Awaken the Sacred Dream

The Moon Goddess and The Green Man

It was on the eve of May Day in 2008, when I had a dream of visiting a school where a celebration going on at the pool and many people were milling about visiting and enjoying themselves. I look across the pool courtyard and saw the door open from the building, and a huge Green Man, with the face, arms and legs of a man, and body of a tree, walks across the patio. I am in the water and I am hiding from him. I am afraid he will see me so, I look up at the sky and focus my attention at the moon, trying to become the moon. My face only shows out of the water and I imagine I will appear as the Moonlight reflecting on the water. The Green Man walks right over to me and bends down on his knee and extends his hand to me to help me out of the water, and as he extends his hand he tells me “I am your teacher”. I feel silly that I thought I could hide in the water pretending to be moonlight, from this powerful magical being. I am in awe and afraid at the same time.

One year later, I dream I am at the pool where the moonlight shines on the water.

I realize I am back in the dream of the Green Man.

Only this time I WAS the moonlight, not just pretending. The Green Man offered his hand to help me out of the water, and I flowed from moonlight into the form of a woman, which I now embody. I reflect on the beauty of my naked moonlit body. I am standing before the Green Man and he is still holding my hand. He once again tells me, he is my teacher, as in the original dream. He now offers his back for me to ride on. I climb on this Tree Man and holding his branches we fly upward to the moon. I am reminded of witches flying on broomsticks.

These beautiful dreams remind me how far I have come over the past 8 or 9 years when my dreams opened me to the wild masculine and becoming a moon goddess.

At the time, I was deeply afraid of these connections, because true power can be that way.

The Green Man appeared as a teacher and guide to help me learn not only how to become moonlight and transform into a goddess, but fly to the heavenly lunar realms. I am reflecting on this time of transition during Beltane, when the death of old man winter is honored and the rebirth of the young and vibrant, wild, masculine is reborn again as consort of the Goddess who brings fertility to the land.

This protective nature of the Green Man as consort is empowered through the sovereignty bestowed through the Goddess. This is ritual of death and rebirth, fertility and renewal, is a ritual of divine union known as Heiros Gamos. The joining together of the Moon Goddess and the Green Man is a sacred marriage of heaven and earth. These are protective powers which are much needed for the Earth at this time and future generations.

May the Blessings of Beltane carry us forth with respect for the land and love for one another, grateful for the past and mindful for the future.

Bird Goddess

Words from a Dream Visitor…

The crone cradles her cauldron with care and precision. Inside is held the mysteries yet untold and the transformative powers of death. She wears a bone mask from the head of a bird, a black cape covers her, so that the bird mask appears to dance about in the darkness.

She peers into the depth of the cauldron, a liquid brew of past, present and future. The glimmer of moonlight shimmers across the darkness held within. She leans in with her bird skull and begins to drink up the mysteries brewing there. She is drinking in the mysteries to become a vessel. Her womb no longer bleeds and the seeds of life, have all been washed away on rivers of blood and moonlight. Now she is left with darkness, and emptiness. Emptiness from the children she has raised, who now live their own lives. Emptiness staring down at her as the last phase of her life takes shape from the creative potential of darkness.

She is thirsty for what remains of her life and drinks up the mystery inside her. There are stories held there of experience and wisdom, presence and passion, courageous destroying and tender creating. She travels her inner worlds with ease and her journeys take her on paths of power, where she finds the cauldron of death and birth bubbling over with sorrow and laughter. She is able to drink it all in.

Dreaming the Future

When I was in my mid 20’s I had a precognitive dream, which saved my life, and I wrote about in my blog post, It’s Only Just a Dream. I have had many instances of dreaming the future over the past 40 years of keeping a dream journal. I find that it is not only common but entirely natural for us to do so. When you keep a dream journal and go back and look at your recorded dreams you may be surprised to find how many instances of precognitive information showing up.

But how do these dreams show up? Well in the case of the dream that saved my life, the dream came through with specific details and a visceral feeling of experiencing my own death. It felt very physical and it had many reality cues that told me this could happen in waking life. This is an important part of determining psychic information in dreams, by questioning if the dream could play out in waking life. Get as many specific details as possible from the dream, so that informed action can be taken. Sometimes the information presented in dreams can be psychic information intermixed with metaphorical imagery, and so it is important to realize that our dreams are multi-layered and can hold both precognitive and symbolic information. The dream which saved my life however was not about a symbolic death, and if I had viewed it that way, I may not be here right now. Since I am here to share with you, let me give you several examples of how precognitive dreams have shown up for me .

