Tag: Healing Dreams

Curative Dreams

The hypogeum is an underground temple or tomb where one could be immersed in dreaming with the curative powers of the land and the numinous powers of the divine, often as part of a dream healing temple or entrance to the underworld. One of the most ancient is the Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta which dates to the Neolithic period, where the “Sleeping Lady” was recovered in 3200-2500 B.C. The reclining nature and sleeping position of the statue invokes a dreaming pose, and also evokes the popular dream temples that would later populate the Roman Greco world. Is the sleeping lady dreaming us, or is she seeking healing from an ancient creator Goddess? Cristina Biaggi writes the Sleeping Lady is a priestess engaged in Dream incubation or an Adept in giving oracles, interpreting dreams, or suggesting cures for illness. C. Biaggi (1986) p131-13. “The significance of the nudity, obesity and sexuality of the Maltese Goddess figures.”

“The Sleeping Lady” from
Hal Saflieni hypogeum in Malta, 3200-2500 B.C.

The dream temples of the ancient Greco Roman world were wide spread and wildly popular. Pilgrimages to dream temples became a place to go and stay overnight as a place for healing, from which the idea for modern hospitals may stem. A symbol for western medicine is the snake wrapped staff of Asclepius. The chthonic powers of the serpent brought transformation, and changing poison into medicine. His daughters Panacea brought healing of the mind, and the powers of the mind to heal. Hygieia brings cleansing powers of healing with spiritual cleansing, mental and energetic cleansing, emotional cleansing, and physical cleansing in order to bring back health and balance. Although both of these principals are part of western medicine today, dreaming seems to be missing.

“Patriarchy associates dreaming with fiction. Dreaming can’t be quantified or measured with an apparatus. But Dream incubation was considered a cutting edge technology even well into the Roman Empire. Invalids looking for a cure, would go to sleep in the temples of Asclepius, god of healing, in order to receive curative dreams. “ – Sophie Strand, author of The Flowering Wand; Rewilding the Sacred Masculine.

The Dream Healing practices of the ancient world included making clay offerings of the body which required healing, such as an eye, a leg, or a heart, and placing them into a wall. This practice of sympathetic magic, engages the healing powers of the mind through Panacea. There was also a cleansing ritual and perhaps fasting, presided over by Hygieia, where pilgrims were disrobed and washed, and clothed in white, in preparation for entering the dream temple, where snakes were guardians of the healing temple. The word hygiene is derived from Hygieia, and her wisdom includes cleanliness, prevention, and health.

Once inside the dream temple, pilgrims would be invited to incubate their healing request into a dream, and stay overnight in the dream temple, invoking direct healing powers from the divine, or a prescription of cure for their ailments. This may include dreaming with plant wisdom, or energetic dreaming with divine intervention from the God of Healing, Asclepius. Council from Dream temple priests or priestesses would be offered upon waking to help clarify and integrate their experience.

Dream healing includes the capacity to incubate a healing dream on behalf of another. Here is a dream report from a pilgrim at the abaton. “Arata, a Spartan, suffering from dropsy. On her behalf her mother slept in the sanctuary while she stayed in Sparta. It seemed to her that the god cut off her daughter’s head and hung her body with the neck downwards. After a considerable amount of water had flowed out, he released the body and put the head back on her neck. After she saw this dream, she returned to Sparta and found that her daughter had recovered and had seen the same dream.”

The most well known dream healing sanctuary was found in Epidaurus, considered the birthplace of Asclepius, who was part mortal and part God. He was raised and taught by Chiron, the great teacher. As word of the healing powers of Asclepius spread far and wide, so did Dream Healing Temples located at places such as Corinth, Sicyon, Tegea, Megalopolis, Argos, Sparta and Messene; on the islands of Paros, Aegina and Crete (Leben); and at Alexandria (Egypt) and Cyrene (Libya).

