Spiritual Dreams – Awaken the Sacred Dream

The Alchemy of the Rose

By Valley Reed

“Mystery glows in the rose bed and the secret is hidden in the rose,” wrote the twelfth-century Persian alchemist Farid ud-din Attar.

Last Summer I was introduced, through a mutual friend, to a woman named Cindy Leinweber, who was seeking me out because I am a shamanic dreamer, and teach people how to dream consciously. She invited me to come and see her private collection of visionary art paintings. I was really taken in by the cosmic energy I felt coming through the paintings and the energy I felt in my body as I viewed them. Waves of heat were coming from my body. When I returned home afterwards, I felt like I was having some kind of heat stroke, where I could not stop sweating and my body temperature was having trouble regulating itself. Drinking water and laying down for a bit seemed to do the trick eventually.

Shortly after this meeting, the very next day, I was off to New Mexico and had the opportunity to visit with the artist, James Jereb at his studio at Star Dreaming Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and talk to him about his paintings, and how they have played into his spiritual journey. It was a phenomenal experience filled with synchronicity and mystery. He told me the paintings are portals of esoteric magic and hold great energies of transformation and healing. We talked about Star Portals, and Synchronicity, Travel to Sacred Sites, and Spiritual Awakening. He told me people come to visit these paintings sometimes and pass out from the energies they hold. I said it was sad that people were having these awakening experiences, but they don’t remember them. I told him I can help with that, because I teach people how to wake up and dream. He was very enthused at the prospect of people journeying through the portals of these cosmic paintings consciously, to have their own direct experience.

When I returned from my trip, Cindy invited me to gather a small group of friends at her place, and lead a conscious shamanic group dream journey, through the portal of one of the paintings. While guiding our group, an interesting experience unfolded for me during the drumming.

Three Tears

I immediately felt a physical tear come from my right eye, and then saw three black teardrops flow into the dreaming. I somehow “knew” the 3 tears, were specifically referencing a certain painting. I looked down at my feet and saw a mass of writhing, black snakes. I welcomed their healing power and wisdom. I searched in my mind’s eye for the painting with the three teardrops, but I could not find it anywhere among us. I then found myself stepping through the red portal of life, vibrantly alive like a heartbeat. As I stepped through the red portal, I looked down and saw both of my arms and hands, had turned to gold.

When the journey ended, and I shared my experience of the three teardrops, Cindy told me she has another painting with three teardrops, but it is not at her house. It is located in Baja California!

She showed me the painting in a photo, and I discovered it was called “Negredo” and the first stage of Alchemy. The painting has 13 red roses, some of which show 3 tears dropping from their petals. I was told the painting was about the dark night of the soul. I understood in my journey, this was true on a collective level for us all at this point and time. On a personal level, it was a time in my life, I had been experiencing many painful losses, and lots of changes over the last three years.

Not long after guiding the portal painting journey, I had this dream.

3 Groups of 3 Red Roses

I am taking the long view in my dream, looking back over important times in my life, where three groups of three red roses showed up as a rights of passage or initiation. Each group of three red roses, were a turning point in my life, and roses played an important part of the story both literally and metaphorically. I am now aware that I am entering the last three roses of my lifespan. I see the first of three, present itself before me. I am looking at a red rose, the same size as me, hovering before me, like a portal into another world.

I was truly taken by this dream, which made me feel as though my life has a hidden design, and I am on the right path, and ready to enter into the mystery of the red rose consciously, as it is large enough to encompass my entire being. I feel the presence of the Goddess in this initiation of the rose, and a deep and abiding love.

I was recently reading a book called “Fate and Destiny” by Mythologist, Michael Meade, and came across an idea he described, which I found both resonate and intriguing. He described what he called “the spirit of the soul” and I had never quite heard it described that way. I decided I wanted to meet the spirit of my soul. I incubated a dream intention, “I want to know the spirit of my soul”.

The Spirit of My Soul

I see a nun wearing a habit, colored in light blue and white. Behind her is a background filled with red blooming roses.

I was wholly shocked in finding this connection to the spirit of my soul, and felt that she must be really disappointed with me, since I had long ago given up following traditional paths of religion. I couldn’t shake this image especially the red roses behind her. I decided to look more deeply into the colors of her habit in baby blue and white. I found it to mean she was devoted to the Marion Mysteries.

The Spirit of the Rose

The Rose has long been showing up for me in dreams, and waking life. When I reflect on my dream of the 3 groups of 3 of roses, in the scope of my lifespan, I began to ask myself, where have roses actually shown up at crucial junctures in my life?