Years ago I was offered a position as Assistant Director at a non-profit organization where I volunteered. I was not so sure if this was a direction I wanted to focus my career at the time, so I asked my dreams to give me guidance. That night I had a dream of standing before a 3 tier water fountain with red rose petals floating in the water on each level. I woke from the dream feeling loved and blessed. It seemed a very good sign for me to take the position and so I did. Shortly there after, an event was organized to announce the new role I had been given as Assistant Director and when I walked into the atrium of the building, I found a three tier fountain with red rose petals floating in the water from a wedding that had taken place there the night before.

As someone living in Tornado Alley in Texas, I can tell you I have had many Tornado dreams over the years. Many of these dreams have been more related to big changes coming my way and times of upheaval beyond my control. I did have a dream however that was more specific and showed the biggest blackest Tornado I had ever seen and it was traveling down highway 35 North of Austin. I was told in the dream that this was an F5 Tornado, which at the time I had never heard of an F5 tornado because they used to be so rare. I decided not to go on a planned trip to drive to Austin that weekend based on this dream, and that very weekend the horrible F5 Tornado hit the small town of Jarrell, Tx. just North of Austin, Tx. on Hwy 35 and completely wiped out the town.

The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was dreaming about being in New York City and it was as if I was in the middle of a war zone. There were ashes coming down out of the sky and people running frantically through the streets in shock. I was conscious in the dream, aware I was dreaming and that I was there to help. A woman came over to me and told me she was so glad I was there. I looked at her and saw she was missing an arm. I realized she was dead and she did not even know it. I told her, “don’t you know you’re dead?” She looked down at her missing arm and realized it was true. I pointed her in the direction of a huge portal of light, bordered by two beams of bright blue light. I played the role of psycho-pomp to help guide her through the portal to the other side. Then I woke up! I thought it was one of the strangest dreams I had ever had. I got my kids ready and took them to school and on the way home, turned on the radio to hear the first plane had crashed the Twin Towers. I rushed home to turn on the Television and saw a scene that looked eerily like my dream of ashes coming down from the sky and people running frantically for their lives through the streets. The portal with the blue lights showed up 6 months later as the first memorial for those who lost their lives in the attacks.

I often dream of people before I meet them in physical form, and I have done so with several important mentors and teachers in my life, including my longtime friend and mentor, Jean Campbell who wrote “Group Dreaming: Dreams to the Tenth Power”. She has brought me into connection with dreams as social events, rather than just solitary metaphoric glimpses of the psyche. Dreams are a place where we can go to get together with others in this realm, and other realms of non-ordinary experience.

Keeping a dream journal and sharing dreams with others is one of the most helpful practices you can have if you want a stronger understanding and presence of dreams in your life. It can put you on the path of how dreams can help you to navigate and create your every day waking world.

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!

Transfiguration

The recent events at Standing Rock and the incredible energy gathering there with the largest tribal gathering in over 100 years, has me thinking of an important dream I had over 10 years ago. It was a vision actually.

I am holding hands with a Native American Elder and he stands to my left, I can see the color of his skin is the color of the red earth and the beautiful wrinkles on his skin from the many years he has lived. I never see his face, only focusing on the details of holding his hand. His energy is sweet and loving and the wisdom he has to share is nourishing. I feel so blessed just to be able to hold hands with this elder. We are standing holding hands as part of a larger circle that is so big I could not make out the faces of those who stood across from me. There is a pipe ceremony going on and I am offered the pipe by the elder who stands to my left as it is passed around the circle. I stop to notice in detail, the beautiful carving of the pipe before holding it to my heart as I offer my prayers up to spirit. I pass the pipe along the circle to the person on my right. I cannot see anyone standing there to pass the pipe along to, but I have faith that they are there.

humpback-whale1_1464958f

Now, I am under the ocean and I see a whale with her face pointed toward the surface of the water, with her tail pointed downward toward the earth. She is looking up into the stars through the surface of the water, pointing me to a constellation of the north star, the northern cross. I am hovering underwater just a few feet away. We make eye contact and then look up into the heavens together.

northern_cross_350

Now I am up in the stars and I see a configuration of stars below me that make up the northern cross, the backbone of the milky way. Cygnus, the swan, an ancient symbol of the Goddess in many cultures around the world, or Aquila the Eagle, sacred messenger of the Native American tribes. The energy seen there is the sacred heart of Jesus, yet the cross is so much more, it is a universal symbol that connects with every tribe. There is a tremendous amount of energy coming from the northern cross constellation and it looks like golden shooting stars headed for earth. It is the energy of transfiguration.

