Dream Catching

     Ah, the mystery of dreams. . . . . . .   

We fall asleep, and enter another, strange world where, unaware of our body lying asleep in our bed, we engage in or watch all sorts of events taking place.  Sometimes, as a friend of mine says, it's "Saturday night at the movies."  Sometimes, its what Native Americans call "A Big Dream"-- vivid, memorable, even numinous--the kind you might remember your whole life.   The Bible and other sacred literature tell stories of dreams like that.  You may have had one.   It is likely to carry an important message, and needs to be pondered.  If you've ever wanted to remember and work with your dreams, you are on the "royal road to the unconscious,"  as Jung once said.   "An unexamined dream is like an unopened letter," said a famous rabbi.   

     One of my favorite authors, John Sanford, wrote a remarkable book some time ago called "Dreams: God's Forgotten Language."  This book started me on a journey that is still going on of remembering and pondering my dreams for Divine Wisdom.  In fact, for many years, I have been in a group with several other women called "The Dream Group," which meets regularly to talk about our dreams and get each other's wisdom about them.  I recommend this as a significant tool for soul work and spiritual growth.  A good book to help you work with your dreams is by Jeremy Taylor titled "Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill."

     No wonder I have dream catchers in our house here!  There is a dream catcher tree (no, its not a Christmas tree!) hung with dream catchers from family and friends.  There are dream catchers hanging in various places in every room except the bathrooms and laundryroom.

There is a big one in the picture above in front of the stained glass window in our dining area,

which reminds me of the fact that little fragments of dreams, caught in memory and valued and pondered, can yield as much wisdom as big, complicated dreams remember in full detail.

Even a color is sometimes enough to trigger fruitful reflection.

     And then there are the dreams we have for our lives.  Some fade away, some remain to haunt us when we are straying from our real purpose in this life, and some come when we are in big transitions as a form of Divine Guidance.  They are not just night dreams.  They are the soul dreams we may have had as children, or the dreams we still carry secretly in our heart's longings.  Far too many of us sacrifice our dreams on the altar of expediency, or out of fear of the misunderstanding of others, or the sheer seeming impossibility of our dreams.  I like Thoreau's saying on the plaque beneath the Native American Grandmothers.  I invite you to read it and ponder it in your own way.

      For years, I dreamed of being able to live in Sedona, and hike out into its beauty, as I hiked as a child in the Himalayas.  In seemingly impossible and wonderous ways, that dream has come true in my life.   Like my dream of becoming a minister.  And the mother of two sons and two daughters.   And travelling the world.  And publishing my own books.  And showing some of my art in galleries. And more.   I can surely attest that dreams do come true, and that they are a vital part of living the Divine Design of one's own unique life.