1986 – The Rose Girl (Maiden)

When I was in my mid 20’s, I suddenly lost my job working for a commercial real estate firm, when they declared bankruptcy and closed their doors during the Savings and Loan scandal and recession during the 80’s. I had no notice to prepare my finances, and nothing saved for a rainy day, and so I had to find work where I could, and ended up working as a rose girl, selling roses in bars around Dallas. I made ample money to pay my rent, and that was my goal. One night I had a dream that saved my life.

I dreamed that I was selling roses in a country western bar called “Belle Star” and as I walked past the front door, a man came through and began shooting. I was shot in the neck and fell to the ground dead, surrounded by blood, and roses spread everywhere.

I woke from the dream terrified, and felt I had witnessed my own death. I decided to call in sick to work, afraid I might meet my own death if I went in that night. I was told I had the best route, and I would make lots of money. They did not have time to cover my shift, and if I didn’t come into work, they would fire me. They gave me my shift schedule, and where I would be at what times. When I realized Belle Star was on my route, I knew for sure I could not go to work. My ex-husband at the time, convinced me I was being silly, and it was “just a dream” and plus we needed the money. I decided not to go and listened instead to my dream. I was fired from my job, and my ex-husband shamed me for being so irresponsible. I felt like a loser. The next day, on the front page of the newspaper, was a story of a man who had gone to “Belle Star” that very night, during the time I was scheduled to be there, and shot 3 people. I felt it was incredible, that I had dreamt of a possible future, and been able to avert my own death by taking action based on my dream. I felt there must be a reason I was given this information, and so I began to try and learn everything I could about dreams, and share that with others. It was a fate that set me on the path of eventually becoming a dream teacher.

2002 – Three Tiered Fountain of Roses (Mother)

When I was in my 40’s I was a newly divorced, single mother raising 2 children, and I was trying to start my life a new. I was relatively new as a licensed massage therapist, and began to discover how difficult it was for me to practice, because memories of childhood sexual abuse kept surfacing. I was in the middle of a healing crisis of my own, and not able to fully be there for others. I had begun to volunteer for a non-profit organization that was advocating peace, as we were heading toward war with Iraq. I found that I was a natural at organizing events and fundraising, and I was offered a job there in a new position they had created as Assistant Director. I was not expecting such an opportunity, and so I decided to sleep on it, and see if this position was right for me. In response to my question, “should I take the job?” I had this dream.

I see a three tiered water fountain, with red rose petals floating on each level.

I woke from the dream really surprised by what I saw, but felt it was a very soulful and spiritual image and felt it was a sign I was meant to take the job. I did end up taking the position and soon after, they held an announcement party, to introduce me to the members of the organization as the new Assistant Director. I walked into the old brick building located in East Dallas, and there in the atrium of the building, was a three tiered concrete fountain, with red rose petals floating on each level. I knew I was in the right place, because I it was exactly like my dream.

The Portal of the Rose

So now I stand before the single Red Rose from my dream, about to enter the final path of my destiny, in connection with Mary Magdalene. The mysterious magical paintings are stories which continue to unfold, and clearly have me stepping more deeply into the Alchemy of the Rose.

Cindy and I dreamed into the portal of the Mary Magdalene painting to see what wanted to come through, and she shared with me a vision of a public event she wanted us to organize. I saw it would be at the Bath House basement at on the shores of White Rock Lake, at sunset, and that it would take place as the sun drew a path of golden light across the lake and into the basement of the bath house where the painting would be placed in a small intimate space to resemble a lagoon. The sunlight reflecting on the painting would activate the energies of Mary Magdalene. We set up the space as directed and invited a select group of my students to participate. 30 people arrived for the event, and the sunlight shown on the painting just as I had dreamed. The journey began with my drumming for our group in inviting them to enter through the portal of the painting, or perhaps for Mary Magdalene, to come through to us. I saw the painting light up in gold, and she stepped through the portal into the sacred space we had created together. She walked through the crowd touching the head of each participant with golden light. She then moved out on the path of the golden sun across the lake and activated a portal of energy now held in the lake. We ended the evening watching the sky turn pink and purple and offering prayers of beauty with red rose petals that had been brought to honor Mary Magdalene.

Dream Angels

Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven, The Empyrean — Angelic Choirs Circling the Abode of God from Dante’s Paradiso by Gustav Dore.

