Reflections

Bismillah Er-Rahman Er-Rahim, in the Name and Light of Holy Unity, the Compassionate, the Caring

This page is a mélange of reflections on the dreaming process, waking and sleeping dreams, snippets from my dreams and others’, tips for incubating, remembering and working with dreams, and whatever else pops up in consciousness about these wonderful and mysterious gifts available to all of us, and the amazing times in which we live. And because I have a deepening interest in the connection between dreams and events and astrological currents, you’ll find mention of the Moon and other planets here and there. You’ll find the most recent postings first.

Another very long hiatus! I'm going to check around for another venue in which to blog, one that makes it easy to have subscribers who receive notification when a new post is made. So stay tuned and check in here for details on the new regime.

Wow, long time since I posted here! We're in the midst of great change now - Occupy Wall Street is happening, and there will be Occupations in many other cities around the planet on Oct. 15. One will be in Tucson AZ, and a bunch of us (hopefully a BIG bunch) will be traveling from Silver City NM to join that.

The tone of these demonstrations is truly inspiring - people are united around wanting to re-create a way of living in this country in which everyone is treated fairly, in which there is co-operation and co-creation. People want to eat safe and healthy food, to know that everyone, including the rich as individuals and the corporations as special entities, not as persons, pay their fair share of taxes. They want an end to devastating wars, devastating to human life, to the environment, and to our national economy. People want access to health care and good education for their children. I feel that the time has come for us to stand up and speak up and pass laws in our local areas that protect these rights. And it certainly looks like many, many other people also feel that the time has come. We ARE the change we've been waiting for!

And I'm willing to bet that this climate of radical change and healing is showing up in people's dreams as well. So far, I haven't seen these themes in mine, but I'd love to know what other people are dreaming in these times. I have heard tell of many dreams of earth changes and such, which are also in the air. I do believe that how devastating these changes are depends on how well we take up the task of creating positive change. The better we are at that, the less devastating the physical changes, including extreme weather, earthquakes, and solar flares. We are one with the world we live in, and we affect it all greatly with our level of consciousness, or lack thereof. So may we all dream our most expanded and inspiring dreams for our collective human family, and for the planet, and for the galaxy, and behond...

(Waning Moon in Taurus, smack dab in the middle of that momentous square in cardinal signs - BIG CHANGES)

Nevertheless, even a novice can take a casual look at the chart [above, and] you will see that 7 planets are either conjunct, square or in opposition to each other. This is not going to be seen more than once in a lifetime for it is that rare. In a few words, this configuration creates dynamic tension. It can be a very creative period, but it also has built into it a great deal of resistance. It is common sense to know that the greater the desire and/or need for change, the greater is the likelihood of there being resistance to that very change.

"How we are affected personally depends on where this is happening in one’s chart and also what has been building on one’s life. It can affect one psychologically, emotionally, physically and spiritually or in all of the mentioned ways. On the physical plane, it could manifest as one moving to a new city or home. It could mean that one gives birth or its opposite that one is dealing with the death or possibly death of someone dear to the person. Psychologically, it can manifest as the need to confront something or someone, to face what has been important for some time but which must now be handled. Finally, while it can create events, it may not do so immediately.

"The Best Strategies to Deal With This Transit"

"Openness to the New – a new paradigm or structure is emerging for us right now. With it come new challenges, but most of all it signifies some type of new set of circumstances that we must either adapt to or with which we must work. The famous astrologer, Dane Rudhyar, regarded this type of moment in time as one in which a new seed is planted which will ultimately create an entirely new plant or new cycle. (By the way, this cycle will emerge must more clearly in the late winter and early spring of 2011 when Jupiter and Uranus enter Aries completely).

"Intention – Once we understand or can feel what the new seed is about for us, we must then do what we can to embrace it fully, to own it, so to speak. Whatever it is, it is coming about as a necessity, so it is best to intend to work with it, to cooperate with its demands of us and see it as beneficial in the long run. For some this will be easy as the new seed is welcome, but for others, it can be resisted or even fought against. To do so is not helpful, since the coming changes are inevitable. We must learn to hold and even nurture the new seed, so that as it sprouts, we do all we can to help it grow into the new structure that is promised.

"Patience – for a variety of reasons, the changes being signaled right now are just emerging and have a ways to go before becoming solid and clear enough to be acted upon fully. What is more likely is that we need to approach whatever we find ourselves being moved toward with openness, but also without any rush. It is too big to be something that can be handled quickly. Saturn is part of this process which means that we must not miss any steps and must go slow enough to build a solid foundation. Saturn provides the rules for all that develops, so respect for that process is so important.

