Destiny – Awaken the Sacred Dream

Finding and Protecting Spiritual Gifts

Dreams are profoundly important with the voices that inform my journey, and the experiences that guide me. The visions and voices do not stop for me when the Sun rises, I have had these gifts since I was a child.

Dig Here

I would often hide in the Summer Corn Field next to our house as a child, or the hayloft in the barn. The cornfield was closer, and I could enter another world of shade and long green stalks like trees all around me. A place where I felt protected from the West Texas Sun in Summer, and the chaos of family violence that often broke out in our home.

On this day I was hiding from both. I found comfort from the spirits of the land, two native spirits came close, standing over me as I sat in the dirt brooding. One pointed at a spot in the dirt and said, Dig Here.

I scootched over and began digging. Under the Earth a glimpse of silver appeared. I uncovered a round silver treasure embossed with an Aztec Sun calendar. It had an amethyst stone lid that topped a silver dabber for perfume. I was so excited to find my treasure, that I hurried inside to show someone, and ran into my older sister at the gate to the back yard, who was angrily walking away from the house. I showed her what I found, and held out my little hand. She grabbed it from me, and said, that’s mine!

She took my treasure, but not my vision. She lied to me for years, each time I asked her to return it, saying she never had it. Not long ago, she finally admitted that she had it all this time, but when I asked her to return it, she refused. My Sister has always been envious of my gifts and treasures, and believes she deserves them more than me. One thing she can never take away are my gifts of clairaudience and clairvoyance, one who can hear and see the spirits. She is not the only one who would try to take away my gifts, if I let them. It is important to know who to share your treasures with, whether it be a dream, or a vision, a visitation, or spirit whispers. Hold these close to your heart, and cultivate your gifts in creative ways.

Run!

Another message I was given, was in 2006, during the March to Redeem the Soul of America, where I organized a 200 mile March from the Exxon Mobile Global Headquarters in Irving, Texas to the Crawford Peace House in Crawford, Texas, home to the Western White House of George W. Bush. During the course of the March over two weeks, we went on back country roads through deep red conservative communities. One road on the way to Hillsborough, we were on the shoulder of the road and I held a banner at the front of the March. I felt someone or something pull my shirt tugging me backwards and said, Run! I immediately turned around and began running fast as I could, past all the marchers, yet not knowing why I was running. I saw a white car who had just driven past us, turn around in the road and began to drive on the shoulder of the road right towards all the marchers to run us over! Luckily, I paid heed to the voice of the protective spirit who turned me around and had me running towards the vehicle that was trying to run us over! When they saw this crazy woman running towards their car, they were so surprised, they turned around and drove off down the road in the opposite direction instead!

Valley Reed and Daughter Delaney Clark at the
March to Redeem the Soul of America 2006

Turn On the TV

One day while home alone in my apartment, through my altar I clearly heard the voice of a dear friend say, Turn On the TV! When I did, I saw a terrible event playing out at the home where my friend resided. There was a shooting, and police were called. I felt helpless to do anything as the police were getting ready to send in a robot to kill the shooter inside the house. Moments later the robot entered and everyone in the hoe was declared dead. The police said my friend, Baba Ifayomi, was already dead, but there was no way to confirm this. I believe Baba wanted me to witness the injustice taking place when he reached out to me via my sacred altar.

Days after the home-going ceremony for Baba, I had a dream where he took from my hands a contract which read Civil Rights, and he gave in return a contract that read, healer. He told me you don’t have to do this anymore, this is your sacred contract. Baba was a healer himself, and a Civil Rights Activist,we had conversations about how tired he was of doing activism, and how much he wanted to grow a diverse community of healers from all Earth Based traditions. He invited me into this circle of healers, and we had big dreams for what we would create together. He handed over his dream, for me to carry on and bring together. Monday, May 19th marks 8 years since his Home-going.

Months later, I attended a fire ceremony within the Yoruba community, as a new Baba was coming forth to lead. The space was celebratory and somber at the loss of their beloved Baba, and the potential leadership of the new. The night before attending the ceremony, I had the following dream,

“A seed was placed in the center of my brain, and from it grew healing and wisdom, which spread throughout my brain. This brain change, enabled me a growing understanding of the indigenous mind and the language of seeds.”