In America, 8 out 10 people believe in Angels. This belief may stem from religious belief, or perhaps not. One way we may also connect with these heavenly messengers is through dreams. Dreams offer spaces of direct divine experience, where Angels may visit for the purpose of healing and guidance. I’ve had a number of Angelic encounters in my dreams over the years, which I can share here.

A Choir of Angels

The first I recall, was many years ago, I was dreaming of a place in the heavenly upper realms, surrounded by a group of female angels. They were tall and fair, and an otherworldly blue light shown about them. They sang in the most beautiful voices, I had ever heard. I was surprised to learn, they even had their own angelic language, and they were teaching me their songs in the language they spoke. I really loved being surrounded with their energy. I felt very special and welcomed, grateful they wanted to teach me what they knew, and draw me closer to them. I woke from this dream, a firm believer in Angels. Especially because a choir of female angels welcomed me among them. The whole Patriarchal vision of angels as a hierarchy of spiritual power, popular in the Abrahamic religions, has never appealed to me. The only way I could get on board with this angelic reality, is through direct experience with the divine held in dreams, and where I was able to connect with the female presence of angelic spiritual energy, as I was surrounded, accepted and welcomed as part of, rather than through a religious belief based on power over.

Portal of Gabriel

At one point in my life, my partner and I had been dealing with a difficult family issue, where his 10 year old son was suddenly moved away to another state by his mother. It left a big hole in our lives, where his presence had been previously, and an incredible sadness permeated everything. We were heart broken. I could no longer bare the sadness any longer, and so in desperation, before sleeping one night, I prayed for his return to us as I drifted into a dream. I immediately saw and felt the feather tips of huge wings brush by my face. The white winged feathers were so huge, I could not see anything but the feathers. I then felt my dreaming self pulled up by the shoulders, by the giant talons from a huge eagle like being. I was flown across the world to an ancient place in the dessert, where I stood before to the tomb of the Ancestors, belonging to my partner and his son, Gabriel. I stood before the door of the tomb, which read over the threshold, “Portal of Gabriel”. I entered inside the tomb and saw my partner standing before me, wearing traditional garments. He showed me a ring he wore upon his finger, which held an unusual coral stone, in a square setting. He offered me his ancestral ring to wear, and I placed it on my finger. I was then flown back on the wings of the angel, to my own abode, where I lay sleeping in my own bed.

Two weeks later, his son moved back.

Book of Uriel

In another dream, I was hanging out in the twilight zone, in a conscious dream state between waking and sleeping, known in scientific terms as the hypnagogic zone. I was searching for a dream in this liminal space, and could only feel myself hovering in darkness. I determined to wait for a dream to appear, and set my intention to call a dream to me. I could feel the dream traveling from a far distance, and began to see a faint light in the distance coming toward me. It traveled quickly and when it became closer, I saw a delicate pink light, in the design of what appeared like a lace. I was enveloped inside the dream now, and saw clearly a hand, which gave me a book which read, “Book of Uriel”. I opened the book, to a page which held a photograph of a beautiful castle with white colored stone bricks, and black turrets. I was flooded with emotion as I looked at this photo, a far memory of my soul longing came forth in a powerful way. I longed to return to this place, that held feelings of great love from me. The longing was so intense I began to weep inside my dream. I determined to visit this place in my dream, and so I entered the photo to see what I could learn. I found myself walking along a dirt pathway, along side a beautiful river until, I approached a Roman styled arched bridge, standing across the bridge from the castle. I stood there looking at the castle with feelings of longing and awe and now fear. I wanted to cross over to this place of deep longing, but the tremendous fear I encountered, held me back. I could not find the courage in myself that day, to cross the bridge and enter the castle. I woke up.

Angels Made Visible

In another dream, I encounter my dream double from a potential future. I step out of my house to walk next door to attend a party, when I notice my doppelganger pull up and park in front of my house and is walking next door to enter the party!

I am standing on my front porch, as I see my future self walk into the house. I notice I now seem to have access, to all the information my future self is thinking and doing. I am curious to attend the party, but concerned if I do, what will happen in the timelines of my current reality or future reality? I am walking slowly across the front yard between our two houses, making sure not to bump into my future self, when I see two women I know, leave the party and approach me. One is the director of an Alternative Private School, where I used to work in waking reality, and the other was the director of a Metaphysical School, who I am connected to in waking life, as part of an International Dreaming community. The Director of the Alternative School begins a discussion about the connections between the heart, the higher self, and the guardian angel. She states, ” We used to be able to “see” the connections of the heart and the higher self. The two where made visible, one to the higher self, and one also to “Malachim”, also known as angel messengers.”

