Trust Fall

I’m a little excited about my dreams the past couple of nights…going to be a nice, lighter balance to my previous post.

You know when you watch a TV show or movie or read a book before bed, that can often influence the dream you have that night..?

Well, I love to read books about dreaming in general just to get my head in the right space before I sleep. Sometimes I just re-read my own dream journal of past dreams. Doing this really helps me remember my dreams, and often my dreams are very vivid when I do this.

Currently reading: Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole by Robert Moss (creator of Active Dreaming). WONDERFUL read so far. Highly recommend.

It only takes a day of reading before I start to see a strong influence on my dreams.

The night before last… I dream that I am at my childhood lake house in Louisiana. I am making a mojito to bring with me to a neighbor’s house down the street. I grab a big, plastic Mardi Gras cup from the cabinet to the left of the kitchen sink. The ice cubes I put in my drink are purple and a black-and-white checkered pattern. I walk down to my friend’s house, and a car of teenagers pull up. They’re all looking at us like we are weird (like teenagers do…).

Then, I am back in the mountains where I live now. I am riding my bike downhill on a super fun, super steep trail. I come to a fork in the trail—a trail that I call “Skyland” in my dream. I’m trying to figure out if both trails lead to the same place. The one to the left, I think, is a shortcut to my destination but goes through a meadow full of old, broken machinery and dumped trash. And I’m not totally sure it does end up in the same place I’m trying to go. The trail to right—I know leads to where I am going, and it has some really fun downhill parts that I’ll enjoy. I try asking people around me, but no one seems to know for sure which trail goes where. I have to make up my mind quickly; a big storm is approaching, getting closer and closer. I pick up a big, green leaf—it’s bigger than a tree leaf but smaller than something like a lily pad…although it does remind me of a small lily pad. The leaf is from Tibet. I pick it up, press it against my face, and inhale as deeply as I can.

And I wake up.

The next day I read more of the book. I read about how acting out your dreams is positive, affirming soul work—it makes the spirits happy. I read about the successive levels of dream space. You can go to sleep in your dreams and reach higher levels of clarity. (Keep in mind that I’m being VERY brief in these descriptions.) And I read about finding your “soul/sole tree” and how “Tree Gates” are the shaman’s ladder between the Lower, Middle, and Upper Worlds.

So, last night, in waking life, I make a mojito in an old, plastic Mardi Gras cup that I have in the cabinet to the left of my kitchen sink (sadly did not have purple/black-and-white ice cubes…). Out on my deck, I notice a new plant in one of my flower pots outside. It must have been seeded there by a bird or something because I don’t recognize it at all. It has big, scratchy, green leaves starting to spill over the pot and a few flower buds about to bloom. I kneel down and press the leaf to my face and take a deep breath in.

Last night I dream that I am lying in bed, and I am trying to go to sleep. I just can’t fall asleep though! My back is REALLY hurting (I recently threw out my neck and upper back, so this actually makes a lot of sense), and I cannot get comfortable. I try adjusting the pillows—nothing. Can’t fall asleep. When it’s time to get up, I sit up in bed. There are several, tiny trees…like bonsai trees or something…growing all over the top of my head. I smile, and it makes me so happy!

Then, I am on a boat traveling down the narrow channels of swampy waters, lined with cypress trees—reminds me of the lake in Louisiana. My mom is driving the boat, and I look back and see my sister is there too. I look at my sister like, “Oh no what’s going to happen…”

As she drives through the narrow channels, there are people hitchhiking in the water. One is an old man. He sees us, rolls his eyes, and turns away. There is also a couple, a man and a woman, with walking sticks. My mom just drives past them, and I feel bad for not offering them a ride with us. But I’m not driving, so there’s nothing I can do.

We get to this pier where people are swimming. The water is nice and clear here. A woman on the dock says “We are going to swim here where the bait water is really clear.” And I agree that’s a good idea because I don’t want to swim in the murky water where the snakes an alligators like to hide.

I ask someone on the surface of the water to push me down deep into the water. I make my body straight like a needle and go down below the surface. I look up, and the water is so clear that I can still see the people above me. There are bubbles and light around me, and I swim back up to the surface.

I asked to be pushed down again. This time I go a little farther down. I brush up against some plants near the bottom. I can still see the surface, so I’m not scared. I swim back up.

I asked to be pushed down again. This time I go REALLY far down. It’s actually fun sinking to the bottom. Then, I am suddenly all surrounded by a ton of plant life closer the bottom…starting to get murky here. I feel the plants brush up against my skin, and I see what looks like the scratchy leaves from the new plant in my flower pot in waking life. I say something under the water like, “oooh noo.” I’m a little scared there’s going to be a scary animal lurking around this area, but I never lose sight of the surface. I kick my feet and actually take my time getting back to the surface. I realize I can stay underwater for a really long time, seems like I can hold my breath forever, so I take my time weaving around the water before I get to the surface again.

Then, I am on the edge of the dock. I am doing these “trust falls” into the water, and I naturally spring back up to standing. I fall down and spring up. Fall down and spring up. And it makes me happy.

And I wake up.

So, this book I am currently reading is mostly about soul retrieval. And since reading it, my lake house is really coming through in my dreams. This makes me think that there is a part of my soul patchwork that remains there. Once I finish the book, I plan to do actual, intentional dream re-entry to explore the area. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a piece of me still in this place, my happy place where I learned to feel safe in the wild.

To wrap up, I’m also feeling very supported by the Moon’s recent sliding into Scorpio very early this morning. I love the dark, watery, psychic energy that is strongly influencing my own, personal underworld and subconscious. Keep it coming, lunar Scorpio!