Thursday, June 30, 2016

Dreams of Water

Since the Sun is traveling through the sign of Cancer, whose element is Water, it's a great time to explore what Water means in dreams.
 

The element of water is a basic necessity of life.  Without it we soon die.  That's why all ancient myths call it the Water of Life.  Our bodies are composed of 80% water and we were gestated in our mother's watery womb, just as Life itself was nurtured in the womb of the primeval oceans.

There are many forms of water that can appear in our dreams.  Rivers, the ocean, a pond.  The rain.  It's how we interpret the images that help us understand why this particular type of water appears in our dreams.



This is a dream a woman reader sent me about her male friend.
I have a very good friend (more than a friend) who had a dream of him, together with Jesus walking across water, which had very big and high waves. They walked on the waves and through them like they were solid ground. They were both happy, talking, smiling. He says it was a very unusual dream and he had never had such an unusual dream before.
The Bible story about Jesus walking on water comes after two very important events. The first is the death of John the Baptist. The second is that Jesus and the disciples feed 5000 people in the desert with five loaves of bread and two fishes. After this, Jesus sends his disciples back in their boat to cross the lake and he goes to pray. Then Jesus walks on water to the boat. At first his disciples think he is a spirit, and when he says he isn’t, Peter says, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water." Jesus calls him to come walk with him and Peter does. But the waves are high and the wind is strong and Peter is afraid. He loses faith and starts to sink. Jesus reaches out to him and saves him, saying, "O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?"
The Bible story shows us the evolution of faith. After the death of the prophet John, people were in doubt and fear. The government could kill anyone they wanted to, even someone as respected as John. We see this happening in our world right now. So the people seek out Jesus and he feeds them. He feeds them by providing them with an example – we have to share our resources. They ended up with more bread and fish than they began with. It was a miracle, or at least the miracle of getting people to share.
When we are in fear of what the world can do to us, it is our faith in Spirit – whether Jesus, the Buddha, the Goddess or God – that can nurture us. But if we want more than simple faith and nurturing, we have to trust in Spirit during the stormy, insecure times by taking steps that might seem highly dangerous. We have to walk on water.
Walking on water is an amazing feat. These waters symbolize the Collective Unconscious, the collective rejected needs of the world; yet despite the great unrest in our collective consciousness, we don't have to be overwhelmed by it. The wild waters symbolize feelings that could swamp this man if he wasn't centered in Spirit.
Walking on water indicates that a seemingly impossible situation is being dealt with quite well. This man isn’t afraid of the stormy waters. He is walking and talking with Jesus, his particular spiritual guide. And they are happy, because he knows that ‘All is Well’ even if outer events seem to indicate the opposite.
This is a wonderful dream not only for this man but for all of us. He is handling a rough time in his life with faith and confidence, because he is being guided by Spirit. Can we say the same?  
One of the astrological patterns we're working with now deals with this issue of faith in troubled times. (see The Cosmic Story)  Do we have the spiritual will and creative imagination to 'walk on water' as we face an uncertain future?  That's the question this man, and each of us, is being asked.
Until next time,
Sweet Dreams

Friday, June 17, 2016

Why Interpret Our Dreams?

Why interpret dreams?


Welcome to the wonderful world of dreams! I am your tour-guide through the mysterious, magical, weird, confusing, intriguing, and sometimes comical landscapes of the dreamworld.

You might ask yourself, 'Why does someone become a dream interpreter?'  Well, my mother often asked me that question, so I have an answer for you!

I love dreams. I love the magic and adventure of the dreamworld, and now that I understand the symbolic language of dreams, I love to dig in, follow the thread of the story and discover what it's trying to tell me. In truth, every dream does have a meaning, and every dream wants to enlarge your understanding of your life -- and life in general. I love dreams because they help me understand myself by taking me to other worlds, embroiling me in interesting and often outrageous situations, and letting me see how I deal with it.

I trained at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich, Switzerland, studied the theories of the famous Swiss psychologist, Carl G. Jung, and discovered for myself how the human psyche and the Unconscious works. I agree with Jung who felt that dreams are really messages from your Self or your Soul, the part of you which knows who you really are and what you really want out of life.

Dreams give us a larger perspective on life, beyond our ego-knowledge. Dreams come from the Soul and connect us to Spirit.  Dreams give us the truth of ourselves.

So I began my life-long study of dreams, which entails studying all sorts of ancient myths, legends, fairy tales and religious/esoteric systems that contribute to the symbolic language of dreams. Can you begin to see why my mother often asked this question about my work -- what exactly was I supposed to do with this kind of knowledge in the modern world?

Well, Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, partly answered those questions in his interviews with Bill Moyer called The Power of Myth. Campbell, like Jung and Freud, said that myths are still alive and well in our modern culture. And one of the ways these ancient stories show up in our lives is through our dreams. By understanding what these dream stories tell us about the myth of our lives, we can navigate through life's journey with the wisdom of the ages as our guide.

