Dreams – Awaken the Sacred Dream

Chrysalis of the Soul

The word Chrysalis stems from the Greek “Khrysos” meaning Gold. The form created to contain the stage of metamorphosis from pupae to butterfly, is often seen with flecks of gold on its exterior. A container of Alchemy.

The Art of Transformation

The Soul inhabits liminal spaces such as Dreams, as a bridge between worlds. A space where we may access more than we know, and become what the Soul knows, beyond the everyday concerns of identity navigating the material world, and instead embodying our authentic nature. The Soul is here to help us remember our deeper story, like the wings of a butterfly emerging from the Chrysalis. In dreams, we are not limited to the physical body and can fly beyond time and space. These midnight excursions can prepare us for the transition to the afterlife, when our ancestors come to greet us.

The butterfly appeared in dreams when both my Mother and my Father crossed over. When my father passed, I woke up my teenage daughter to let her know he had died. She was dreaming, and said, I know, he told me, and then she spoke the exact time he crossed over. She later shared this dream with me.

Butterfly Tree

There is a tree in the backyard, covered with butterflies. Grandpa is sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of our ancestral house. Mom and me are there to say goodbye as he nears death. We tell him we love him and hug him goodbye. A butterfly from the tree flies over and lands on his shoulder, and he crosses over. He transforms to a younger version of himself and walks across a river where his mother and siblings on the other side are there to greet him.

Afterwards I go into the house of the ancestors and walk upstairs to a library. There in the library, an Appaloosa horse greets me, and a Native looking grandfather is also there. There are many books in the library, inside the house of the Ancestors.

The following dream came months before my Mother passed.

Midnight Butterfly

I am dreaming with a huge butterfly with wings the color of a deep midnight blue. There is magic in these wings. The butterfly comes through my body and out the top of my head and there are four dimensions of this midnight butterfly seen and felt deeply. It is a feeling of the soul leaving the body, like when I go dreaming. The immense energy I feel in the dream, is a mystery to me of what it could mean.

Later, when my mother is in a coma at the doorway of death from dementia, there are no family members there to say goodbye, everything is shut down due to COVID in 2020. I feel the need to bare witness and say goodbye to our Mother for all of my siblings. I gently rub her arm as I thank her for bringing us all here, and her love and care for us all. I tell her it is ok for her to go. As I am touching her arm, I feel her soul energy move through my arm and into my heart and out the top of my head and see the wings of a midnight butterfly migrate away, carrying the four dimensions of love in connection with her four children, her soul carries this love with her into the afterlife.

What of the ancestors and the patterns of trauma that we inherit across generations? Can these patterns be altered? This dream came to inform me of how this may work.

Butterfly DNA

I am dreaming, and splicing the DNA sequence of butterflies, repairing a weak sequence and sewing it back together with a stronger ancestral sequence. I saw the overall DNA sequence as a fabric folded over and over and over again, with a dense grid material like a window screen.

In the DNA sequence repair, I cut the weak link with my mother’s sewing scissors. My view then became hyper focused, and it appeared like editing a sound recording and mixing it together with the preferred experience. In my dream, I was aware the repair process was about editing ancestral DNA, and the generational migration of the embodied soul path being supported in a stronger way.

Recent scientific research published by the National Science Foundation indicates gene editing butterfly wing color patterns reveal that “removing the gene that produces an RNA molecule that controls where dark pigments are made during metamorphosis inside the Chrysalis, causes butterflies to completely lose their black pigment scales, showing a link between RNA activity and dark pigment development. “

Migration

The butterfly is long associated with the transmigration of the soul journey, and welcomed in Mexico as a return of the soul when the monarch butterfly makes its migration journey. The return is seen as the soul of departed relatives, and remembered through the Dias De Los Muertos ceremonies and celebrations. This migration path of the Monarch may take 3 generations to complete. Once when looking at Monarchs flying over my house in Texas as they flew South, I was able to see the energetic grid they followed to their migratory path home. It reminds me of the layers of screen like material folded over and over I was cutting to edit my Ancestral DNA. This energetic grid connects us all, and is one we can travel in dreams to find our way home.

This migration path lets us know that we are linked to journeys and stories beyond our individual lives, that began long before we arrived, and that we may have the chance to complete a story which began long ago by our ancestors. We all have a soul purpose and a destiny to live out, and this includes our ancestral stories. For many of us this means ending cycles of trauma that have been carried across generations, and also reclaiming gifts brought forth from our ancestors.

Two Ravens on a Tree

Enter dreaming each night

on the cusp of sleep.

Step swiftly into sweet reverie,

Encounter more than you know.

Bidden by intentions,

Dreams respond

to questions

that untangle the soul.

Throw out a rope

get pulled ashore,

before you drift

too far from home.

