Starting Over

One of my favorite dream play rituals is bringing my new journal into being. Around this time, I start looking for the actual three ring binder that I like to use. It gives me a flexibility that bound journals deny; I can add all sorts of extras to the dream records, from drawings I've done on different paper to pictures I've found or created that capture my dream images more tangibly. I do own a 3 hole punch which facilitates my additions.

Now that these binders come in all sorts of colors, I like to change that up, too. In the last decade or so, I've taken to printing the year on a tab I insert in the spine, making it oh so easy to find later. I also like to use tab dividers to separate the book into the twelve months; I choose interesting paper for my pages.

I reflect on the image I want for the front cover. This new year it will be a black wolf guardian which has visited me in several dreams throughout 2009. I have a wonderful picture that I'll insert in the front panel; it'll serve as a constant reminder of the powerful dream gifts I've received over the past year. I'll also make copies of the dreams in which an aspect of black wolf visited me and keep those at the front of my new journal.

Eventually, I'll find another charged image to use for the back panel. This is a work in progress for the month of December.

Creating my dream journal is a ritual of starting over that I really enjoy. My old dream books become valuable reference sources while my new one looks ahead to what dreams may come.