Dreams, Quests, Symbols & Shamans.

Wondering, wavering & weaving wisdom between the worlds.

I am a cinematic dreamer.

I have been for as long as I can remember.

Years later, there are dreams that were so potent—so rich with meaning and feeling, that I can still recall most of the details. Though this process is “organic” for me (I’ve been doing it since I was child), it’s also something that I have consciously and intentionally developed over the years. And I have recently started teaching!

I was in my early thirties, traveling the country teaching my dad’s work, Matrix Energetics. I was on one of those trips, as I was walking the streets of San Francisco, when I came across this fat paperback book about interpreting dreams. It was a fucking tome! And it was so loaded with specifics as what things occurring in dreams meant (especially for young women), that I couldn’t help but think that the author was just a tad arrogant.

No one is an authority on our inner worlds—not our feelings, and certainly not our dreams. They are just too personal to pigeonhole like that. However, there are certain well-established archetypes that have enough collective momentum to hold up certain energies that are (relatively) consistent in their interpretations and meaning. The Tarot is an excellent example of this collectively shared relativity. So are animals, when taken in (for lack of a better word), Shamanic context.

Let me state simply and clearly: I have no desire to “culturally appropriate” anything. It is a simple fact that language and descriptions (especially of more esoteric concepts) fail to render them justice. However, we gotta talk about it some way, and using commonly acknowledged nomenclature, like Shamanism, is one of the ways we do it. Besides, Shamans have existed cross-culturally since the birth of humanity. We are midwives of the soul and act as bridges between the seen and unseen worlds. We tend to speak in dreams, symbols, and have a more refined relationship with nature. This is not to say that Shaman cannot be spiritually abusive. In the same light by where certain people will evolve to help guide other humans, others will evolve to abuse them. But enough about that.

Let’s talk about dreams! Dreams are the gateways between the seen and unseen realms; they are where soul, psyche, and soma meet weaving a web to bridge the worlds within and the world without. Dreams are maps, and sometimes we need help navigating their landscape, and deciphering their keys.

My dream from last night is so packed with story and symbolism, it could easily take me a month to unravel it all!

The dream was a quest: I was traveling in some foreign land, looking for "something". I seemed to be going along with a group of people who I was not particularly close to, but I knew. Along the way I kept running into this figure I named the Tourist. He would appear at the various sites I was visiting, where I got the impression I was gathering clues. Everywhere I went he was just hanging out, standing around taking photos, or lounging on his motorcycle.

At one point I thought I had found the "key", but all that happened from the assembled parts was that this ornately, and geometrically structured, room was suddenly turned into a kaleidoscope. That didn't quite seem like the point.

So on I went…

I next wound up in a monastery that was mixed with men and women, some couples sharing space, some people living more dormitory-style. There was no hierarchy; it was more a matter of preference and compatibility. It was here I got my dog, and here I had to return to get the papers I needed to prove her legitimacy and ability to travel.

It was also here that I realized I was traveling with a "Dad" figure, and I became so frustrated with my own lack of progress that I told him and everyone else to just "Take off!" And they did, taking my my new dog with them. I had enough awareness (in the dream, and in later introspection) to realize that, though I felt abandoned by the "Dad" figure, I felt that I was abandoning my dog!

Though I ran after them crying and yelling “Bring her back!”—they were gone.

When I turned around the Tourist was walking towards me, and in his wake sprung a garden. I turned towards him and made my way into the thicket that had grown from his footsteps. Intuitively, I knew the flowers I was standing amongst were columbines. And tucked away in these freshly-sprouted blooms was a shrine.

It was Yeshua, or Jesus, if you prefer. I know that essence, though I do not commonly associate with it, and am in no way religiously affiliated, still... it was Him.

Further back in the garden were a group of women tending to baby bats. They seemed to be using cornstalks as a nursery.

I took this in instantly right before I awoke to my (actual) dog wiggling her cute little butt, and stuffing her snout into my hand. I wrapped a pillow around my head and picked 3 details to "hold onto” and then look up:

1. The Tourist- clearly a key figure. He seems to also represent the archetypal Fool from the major arcana and is known for traveling with a dog.

2. The columbines- they were so vivid and KNEW what they were. I could feel their essence. The are associated with faith, ascension, good-fortune, peace, and risk-taking. And also with doves. They also grow here, in Montana, where I live.

3. The bats. Bats meanings include: community, longevity, maneuverability, balance, good fortune, evolution, and supernatural powers—a Shaman's ability "to walk between worlds". (There was a side vignette to the dream where I was driving "blind" I was behind the wheel of a car, but could not see.

I also took in the feeling that the dream left with me with: awe. No fear, just a sense of excitement and possibility.

Once I had my journal in front of me, I wrote down as many scraps as I could remember, then I went back and filled in the details and started to look stuff up.

I will be investigating this dream for a while. There is so much rich symbolism, as well as real-life relevance. I was just speaking with my lover, the other night, about faith. It's not a common topic for us and I really look forward to revisiting it! I was talking with my elderly client about columbines, yesterday, and though I was thinking of planting some this spring to feed butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. I was unaware of their symbolic meaning. The dog: obvious, and subtle. Our pets often represent our anima in dreams. She, Freckles, is waking up an instinctive side of me. The "Dad." Do we even need to say it... ugh apparently still more to unpack there!

So this is a peek at the process I will be leading students through in the Dream Keys course for the next 8 weeks. A seeding of the year to come.

We engage in this process through body-based rituals and practices, in group setting, and in one on one sessions, as well as group online space. Our first group meeting is this Monday, February 6th, and there is still time to join, if so inspired.

I will mention: this is the most affordable and possibly in-depth way of working with me while having a small, intimate group to bounce your ideas and energy around with.

Curious? Send me an email. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

PS * You do not need to dream as cinematically as I do to benefit from this course. We will also cover daydreaming and other altered states such as liminal (in between waking and sleeping) consciousness, and Shamanic journeying.

We are all dreamers! Find out what yours are sharing with you.

Register