I am preparing to give a Shamanic dreaming workshop with organizing help of
Jay Saka, in Edmonton, Alberta, during the long Easter weekend, and have been finding some interesting reading in a book by
B. Alan Wallace titled Dreaming Yourself Awake. He describes a “dream sign” as “typical objects, characters, situations and moods that appear in your dreams. Once enough material has been gathered in your dream journal, an analysis is made to discover things that repeat frequently and to categorize these phenomena. You then familiarize yourself with them, making them the target of prospective memory. If one of your dream signs is, say , the repeated appearance of a white rabbit, you train yourself with the reminder, ‘The next time I see a white rabbit, I will ask myself whether or not I’m dreaming.”
I realized that I had already put these dream signs to use in the images of my
Journey Oracle card deck. When I receive a dream sign, I understand that the dream message can be understood through what this dream sign signifies, like an Oracle coming in the night to reveal meaning.
When I dream of birds I am dreaming of my children, even though none have come through my body to me in this life.
When I dream of a bear I am seeing the presence of my most sacred teachers and advisors. When Bear comes I wake with the sober chill of being in the presence of majesty.
I have had for many years a dream sign of a black man—usually in some creative role as a chef, or thief, mobster boss, or jockey. This is my art, and also my artist within.
When I dream of singing I believe I am being shown that I have done something deeply correct, like lead a community event from discord to harmony.
One of the most unusual, long present and unsettling dream signs I have is of my eyes suddenly blinded with a white light, accompanied with a sensation or images of scars through the left eye. I do not understand what this dream sign signifies, so I also am looking forward to this Shamanic dreaming workshop, when I can also be a student of the dream time.