Asclepius was such a profound healer that he was able to resurrect supplicants from death. Hades became furious because he realized such practices would decrease his powers as God of the Underworld. He demanded his brother Zeus intervene on his behalf. Zeus then struck down the God of Healing with a thunder bolt. Asclepius still resides among the stars as the constellation of the serpent bearer.

Dreaming Matters

If you have lost touch with the wisdom of your soul, or creative muse, or perhaps your inner healer, now is the perfect opportunity for you to look inside to rekindle these connections. I invite you to step through the doorway to your inner worlds, or perhaps the other world, is ready to step through you.
The key to enter is through dreams.



At a retreat I offered in 2020 of January, on Dream Healing in Hot Springs, Arkansas, I introduced participants to Rainbow Woman. She is very special to me, because she revealed herself to me over 10 years ago, when I was camping with friends, and we were hiking in the mountains. I had noticed an energetic ley line, that I had stepped through as we hiked, and it got my attention. I stopped to investigate what I felt and saw, and when I did, I saw a beautiful rainbow colored woman, made from a plasma like energy. She stepped right from the core of my being, and through my physical body. She turned around, staring me in the eyes, face to face. Her beauty, wisdom and magic astonished me. How could such a being step from within me, in such away? She then shot up the mountain in a flash of white light traveling the energetic ley lines I had seen. Later, she visited me in dreams and shared with me the 7 Rays of Healing, and asked me to share this with others. She took me into the stars, and showed me how to birth new galaxies.
Now when I return to Hot Springs on Dream Healing Retreats, I always end with a journey to connect with Rainbow Woman, and her healing energies, because she is very special to me, and she asked me to share her with others.

January 19, 2020 Healing Journey with Rainbow Woman

Finding My Way
Down into the Earth a small circle of Ancestors gather around a small fire, and Rainbow Woman appears as a maiden with her white buckskin dress and braids, dancing to the drum. The song of the Grandfather sings into the fire, as she dances. The song carries her into our world, on rainbow energy lines. She flows her rainbow energy into our circle, and she follows the rainbow to the West, where it ends, and a doorway between the realms, opens into another galaxy.

The dance continues, she invites me to follow her, the song is sung supporting this dance, this journey. We are dancing with starlight, a new galaxy, as we focus prayers of healing for the Earth. We shine rainbows on the children enslaved and in prison, afraid and abused, offering them love and healing, freedom and support.

Then we dance through another doorway of light. White light, a circle of sisterhood is dancing in a circle. I am told it is good I found my way here, and I welcomed into the circle. Only a few are ready and willing to enter into this Sacred Sisterhood. We dance visions and open the way with courage and wisdom for the women on Earth bringing change. The light is shining on each Woman, shared with each other, and for the Earth. We are birthing a new world with vision, courage and heart. Grandfather is singing our song, for this dance of beauty, strength and healing.

Last week I was invited to participate in the online Earth Sky Woman Summit held on 4/4/20. Over 1600 people signed up to participate but the space itself was limited to only 100 people. There were about a dozen presenters and the vision of it was was put forth by the courage of heart and brilliance of Tami Brunk. It was an incredibly meaningful experience to be part of seeing so many women sharing their powerful spiritual gifts, and courage of heart, and healing wisdom.

There was a discussion about Mayan healing and the Goddess Ix Chel, and it reminded me of Rainbow Woman. Ix Chel means Rainbow Woman, I began to recall my journey, and realized that it had come true in part, by being invited into this Sacred Sisterhood as a presenter, even though I did not know anyone personally. It was the journey that opened the door, and presented me with a key to healing and showing up. A powerful realization for me personally, and a deep gratitude for me being able to find my way and being welcomed into the circle.


In February, about a month prior to the pandemic storm. A dear sister and healer invited me to try her newly created float tank, and knowing my connection with dreams, she was keen to have me try it to see how it might be a helpful modality for conscious dreaming. I was also keen to try it and the liminal space created by the body floating in salt water, could provide a primal womb of dream incubation. I focused my intention in my float session on personal healing and gaining any insights that would be helpful for me at this time. I had been doing a lot of private healing sessions on individual clients, and knew the salt waters would be restorative for my energy field as well.

As I floated in the tank in a conscious dream state, that place between waking and sleeping reality, I saw images come and go, which included some helpful psychic information. Then suddenly, I dropped deeper into a dream, which opened before me from the core of my being. I was now inside a conscious dreaming reality with an African Oracle Goddess, who emerged from a mountain. Her face, her hands, and her breasts became visible. Her strong voice was heard inside my dream. She said, I have not been seen in a very long time. It is time for me to emerge. I tell her I had set the intention to work on personal work, and not focused on collective energies right now. It is personal! She snaps back! Alright then, I am paying attention! I then see a volcano next to her, with lava flowing down, and molten lava erupting from the top, as the face of the Goddess Pele is reflected in the fires of the Earth. I feel her powers of destruction and creation. Suddenly, I hear cows mooing and see them grazing in a peaceful green pasture, and then the Blue Faced Goddess Hathor descends from the Pleiades, with her nurturing and peaceful, loving energy. Finally, I see the Three Goddesses before me, a blazing fire beneath HER feet. I am human sized, standing before them, but in the body of Kali Ma, Black Mother Earth, Treasure House of Compassion, Giver of Life to the World. I run toward the sacred fire with fierce love and compassion and lunge my ceremonial knife (truth) into the Sacred Fire (Life). The Oracle Goddess says, It is done…and it is good.

A month later the pandemic arrives in full force, now we are sheltering inside, dreaming dreams, parents teaching children, cooking meals, worrying about our elders, digging in the Earth and planting gardens. Tapping into creative problem solving and innovation to keep business flowing. Listening to Spring bird songs. Death arrives while numbers grow each day. We grieve and feel the losses, we remember to appreciate life, we feel how fragile we are.
We see how truly connected we are, there is no separation.
We focus on what truly matters.

Valley Reed © 2020

The Wisdom of the Body and Dreams

“Wisdom is to the soul what health is to the body”-De Saint-Real

Dreams can provide a key to unlock the wisdom of the body. The body has deep wisdom toward balance and wholeness known as homeostasis in scientific terms. It has ways of identifying and expelling unwanted intruders through the immune system. Our sensory proprioceptive awareness allows us to know where we are in relation to the space around us and to navigate our world without effort. These processes happen without our conscious control and dreams certainly have an affinity with the realm of the unconscious and can help us navigate through illness and disease.

In dreams we may receive health warnings about impending problems, long before doctors could detect a problem.  I had a precognitive dream about a health condition which did not surface until a year later when I developed Uterine Fibroids.  The dream showed a tremendous black spider covering my lower body when it landed on my abdomen.  A large pointed needle like protrusion came from it’s mouth and stuck into my lower abdomen.  In the dream, I was really scared of that spider, it was really huge! I attempted gathering further information through dream re-entry, but my fear was blocking me from getting anywhere.

When I eventually developed symptoms of fibroids a year later, I recalled my dream.  I sensed the needle was an important clue to approach treatment of the problem. The information I read from the western medicine approach was not encouraging, and surgery was the consensus at the time.  I opted instead to go with acupuncture,  inspired by the image of the large needle offered by my dream ally of the huge scary spider.  After several months of intensive acupuncture treatments I found that the problem was not only alleviated, but has not since returned.

Dreams and the body are important in other ways, the body with it’s incredible wisdom can be a source of helpful insight in helping to navigate the realm of dreams. My lifelong background in dance, enabled me to learn how the body has a power and wisdom all it’s own. I found for instance, when I consciously asked my body to perform a movement that was difficult, my body would respond with ease and grace.  If I tried to force doing a movement with my will,  I was left with struggle and pain instead. I have also found the mind/body connection to be a valuable way to work with dreams and I often incorporate movement into dream workshops I teach.  Expressive movement is a beautiful way to get in touch with your dreams, and gain helpful insight through the information the body imparts.

