Like most people, I resist change when it first comes into my awareness. But sometimes that moment of awakening is so compelling and complete that the change happens in the turn of my head, or in my pause between breaths. I have recently been reading The History of Last Night’s Dream by Rodger Kamenetz. His bold advice to stop translating my dreams felt like being told to “Wake up!” and my sleep hasn’t been the same since.
Following his guidance I have been able to enter my dreams at a completely different level of meaning, derived from visuals and feelings rather than symbols and words. I went to bed last night thinking about what the Journey Oracle cards could show me about this new way of being with dreams and thought of this card.
During the night I had this dream: I’m going with First Nation women to what appears to be a restaurant. Inside I see many babies in rows on several beds. Each is in an open CD cello storage envelope. None are crying or fussy; all seem to be either quietly waiting or sleeping. I touch one child like I am going to pick her up but she turns away from me several times, each time seeming to grow older and larger but still not showing me her face.
I associate First Nations women with emerging potential and enduring strength; especially I feel this of the Klahoose first nations women I know here on Cortes Island. Yet the “hole in the dream” that Kamenetz refers to suddenly became the question, “What are all these children doing in CD wrappers?” I store my divination decks of cards in these cello envelopes, and often display the individual cards in rows. I realized that these babies are the Journey Oracle card decks, waiting for me to go more deeply, but to what?
I have always thought of understanding each card, and especially of understanding the story that corresponds to each card, in a way parallel to translating a dream. Perhaps translation is not what is called for. Perhaps they are waiting for me to “return to the source” and receive meaning from visuals and feelings. Perhaps the dream work is not to be kept in the night, but brought as a counselor into the day, teaching me a new way of finding revelation in the Oracle’s spirit-directed art.
