session 3: WATER
Cead mile failte. A hundred thousand welcomes. Thank you for your dreams of WATER.
Last week, one Dreamer shared: “In real life, I barely know how to swim. In fact, I could easily drown if I fell overboard! But in my dreams, I could swim like a fish.”
Dreams lend a special magic that frees us from constraints of habitual ways of thinking and being. We can swim through air and fly through water. We can move with ease between the realms of sky and sea - the Heavens and the Abyss. We can transmute fear into faith, and the impossible into full potential…
WATER is the archetypal element of emotion. OCEAN is the archetypal symbol of the Unconscious - the vast unknown - that which connects us all. Let’s dive in.
we dream of WATER: the Wave, 4 perspectives
His:
I am floating on a surfboard in crystal clear blue water. I look back towards shore, and when I turn back around there is a huge crystal clear wave 20 feet high, just 10 feet away from me, and rapidly coming towards me. I have a longboard, and duck dive under the wave. I get through the other side and my board is gone. I’m totally fine. But I don’t know where I am. I am in an endless seascape of water, 360 degrees around. I do not see the shore.
Hers:
I am standing knee-deep in the ocean, holding a toddler. I see a woman on the shore, about 2 yards away from me. She stands silently watching the ocean. She feels both familiar, yet distant, ageless and indistinct. A huge wave is coming. I hold the child close and prepare to dive through the wave. I hold my breath, but the wave isn't here yet. The woman turns and leaves. I take another breath before the wave gets to me. I am surprised that I can breathe as I go through the wave. The wave passes and I'm standing again - still standing.
the WATER oracles
The Waves roll over us all: waves of awakening, waves of surrendering, waves of bliss, waves of grief, waves of ecstasy, waves of agony, waves of longing…wave after wave, we experience ourselves and our world. I invite you to see the Wave through the eyes of each individual in the Dreams: the woman standing alone, the matriarch, the toddler, and the surfer.
Take a moment to pause, as each of these dream figures do, and look to the Wave(s) breaking through the ocean of your consciousness.
My husband and I are approaching our 7 year wedding anniversary on August 1. On the first of every month, we say our vows to one another. One of the lines goes: “I will love and cherish you through whatever life may bring us, through every Wave upon the ocean of life, I will love you patiently, kindly, generously and completely.” Yes, there are days when the patience runs low and the waves are rough. And yes, every day, every breath, every Wave is an opportunity to choose Love.
What choice will you make? Let’s explore some possibilities revealed through the Dreams…
The woman standing alone on the shore: She who belongs to herself, who sees and is seen, somewhat removed from the unfolding drama. Faceless, ageless, nameless, priestess. As I drop into her, I feel the presence of Isis-Aphrodite-Venus-Astarte-Ishtar, a goddess birthed from the foaming waves, from the constant energies of longing and becoming. She is the daughter of Heaven and Sea, mother of Eros (Cupid), embodiment of Femininity, Love & Beauty. She knows the tides and rhythms of the ocean, and is in harmonious relationship with the elements. She exudes a sense of deep peace with herself and the world around her.
The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli
As an aspect of self in this dream, she gives us this choice: to stand apart, to watch, to go to higher ground.
The woman holding the toddler: Mother and more than Mother - she is Matriarch. She chooses to maintain her stance, her place in the shifting sands and churning ocean. She sees what is coming and prepares herself, not once, but twice. She feels ease when submerged in this great Wave - able to breathe under water.
The Wave passes by, over, under and through, and here she remains, still standing. Clarissa Pinkola Estes uses this phrase, “still standing, S.S.,” for the women, who, like trees, are still standing even after and through it all. Yes, they/you/I may be tumbled and scarred, yet they/you/I choose to be here in the vast incomprehensible ocean of love that is this embodied Life.
She gives us another choice: to take a deep breath, and another to prepare, to face the wave, to hold onto what we love, to keep breathing - standing still, strong, and grounded.
