Angel Dolphin, Where Have You Been?

I've mentioned before how there's a rhythm to my dream recall and my dream play. Sometimes I experience a dream drought, a time when I'm not remembering much of what I've been living in the sleeping state. Not everybody has these dry periods; some people, who may not even be keeping track of their dreams, remember their dreams every time they wake from sleep. I do get jealous, but it doesn't really matter. One dream remembered from ten years ago can change your life now if you pay attention to it. Still, when I have a phase where my dreams slip away too fast for me to catch them, I do miss them very much.

I know many people have experienced what we're fond of calling depression. We might go through the paces of life, but there's no zeal or passion for the life we're living. Some people turn to religion to fill this void; I find my dreams are my surest source of comfort, inspiration and teaching when I feel this way. Even though I'm in a drought, I still ask for their help most every night. During a recent bout of the blues which had me adopting a rather scaredy-kitty approach to life, I went to sleep asking for a dream that would help me get back to feeling my Self again. I remembered this brief dream in the morning.

I'm floating on a raft, my cousin is with me on her own raft, and we're floating feet first out towards deep ocean. I'm relaxed and comfortable, feeling the wonder and beauty of the Caribbean blue/green ocean, looking up at the clear, beautiful blue sky. I notice that the light is beginning to go golden, signaling sunset is not far off. I tell my cousin we need to turn around and head back, I don't want to be drifting in the ocean at night. She turns on her stomach and begins swimming her raft towards shore. I stay on my back, holding her raft with my left hand and swimming the back stroke with my right. I look out to the right and see the glistening blue-grey skin of a large fish with a fin diving into the water about 12 feet away. At first I fear it's a shark and hold my breath, but quickly I see it's not; it's a dolphin. It's obviously guiding us back to shore. It continues swimming along side us till we get to the beach, then turns around and swims back out.

I drew a very fast sketch, just a few lines with colors from the dream and the quick unthinking strokes I use for dream drawings. I looked at my scrawls and judged that the shape of the fish was all wrong. The fish looked like it had wings. I thought, that's not what a dolphin looks like. Eureka! They are wings; angel wings, I realized. My dolphin is an even greater guide than I first apprerciated, so I titled the dream: "Angel Dolphin." I also wrote on the drawing, "Where have you been?"

Receiving this great spiritual reassurance that my guide is with me, in deep water and on shore, made all the difference to me. I could feel the blues evaporating and my energy increasing. I took this dream to one of my favorite dream friends to gain even greater insight by journeying back into it together. I'll post more on dream re-entry soon and perhaps share more of the insights this little dream opened to me.

Dreams can provide, in just one image, a metaphor that anchors the soul in times of trouble. They can open the door to deeper possibilities in the practical matters of life and they can lead us back to emotional Terra Firma, where we can find our footing and move on.

Finding a spiritual guide is one of the most profound gifts of dreaming. If you pay attention to your dreams, they will surprise you with allies in the most wonderful guises, bearing just the right tidings, just in the nick of time.