Looking at this dream now is fascinating, as I have recently been offered a position working as a Director for an Alternative School for a Metaphysical Community. I set the intention for myself at the first New Moon of this year, to return to teaching again for an alternative school. I was contacted the very next day, and offered just such a position by a former colleague, who I had not seen or spoken to in 6 years.

I had not thought of this dream or looked at it in detail, until deciding to write this blog on Angels. It seems even in writing this blog, messages are coming through for me, from a dream I had 6 years ago, where I almost bumped into a possible future!

Of course things like that can happen.

Conversations with my Future Self

In another dream, I am aware that I am talking with my future self. I am at the time wondering if I have made the right decision in moving back and having doubts about my plans to be here again. My future self visits me in my dream and I can hear my own voice telling me, “You don’t have to worry, everything is going to turn out alright. You are just where you need to be.” In my dream, I feel empowered by the sound of the voice of my future self, giving me confidence and assurance and I feel supported and loved and I am amazed.

Last year, I had an unusual dream, where I saw my doppelganger or dream double. Since that dream, I have had a succession of interesting encounters which are helping me to learn more about connections with my higher self, my future self and the nature of parallel realities.

The Doppelganger 6-1-13

I dreamt of seeing my doppelganger, a dream double. It was the first time I have ever seen one in a dream. My dream double was attending a gathering at a house I lived next door to, whew! a close call! I also knew what was going to happen next in the dream, as though I had access to the knowledge and life of my doppelganger. I wanted to make sure my dream double did not see me in the dream, as I wondered if it may portend death to do so. On my way to make a hasty exit from the scene, I ran into the director of school where I worked and another woman, who is the director of a school of metaphysics. They were having an interesting conversation about the nature of the higher self and the heart. The director of the school said to the director of the school of Metaphysics, ” We used to be able to “see” the connections of the heart and the higher self, and the two where made visible, one to the higher self and one also to Malkuth the guardian angel.” I shook my head in agreement, as I also wondered if I should try and make it back in my house before my visible dream double saw me!

I discovered upon more research that Malkulth is a name given to the place at the lowest station of the Tree of Life in the Cabala and represents the Kingdom. It is also the place that is known to be attributed to Uriel the guardian angel who is connected with earth and fire and seen to hold the light of god. He also holds a scroll of learning or perhaps teaching. Uriel is also my guardian angel. The dream double or doppelganger is one who lives in heaven or known as the higher self and watches over the one living on the earthly realm.

In another experience, I find myself in the midst of a waking vision and I hear a woman’s voice telling me I need to move back to Dallas to be with the man I love. I had at that time, taken another path and was living in another state. In my vision, I see myself living with him and we are happily reunited. I follow the guidance I am given and move back to reunite with my partner. We experience much joy in our reunion together. I did not think about it at the time, whose voice I was hearing, I was later to discover more. We decide to move back in together, and our search for a home begins. It is in the dreaming where our house is found first.

The House Where I Live 3-1-14

I am now at the house where I will be moving into, inside there is a man with whom I will live, but he is not my partner. He lives in one side of the house and his presence is one who is a master of the house. There is an otherworldly presence about him, he is surrounded by candle light and moves quickly, like light, throughout the house. He is mysterious and I never see his face. I wander into another part of the house, and find my bedroom there that I have not been using and it is a nice space and comfortably decorated, but does not have the same quality of light there, more like the gentle light of morning. I also see the bathroom which I like very much, it is a big open space and has mosaic tile work around the bathtub. I am very happy with the space where I live. I go outside the house to see the neighborhood, and walk around to the backyard. There is an archway where pink roses are covering it, and so many have grown that the stems are covering the entrance. The rosebush has been trimmed back from the ground up so that people may enter through the archway. I have a feeling this is a very special archway covered with so many roses and so much love. I am showing it to a dear friend of mine, with a sense of awe and excitement.

The house in my dream matches very much with the house I found for us to move into just a few weeks later. It has a studio in the front, where I now have my healing arts business located. My dear friend in the dream, also teaches at my studio. The house has a wonderful bathroom with a beautiful tile floor and an old claw foot tub reminiscent of my dream. It is also separated into two sides, much like my dream, and many people comment about the wonderful energy of the space. It is a space where angels have been seen in many of our dream journeys, a perfect place for healing.