Seed of Destiny

Now I sat next to the divination tray where the divination would take place from the palm seeds. The seeds are an embodiment of Orunmilla, the Orisha who devised divination with Ifa. I was curiously drawn to the palm seeds next to me, and as I drew my attention closer, I heard from deep within me, Seed of Destiny, recreated over and over. The reading that came through honored the powerful magic that women hold, and all that is born through Women. My magic is tied up with the seed of Destiny, and continuing the circle of healers is the legacy of the dream that Baba left behind. Ase’

The Lot of Oneiroi

The Spirit of the Place

June, 8th 2024

On a recent flight to the Netherlands to attend the IASD annual dream conference, I caught a couple hours of sleep before landing in Amsterdam. I found myself in a lucid dream and flew out the airplane window, and over the clouds to see the shore emerge below. There at the Atlantic shore near Amsterdam, was a blue vortex of energy, and within it I saw Lucid Dream Teacher Ryan Hurd. He was tossing energy up into the sky as a kind of beacon, to make sure dreamers could locate him, and know where to go in the dreamsphere. I decided this looks like fun, and I joined him in the light blue energy vortex, I said, I wanna play!

I tossed the energy up as blue ribbons of energy arched in the sky. They reminded me of aurora borealis. I was surprised to see Ryan in my dreams, as he had never appeared previously, and I have not studied with him, nor do I know him very well.

When I actually arrived at my destination for the International Association for the Study of Dreams conference at Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade, Netherlands, my first encounter was with a Jackdaw perched in an arched window. I enjoyed our interaction as we spoke to one another and he was rather chatty with me. I acknowledged this interaction as engaging with the spirit of the place. I took a photo as a fond memory, and to my surprise, I found the appearance of the light blue energy streaming like a ribbon across the photo. A synchronicity that resonates with my lucid dream of the energy vortex.

Spirit of the Place; Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade, Netherlands
Photo Credit: Valley Reed

I then found my way to my room and looked out the window to see the chapel steeple in full view with a clattering of jackdaws flying the winds. I woke to their Raven like cooing voices each morning.

Oneiroi Circling Rolduc Abbey Chapel
Photo Credit: Valley Reed

During the conference a favorite presentation was on Astrology and Dreams by A.K. Katok. He shared about the three fates of the Greek Moirai, and the Goddess Ananke or Necessity. He talked about how our Lots in life are shown on our astrology chart in how we were born into this life. He began to focus not only on the Lot of the Damion, but also the lesser known Lot of Dreams. The presentation pulled my string of curiosity for sure. I spent the evening doing further research into the Lot of Dreams, the Lot of Destiny, and the lot of the Daimon. I decided to incubate a dream to be shown the Lot of Dreams. I had the following dream.

The Lot of Dreams

I see a staircase with black and white tile, and hand rail with arabesque designs swirling upwards. The staircase resembles those found at the Abbey. I see an otherworldly figure on the staircase, walking up the stairs.

She is dark with a green patina, a statue come to life. She is small in stature, half the size of a stair step. She is very pregnant, and with a hand held under her belly, she supports her baby in her womb. The other hand is on the staircase railing as she climbs each step with great effort and determination. She knows she will get there, she has no other choice, she has a baby coming soon. She stops to rest and looks over at me. She sees me, and I see her. I am seen by her round white eyes, that look so familiar.

I woke from the dream and attempted to paint the image I saw for my Lot of Dreams. Her round white eyes, and her pregnant belly, the black and white tile, her small stature and the green patina as remnants of the past, stood out for me. I was curious about her eyes and how they looked at me.

Lot of Oneiroi, 2024 Rolduc Abbey
Watercolor painting by Valley Reed

I finally understood where those eyes had seen me before. I recalled the Jackdaw encounter I had when greeting the spirit of the place. The eyes are the same, and in reflecting on my painting, I notice her skirt resembles a bird wing or tail. Her green black hue resembles the hidden colors of the jackdaw, and even the shape of her head is similar, and her small height is more birdlike too. This magical otherworldly creature that is the Lot of Dreams, carries the stories of old as a statue would, and is both human and bird like. According to Homer, the Oneiroi were described as a flock of dark winged spirits of dreams. The Oneiroi passed through two gates, one made of Horn as the place of prophetic or true dreams, the second made of Ivory as the gateway of illusion or false dreams.