Drop a line

to practical solutions,

when you get caught,

hung up.

Step inside choices,

where guidance.

at the crossroads

are voices

blowing by

of past and future

Not knowing why

which way

or where to go.

When dreaming,

the mind drops

into deep collaboration

with wholeness.

Pouring emotions

into scenes

and settings

that can hold all of us.

Travel in far memory

and curiosity

to places outside of time.

Fly with wings above it all

and rise with the winds,

take the long view.

Take the long way home,

Searching for truth

breathing in the smell

of ancient memories.

Deeply rooted in trees,

searching for beliefs.

Forgetting and remembering

Origin stories.

Ponder along

forest paths

where birdsongs

bring happy melodies.

Every step is deeply felt,

the weight of it all.

The well worn dirt path ahead

is easily read

to find the way home.

Here there is no hurry,

it is enough

to stand on the Earth

Be on the path without worry

you are in the right place,

doing it in the right way.

take your time.

Take a breath

move along

at your own pace.

This place is sacred,

it can hold all of you,

including dreams.

Recall your ability

to trust yourself

very deeply.

Enough to let go,

and be met by dreams unbidden.

Enough to come face to face

with what’s hidden.

The glow of your own light,

in the dark of night,

like the Sun, the Moon

and the Stars.

The reflection of moonlight

finds the language of trees

speaking back to you.

Hungry for a deep conversation.

Light language is what they feed on.

The language of the soul

is where dreams are found

and this is what I need.

Give a poem, a song, or a dream

A memory summoned for ages,

Spiraling and spilling onto pages

These trees keep giving

a living memory.

Interwoven roots

of blood and bone,

these boots

do roam.

These boots do roam,

seeking lost memory.

Wondering alone

so far from home.

Wondering alone so far from home

Spiraling back to the sea

the tide moves in and out.

Where did that song come from?

Deep in the womb.

Where did that poem arise?

Deep behind my eyes.

How did that dream keep?

I took a deep breath,

plunged into a pool

of wisdom and memory,

like two Ravens on a Tree.

Valley Reed

11/13/25

Golden Dragonfly

I have been dreaming about the color gold in many dreams over the past several years and it always leaves me feeling that something magical is at work in my life. Alchemy is a magical approach of turning lead into gold. Alchemists believed that gold was a spiritually pure metal, and the journey of the soul to was transmute lead into gold. The Arabic term al-khimia means ‘the art of transformation’ which just happens to be the tag line for my business Chrysalis Healing Arts. Like butterflies, dragonflies are also connected with regeneration, immortality and rebirth.

Dragonfly Dream Catcher

A giant golden dragonfly entered my dream and flittered before me. I turned with a sense of awe as I followed in the direction of where this giant golden creature had gone, and saw it had landed on a golden circle held in the hands of an artist weaver who was creating a dream catcher with golden thread. The giant golden dragonfly was large enough to cover the entire center of the dream catcher, and so the weaver had to work underneath it to create her dream catcher with her golden thread.

It turns out the dragonfly is an ancient creature, and actually dates back 300 million years, when it arose in giant form with 2 foot wings and 4 feet across. There are many tales of the dragon fly from many cultures around the world.

Ancient mythology reveals the original name for Japan is “Akitsushima” meaning dragonfly island. Dragonflies are known to be returning ancestors and celebrated in the Summer Festival known as Obon. Samurai warriors identified themselves with dragonflies as a symbol of power.

In a Mayan legend, dragonflies hold the power to heal and rebirth the Moon Goddess Ixchel by humming over her and filling her up with their life force.

Zuni Native tribal peoples see dragonfly as having supernatural powers who carry prayers to the spirit world. The indigenous people of the southwestern tribe of the Hopi, also believe the dragonfly has supernatural powers and are shamanistic. They assisted the ancient Hopi in migrating to find their permanent home, and helping them to locate water and to grow corn. The Hopi have lived in their permanent home in Arizona for over 2000 years, but they are rooted in much more ancient cultures from which they migrated from South America, Central America and Mexico. They are considered one of the oldest cultures living in documented history.

These are just a few of the tales of dragonfly from around the world, and in my dream the dragonfly got my attention appearing as a giant ancient ancestor and pointing me to a golden web of dreams giving protection and vitality to the dream catcher being woven by an artist weaver. My dreams are woven from the transformative process inside my being. Blessed by the presence and protection of the golden dragonfly, big dreams are being created in the center of my circle.

Dream Wayfinding

I was transfixed by the images in this dream, the energy was so inviting and mysterious. The next day, I set up the space for the workshop to create a sacred ceremonial space within which to work in the basement of an airport hotel. I put out about 30 chairs and I thought I must be expecting a good crowd. I imagined all the chairs being filled for the workshop. I also decided to lure people into the space down in the basement by playing my Native American flute.