This vision speaks of unity, heaven and earth, stars and sea, young and old, nation, tribe and people, standing side by side, together in the world circle and a powerful shift whose time has come.

The pipe represents the world tree and the connection between heaven and earth, it was given as a gift to the Lakota people by Buffalo Calf Woman to protect the sacred hoop and the World Tree. It brings the balance of the female and masculine energies.When the pipe is passed to each of us in the sacred circle, may we honor those who came before us and hold the pipe with respect as we share our prayers and our dreams. In the end, the earth is our home and we must care for her and protect her. We must each become a Guardian of the Earth and a Water Protector. The water protectors in North Dakota are standing strong for all that is sacred right now. Where do you stand? Who do you stand with? Take your place in the sacred circle and continue the circle of life.

Looking inside our collective mirror

I woke from this dream the morning of the recent attack which left 5 Dallas police officers dead and 11 other wounded, including a peaceful protester in Dallas, Texas last week.

The Universal Collective Mirror 7-7-16

I am contacted by an activist friend, who wants me to help her plan a community meeting and find a venue to hold a large crowd. I see a community center which has a large pond outside the venue. I mention to her there is one in Oak Cliff, and she asks me whether it is safe to have it there. I say there are plenty of police and it is safe. I walk into the lobby of the community center and see there is a large circular mirror hanging from the ceiling and it is held by antique silver fittings with a lotus design cradled by spirals.

I hear a voice inside the mirror tell me, “Here you will gaze into the Universal Collective and see what is yours to do.” I look into the mirror and see a shiny clear surface and realize this is a space I can revisit to see what reflection is there for me.

I then find myself in another part of the community center, where there are art classes being taught and I decide to take a painting class and also am interested in perhaps taking a printmaking class. EOD

In the aftermath of the tragedy which struck Dallas, I have seen how much collective community reflection has been going on for all of us. I see how this is happening not only in our community but on a national scale and global scale. We are all facing troubling times and it can feel overwhelming to try and know what to do as an individual and as a consequence, feel unable to act. I feel it is vitally important for us to each know what is ours to do. This is the power of the collective and how we are all connected and that small acts really can make a difference. It can also focus our energies in productive and sustainable ways that benefits us and the collective at the same time, instead of getting caught in some kind of competition where envy and jealousy can get in the way. When we know what is ours to do, we no longer compare ourselves to others or need to marginalize them to make us appear better. Dreams can help us get a glimpse of what is ours to do and what actions we may take. This is an important part of what I teach as an Active Dream Teacher.

Synchronicity has also been at play for me this past week, as reflections of the collective seem to be revealing themselves in the fashion of the mirror. I recently read about an workshop being done locally on healing the sisterhood, which asks each participant to bring a hand held mirror. Today, I read of a huge action being planned at the Republican National Convention where 100 women will pose nude for world famous photographer Spencer Tunick. He will have them all holding mirrors during the photo shoot, titled “Everything She Says Means Everything,” 100 naked women will hold up large mirror discs that, according to the artist’s website, represent “reflecting the knowledge and wisdom of progressive women and the concept of ‘Mother Nature’” The intention of this action is to reflect this embodied divine feminine wisdom onto the RNC convention floor.

SpencerTunick

The dream also has a deeper more personal connection for me. The silver antique motif of the Universal dream mirror reflects the connection I share with a dear sister. When we first became friends over 12 years ago, we decided we wanted to pair up to offer a workshop for women. We talked about offering body centered, experiential work for women to help reveal the shadow and repair the rifts between women.

We met over coffee to begin planning the workshop and an energy came between us we could both sense. It was a very spiritual energy and inside this energy, we could both see a mirror hanging in mid air between us. We both talked about what we were experiencing and confirmed what we both saw. It was the presence of divine feminine energy joining in our planning meeting.

