To D about My Dreams (Snakes Being Cut into Pieces and Another strange one)

[Guest guest]

D wrote:

 

>> ...Any insight into the first or second dream? I know I should search my

own intuition, but >> I felt like asking especially about the snake dream as

that seems to be specific

>> symbology.

 

 

 

Dear D ~ indeed these are very interesting dreams. Generally I feel that the

individual who has the dream is the best one to interpret it. For example,

some questions you might ask yourself are: "How do I perceive snakes?,What

does the cutting mean; what is the purpose of cutting something apart or

away," "What do I think about swamps," and "Why was the man so upset that I

"pulled the plug?" Another way of approaching the dream is to put yourself in

the

place of the other "characters.As the snake, what does being cut up mean?"

"As the man, what is it that is so important about the 'tree'"?

 

This having been said, snakes are often used symbolically to represent

change, evolution and similar ideas. This is perhaps due to shedding the skin.

In

Western culture, snakes are viewed as "bad" (e.g., the source of "original

sin"), while in some cultures, they are revered (consider the Hindu reverence

for the cobra). Taking the analogy of shedding the skin and evolving a bit

further, as the drama in your dream did, the cutting of the snakes might signify

ridding oneself of what is unnecessary, including the ego. Perhaps it was Ma

Kali who was doing the cutting.

 

In terms of the man in the field, the worms and the tree ... well, hmmm...

symbolically worms and lizards could be viewed as another snake reference. So

was the man trying to make his ego stronger. If he was a "teacher," my guess

is that this would be no. Perhaps imbibing the worms might be viewed as the

man taking on the quality of the "snakes" (and this is true in many primal

cultures, where the symbolic eating of an animal is to gain the characteristics

of the animal), e.g., the ability to "shed his skin," (ego). I'm not sure how

the organic mass that

turned out to actually be a tree figures in or the circular tunnel, except

that both are what Jung would term archetypes, and both are strongly

represented symbolic realities in shamanism.

 

The tree (or creeper, or vine) is one of the ways that a shaman (and this is

cross cultural) ascends to the Upper World. The tunnel is access to the Lower

World. There is no meaning of "good/bad" with this terminology, and I have

used both the tree and the tunnel to journey to the Upper World or the Lower

World. It would take a book, which perhaps someday I will write (or paint) to

describe the awesome beauty I have seen, the knowledge I have been blessed

with, and the tests I have faced (including having my eyes eaten out by Hawk, a

symbolic death that is a kind of initiation in the world of shamanism). So

perhaps taking away the tree, and then having the tunnel disappear into the

hold in the ground was taking away the teachers ability to continue to gain

knowledge. I think these dream elements, though, especially the organic mass

and

the tree could be explained by our recent discussions about marijuana.

 

The tunnel is also a very familiar image in near death experiences, a

passage way from this world to the next, as the tree is a passageway in

shamanism

from this world to others.

I dunno ... if I had anything to suggest, based on these dreams, it would be

to explore the shamanic path a bit. I had a "vision" once with Amma sitting

atop a truncated pyramid. Both my spirit guides were there and all of my power

animals (these being elements of shamanism). They were having a great time,

swinging their legs back and forth and laughing. And then Amma waved right

hand (She was on the far left) widely as if to encompass all the others up

there with Her, and said, "I am all of these." For whatever it's worth...

Jai Ma , Jai the Journey ~ Linda