By Valley Reed

The Annual Conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams was held last month in Chicago, Illinois. I was there to participate in a panel on Listening to the Earth Dreaming chaired by Jean Campbell along with Wendy Panier, Jody Grudy & Teresa MacColl, a powerful group of women leaders and dreamers. I also co-facilitated a workshop with Teresa MacColl on Dream Way Finding. I have been a presenter at several of these conferences over the years, including last year in Montreal, Canada where I chaired a panel on Dreaming Across Borders with Indigenous Peoples. The presentation I gave last year is listed on my blog as “The Call of Quetzalcoatl and Dancing with the Moon” which has also been published in Dreamtime Magazine. I flew to this years conference in Chicago directly after attending a week long Dream Teacher Training with Robert Moss in Connecticut at a beautiful seaside retreat. The circle of 18 women was a powerful, grounded group that attended the training and we have all become bonded on this journey we are embarking on together.

The Dream way finding workshop seemed to pick up right where I left off from my experience in Teotihuacan, where I did ceremony with De Leon the keeper of the staff of Quetzalcoatl. It was in response to a prayer I had offered for my father two years ago, who was dying of cancer that I had the dream of an Aztec Gatekeeper who told me he was directing my fathers death. This dream lead me to go the Teotihuacan to do ceremony in Teo at the temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Jaguar Palace. I have been told by a Mayan friend that the name Teotihuacan means “Valley of the Reeds” and my given birth name is Valley Reed.

temple-of-quetzalcoatl — Teotihuacan The Temple of Quetzalcoatl

My father has since crossed over last fall, and during the past Summer Solstice of this year, which was also Fathers Day, my oldest brother spread my fathers ashes over the Garden of the Gods in Colorado where my father grew up. Teotihuacan is also known as “the place where men become Gods”, so it seems fitting that my Father would finally come to rest in the Garden of the Gods. I wrote about my experience as being a “Gatekeeper” in my previous blog entry and serving in the role of psycho pomp to help my father to cross over into the next stage of his journey.

I found in the workshop on dream way finding we did in Chicago that the journey was continuing. I had a dream the night before the workshop of a mysterious princess or priestess who had a star on her forehead and wore a beautiful transparent veil in shades of blue, which just barely covered her head. In the dream, she handed me a Crystal Skull and also a small crystal spiral. I was transfixed by the images in this dream the energy was so inviting and mysterious. The next day, I set up the space for the workshop to create a sacred ceremonial space within which to work in the basement of an airport hotel. I put out about 30 chairs and I thought I must be expecting a good crowd. I imagined all the chairs being filled for the workshop. I also decided to lure people into the space down in the basement by playing my bamboo Native American flute I had bought at the Mohawk reservation in Montreal last year. The first person to come into the circle through the East was Dr. Tricia Torres an Anthropologist from Guadalajara. We had the opportunity to visit briefly, as she entered the circle and put her offering on the altar my colleague Teresa had set up in the center. Dr. Torres told me she was the Dance Elder for a dance circle of women in Mexico, and they did sacred precolumbian dance. I asked her if she knew De Leon, the keeper of the staff of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan, and told her I had danced with him and his wife as their guest in the annual Moon Dance Ceremony in Mexico City in 2007. She affirmed to me she did know him, I then felt moved to ask her if she could tell me anything about the Crystal Skull. I shared with her that I had a dream last night of a crystal skull and it seemed to me to be from Mexico, or Central or South America. She told me the crystal skull had to do with higher transformational energies. I left it at that and thanked her, allowing her to take her place in the circle and continued to play the flute to help guide other dream wayfinders to our workshop. We managed to fill each of the seats we had set out for the workshop. It was a wonderful mix of bringing the ancient practice of dream way finding through the voices of the elders who Teresa MacColl had interviewed and recorded. Teresa has her Masters through the Indigenous Mind Studies Program at Naropa University now directed at Wisdom University by Dr. Apela Colorado. It is important to follow the protocols of honor and respect toward elders and these ancient practices by honoring the ancestors. Within the protected ceremonial space we had created together, I was able to lead the workshop on a shamanic group dream journey with the help of the drum to dream our way forward.

In the circle, we called out the names of our ancestors and shared dreams and experiences on dream way finding. I felt called to mention that each person in the circle had found their way there that day, and that it was also an example of way finding. I made the connection with Dr. Torres and that she knew the gatekeeper from my dream that lead me to Teotihuacan. She told me on June 21st during the Summer Solstice her womens’ dance circle had performed a sacred dance to help heal relations between fathers and daughters, the same day my fathers ashes were spread over the Garden of the Gods. The name of the sacred dance these women performed is called the skull dance.