I later dreamt about the nature of parallel lives –

Stretching Parallel Lives 8-12-14

I am in a dream with my partner and we are traveling somewhere together, it seems up toward British Columbia or Washington area. On our travels in the dream, I realize that I am experiencing multidimensional reality because I notice that with every decision made some of my energy gets split off into another dimension of time. I can see how this process of splitting makes the energy thinner in the reality I am living now. I am trying to find my way back to the reality I came from. There is one key object that will provide me with the orientation I need to return, but I don’t know what it is, I will know it when I see it. We are now traveling on a yacht in the ocean and there are humpback whales near us in the water, until we find ourselves cruising through a canal toward a harbor. There we can see the mountains, which are beautiful colors of red, green, brown, tan, yellow. I am looking at the mountains and walking up toward a wilderness area, and I see a bobcat come running toward me from a small cave. It is the den for this family of bob cats. Another bobcat comes running toward me soon after that. One jumps up to bite my left arm I am holding out to the side and the other jumps up to bite my right arm. I am aware that the animals know of my presence wherever I go, and allow me to see them, when they want to be seen. I am not concerned about the bobcats hanging off of my arms.

In this dream, we are traversing places and scenes that my partner and I have experienced together on trips we have taken in waking reality together. Even the bobcat, was a familiar scene, when once one came to visit us in our backyard at our home at an urban setting in Dallas, Texas. Of course they did not hang from my arms and bite me as in my dream, but the dream narrative shows me this is their way of getting my attention and remind me that the animal powers are alive and with me. The stretching of energy is stretching my awareness of what is possible. Perhaps I don’t have to go anywhere to find it, perhaps it is sitting in my own backyard. I am stretching my reality to include connections with my higher self and my guardian angel as part of my every day life and allowing myself to be open to the powers of the other world to present themselves to me. I also felt an awareness in my dreaming, that my decisions can stretch my energy in divergent ways, if they are not in accord with my higher purpose. When I am in connection with my higher purpose all roads lead home. It’s good to be home.

Angels Among Us

In our Lightning Dream Group this evening, we talked about how to remember our dreams better, by learning how to explore dreams in a conscious dream state. I shared how one can learn to hang out in the twilight zone, that stage between waking and dreaming, before dropping off to sleep or waking in the morning. It is a very useful practice to learn how to become a conscious dreamer. I shared an experience where I was exploring that liminal place of the twilight zone, known as the hypnagogic or hypnopompic state. It was here, that I found myself in a dark, vast, space where seemingly nothing was to be seen, but something on the edge of my awareness caught my attention. It was a faint pink light on the edge of my awareness, and when I honed in to get a closer look, I found a pink web like material that had an energy to it which felt kind and loving. I wanted to explore more about it and stepped through this weblike material to find myself entering into another reality. I looked down at my hands a saw a mysterious book held there. It was a leather bound book which read, The Book Of Uriel. When I opened it, I saw a picture of a beautiful castle. I suddenly found myself magically transported to the scene I was viewing. Now I am walking a tree swept path along a lazy river, where a roman styled bridge provides passage to the other side. I am now standing in front of a beautiful castle with black turrets supported by sturdy, aged, white stones. I feel an intense longing and familiarity with this place and an incredible desire to return to this place, I know I am only visiting.

After sharing this experience, a woman in our group declares she has been researching Uriel online today and has ordered a book. The next person in our group shares a dream in which she is the architect of a church in a repeating dream, where she is creating some kind of community. We discuss how architects were so instrumental in preserving mysticism and designing cathedrals where sacred geometry was used to create a space for direct contact with the divine. Dreams also provide this kind of space where one can visit locations in the imaginal realm to go and learn from spiritual teachers who have passed on in this realm, but their schools remain hidden in the realm of dreams, yet open to those who know the pathway there. Another dreamer who arrived late to our group, came in and shared he had been trying to find the music and words to a song that was about Uriel, and the other Archangels. Interesting synchronicity at play in this group, surely there are angels among us tonight. We took this as an invitation to go deeper and so we explored a conscious group dream journey together as I held open this sacred space drumming us deeper into the dream realms. We were able to enter the realm of angels, where each person had their own deeply profound and meaningful experience connecting with the archangels, and one even brought the goddess Sarasvati into her dreaming. The path of dreams is truly magical and profound and I am deeply grateful to the powers which surround us and the dreamers willing to commune with the likes of Arch Angels and Goddesses.