The next time we met to discuss our plans, we again felt the presence of the mirror, only this time for me, I could see in my minds eye it was an actual physical mirror located at an antique shop near us. I told my friend and we decided to go check it out. Upon entering, I walked directly over to a place in the shop, where there was a beautiful hand mirror hiding behind a plate. I turned the mirror over and found that on the other side, it held a design of three dancing goddesses. My friend also found her mirror, which matched what she was seeing in her vision. The antique silver frame motif from her mirror, now shows up on my Universal Collective Dream mirror.

Another interesting part of the Universal Mirror is how it showed up for me in my dream as a large circular mirror hanging from the ceiling in the lobby of a community center. My friend shared with me when she returned from Peru recently, that she had visited a room inside a cathedral where they had all these large antique mirrors that were tilted and hanging from the ceiling. It was said that it is a place where the energies of the universe are also looking through at us, just as we are also seeing them. This resembles exactly how the mirror in my dream was placed, it was tilted and hanging from the ceiling, and perhaps also, where the voice was coming from inside the mirror.

How to Grow Your Dreams

Dreams can become seeds of what wants to grow through us into the waking world. Sometimes the dream stalking us is our own power wanting to be born through the openness of the heart or the truth and beauty of our voice. Sometimes what is stalking your every footstep is justice, demanding our leadership toward more solidarity, equality and community.

Perhaps the dreams whispering in your ear, are the Earth herself. She calls you to remember your birthright as a sacred being among many other plants and creatures upon earth, air and water. She calls us back to her creative source to learn how to honor her once again, and remember what we each came here to do. This is an awakening of the sacred dream

The Dream Sister Lodge had their annual Spring Women’s Retreat recently in Oklahoma. A sacred circle of women growing their dreams and creating a community of sacred sisterhood through dream sharing, sacred ceremony, shamanic journeying, dream theater, earth based wisdom, play and laughter! Our circle grows ever stronger in connection with the power of sisterhood and discovery of the wild divine feminine.

The first gathering came together in the Fall of 2014 when seeds of intention were planted and met by even more care and nurturing from other sisters drawn to share in sacred space. Our sacred sisterhood continues to grow with Monthly Women’s Wisdom New Moon Circles in Dallas, Texas and annual retreats in the Spring and the Fall in Oklahoma. Each retreat seems deeper and more powerful than the last, and each brings new sisters into the circle, while the continuing threads of sisterhood and friendship continue to grow and blossom from old friends and new.

When we catch a bright dream in our journal with all her energy, feeling, color and detail, we can grow and nurture this dream consciously to blossom into the waking world. We water it with our feelings, and intuition and while drawing down the moon energy of the other worlds. The dream realms are the real world and the place where the waking world gets created. The waking world is the shadow world and we must marry it with our dreams brought to life through the sunlight of our heart and actions. Make sure the ground is tended and the soil is fertile through planting a dream into the ground of our intentions, while weeding out any negative thoughts, doubts or behaviors.

When you plant the garden of your dreams, you will want to dig deep within yourself to get to the really rich soil of soul. It is good to invite others to share in the vision of what you intend to grow, so that you can to draw like minded dreamers and helpers like hummingbirds, bees and butterfly to help pollinate and spread the seeds of your vision. Dream sharing offers the opportunity for a dreaming community to grow, where we can learn to share in the same dream and help it grow through shared effort and interaction. Nothing is ever really ours until we can give it away. Beauty is meant to be shared, and not kept for ourselves or get stuck competing against one another for the most sunshine! Let your dream seeds burst forth into the world and join the rest of creation in this Season of Spring!

Photo credit – Valley Reed. Above Left – Dream Seeds created and planted by Dream Sisters at the Crescent Moon Lodge in Rattan Oklahoma Spring Retreat. Above Middle – Dream Theater with Mother Lioness Caren Thompson birthing her cubs Alice Gilbert (left) and Lynn Walters (right) behind stand Lori Belcher, Jesse Roberts and Sarina Harz. Lower Left – Dream Sisters Alice Gilbert and Jesse Roberts mixing it up with the magic of mud to plant wildflower seeds of intention and planting big dreams! Our next Dream Sister Fall Retreat will be in Sept. or Oct. for more info visit www.chrysalishealingarts.org

