Last week I had a dentist appointment. During the examination, the dentist looked at
my X-Rays and noticed a considerable jaw deviation that wasn’t there six months
ago. As we brainstormed reasons why this
would suddenly occur, he rushed to his office to get a book of anatomy. What was quite interesting was how this book
spoke of “dentistry” through time. It
seems the humans of yesterday were anatomically different in comparison to the
people of today. Of course what is
anatomically different often has an influence on what is socially, culturally
and spiritually different.
Dr. D. couldn’t explain why I suddenly had
a jaw deviation but as he gave me exercises to do for the next few months, he
did say: “… we don’t ever think of showing our children how to chew properly;
sleep or dream; but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a proper way of doing
it.”
When I lecture on Indigenous Dreaming I
always share pieces of my personal story.
I explain to people that although we all dream we don’t all know how to
dream in a healthy and functional way.
If I refer to my upbringing, my parents weren’t different than most
parents. They believed that my dreams
were a fabrication of my mind. They also
believed that my emotional reactions to the dreams were over-exaggerated mostly
because they concluded that I was too sensitive to people, to events and to my
environment. Unfortunately, they didn't know how to teach me to react differently or to give me ways to better handle my dreams.
Hypersensitive kids after all do react strongly…
Hypersensitive kids after all do react strongly…
For years, their support took the shape of: "It’s just a dream. It’s nothing.”
I grew up believing that there was
something emotionally wrong with me. We
believe in the people we love and until we become adults, we also trust these
people’s beliefs, expectations and their life teachings. It took having my own children to finally
understand what the Indigenous people of yesterday used to say: “It takes a village to bring up a
child.”
I’ve always loved anthropology because it
allowed me to learn about Indigenous people but also gave me insights on the
humans of yesterday: Our ancestors. We
are so wrapped up in our stories that we rarely glance back in time. Recently, there’s been more and more
television shows; which explore the notion of immortality. Programs like Forever, Bitten, the Vampire
Diaries, the Originals and more… give us an understanding of what it would mean
to be on the Planet for more than a few hundred years. What would be the affects on the emotional,
psychological and spiritual bodies?
Strangely enough I find myself relating to
these stories mostly because I was born with a vivid and lucid memory of past
lives. It’s not something I’ve ever
discussed with school friends or even family members because honestly, I
thought at the time that it was pure imagination. At least, I was told that it was…
I was educated at a Catholic convent for
close to 13 years. During this time, I
experienced several events that brought me back to touching and profound
ancestral stories. When you’re 9 years
old and living through these kinds of experiences, it can to some degree be
quite traumatic. Luckily, I had
guardians on my path because not only were these experiences validated; but I
also received advice from wonderful people along the way: Individuals who guided me to find teachers
and experts in due time…
In the last 25 years of working as a
shamanic practitioner I’ve come across a good number of children who had past
life recollections. I’ve come to believe
that most children between the age of 6 months old and 7 years old actually
remember distant stories from the past.
What is unfortunate is that most parents will deny the possibility that
their children have walked this Earth before them…
Both my children had vivid and lucid
memories of their past lives. It was
quite incredible to hear them tell their stories.
For years, we marvelled over their past because it not only confirmed
history; but it took it out of the books and brought it into our lives as
reality!
As a Dreamer we believe that every story
that catches our attention; or makes us vibrate emotionally, psychologically or
spiritually holds a clue towards our purpose on this Planet: Our learning and healing. In every story there are characters, events,
conflicts, and messages (lessons); which guide us to understand our selves and
others as well as gives us reason.
Dreaming in Indigenous Circles isn’t only about what we experience as we
sleep; but also about every story that we devote to during the course of our
lives, in the waking.
A student recently asked me: “How do we work through a dream?”
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a waking or
sleeping dream the method of working through it is actually the same.
·
At first, I take a moment to
jot down the dream. Ironically, the way
your mind formulates or expresses a dream holds the first series of clues. It’s as if your body is your first guide or
teacher. It is a character in the
dream. After exploring thousands of
dreams through the course of my life, I’ve come to understand that my body and
my mind was strategically created for me and for my destiny.
·
Once I’ve jotted down a dream I
always take a moment to step away from it.
I leave it be for close to 3 days.
During the course of these three days, I continue to life without any
kind of intent. I take 20 mins a day to
jot down a journal entry referring to my daily experience.
·
On the 4th day
- I take all of my entries including the
dream I jotted down and begin to underline the similarities. What repeats: Characters perhaps, situations,
details, messages, etc…?
·
Sometimes the lesson or message
hidden in a dream comes to me quickly.
Other times it demands a bit more work.
I’ve explored dreams; which have affected my life over years. Some dreams are meant to summarize your whole
life story.
·
To work through a dream you
need to be attentive to the dream reality; which means that you have to be
ready to follow it wherever it takes you.
In 2012, I participated in a Blue Moon
Ceremony. I had to cross two out of
sixteen gates to reach the Blue Moon dreaming.
This dream was supposed to guide me for three years, and inevitably
divulge a personal learning or healing.
One of the gates that I passed was the Dinosaur gate; which refers to
the notion of “extinction.” It took
months before I started observing the presence of the dinosaur in my life. It appeared at first in the form of small
clues like gifts from strangers (fossils) or invitations to archaeological
sites. I noticed that I noted the
presence of this dream in my life only when it called me out of the
ordinary. It was the extraordinary that
guided me to look closer to into my daily living.
In 2015 will be the end of this
journey. It’s not surprising that my
latest dentist appointment brought forth yet another clue into the dinosaur
gate story. My own bone structure is
trying to tell me a message; it is speaking louder than my ordinary life. Trough following the exercises that my
dentist gave me I’ve been remembering moments in my childhood that were
literally forgotten. It has brought
forth some interesting stories; guided me to question family members; and
validated that growth is a life long story.
The reason why I enjoy working with dreams
is because it allows me to see, to feel and to touch magic. My teachers have always told me to look up
at the sky on a night where it is filled with millions of stars.
“What do you see?” EC once asked me.
“Stars?” I replied almost unimpressed.
“Look again,” she said.
“Deep, eternal darkness,” I finally added
noticing that despite the countless flickering lights, the darkness was the
canvas that dominated the scene.
EC smiled and expressed almost
absentmindedly as if she was repeating a lesson given to her by a teacher, an
elder, a grandmother: “Don’t ever forget that it’s not about what we know or
what we discover; but about what exists out there: The unexpected, the unknown, the mystery of
it all.”
If you are interested in walking the path
of the Dreamer, you have to realize that it’s not so much about what you discover
but about what you are willing to step into.
The great thing about working through dreams is how these stories will magically
take out of hiding the characters, the events and clues that are instrumental
to your journey (the stars); but it will also give you access to the unfathomable
and eternal darkness of your story to seduce you to look further and deeper. You’ll be called to create stars of your own
and to open up a milky way of possibilities.
Traditional First Nation people speak of
death as “our journey to the stars.”
They look at their deceased as members of their family and community who
walk in the dream reality. They
understand that some may return and some may choose to stay behind for a
while. For them, dreaming is a crucial
part of life and if we don’t learn to dream in a healthy and functional way we
are traveling without a plan or without a destination.
I hope I’ve answered some questions and if
you have more questions don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
HAU!
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