I'm at a gentleman's club in London. I am there for some grand occasion. Hundreds of people in evening garb are gathering. I am very conscious that I am not at all dressed for the event. I am wearing summer shorts and sandals, and my hair is long and unkempt. Nobody comments directly on my appearance, but I feel I am getting some strange looks.
I'm increasingly uncomfortable, and start wondering where I could change my clothes and how to get my hair under control. At this point, a mature and rather magnificent woman strides in. She's wearing a very stylish traveling coat and high boots. She signals to me that I am to come with her and indicates that we have more important things to do than dinner at the club.
Outside, I find she has two women companions, all very stylish but also clearly ready for important work; the threesome remind me a bit of the female operatives in old TV thriller's like "Charlie's Angels". Their vehicle is most unusual. When I first inspect it, I think I am looking at a pair of unicycles with pink tires. The tires are indeed pink, and the wheels do look like very large bicycle wheels. But they are part of a long vehicle that has some kind of trailer with interesting equipment behind. This could be quite a ride!
I woke from this dream a week ago, intrigued and entertained.
As is my practice, I ran a reality check on my dream content. I did belong to that club in London decades ago. Right now, I am going around in summer shorts and have let my hair get quite long (and have no thoughts of taming it until summer's end).
The theme of changing clothes for different audiences or purposes is a recurring one in my dreams. In waking life, I think I have given up suits and ties completely, though I can imagine getting into black tie for the right occasion.
I did not recognize the three dream women, but I do have wonderful women friends and helpers in my life and work, These three evoke magical realms of adventure and intrigue. The irruption of the first one into the male-dominated club felt almost like the intervention of the Threefold Goddess :-)
A vehicle with pink bicycles seems unlikely but you do see those three-wheeled rickshaw type things all over Europe as well as Asia now.
Right after this dream, I went off to the Omega Institute to lead a five-day adventure in Active Dreaming. I seized the opportunity to reenter the dream with two gifted women dreamers. Our shared conscious journey took us deep into multidimensional reality, with many mutually confirming experiences.
I found that I had twin dream selves in the dream - a Robert in an elegant suit who fitted in with the men at the Club, and the wild-haired Robert in shorts. Traveling in the carriage or "road train" with the wild women brought me to special locations I have visited in dreams and visions of long ago that are precincts of a Sisterhood that operates across space and time to restore feminine power and balance on Earth. One of these special places is a kind of world mountain, surmounted by a castle of the Sisterhood, that strongly resembles René Magritte's painting, The Castle of the Pyrenees.
I was given three Gaelic names for the three women. This sent me off on a research assignment, after we closed our day's sessions. The first name I recognized. It was Macha, an ancient name of a War goddess and also of the solitary woman in the list of the high kings of Ireland. Macha and her sisters are the three faces of the Morrigan, and they have figured in my dreams before, in both womanly and raven form. The second name was Senchas, which means Justice or Law, preserved by the bardic arts; in old Ireland, the correctness of a legal maxim or precedent was judged by the rightness of the poetry that carried it. It seemed that Senchas could also be a personal name. The third name was Imbolc and I thought I must have gotten this wrong, since that is the name of the great fire festival of Brigid, herself a Threefold Goddess, that heralds the end of winter. But I found that the root meaning of Imbolc is "mother's milk" (and specifically "sheep's milk") which would be a grand name for the nurturing and mothering aspect of the Triple Goddess.
René Magritte, Le château des Pyrénées (1959)
I suppose "Sencha" and the word "Seanchi" are related, as the Senchai is the Celtic story-teller and bearer of old-lore, a cousin of the Filidh.
ReplyDeleteI also find it interesting that some friends of mine in the southern hemisphere celebrate Imbolc in August -as that is the beginning of Spring down there... and you are from the southern hemisphere. I got a note in the email today about their celebration earlier this month. Just a note timing wise as far as Imbolc is concerned.
Justin - Imbolc in August is an interesting possible hit, since not only am I from Australia but one of my shamanic trackers in the workshop is also from Australia.
ReplyDelete"Sencha" is also the name of an ancient Irish judge and magus, generally revered, but once guilty of a misogynist ruling for which he was blighted by a horrible skin disease which receded (in one version) when he corrected himself.
In my dream of yours and from my own experience - War Goddess, Justice, and Nurturer - three important manifestations that will resonate strongly with the Women Warriors who have served in American wars and who attend arts and reintegration retreats with me at Wiawaka. They call themselves warriors, not soldiers; and, in their return home, each of them have stories of healing - or a desire to heal - that begins with a strong need for trust and identification of what is truly Just, a need to hear and be heard. The third thing the home-from-battle warrior seeks is Nurture and Nurturing defined individually by and for each one of them.
ReplyDeleteWorking with these magical women might bring me more than just adventure and intrigue. I might find an even broader relationship with world healing in changing clothing - as the need arises - and accepting a ride with these companions.
Hi Robert,
ReplyDeleteI have somewhat a less god like association: Macha and Sencha are green tea qualities, and no they are not drunken with milk. ;) But those teas are much diskussed in lucid dream forums.
Regards
Christoph
Sorry my bad English. Macha tea is written "Matcha", and discussions are with "c".
ReplyDeleteAnyway, greetings from Switzerland
Christoph