Black Wolf Eats the Sun

The_Wolves_Pursuing_Sol_and_Mani

In my dream last night on the night of the New Moon and the Solar Eclipse, I encountered what was an aggressively wild black wolf. It came to my peaceful cabin alongside a river where I stood outside. The wolf approached snarling and showing it’s teeth. I was not afraid of the creature, I recognized it’s fierce and wild nature and knew it as a familiar. I welcomed the wolf into my home and as I did, it shapeshifted into a man. The wolf was there as my protector and ally and would live with me in the wild in my peaceful cabin by the river. He gave me information about who he is, that he is rooted in the Scandinavian stories of my Danish ancestors. Suddenly an army of men from another time approached and took captive of the wolf shapeshifter, taking him to a castle where he was to meet the king. The king demanded the wolf to be his protector and decreed the wolf would now be held there in service to the king. He was kept there because of his powers to shapeshift and the king wanted this power in service to his kingdom, instead of it being used against him. I visited the castle to plead for the release of the wolf, back to my care, in my time.

I explain he is no threat and being held against his will. The wolf shapeshifter looked at me with loving loyalty in his eyes and gratitude for trying to help him escape. It will now take stealth and planning to arrange his escape, the King will not let him go.

In researching the myths of my Nordic ancestors as hinted to in the dream, I find there are many important stories to consider. Berserkers were Norse Warriors who fought with a trance like fury and able to shapeshift into forms such as wolf or bear. The King was said to have kept them has his bodyguards.

The story of Skoll, recounts a warg (wolf ) which chases the Chariot of the sun across the sky, and during the solar eclipse is when the wolf catches up to devour the sun. Hati is the warg, who chases the chariot of the moon and devours her light during a lunar eclipse. Fenrir is the son of Loki and foretold to be the one who will kill Odin. He is the Father of the wargs Skoll and Hati who chase the sun and the moon across the sky each day and night. Fenrir is eventually caught by the Aesir ( a clan of Nordic Gods and Goddesses) and bound by magical ties and fettered with his mouth fastened open, from which the river Van (Hope) flows.

The wolves of these ancient tales were surrounded by prophecy at the edge of a time of great changes signaled in by the Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. The time when Odin would be defeated by Fenrir, as part of his destined prophecy. What hope flows from the mouth of this mythic wolf, that can now flow into our lives as we face great changes in our world? Perhaps that is the river besides which my little peaceful cabin sits in my dream of this time, in the world I now inhabit. I welcome the wolf beside me as a partner and friend. He is misunderstood because of his powers to shapeshift and his wild nature. There are many in power who want to control his powers for their own means. But eventually he will be released, he is not made for war. He is made for wildness. Perhaps that is why he has come, I welcome the wild and I am also a shapeshifter.

Lineage of the Star Kings

I am in the twilight zone, that liminal space between waking and sleeping where conscious dreams are discovered. I see myself wearing an unusual crown and I am standing in a line of kings, also wearing very similar unusual crowns. I notice I am the only woman standing in this line. I then go down the line and examine the crown and the face of each king until reaching the beginning of the line. I notice the first king of this line has an elongated skull, like those discovered in Peru. I notice as I move back down the line of kings, the size and shape of each person’s head are different, as are the crowns in each generation or era of this lineage. The crowns are similar, but each is slightly altered and unique for each era of kingship. The crown is not only passing on nobility, but it is also a form of inter-dimensional travel and communication. The crown I wear reaches down onto my forehead, with the oval shape of the vesica piscis surrounding my third eye. It is the only crown with this design.

MuseoLarcoCuscoPeru — Museo Larco, Cusco Peru

This dream has me thinking about a shamanic journey I did not long ago, where I found myself at a star gate. In my journey, I see only darkness, and then from the darkness comes crow. He pokes a hole into the darkness and opens into another realm. Crow stands before a stone portal with huge stones covering the top and around the sides, but then it is also carved to mark the doorway. Crow brings from somewhere what appears to be a gold bracelet, and places it into the center of the doorway where there is a round indentation for the gold bracelet to fit. The huge stone doorway begins to slowly open and a blazing bluish, white light shines through the opening.

StargatePeru

Now when I researched the image of the place I saw in my vision, I found it was from a place in Peru. The doorway also holds a circular indention in the center, and the stones and carving of the doorway are as I saw in my journey. I even discovered there was an interesting back story about how this gateway was discovered, which involved a tour guide who had been dreaming about this place for a year prior to ever discovering it.