"Awareness – In any process that is truly new, there is an inevitable arousal of fears since we are always more familiar with the past that we can be with the future. The future is unknown and different, so if we find ourselves confronting fear as the new approaches, we do not need to be surprised or ashamed. Our job in that situation is to make the effort to continue moving forward."

(Waning Moon in Taurus, in the midst of a big ol' square in cardinal signs - BIG CHANGES)

Big changes took place in my life three months ago, when guidance had made it very clear to me that Silver City NM is my home and where I belong. So I packed everything up - again! - and headed back to Silver. And it's a whole new life, with different responsibliities (and fewer of them), an expanded social circle, and a lot more spontaneity and openness in my daily life. Alhamdulillah! (That means Hallelujah!). My latest enthusiasm in the world of dreamwork is the books and blog of Robert Moss. I've known of him for years, but had only read the occasional article in a dream magazine or journal. But now I'm hooked! I'm about to order The Three "Only" Things and Conscious Dreaming (check your local bookstore or Amazon.com). And the blog is at http://blog.beliefnet.com/dreamgates/. Great stuff! I'll add the books to the bibliography once I've read them. Of course there are more books, and I'll probably get to them all eventually! Let me know what you think.

So here I am in my new home in Bolinas, CA, right at the edge of the blessed Mother Ocean and the wild land of the Point Reyes National Seashore. I'm not sure whether living near the Ocean is the cause or not, but I'm remembering at least one dream almost every night. And the BIG news for me is that during a recent retreat, I had my first flying dream - woohoo!

The presence of the Moon in Gemini (communication) may have something to do with the impulse to update my webpages today, and to reach out to whoever might come upon these pages. I'm also in the process of getting the word out for dream groups and retreats.

As for the prospective dreamwork with the wounded warriors, I'm biding my time. Something in me or in the Universe isn't ready to set this in motion just yet. Time will tell.

More big changes in my life! I will be leaving Silver City NM the end of August and moving to the oceanside town of Bolinas in northern California. I have received a strong spiritual call to begin offering the dreamwork I do to veterans with PTSD (Post Traumatic Soul Disorder), individually and in groups. There is such a tremendous need for this, with so many veterans from the Vietnam war still suffering with this condition, and thousands more from the Gulf War and now returning from Iraq.

So I need to go where the vets are, and to live in a place where I can be regenerated from the emotional impact of doing such intense work.

I will be offering individual and group work to other folks as well, in west Marin and the surrounding Bay Area.

On a note of personal dreaming, my dreams of late have seemed to focus on concern for friends dealing with challenges of various kinds. I wonder if my dream life is reflecting my sense of loss at being physically far away from these friends? Perhaps...

Big changes in my life right now, how about you? Moving out of the house I have owned and lived in for almost 8 years in Silver City, downsizing my in-town life. since I spend most of my time out on the land at our Sufi retreat center. Moving into a small room in a small house, that I will share with friends when I'm in town, will mean changes in my lifestyle, big and small. Watching the tide of emotion as I realize what the changes will mean. Letting go into what is emerging.

On this page, I'd like to share correspondences between sleeping and waking dreams, not only my own, but others' as well. What do I mean by that? An example would be dreaming of a person or thing or event and having it pop up in your life the next day. Or sharing dreams with someone and finding out that you dreamed the same images or themes.

I think it's important for us to notice these things, and to watch and listen for messages they may contain that can guide us in our thinking, saying, and doing.

I had a very powerful and somewhat disturbing dream last night entitled “There’s a Monster in the House, and He Wants My Blood”. Yikes. Long time since I had an uneasy dream, and one with family members in it at that. Tells me it’s very important to work with this one, and find correspondences between the images and feelings, and what’s happening in my life right now.

This is a time of great change and transformation, as we can all see reflected in events on the national and global levels, and most likely in our personal lives. It behooves us to be courageous in acknowledging, confronting, and integrating the unfinished business that keeps us from being free to flow with the changes and accept what is new, unfamiliar, evolutionary. Having this dream offers me just such an opportunity, and I invite you to watch for them, too, whether they show up in dreams, in interactions with people in our lives, messages from books, movies, or however they come. The world of Wisdom, of Spirit, is constantly communicating to us what we need to pay attention to, in images, sounds, symbols, messages (email sometimes, too!), and chance encounters.