The mystery continues to unfold, as I had scheduled time with A.K. to go over my chart and discuss the Lot of Dreams and the Lot of the Daimon.

During the course of our meeting, I discovered an error in my chart, and while we went over the chart that was incorrect, I began to feel ill, like I was sinking, or drowning and there was no way out. It was then I noticed the mistake and once my chart was corrected, I felt the return of my strength and stability immediately. I wondered what was going on with this story I had been studying that was not my birth chart.

I recalled another story, where my mother had a twin in her womb with me who did not survive. In waking life, this was possible since my mother was given what was called twilight sleep to relieve the pain of childbirth. The medicine she was given means she was unconscious when she gave birth.

The twilight sleep I know however, is a lucid dreaming state. It so happens, the story of the twin had come to me by a lucid dreamer, known as PasQual, who I had never met previously, She is located in the Netherlands, and I in Texas, and were connected through a mutual friend who had emailed the dream.

We ended up collaborating on a presentation called “Stranger Dreaming” at an online IASD Psiberdreaming Conference in 2019. Around the same time the dream was initially shared, within days, echoes of this story had emerged in my waking life, where on two separate occasions, twin stories emerged. One of a twin carried in the womb of her mother who did not know she was having twins. The other was of a twin, who after the death of her mother, she found out the horror of her mother being held in a WWII concentration camp, and was made to incinerate infants.

Now that I am here in the Netherlands and exploring the Lot of Dreams, the story of the womb twin has resurfaced again, and may be showing up as two birth charts.

The story of the Goddess Nyx has also come through in connection with the figure dreamed for the Lot of Oneiroi. Nyx is the Goddess of Night, is a primordial Greek Goddess who created the Earth, the Sky and Sea from her cosmic egg. She is one of the first deities to exist. She is described as a black robed Goddess who lives at the ends of the Earth and drives through the sky in her chariot pulled by horses.

She is the mother of Moros (doom), Ker (destruction) Thanatos (death) Hypnos (sleep) Oneiroi (dreams), Momus (blame), Oizys (pain, distress), Hesperides (nymphs of evening), the Moirai (fates), Nemesis (retribution), Apate (deceit), Philotes (Love), Geras (old age), and Eris (Strife). She is mentioned as the mother of Hecate who delivers prophecies from the adyton, which can be an innermost temple, or cave.

Nyx as the mother of both fate, and dreams, seems a fitting image of how we may see the Lot of Dreams, through the Mother. In my case, the story of my own mother emerged, a story hidden from view that contains many other elements such as Thanatos, Oizys, Moirai, Apate, Hypnos, Eris, and Pilotes.

Womb Dreaming

The amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus is a protective boundary that holds the amniotic fluid. A watery dream realm within the uterus. When the fetus is born through the birth canal and has a face covered by the veil of the amniotic sac, it is considered to be a child protected and connected to the otherworld. One who sees with second sight beyond the veil, destined to be a healer, oracle, and seer.

When we dream from the womb, we are able to see into our matrifocal lineages, and reclaim the powers of the deep feminine. Dreaming from the womb is a portal into the past, the present, and the future, like the wisdom of the three fates who guard the cauldron at the roots of the tree of life. The womb is the cauldron of life, and when we are born, the first thread is cut from the umbilical cord between mother and child. We go from being a watery creature who breathes under water, to an Earth-side creature who breaths the air.

The Selkie

The story of a Selkie Woman is known in Ireland and Scotland, and it talks of a female Seal, able to shift from a Seal under the sea, to a Woman on land. She does this by removing her seal skin, or cowl, and she becomes land bound. If someone steals her seal skin, she cannot return to her watery home below the waves.

As the story goes, a man finds her seal skin and uses this power to demand she marry him. He hides away her powers and she loses a part of herself to become his wife. She bares children with him who have webbed toes and fingers. She cannot lose who she is completely. After staying with him for 7 years, she discovers the hiding place of her Seal skin. She immediately kisses her children goodbye, and takes her leave. Her soul longing takes her back to the sea, where she puts on her true skin. She dives under the waves once again and is gone. She has returned to her natural state, and no longer a hostage to the ways of Man who would try to own her. She morns the loss of her Earthbound children, but is reunited with her own soul, and her Seal family under the sea.