We need this wisdom because frankly, our society is not meeting our needs. At this time of great change and transformation, we must see ourselves as a united world to deal with the global issues facing us. That means we have to look at our priorities and values, face ourselves and take charge of our future. And believe it or not, dreams can guide us to that knowledge.

All four of my children turned out to be great dreamers. When they were young, my oldest son came down to breakfast one morning and said, 'Mom, I hate dreams!' You can imagine my surprise and dismay. When I asked him why, he said, 'Because you have to wake up!' 

Needless to say, he still pays attention to his dreams, and because all my children still ask me about their dreams, I have a perfect way of keeping an eye on how they're really doing in their lives. This certainly gives me an advantage over parents who say they don't understand their kids! 

Dreams tell us the truth of what we are experiencing, not just our ego sense of things.  If you want to understand yourself, your partner, your family and friends as well as your place in the world, take the time to pay attention to your dreams.

It is well worth it.



Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Power of Dreams: Dreaming A New World

Dreaming A New World




We are living in a defining moment in human history. Scientists tell us that what do we in the next 3 years will determine our future here on Earth. We have finally arrived at the great 'Initiation of Humanity' many sensed was coming. As overwhelming as that sounds, each of us can do our part in transforming this society and saving the world. We have to get it right.

We begin by changing ourselves. One of the oldest questions in recorded history is, “What is the most difficult of all things?” The answer was and still is, “To Know yourself.”

The only way to really change your behavior, attitudes and beliefs is to 'Know yourself'. Before you can change someone else, before you can change the world 'out there', you have to take the 'mote' out of your own eyes and see your own behavior and attitudes. If we are all One, part of Gaia's World Soul, than the understanding and peace you find for yourself will contribute to the peace and understanding in the world. Re-balance yourself, replenish the Earth. Then go out and change our collective culture, which is the root cause of our problems.

Self-knowledge is gained in many ways – often beginning with pain, illness and despair. Then we learn through our spirituality/religion/philosophy, through the help of spiritual healers, psychics or therapists, through body work, through art, through education, through life experience. It is a journey of a lifetime.

But now we are faced with an urgency for change. We are forced to look to ourselves to find the answers. In the end, you are the only one who can 'know yourself'. The 'inner work' of self-knowledge is done by engaging the Unconscious – especially the Collective Unconscious. An important way to do this is by understanding your Dreams. Your dreams speak to you with your own inner voice and wisdom. Only your inner Self really knows what your soul desires, even if 'Ego/you' doesn't know it yet. Trust your Self!

Carl G. Jung, the Swiss Psychologist, believed that within each of us is a central organizing principle which he called the Self. His exploration of the Unconscious taught him that all of us have the potential for Individuation – becoming our own unique Selves. Not an easy task. He felt the best way to access the Unconscious was through our dream life. He also felt that if we did not deal with our 'Shadow' – the feared and unloved unconscious parts of each of us which we project out onto the world – that we would create the very destruction that we see fast approaching. In America, our Shadow is showing as we watch the political landscape.  That's why it's so important to own our Shadows.

Your Unconscious gives you the truth of who you really are. You are meant to develop into your unique Self, although it is the 'most difficult of all things' to do. And the best way to find yourself is to allow what's in your Unconscious to speak to your conscious ego and give you the other side of the story – the Soul's side. That's when you find your True Name. That's when you can begin to change the world.

When you turn your attention within, you activate your Unconscious. Like the Hero/ine on the Hero's Journey, once you set out to explore your Unconscious, it gives you magical gifts to help in your transformation, to help you in difficult life situations.

Dreams are messages from the Soul. The deep Unconscious carries the gifts of the Divine Femine – Lady Wisdom herself, who sleeps in our souls. When we answer our dreams by working with them, Wisdom awakens within us. There are dangers in the Unconscious – dangers of being overwhelmed if we don't know ourselves. Without an understanding of how to navigate in these dark and wild waters, we might never find our unique life purpose. Dreams are the vehicle we've been given to navigate these watery realms.

The most important thing to know about dreams is that they speak to us in symbolic language, our original language which we've forgotten. People, when telling me their dreams, invariably say, “It's so weird. It doesn't make sense.” But dreams do make sense. They speak the truth about our lives. We just need to remember this ancient story language which whispers to us every night while we sleep.

Recording and working with your dreams can change your life. It changed mine, as well as countless others. Just understanding one dream, and taking action on it, can change the whole direction of your life – bringing you love, changing your job, speaking your truth. A whole lifetime of dreamwork brings you the 'pearl of great price'. 
 
Only a wide-awake understanding of life and our place in it can meet the needs of our times. Astrologically, in the past few years we experienced some intense and interesting planetary configurations which resonate with the energies of the 60s. We will be called upon to step forward to participate in the coming evolution of our planet. But before we do, we have to step within ourselves, and discover the treasures and gifts that will be our unique contribution.

This is going to be an ongoing blog about dreams!  If you want to work with me on discovering the meaning of your dreams, email me for an appointment.

Blessings!
Cathy