The toddler: the next generation, symbolizing new hope, neither masculine nor feminine, more cherubic...a child of Venus. In this moment of the dream, I am reminded of another line from my wedding vows: “In your hands I have found trust and comfort,” and feel a great sense of ease here in the arms of the Mother.
When the Wave comes, recognize the ways in which you are held. Trust in the hands (seen and unseen) that support you.
The surfer: He is at ease in the water - often more at ease in this element than on land. He develops a relationship with the Ocean - sometimes recklessly tossed around; sometimes carried buoyantly, weightless and free; sometimes moved/pushed/guided with Strength and Grace - always at Her mercy.
The Wave comes, and in that moment, he chooses to dive into it. The Wave passes and he finds himself in the open sea with no view of shore, without a board, nothing to hold onto, nothing to do (yet). Only himself, here, in this sea of possibility.
He gives us this choice: to dive in, to let go of all false sense of security, to trust completely in the infinite eternal intelligence of Soul and Source.
These tidal wave dreams can be quite frightening - people often awaken from these dreams sweating and panting for breath. And, they can feel like the dreams shared in this oracle session - powerful invitations to bring consciousness to all that is rolling to and over and through us. Can we be with these Waves, and not lose ourselves completely to their potentially overwhelming force? These dreams show that Yes, we can. Still Standing...or Floating, Swimming, Dancing, Resting, Breathing...
Have you dreamt of the Wave? How did/does it move you - mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically? Ask the Dreams to guide you in the experiences and choices of your Life.
In this embodied life, experiences and emotions crash over us, rogue waves come and catch us by surprise. Sometimes we falter and feel like we’re drowning, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of life. Other times we swim with ease, skimming the surface or diving into the depths of peace and stillness.
Look inside, check in with your body to see if there are any emotions building and threatening to overwhelm you. Are there Waves coming towards you that you need to prepare for proactively?
There is a new consciousness rolling in on a Wave of magnificent proportions, carrying with it radical change. We are all participants of this change, whether we go along willingly or fitfully (or sometimes both). Open your consciousness to this change, dive in with radical self honesty and self love. We are in this ocean together, my friends.
The feminine presence of holding, listening, being; the masculine presence of diving in fully, bodily, trusting - This is how we will change the world - individually and globally. For if we fight and struggle, we will drown.
“The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.” - Joseph Campbell
session 4: EARTH
For session 4, we call in EARTH, associated with the direction of the North, ancestors, trees and stones, crystals and roots, vines and leaves, four-legged's and fungi, forest glens and sacred groves, Magick apples, pentacles, and such.
Avebury
Share a dream of EARTH (scroll down to the bottom of the page). I am excited to receive and dream your Dreams of EARTH!
dream tip: for remembrance
If you have trouble remembering your dreams, you are not alone. There are many practices to aid remembrance, and here is one: Fill a glass of water and place it on your bedside. Drink half of it before going to sleep, and say something like this: "When I awake, I will drink the rest of this water, and remember my dreams." Dreams come from the watery depths of the unconscious, and so they resonate with the element of water. You can even add a drop of rosemary essential oil for remembrance and/or lavender for softening the logical mind.
If you haven’t yet seen the the first dream oracle post, introducing the dream oracle sessions, please check it out, so you know how these dream oracle sessions are organized.
a WATER blessing
Find a place where you can sit quietly. If you live close to a body of water, go there. Deepen your breath and activate ujjayi pranayama - an oceanic breath that resonates at the back of the throat. Imagine each breath as a wave rolling over you, ebbing and flowing in a hypnotic rhythm. Place a prayer on each wave of breath, feeling it drench every single one of your cells, feeling it moving through you and out into the world. In this way, know that you are a living, breathing prayer. Allow yourself to be drenched in Love.
Blessed be.
sweet dreams…
JML
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DISCLAIMER: When you send me a dream, I hold the right to share the dream in whole or part, and/or modify the wording in future posts, always holding you, the Dreamer, in utmost confidentiality and anonymity.
Copyright © 2015, jennifer marie lane, All rights reserved.