The gift of the Selkie is the ability to live in multiple worlds, and to see beyond what others may see or accept. The lesson of the Selkie is not to allow anyone to hold you hostage for their own selfish benefit, and hiding your power away in order to do so. Reclaiming the wisdom of the womb powers and returning to our soul gifts is the longing of the soul heard in the sounds of the waves, and call of the sea. She Dreams inside the Womb of the Mother, held by the Earth Mother. This ocean of dreams is a watery womb, and her true home.

Meeting Death and Reclaiming Timelines

The threads of our lives are held by a web that connects us all, woven through dreams, stories, soul memory, breath, and bone. Held in a place we have never been, yet feel a sense of belonging, or encountered in Deja vu. Heard in tacit wisdom that comes through the mouth from a deeper place within us, yet unknown to us until spoken aloud. Glimpsed in the heart when we meet a soul friend, or lover, and have infinite love and knowing of the soul before us. Felt in the gut of intuition, and telepathic flashes of information. We know more than we know. Our Dream double roams multidimensional reality, until being tucked back into the physical body upon waking. However, stories of the Dream Double are also said to appear as a precursor to one’s death.

In waking reality, most have agreed to let the intellect and personality take over for a ride on this Karmic wheel of life, where many have constructed realities without benefit of our dreams or soul wisdom. Hierarchy is the popular Spiritual design in this worldview based on power and control. A design that is crumbling and Empires are dissolving. Consensual waking reality is based on the power of the rational intellect, at the expense of the creative compassionate wisdom of the Soul as found in dreams.

We may have more than one soul, and exist in many worlds. Dreams come and go, as does the soul, when we enter the realm of sleep every night. We collaborate with our parallel selves who exist on other timelines unfolding from other choices made at different crossroads in life. When these timelines are near in dreaming, we can merge with our lived experiences to benefit from lessons learned and life mastery.

The Night King 2020

I am driving in my old neighborhood and stop to get gas on my way home. I arrive at my home, and walk into the sunroom overlooking the creekside back yard. I see a mysterious blue light moving from the creek up the path towards my house. The presence draws near enough to see before me, is the Night King (as seen in the Game of Thrones on HBO). I ask, “Who are you and why are you here?” He responds, “I am your death.” I am shocked, and look around searching for answers. I see another version of myself standing next to me. She is a mother and career woman who is pragmatic, healthy, and successful. She devotes all of her energy to her family and career, but she has little knowledge of her soul, or dreams, or mysteries, or magic. She has physical, financial, and mental energy to spare. I on the other hand have followed the path of soul, dreams, mysticism, but my financial fortune, health and mental energies, have been swallowed up in a world that does not value these realities. My parallel self and I make an exchange of energies to increase the supply of life vibrancy and soul purpose. The Night King is satisfied by this exchange of energy that has extended the life contract for us both.

This dream came in 2020 during the pandemic, when I was struggling physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally. Afterwards, I felt my physical, mental, and emotional resources restored. I was recruited to work for a community college in South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, and found a new career as a grant writer that has secured my financial future. I had sold my home in 2014, where I raised my children, and this dream visit to my prior home helped to bring closure and reoriented me to the importance of self care and strengthening my life. I had stepped onto a new timeline.

The pandemic was a time when many were faced with life or death challenges, and lost loved ones. Many lost jobs and businesses, and had to remake themselves and their livelihoods. In 2021, the housing crisis began, and prices continue to rise as the lack of affordable housing declines. Destiny may call for us to dream into new time lines, and recover resources from parallel selves as we navigate these times of great change. We face big threats of climate disasters, gun massacres, genocide, war, and authoritarian sociopolitical movements based on hatred and global power. Collaborative Dreaming includes meeting our own death, and reclaiming our destiny, in connection with our embodied multidimensional wisdom.

Following the Rivers and Stars of My Life

The Canoe is your Life 11-13-10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Galaxies in my hands 11-7-10

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

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

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

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