Tag: Dreaming with the Departed

Death Thresholds

I have noticed lately that feeling of death nearby. Tracking my scent like a psychopomp pup. I feel this presence as an old friend, as it accompanied me into this world when as a babe my mother attempted suicide. She was given twilight drugs during labor and afterwards stalked by post pardon depression. She told me once she felt they had stolen her birth experience from her, remembering nothing when she became conscious again. So I was born into this liminal space of memory and forgetting, despair and love, Birth and Death, the threshold between worlds.

A few years later at age two, that threshold visited again while I sat happily on the yellow laminate floor in the play room with my four year old brother, who suddenly suffered a brain aneurism and went into a coma. They took him away to the hospital and I recall siting on that yellow floor all alone, not knowing what happened, but afraid I had lost my closest friend. He was in a coma for quite some time, and when he surfaced again, he had to learn to talk all over again. We learned together. I recalled traveling in dreams to visit him in the hospital, while he was in a coma, because I wondered where he had gone. There in dreaming, we could talk to each other all we wanted.

I noticed as a young child, that otherworldly place felt like home. I could communicate easily with animals, and see spirits and energies around me and others. One day, I was sitting in the cornfield next to our house crying. It was one of my hiding places when things got violent in our home. As I sat in the dirt crying, I noticed two of my friends had joined me. Two Natives spirits on the land where we lived in West Texas. One of them approached and pointed to the ground, and told me to dig. I began digging in the place where he had shown me, and to my surprise discovered a silver treasure, of a perfume vase with an Aztec calendar embossed on the front, and a lid with a garnet stone. This gift showed me that spirits are real, and not imaginary. I learned quickly that the gifts we hold can be taken away from those who are envious, when I ran toward my house to show someone my gift, I ran into my older sister who snatched it from my hand and claimed it was hers. She still has it to this day, along with her envy, refusing to give it back.

As a young woman on my own, I dreamt of seeing my own death, and was able to take action to avoid tragedy, based on guidance within the dream. My niece passed last Fall after a lengthy illness, but prior to her last visit to the hospital, I dreamt she would enter the hospital and die there. A week later the call came letting me know she was in the hospital. Dread filled me, hoping this time my dream would not be a harbinger of coming events. Later after her passing, she visited in a dream looking for guidance in the afterlife, asking me, what now? I summoned my dear departed friend and teacher Baba Ifayomi to join me in the dream and assist my niece in crossing over. He showed up immediately and said, I got you baby girl, and swiftly guided her to the other side. My niece is now a beloved ally on the Otherside, who dreams with me often.

When Baba Ifayomi was Earthside, he reached out to me to become part of a healing community of teachers he was envisioning, I felt honored to be included to sit in circle with a gathering of healers from many traditions from Yoruba, Mayan, Korean, the Philippino, and from my own Celtic Northern European roots. We did ceremony together to set in motion growing a diverse community of healers. Baba was excited for the potential of what could emerge from this collaborative cross cultural approach. One day, while at home, I heard Babas voice come through my altar, and he said to turn on the TV. When I did I saw a news report where an armed man was at a home I recognized as Babas’. There were reports that the shooter had already shot someone in the home. It turned out the Godson of Baba was staying with him, and he was a war Veteran with PTSD and having an episode, and was the shooter. My beloved Baba passed on, and had reached out to me to let me know. After the home going ceremony to send him off, I had a dream in which he visited that same night. I greeted him in the dream, and he took from me a contract I had in my hands, that read, Civil Rights, and he said, you don’t have to do this anymore. He then gave me a contract that read healer.

After I sold my house after raising my two children there as a single mother, I dreamt of driving to my old house. When I entered, I found another version of myself who was thriving and still lived in the house. We looked out the windows of the sunporch together and saw an eerie creature come up from the creek into the back yard and greet us where we stood. He introduced himself as the death king. He had ice cold blue eyes and reptilian skin, and a deep timeless presence that was foreboding. As I stood there together with a parallel version of myself, I was told by the death king I didn’t have long to live. The parallel self offered to exchange some of her life energy for me, if I would offer her some of the mystic wisdom I had attained by following my dreams. The exchange was made and a timeline reset, I emerged with more vital energy returned, and a lengthened timeline through an energy exchange with a parallel self. It was a good trade, and I was grateful.

