Hey Bulldog

fittingly enough,
 this lovely fella is on the wine label of a wine called Paxis

Dreams have thrilled me with revelations for so many years that I put nothing past them.  Yesterday’s dream is this kind of wonderful.

A dream is so often quirky and odd, even just a fragment of a dream. I’ve wished out loud that I could collect a nickel every time someone says to me about a dream, “it was so weird.” Add a little frisson of fear or just ickiness, and you’ve got a gold mine for dream exploration.

The revelatory meaning of a dream starts to unfold as I’m writing it down. First, I rehearse it in my head, re-living my dream ego's experience visually so I get the best memory of it possible. Then I record it, either by writing it down manually or dictating it to my email via iphone, later to be printed out for my journal.    Either way, the act of recording helps the dream come into the waking world where it’s gifts can manifest.  Plus, it helps the dream story stick in my head for further pondering.  

It's when I’m pondering the dream story in my head or re-reading it in  my journal entry, that the “aha” moments come, sometime fast and furious, like puzzle pieces falling into place.  

Understanding is more than a left brain “explanation” of what the dream might mean.  Dreams work at every level of our consciousness, from the visceral to the sublime, to unlock the existential mysteries of our being. It makes me catch my breath in wonder.

Oh, I get the bulldog in this dream, big time. I've seen him before.  And I get the little girl, too.  It’s about more than interpretation. I’ve been given a dream key to unlock a door in my psyche. I can walk through that door using dream play practices I've learned and teach; Jung called it “active imagination” and Robert Moss calls it “dream re-entry.”  

My dream, The Little Girl and the Bulldog is a treasure map for new territories to explore and new soul-healing to be found. What I want to share with you about this dream is that after all these years, my dreams keep me on my toes. They are continually  evolving my understanding, revealing to me the meaning and purpose of my physical existence with firm kindness and deep humor.  This is what makes a dream practice so worthwhile; as they do for me, they can do for you.

When I write down a dream, whether it seems like a big one or not, I give myself time to “get” it.  Often, what I might have dismissed as a nothing dream, just a fragment, is actually a powerful gift to me, one I would have missed if I hadn't paid attention.  

In this dream, I meet two characters in a dreamscape that echoes a particular time and a particular physical location from my life story.  The place is so familiar, but there are differences.  These differences and all the details of the dream give me an entry point for exploring my dream further.  Then there's the relationship I can develop with these characters.  I may recognize feelings and retrieve memories by talking to them; they may tell me things my soul needs to hear. 

Jung recommend pondering a dream, mulling it over while walking or resting, or as I've found, even standing in line at the bank. (Dream pondering is not a practice I'd recommend while driving machinery of any kind.) 

When pondering, I keep the dream with me as I go about my day. Sometimes a dream has the psychic energy to stay with me much longer, unfolding it’s meaning in lazy magic like a butterfly emerging it's cocoon.  Some dreams have the power to stay with me always.

Another tool for a dream practice is what Jung called “amplification” and Robert Moss calls “dream archeology.” Exploring the internet for clues to associations I have with this dream led me to John Lennon and his inspired poem of a song: 

Hey Bulldog

The Beatles

Sheepdog, standing in the rain
Bullfrog, doing it again
Some kind of happiness is
Measured out in miles
What makes you think you're
Something special when you smile

Childlike no one understands
Jackknife in your sweaty hands
Some kind of innocence is
Measured out in years
You don't know what it's like
To listen to your fears

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me
If you're lonely, you can talk to me

Big man (yeah) walking in the park
Wigwam frightened of the dark
Some kind of solitude is
Measured out in you
You think you know me, but you haven't got a clue.

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me
If you're lonely, you can talk to me

Hey hey

Roar

Hey, bulldog (hey bulldog)

Woof

Hey,…

Dreams are marvels of revelation; they open channels for  our personal empowerment and give us the courage to live life authentically.  

Life is more interesting for dreaming. It's our organic spirituality; we're born dreaming and dreaming we'll cross the threshold to life beyond physical death.  

Dreaming it Forward

This past Tuesday I had a wonderful talk with Robert Moss on his web radio show.  Knowing that he'd ask me if I had a dream story to tell, I incubated a dream for the show; I asked my dream source to send me the dream I should share with him.   I titled the dream I received, Create the Moment.

I'm in a beautiful outdoor setting, like an emerald glen surrounded by green trees.  My focus is on listening to an inner voice that feels like an inner knowing; it's coaching me to experience the moment as it's being created by me, even as I experience it.  Somehow, I'm being challenged to participate in the flow of time differently, moment by moment, as I create it.  I know there is a subtle difference that's huge.  I have to focus on the subtlety of what I'm being taught to discern how it feels.  I woke from this dream with a sense of wonder.

Robert and I used the Lightning Dreamwork game he created and several insights opened for me then, but the illumination of many dreams is gradual and eventual; their meaning evolves out of our lived experience.  Very often, synchronicity plays a large part in this process.

The day after I shared my dream with Robert on the air, he posted an insightful description of using the twilight zone for in depth dream adventuring on his blog.  I practically smacked the middle of my forehead with my palm as I read his post, of course!  My dream is not about this level of reality; not only is time a different sensation, I'm being shown the liminal space where I can experiment with this teaching.  I was treating it as a lesson for my waking life, manifestation and all that, but my dream is showing something far more valuable.  l have a lush green dream locale where I can experience what it might feel like to relate to time without a body.  Through this portal, in twilight dreaming, I can return to learn the types of life lessons that will come in handy when I cross death's threshold. 

The synchronicity of finding Robert's post, was followed the next day with more of the same, as if the dream source was working in installments. I spent the day with a dear friend, you can meet her in my first post. She's a healer, a poet and an amazing person. We drummed together sitting on her patio.  As I drummed, I looked out and recognized the greenery in front of me; it had an uncanny resemblance to the location I experienced in my dream. I allowed the drumming to take my spirit into the landscape before me and into my dream.  I'd found another facet of wisdom from this dream, by magical coincidence.  It feels like someone is leaving sparkling bread crumbs for me to follow home.

Elizabeth created this photo art and haiku to honor our beautiful day together and as a gift to me.  It captures the entire journey, the dream, the sharing and the honoring over a period of three days perfectly.  I asked permission to share her gift with you here; you can find more of her soulful work on Instagram.

The last step in the Lightning Dreamwork game is "how are you going to honor your dream?"  I honor "Create the Moment" originally by sharing it with Robert Moss, as it seemed intended I should, by sharing it on my blog with you and by living myself into it, thinking about it and watching for it in my waking life.  Using the Active Dreaming guidelines for playing with dreams invites joy and creativity into our every day lives, especially when friends use their loving imaginations on your behalf.  I'm grateful for the many gifts I've received through dreaming this way.