Most mornings I’m sitting at the kitchen table with hands wrapped around my cup of hot brew. I greet my partner with questions like … how did you sleep? Did you wake up last night? Are you rested and ready to focus on today’s project? And so, I ask all of you. How did you sleep last night? Are you ready for your day? But wait. Before you head off, there’s one more question. That is, did any images or characters appear in your dream leaving a message for you?
In some cultures, questions about what happened in the dream are more important than knowing how you slept. Messages gifted to you in the dreamtime are essential information for you … as well as for the family or the tribe.
Author Robert Wolff in his book Original Wisdom relays his experience with the aboriginal Sng’oi in Malaysia. Traditionally they woke up in the morning, sat in a circle straightaway, and talked about dreams experienced the night before. “The Sng’oi believe that the world we live in is a shadow world,” he wrote. “And that the real world is behind it.…In the morning we share what we saw and learned there.”1 As the morning begins, the Sng’oi intently listen to each other’s dreams. If a significant character shows itself they wonder if similar figures appeared in more than one dream. From this information they compile a story, an imperative, about how to live out the coming day. It’s nothing less than a survival tool.
In her essay entitled Stories, Dreams, and Ceremonies: Anishinaabe Ways of Learning, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Walking Towards Woman) writes, “Knowledge is often transmitted from the spiritual world to humans through dreaming and visioning. Anishinaabe people believe the physical and dreamed world are one, or they are equally real. Anishinaabe take dreaming very seriously.”2
The Maker of Dreams
Have you ever wondered where dreams and visions come from? Once upon a time, before the field of psychology with its interpretive analysis got a hold of our dreams, there was a story told in Scotland’s Isle of Skye. The old tale is called The Dream Makers. In his telling, seanchaidh storyteller (skilled teller of tales and legends) Paul Pringle transports us back to a time when an ancient wise woman and wise man – The Dream Makers – lived in the Black Cuillin Mountains.3 One day in their dwelling high in the misty mountains the ancient woman and man stared entranced into the Pool of Life, as was their practice. Suddenly a young girl, who lost her way, finds herself in their cave. After some convincing, she stays for a year and a day collecting essential herbs and assisting the ancient ones with their magical deer herd. With her help they were able to continue their mission to create dreams and deliver them to the rightful owners. The old woman envisions dreams and the old man crafts them into an imagined shape. These shapes are taken up by messenger birds who deliver good dreams as well as nightmares to their sleeping recipients. When it’s time to leave her apprenticeship to the ancient ones, the girl descends the mountain. Finding herself in a new life she shares the wisdom she learned and encourages her people to pay attention to what’s appearing in the dreamtime.
Dream Sharing at the Kitchen Table
We are back again drinking our morning brew. As we ask each other (or just recall to ourselves) how we slept, pay attention to what The Dream Makers are encouraging us to see. Sitting around the table – our version of sitting in circle – is the time to inquire about the dream world. Curiosity helps us notice the molded shape sent to us by The Dream Makers. As the dream becomes clearer we have the opportunity to ask the image about the message it brings.
In my book, Soul’s Homecoming4, I shared an exercise at the end of Chapter 5 called Dreams. Here is an updated meditation from the book to reenter your dream or vision for greater clarity.
Relax your body and settle back into your dreamscape.
Recall in detail what you saw and felt.
Where in the dream did you feel the most energy, the place that held the most power?
Widen your peripheral vision. What do you see now in that broader space?
Is there a presence or a figure that you hadn’t noticed before?
Sit in silence and observe the figure that holds your attention.
What emotions come up? What part of your body is fired up?
Once you have a sense of who or what is sitting with you, ask your dream figure…Why are you here? What would you like me to know?
Sometimes an answer doesn’t come. Sometimes there is just silence…for a reason. We are called to listen with our bodies, not our heads. The dream may be reluctant to give up its message if we are trying too hard to analyze or impose an interpretation. Go back to it again if this happens. Allow deep listening with your body as well as your mind to show the way to your inner wisdom.
Dream Circles
When we dream-share in Circles the small group becomes your clan. They are your dreamtime family sitting around the metaphorical table. In the Dream Circle non-therapeutic format, we explore a dream – for the group’s sake as well as the individual. Sometimes what emerges can have a profound impact on how we live our day. If you are interested to experience how this works, join us. Register for a one-hour complimentary dream circle session this week Thursday, September 19 at 01:00 pm ET (US and Canada).
Notes
Original Wisdom Book Review by Thom Hartmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pua35FC_BWQ
Stories, Dreams, and Ceremonies: Anishinaabe Ways of Learning by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Journal of American Indian Higher Education. https://tribalcollegejournal.org/stories-dreams-ceremonies-anishinaabe-ways-learning/
Seanchaidh Storyteller Paul Pringle retelling Scottish tale The Dream Makers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0uPfW-kZE
Soul’s Homecoming by Katharine Donovan Kane. Chapter 5, Dreams, p. 44.
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