I once dreamt of hovering over the tomb of Osiris, and heard the words repeated, die before you die. This profound wisdom felt familiar, like a place I knew well. The gift of being reborn after traversing the underworld.

Not long after this dream, I had a severe car accident and had a TBI where I could not talk the next day. It felt like a death, where I had to remake myself all over again. I struggled for years to regain memory, social engagement, comprehension, speaking and reading abilities. I did this by devoting myself fully to the path of the healer, as a guide and dream teacher with drumming and healing work.

This happened nine years ago during eclipse season in August. Here we are again on the cusp of eclipse season in August, and I feel death breathing down my neck again.

The guides who have accompanied me in my underworld journeys include Persephone who entered my dream and said, If you never plant the seed, the tree will never grow. She broke open the Pomegranate and planted a seed in the underworld, and a tree grew tall and strong like Magic. In the darkest times, in the darkest places, the seed of our destiny finds a way to thrive and grow. Because in making the journey, we know the way to guide others when it is their time to make the long journey, or even return Earth side, if they can negotiate a way to lengthen their lifespan. The spiral circles round and lessons return, and death comes near as an impeccable teacher and guide. When death arrives, Remember to Die, before you Die, so that you may live with more heart and courage towards the path of destiny. A path unknown perhaps, and once followed life becomes like entering a dream, where opening to the mystery is a path to destiny.

The Ancestors Are Dreaming

In a depth dream workshop today, we invited the ancestors to join us on conscious dreaming adventures, guided by the sound of the drum, and explored sacred lands of the ancestors, and entered the dreams our ancestors have for us.

Scottish Highlands Stag

Sacred Lands

My journey began with a beautiful Stag, who continues to show up more and more often in waking and dreaming realities. The stag leaped through time and space carrying me deeper into the otherworld. I found myself standing upon the Scottish Highlands with stag, and then taken into the North country of my Scandinavian ancestors and looking at the Northern Lights. I was taken deeper into the North country through deep forests and into an icy cave, where I came across a blonde haired ancestor, who I was told is related to my Norwegian Great Grandmother, Christie Kelstrom.

Norway Northern Lights

Deeper inside the cave was a man who looked Asian, and wore furs on his head and is body. He was also related, but much further back. I have seen him before in dreams and know him as one among the Siberian people. In my dreams previously, I was introduced to this lineage of ancestors who taught me how to raise the elemental energies, and stir the sea to bring up the bones of my ancestors. I was introduced to a female shaman in my dream who came to help me remember this part of my lineage. In this journey, my ancestral teacher came to remind me of my spiritual gifts that are connected with weather magic, able to raise elemental energies for protection and abundance. He showed me I am also connected to Cosmic Energies and pointed to the Milky Way. He drew upon the Cosmic energies to bring them down to Earth, able to activate underground ley lines with incredible blue light, which I could how far it spanned from my longer view from above.

The Ancestors Are Dreaming

The journey inside the Dream of the Ancestors, brought the presence of bear to guide me deeper into dreaming. The bear took to a cave and entered dreaming, and I understood this is how I may enter the dreams of my ancestors. I saw a dark haired woman who stood before a fire, and was making ritual offerings and prayers to the growing fire. I was aware she is connected to the French Basque people in my lineage through my grandmother Helen Larrabee. I saw her connection to the ancient indigenous people of Europe and how they lived close to the Earth and are known as the first witches. They have deep magic rooted in the elements, and weather magic, through which they live in harmony with nature and are able to protect their community and their crops. This is not unusual magic, it is just the way of things. I see a meadow with flowers and I am walking across looking at the bees in each flower until I come to a massive beehive hanging from the branch of a tree. As I move towards the hive, I am aware of many women ancestors who stand behind me and the dreams they have for me are held in this hive. They wish for me a sweet life. I see this honey also feeds the bear that also holds the dream, and stands around me to protect me. I see the bear will teach me about healing and plant medicine.

Ancestral Dream Hive

I hone in on the hive that holds the dreams of my matrifocal line. It is filled with a rich amber honey, and holds both sweetness and health benefits, I can hear the intense buzzing sound, and feel the vibrations in my body, An ancestor tells me, we are dreaming of a sweet and healthy life for you. I am aware inside the hive, that there are so many dreams held there, a portal into the dreams of my ancestors.

I will return to dream into this potent portal again in my night time dreams with dream incubation. As I move to return to the tree of life, I am riding on a huge reindeer, who has many following behind, flying through the sky. When I return to the tree of life, it has now grown huge and reaches up to the Milky Way. I am home.