I am the Eternal Beating Heart

In a recent dream, I found myself facilitating a class where I was walking around the outside the circle of people gathered there. I held my hands up in the air and listened deeply, both inwardly and outwardly, to the vibrating sound of the Eternal Beating Heart. I was reaching out with my own heartbeat to feel the rhythm of the eternal beating heart. When I felt in synch with the sound and the beat, I then transferred it through my hands onto the shoulders of the person standing directly before me and said aloud, “I am the Eternal Beating Heart.” Each person in the class continued this affirmation and wave synchronization until it had flowed through each one of us and we were ready to proceed with the deeper work we had come there to explore together.

It is good to remember that we are all connected to this primal rhythm, and that we can be conduits to connect others to it and as well as ourselves when we are in the midst of the illusion of separation. Breath and Heartbeat, this is the rhythm of life and something we don’t have to try to do, only remember to become the eternal beating heart. Expanding the field of the heart in synch with the Universal healing energy of the Eternal Beating Heart opens a space for the sacred to dwell. It is here in sacred protected spaces, where the multiverse that dwells within can be explored. Opening the heart to universal heart centered mindfulness is desired to synchronize the energy in the environment. The energy field creates as a way toward harmony in relations with others and the ability to come from a place of empathy, compassion, wisdom and love. The torsion field of energy is theorized to be the model for how the energy of the universe works, and it is also the same configuration the field of our energy takes when it is heart centered.

While that configuration is not what I saw in my dream, it was something felt from deep within the universe, a wave reaching out in continuous rhythm. I was connecting with perhaps, this truth in my dream, which allowed me to experience the deeper heart of the universe existing within each of us. When we feel separated, we can always return to that deep rhythm. We can synchronize our hearts to this primal wave of love that connects all of creation. The Eternal Beating Heart of the Universe!

I invite you to share in creating heart centered sacred space at an upcoming free introductory class coming up;

Sunday, March 30th 2-3:30 – Peace Moves – Conflict Transformation with Conscious Movement.

Tracking the Dreamtime

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.

The Spiritual Mountaintop

Standing on the Spiritual Mountain June 5, 2012

I dreamt of seeing myself on a Spiritual Mountaintop, where I am a Giant among others who are present with me. I am the only Goddess among a group of several other Gods. We are all Giant in appearance and embody the presence of a God or Goddess in this spiritual terrain. From the heights of the etheric spiritual mountain, one could gaze down below to see the physical mountain. A spiritual pilgrim throws his rope up onto the mountain peak where we stand, and suddenly everyone has the instinct to hide and not be seen. Everyone except me, ducks for cover. I stand in full view, the only one willing to risk being seen. The lone figure emerges from the side of the mountain and he is elated to have reached his destination. He stands looking back at me confused to be met by the presence of a Giant Goddess. All the other Gods are hiding from him and the pilgrim does not know they are there. The Gods believe they cannot be seen, because he is not yet ready. I don’t agree with this perspective and stand in full view, ready to meet this spiritual pilgrim. I look into his eyes and see his confusion and realize, he is not yet ready to receive the wisdom he is seeking. I gaze back at him with loving compassion. He has gotten what he came looking for, but it was not what he expected. EOD.

In this dream I am experiencing my larger self, among others there with me. I experience this differently than my male counterparts who seem afraid to be seen as gods in the presence of the ascent of a seeker. I feel that religious perspective often describes this perspective, that a mere mortal cannot withstand the presence of the god/goddess. This etheric realm of the higher self is where the lower self seeks to come in contact with the higher nature of our own divine being. It is not separate from us, but a part of our true nature. The actual physical mountain top can be seen from just below this etheric realm, and it is something we have access to discovering for ourselves. It seems not only is mortal man perhaps afraid of being in the presence of god, yet compelled to climb forth as a seeker, but in my dream the gods themselves were afraid of connecting with their lower nature. Is it because if these two realms came together, we would be exposed as humans capable of becoming the gods we seek yet truly are? Would we be afraid that others would not understand and seek to persecute us for arriving on this spiritual landscape? In my dream, I felt the experience of being exposed, yet I was not afraid. It seemed only natural to greet this pilgrim on his journey toward reaching the spiritual mountaintop. When arriving on this terrain, it is the descent which takes the most courage, both for the seeker and for our higher self.

Perhaps it is time for the Patriarchal Gods to duck and cover, this is something the Goddess has been doing for a very long time. Perhaps it is time for the Goddess to be seen in full view in all her power for what she is, much to the confusion of modern man.

Compassion is the way down from the spiritual mountaintop, and being willing to receive those who come before us with love and compassion is the road ahead.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: