“At the beginning, after a long journey
Aphrodite stepped out of the sea
She had made from herself.
She wrung out her hair on the shore as she stepped.
The water dripped golden as honey off her hips as she stepped.
She lifted the kteis, her scallop-shaped comb.
The one she also used on the colored threads of the world.”
– Sylvia V. Linsteadt . The Venus Year
When the spirits of the land reach out in dreams for us to pay attention and do something, we must act to protect.
Shell Woman
May 13, 2026
From my dream last May, I was shown in a shallow earthen alcove with an entrance overgrown by bushes. My guide took me to see this ancient rock art, and I was able to spend time with her and the transmission of information she gave me, and the energy she held. I called her Shell Woman, because the red ochre lines over her head reminded me of a scalloped shell.
Then later in the dream, I was visiting a sacred site with white smooth stones or maybe shells, buried in the Earth. The energy of the place and configuration of the stones were a cosmic earth map that was centering the goddess in the stars and the Earth.
According to my research, Shell Woman may be an ancient version of Aphrodite, with Phoenician roots leading back further to Astarte, whose name means womb (1). The cult of Aphrodite is found where she first appeared at the islands of Cythera near Crete, and the island of Cyprus. She was born from the sea from a scalloped shell, and is also the queen of stars.
By synchronicity, the photo below, was sent to me the day I had the dream, and is 4000 year old rock art among the oldest in North America, and located in a place called Halo Cave in the Texas Lower Pecos Canyon lands. I thought the resemblance was striking.
Currently, this rock art is under threat by the Trump administration plans to build more wall through protected areas like the rock art in the Texas Lower Pecos Canyon lands, Big Bend National Park and sacred Lipon Apache Sovereign lands. According to the Texas Tribune reporting, “The People of La Junta for Preservation, a nonprofit associated with the Lipan Apache community, sued the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to halt work begun under a June 9 order.” (2)
In my further research on the dream image of rock art with wavy ochre lines rising up from the face, I learned ancient rock art by Aborigine people in Australia have spirits of the land called Wandjina, who have similar red ochre rays rising from the head and no mouth. Unlike many ancient rock art traditions elsewhere in the world, the Wandjina paintings remained part of a living ceremonial tradition well into the twentieth century (3). These aborigine spirits have origins by some estimates from over 50,000 years ago.
They are the rain and lightning spirits who dream the world into being from the cosmic Dreamtime to create the land and waterways, where the stories live and the spirits keep the balance between the worlds and guard the old ways.
My dream research reveals how we are all connected in dreams across time and space, in the land, and the stars, and where the spirits of the land and the goddess still walks among us. We cannot be parted by walls of greed, racism and colonization. It is up to us to be stewards of the land and cultivate living traditions, that honor the land and the spirits of the land, and not just observers of history. Please stand up with the spirits of the land and ensure protected lands are respected. Voice your opposition to these ill begotten plans.
Sources
(1) Astarte Goddess of Fertility, Beauty, War and Love
Stuckey, Johanna, PhD
Imbolc 2004, Vol 3-2
MatriFocus: A Cross-Quarterly Web Magazine for Goddess Women Near & Far
(2) Lawsuit seeks to stop Big Bend Border Wall Construction
Lawsuit seeks to stop Big Bend border wall construction
(3) https://www.aboriginal-bark-paintings.com/kimberley-rock-art/
Awaken the Sacred Dream 