Dreaming on the Other Side

By Valley Reed

I walked into the local watering hole the other night for some open mic fun, and sat myself down at the bar to order a glass of wine. Sitting there taking in the scene, I notice a man down the bar from me who looks positively terrified after making eye contact with me. I then notice he is crossing himself and praying, before looking up at me once again, as I am met with a look of someone who has just seen a ghost. I decide to go over and let him know I am not a ghost, and reassure him he is not being haunted. He was visibly shaken and showed me a photo of his departed wife, who to my eyes, looks nothing like me, and then showed a photo of his 9 year old daughter, who he also lost. It was a sad story which had taken it’s toll on his soul to have incurred such a loss of his family. He certainly brightened up during our conversation and I began to feel that the presence of his departed wife was close by me, and that was who he was seeing when he looked at me. I have never been mistaken for a ghost before, but this is the time approaching when the veils between the worlds thin, and departed spirits walk amongst the living.

In traditions such as Dias De Los Muertos celebrating departed loved ones with colorful altars and favorite food and drink is a way to feed not only the memory of the departed, but also keep them happy, so as to not have them hanging around when they are not wanted. It’s just like when you invite friends over to your house for dinner, and when you are done you expect them to go home again. Beyond celebrating the memory of departed loved ones, there are other connections to explore through our night time dreams where departed loved ones show up.

diasdelosmuertos

The Departed may still be among us and not realize they are dead, they may need assistance in helping them to cross over to their soul’s ongoing journey. The morning of 9-11-2001, I woke from a dream where I was in NYC and it looked like a war zone. There were ashes raining down from the sky and people running around in chaos and fear. A woman came up to me and told me how glad she was to see me there. I looked at her and said, but don’t you know you are dead? She looked down at her hand which was no longer part of her body and knew it was true. At that point a portal of light opened up and I helped guide her through the portal. EOD

I woke from this dream shaken, but had to get up and take my young children to school. On the drive back home, listening on the radio, I heard what was actually taking place in New York City that morning. I went home and turned on the T.V. and saw some of the images from my dream playing out in front of me.

PortalofLight

In dreams, the departed can visit us and may often appear in the guise of a younger happier time in their life. Visitation dreams from the departed can bring timely information about future events that may play out, from health advisories to stock tips.  I often smell cookies baking, when my grandmother visits me in dreams, who was a sweet as she smells, and loved to bake. It alerts me on a sensory level to the energy of her spirit visiting me, and the very real nature of her presence.

Ancestral dream visits can also bring through lost lineage or ancestral wisdom, as well as spiritual gifts or talents that have been passed down to you through the family tree, but perhaps not yet developed or cultivated in this life. My Grandfather who played fiddle music by ear, once presented me with a mandolin in a dream and told me I needed to learn to play. I have also dreamt of lost family connections, showing where Native American Ancestry are located on my family tree through my great grandmother on my paternal side. Which may also explain the many Native American guides which appear in my dreams frequently.

Dreaming with the departed also offers us the opportunity to experience reunion with loved ones or healing difficult relations toward reconciliation and forgiveness. This can be on a collective ancestral level or on an individual level specific to your relationship. My relationship with my father had much left unsaid when he passed, but through dreaming I was able to bring through forgiveness and reconciliation for us both.

Sometimes in cases of sudden death or difficult relationship losses, we may experience soul loss where part of our energy goes away with the one we love. Dreams may show locals where you are still living with a departed spouse or ex-lover. You want to be sure and bring back all of your energy through soul recovery and dreams are the best doorway through which to travel, to bring back lost soul energy into this realm. My ex-husband passed many years ago, and in waking life he had addiction problems. In the afterlife, he was still hanging around to fill his addictions through the living, and in fact took part of my energy with him into the afterlife, because he was so afraid to go there alone. Through the dreams that came during this time, I was able to re-enter my dreams for the purpose of soul recovery with the help of my teacher Robert Moss, to reclaim the parts of me that had gone missing, which included several of my younger selves from ages 4-11. I was also able to then help my ex-husband cross over into a higher realm of soul, where he was met with beloved family members and did not need to be afraid or cling to the living.

In Dreams, you can travel to explore the afterlife with departed loved ones and gain a glimpse toward understanding the other side. The departed can become helpful dream guides in this life and the afterlife.