Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Mud People and the People of Amber



Suvalkija district, Lithuania

I am out in the woods, in the rural part of western Lithuania where I am staying. I come to some wide, shallow steps, just packed earth with wood at the edges. I notice two snakeskins, tied in knots that resemble figures of 8, then a larger one, tied in a slightly more complex knot, on a higher step, and know these were left as signs and also that the snakes were not venomous.
    Now I see vivid, brightly colored scenes of ancient battles - of Teutonic Knights who invaded these lands, and Lithuanian Grand Dukes with their knights and men at arms, struggling against great odds to force them back.I This living history unfolds into times where local people took to the forests and the mud to carry on their resistance against invaders. I see people who lived with wolves and bears and tried to call on their energies in the fight. I see huge mystery beasts in the woods that look like elephants and wonder whether these are the shades of extinct prehistoric creatures, or entities created by the country''s defenders in an effort to equalize a conflict through psychic means of attack.
    I wander deeper into the woods. I am conscious that sticky mud is everywhere, and geeting deeper, just as I found it roaming fields and ancient hill forts the previous day. I come to the house of a ragana - a witch - on one of the sloppy forest trails. It is just a hut among the roots of a crooked tree. I see the face of the witch before she scuttles away into hiding. She has painted the upper part of her face, from the hairline to the cheekbones, chalk-white so it looks like part of a death's head, or perhaps a venomous spider. While she avoids me, nasty slithering things rise from the mud.
    I'm willing to fight her allies, if need be, and am glad to see that an enormous Bear is with me, as a bodyguard. Yet I'm thinking that the witch is merely defending herself; I have wandered into her territory, and she has reason to fear intruders. Instead of starting a fight, I call down Light, and a bright shaft of amber light immediately descends.
    I am happily surprised to find that it serves as a traction beam. It pulls me straight up into the air, far above the mud and the dark woods. I find myself inside what seems to be an egg-shaped amber, with female presences who remind me of ancient priestesses of this land I have met in previous dreams and journeys. The leader tells me, "You must understand that there are the Mud People and the Amber People, and here you belong to the People of Amber. Your duty - and that of those you train here - is to build bridges and wooden pathways so people can get across the mud safely. You must avoid allowing yourself to be sucked down into the mud. You must remember to call on the power of Light Amber to heal and to guide, and on the power of Dark Amber to remove the darkness."

As I surfaced from this mostly lucid dream, the moon shone bright in my face for a moment, like a spotlight. Then a cloud blew above the apple trees and mountain ash outside my window, and I lay back in the gentle dark, savoring my latest encounter with the "understory" of the Baltic country where I was traveling.
    I stayed on Monday night at the country place of a "good witch" in the Suvalkija distrct in Lithuania. She invited me - after attending my workshop - to learn practices of healing and divination handed down in her family from mother to daughter and never written down (until I took notes, with her permission). She had burned amber in a ritual the night before. In the morning, after hearing the dream, she continued my instruction. She demonstrated how to move light amber over the body in a spiraling motion to heal. Then she showed me how she uses a dark amber (also called "vampire amber" here when used in this way) in a different pattern to extract disease and "strangers" in the body.
     Over a breakfast of dark, nutty "grandmother's bread", homemade cheese and butter and coffee chewy with grounds, we talked about the significant of "Mud People" in the literal history of Lithuania, whose name means "Rain Country". Lithuania has no real natural borders. Its main defense against invaders and occupiers, across the centuries, has been the mud. When the cities fell to enemies, people "went into the mud".

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12 comments:

Worldbridger said...

Wow! What an absolutely staggering dream. So beautiful, so powerful, so heart-felt. Thank you for sharing it. You made my day.

Alice Finnamore said...

Good morning, Robert. I'm enjoying following your travels this way, including your travels into other times and dimensions.

After reading your earlier post, I wore amber to the office and was able to share your dream of the amber heads with a client of mine.

In today's post, the amber light that rescued you like a tractor beam reminds me of the sword of light. You may need it in the next stop on your journey.

Safe travels.
Alice

Anonymous said...

Fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to write this Robert. You were told in your dream that your duty and those you train there are to build bridges and wooden pathways to get across the mud - interesting. I had a dream last night where I was with a young man with dark hair cut into bangs (possibly Polynesian) and we were outdoors, each with our own motor vehicles having a grand time driving on the surface of the mud, up and down hills - sliding and racing, but never getting stuck. Whether it's bridges, wood pathways, or vehicles - I believe there is a way to arrive safely with the help of your guides/goddesses, Robert. It seems as though there are even more guides welcoming you in Lithuania. What a wonderfully exciting journey you are taking! Enjoy and thanks for sharing with us.
Margie

Robert Moss said...

Worldbridger, Alice and Margie - thanks for your wonderful feedback. Margie, I love your dream of being able to race through the sticky stuff in that excellent mudmobile. I'm always cheered by dreams in which a way to get through. The trick is to bring the positive energy - and sometimes, the specific navigational guidance - that comes with this on to tghe roads of everyday life.

Anonymous said...

Yes, spot-on Robert. The dream exuded positive energy. Thank you for your response and I'll keep all of it in mind. Margie

Lou Hagood said...

Keep bridging the mud, Robert!

Wanda Burch said...

'Magnificent dream and an invaluable opportunity to dream with and gather healing wisdom from the keepers.

I was ill last night - some sort of short lived cold or virus - but, in an intent for making it even more short-lived, I asked for an image to work with the flu-like deep aching pain in my muscles and joints. I fell asleep and came half awake. In my somewhat groggy state I had the clear impression that I was inside a clear egg-like case with deep vein like lines drawn in asymmetrical patterns across the top of the clear egg case. There were connecting threads from the lines into my body, and there was an invisible hand controlling movement, first in a counter-clockwise direction and then halfway back again, carefully threading back between the lines. Instead of tangling the lines and threads, the movement gently generated sensations of movement inside my body and disentangled whatever created the aching sensation. When I awoke I no longer felt the throbbing aching flu-like pain.

I don't know the techniques used for working with spirals in Lithuania, but I was reminded when I awoke that I once dreamed of my grandmother tracing intricate spirals - for healing - in the sandyard. I think perhaps I had my own lesson for potential use of those.

Robert Moss said...

Dear Wanda - It seems that, out of your own experience, you have improvised yet another powerful technique for imaginal self-healing that could be adapted for use by others. It's grand that it helped you to get through those flulike symptoms.

Clearly that unseen hand working the energy lines knew what it was doing! When I think about it, I use the counter-clockwise motion to release or disperse energy, and clockwise movement to bring healing energy in.

The "egg" container also makes me think of extraction therapy using a literal egg, as you have practiced with me in some of the healng retreats.

Valerie said...

Robert ,
What a wonderful dream!! And to meet the good witch and learn those rituals is really amazing.I look forward to the pictures and also to see how you will turn this into another great teaching tool.
Thanks again for sharing !!
Valerie

dreamrider said...

What a pleasure to read of your adventures in consciousness in foreign lands!

Coincidentally, I have to mention that on Thursday a friend remarked on how much she hates doing chores in the "poo-mud" on her farm. I replied that my horses love nothing more than rolling in the same mud. Then I spent about a half hour doing an internet search for images that matched the words 'mud horse'.

There seems to be magic afoot.

Robert Moss said...

Hi Dreamrider - my dogs like rolling in stuff I would rather avoid, too. The downside of living on the farm (in upstate NY) when I was still there was that come the spring thaw, the whole surface of the land would feel like a sliding layer of mud. Such conditions have a very distinct importance in Lithuania because, as I mentioned, the country does not have defensible borders and has had to fight would-be invaders and occupiers for most of its history. Living in the mud, here, was sometimes a way of surviving and of building resistance.

Astrea said...

It's a beautiful dream, and I think very useful to share such information - everything's connected and you never know how the "dots will connect". These people seem to use amber in a similar way to how other peoples use quartz crystal. Incidently, I have a favourite pendant with Moldavite, which is grounded nicely by amber cut into a downward triangle shape.
Joanne