There is also a legend of this being a stargate, that was used for interdimensional travel in a place known as the Valley of the Spirits near Lake Titicaca Peru. There once was a Incan Priest of the Temple of the Seven Rays, known as Amaru Meru. He fled from his temple when Spanish Conquistadors came to raid and pillage their culture with it’s riches of gold and jewels. Amaru Meru fled to the mountains and took with him the golden disc known as the “Key of the Gods of the Seven Rays”. In these mountains he came upon the stone stellar gateway guarded by Shaman priests. Amaru Meru presented the Shaman the key to the stargate in the form of the golden disc. The Shaman was able to assist in preforming the ceremony to open the stargate, by fitting the golden disc into the circular carved indentation located in the center of the massive stone door. A brilliant blue light shown through the opening and Amaru Meru stepped through the doorway, never to be seen again, but not before handing the golden disc to the Shaman Priest who stayed behind.

I discovered more in the Incan legends of the Solar Discs, that time is delineated into cycles of 1000 years with a ruler over each age. We are now moving into the 10th cycle which is prophesied as a return to the light, after a time of great darkness over the past 1000 years. It is a time when the energies will shift from being that based on the masculine to being rooted in the feminine energies. This prophecy seems to align with my dream of the 10 sacred kings reaching back through their lineage.

Die before you Die

The recent of losses of David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Glen Fry, have me contemplating death more than usual. I am grieving in some ways the loss of my youth. The music left behind during the 70’s and 80’s by David Bowie and the Eagles, was such an integral part of that time in my life. The actor Alan Rickman, who played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, has me thinking about my children when they were younger. They grew up watching Harry Potter movies, as well as “The Labyrinth” with Bowie, and they have now grown into young adults. These events have heightened for me a deeper vibe of change, that is causing me to look more deeply at the reality of death.

My own father died in 2008, and he has been paying me visits more often in my dreams now. In a recent visit, he showed me a photo of a Native American Indian Ancestor. He told me, “this is your ancestor”. In the photo, I see a strong man in the prime of his life, wearing buckskins and a few eagle feathers tied loosely in his long dark hair. He carries a pipe in his hands.

In the dream, I wish to speak with him and so I decide to enter into the photo consciously as a portal, enabling the photo to come to life and I now stand beside him in the dream space. I see the pipe he carries is turned toward his body, so that I cannot see what the pipe bowl looks like. I ask him, “Can you turn the pipe? I want to see what medicine you carry.” He responds by turning the pipe bowl, so that I can now see it clearly. It is a human skull. He tells me, “This is your medicine.”

My father once again visited me in my dream, just the other night and told me, “You need to meet your death” and then he handed me a pair of black handled scissors.

So what does it mean to meet your death? Does it mean I will be meeting mine soon? Perhaps, or maybe instead he is pointing at the medicine of my ancestor, that of death as a bringer of change and awakening, transformation and rebirth. The scissors he offered are also of note. It connects with the three fates, one of which cuts the life line with scissors when it is time to meet death.

Alkonost — “Prophetic Bird” by Andre Shishkin

Prophetic Bird Goddesss

In a recent gathering, I facilitated a conscious shamanic journey for a group of women who dream with the New Moon each month. Our intention for the journey was to connect with the Three Fates for a glimpse of the year ahead. During my drumming for the group, I saw a dark sky across which flew a large, dark winged bird with the head of a woman. She made a very loud cry as she flew across a dark mountain range and cried out three times. I felt she was meant to be the harbinger of death. She lands on a shore of this dark mountain range and I see myself standing before her. She is feeding me meat from her beak, like a momma bird to her chick.

I was previously unaware of the Slavic prophetic bird goddesses, until I dreamt with her in my journey, it appears the one I connected with was Alkonost, the messenger of sorrow. The image above of the painting, “Prophetic Bird” by Russian Artist, Andre Shishkin, looks much like the what I saw in my journey. I also did seem to understand that the dark mountain range was somewhere in Eastern Europe.

These dreams all had me thinking it was indeed time to meet my death, in the shamanic sense of die before you die. I reflected on the writings of Stephen Levine, who wrote about contemplating death in his book, “A Year to Live.” If you had but a year to live, what would you do? I found out the other day that he too, has crossed over. Die before you die means the time is now, to live your life fully, without fear or hesitation.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)

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