Science has discovered the power of the mind and body to heal through imagery and dreams. Recent studies have shown that the inward experiences of the imagination and dreaming translates as a real experience to the body. The body knows that the dream world is the real world. When we activate our imagination to inspire and affirm the body’s healing capacity, we are supporting our body’s innate wisdom and ability to heal.  Dreams also provide a stage to rehearse for every day life, so whether you are practicing violin, healing cancer or learning french in your dreams, the body is there in a very real sense with you.

Valley Reed © 2011

Dream Healing with the Benu Bird

At a recent Dream Healing workshop I was teaching in Grand Junction, Colorado, there were themes of heart and soul interwoven with the dreams shared. I incubated a healing dream while catching an afternoon nap, prior to giving a lecture that evening on the Healing Powers of Dreams.

“Bennu Bird” by Michelle Celebrielle

During my dreaming, I was gifted with the presence of a large white bird which flew overhead.  I could clearly see the huge white wings until it landed on a tall tree upon bare branches.  I looked closely at the face of the bird,  noticing the streaks of black coming out from the eyes and long narrow feathers reaching out from the crown.  I recognized it as the mysterious Benu bird of Egyptian myth, bringer of renewal and capable of retrieving and bringing forth the energy of soul.  A wonderful ally to accompany our dream journeying for the weekend.

There were themes of the heart and relationships which presented themselves over and again from our group of dreamers. One participant shared a dream which was full of opposites and polarities which gave the opportunity to dance with each of the polarities represented in the dream. The dream was brought to life through the movement accompanied with the intent of each of the polarities. The dreamer was able to reach a resolve toward wholeness through the movement and integrate the separation of loss into complete freedom. The wings of the Benu Bird were flying through the dance at the end, to bring about healing liberation. Another young woman brought through a vision of seeing a possible love relationship which culminated in the couple riding off together on black and white horses. The dream also gave counsel and warned her of the need to be willing to wait and not hurry into the relationship.

A doctor who attended was eager to see how dreams could help her better care for her patients. She journeyed with two power animals, that of the cougar and the eagle which became one creature. She was on call during the whole workshop and was indeed living in two realms at once. The bringing together of these two animal protectors will help her to better navigate the challenges of her dual life.

The energy of relationship and the balance of opposites flowed throughout the day, and in the end, the feeling of connection was the gift, like the egg of the Benu bird in the tree of life, which promises renewal for the future.

The Benu Bird according to Egyptian mythology recounts the bird as a carrier of “Ba” or soul energy. The soul energy is able to leave the physical body and travel at will, something we can do nightly in our dreams.  The Benu Bird is akin to the Phoenix and bringer of renewal which comes with each era. It is a rare occurrence to witness a Benu bird, as there is only one such bird in existence.  The Benu bird has no mate but continues through self regeneration. It has the capacity to integrate both polarities of Masculine and Feminine into one being. It builds its nest in the tree of life, laying a single egg to break open a new era of soul.  It was the song of the Benu bird which sang creation into being. The mysterious Benu Bird is a beautiful story of how, we may each give birth to ourselves and participate in this renewal of soul and spirit. Through this transformation of death and renewal, we can bring all parts of ourselves into wholeness as a way to help heal the past and bring about a brighter future for coming generations.

Included in this healing and to honor the Benu Bird, I offer this poem of prayer;

Dream of the Benu Bird

May we walk in beauty as we step upon the earth,

and sing our lives into being.

May our souls learn to soar as the Benu bird,

and dance awake our dreams.

May we bring about more balance in connection to each other,

the Earth we all share,  and all the creatures upon it.

May we honor those who came before us,

and the gifts they have given.

May we remember where we came from,

and what we each came here to do.

May we honor and protect the children,

and future generations, through our actions today.

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