Dr. Torres offered to teach the whole circle the skull dance to close the circle. We all did the dance together beautifully, picking up the steps as though we already knew the dance. The dance was offered as a closing prayer to our dream way finding workshop and offered further closure for me on the journey of my father’s crossing over. The workshop was so magical, and the weaving of the bigger story into the circle was overwhelming to me in the sense of how incredibly blessed I felt to be a part of this work and to be able to dance together into the realm of the ancestors.

The dance continues and the journey of dream way finding with plans to bring Dr. Torres, director of The Mexican Research Institute of Interdisciplinary Anthropological Studies to Dallas to begin a sacred womens’ dance circle. I will also to travel to Mexico to dance with my sisters there. To find out more about workshops and classes scheduled on dream way finding visit www.chrysalishealingarts.org

Mariposa Movement

Rolling Thunder had stood up for justice in his day, to demand freedom for his Shosone brothers who were locked up for refusing to fight an imperial U.S. war against Vietnam. Rolling Thunder was a Medicine Man and an activist for indigenous rights and the environment. He was known to have abilities such as effecting the weather by calling in the rain, the wind and the lightning. He demanded the release of his brothers and when the guards did not heed his call, he summoned the powers of the sky, and called a tornado directly toward the prison.

The guards became so frightened they let the two Shoshone men go they held prisoner. I looked to the story of Rolling Thunder for inspiration as I drummed an African Beat called Kaki Lambe on my Jimbe Drum, it is an African drumbeat used to call to spirits for assistance in times of dire need. My partner, Hadi Jawad, had taught me the rythmn and it was his strong desire that we bring the drums so that the children inside could hear us drumming through the thick.

After the last song was sung of the candle light vigil, we moved in the direction of leaving after a full day of drumming, protesting, singing and vigiling. The sun was going down and it was starting to get cold. Suddenly, something began to happen, instead of the crowd dispersing, people began to spontaneously move toward the doors of the prison demanding to speak to the warden! We joined in the movement of protestors toward the front door where official vehicles tried to block our path. We boldly walked around them as water flows around stones, we also crossed over the line we were “officially” told to stay behind. The crowd moved right up to the doors of the prison and people began to open the doors and fill into the building singing Feliz Navidad and chanting solidarity forever! Many people still holding candles aflame from the candlelight vigil we had finished just shortly before. People then began shouting, “Bring in the Toys!” A flood of Christmas toys began to appear with people carrying boxes and bags of toys overflowing. The gifts and were brought inside from the 200 or so protesters who had come from all around Texas to make their voices heard against the immorality of imprisoning families. This experience of breaking through the prison doors was elating to all those who came to participate in the vigil. Spirit was among us, and flying high this day just as the eagle had foretold.

This movement that took us right through the front doors of the prison may have begun from the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Mexico. Mariposa means butterfly and it also means soul. It is said that the butterflies who migrate South to Mexico are the returning souls of lost children. To the Native People sacred law states that children shall always be protected and that no harm shall come to the children.

Free The Children!

Let me share with you this beautiful song that was sang as one of the closing songs during the candlelight vigil.

Circle round for freedom,

Circle round for peace,

for all of those imprisoned,

Circle for release.

Circle round the Planet,

For the children of our children,

Keep the Circle Whole.

Welcome to Dreams Awake Blog

Let me introduce you to the realm of dreams. Some of you may be familiar with dreams and the multiplicity of effects they can offer your inner and outer life, while many of you may simply be asleep to your dreams. Whatever your state of being one thing we all have in common is we dream. Hopefully this blog can serve to awaken your dreams and how you interact in them and with them.

The first step in dreaming awake is to remember your dreams.

How do you remember your dreams you may ask? Well there are many techniques to do so, and one thing of particular importantance is to set an intention to remember your dreams. This can be done by writing it down on a piece of a paper ” I will remember my dream from this night” and set it next to your bed or even under your pillow.

The next step then is writing down whatever impressions come from the night before, upon waking in the morning.

Give yourself time to let the impressions come, I know the shower seems to be a good time for dream images to flood my memory. Be sure to take the time to write down what ever comes in the morning, maybe as you have a cup of coffee in the morning and make it a part of your morning ritual.

No matter how disjointed the images or pieces of the dream you recall, simply writing these impressions down affirms your committment to follow the dream and awaken that part of your consciousness. The more you interact with this part of yourself the stronger the relationship will grow, and before you know it you will have dreams dropping by in the morning begging your attention from the previous nights exploits.

Once you have written the dreams down, read over them and revisit them, allow your awareness to enter the dream. You may recall more of the dream in this process, be sure to allow yourself to feel the dream and experience it. You will find that with practice you don’t have to be asleep to visit your dreams. You can be awake and consious in your exploration of dreaming.

Once you have begun to spend time with your dreams upon waking you, will find that your dream life may increase and the quality of your dreams may shift.

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