The ancestors are calling, calling. Not only the ancestors of our bloodlines but of the land where we live or travel, and of traditions to which we are connected, across time and space, in our multidimensional families. This morning a dream of power carried me deep into the cosmogony of the First Peoples of the land where I live. May its energy and potential for healing reach you with these words and images.
December 2, 2020
Dream
Great Turtle Rises
I am with a group in a rural location. We agree to enter the healing night together and bed down in a room full of mattresses. An elderly man moves among some of the dormant bodies with sprigs of wildflowers with lilac blossoms. I see that whatever he is doing brings immediate healing.
A woman elder is lying near me next to the wall and I notice there is a strong energy connection between us. I can feel juice streaming back and forth, balanced and powerful. I look at the wall. It is now natural stone, maybe limestone, with the clearly defined shape of a turtle. The stone turtle starts to revolve. It comes alive. Turtle raises its head and stares at me.
"Aksotha," I greet it in Mohawk, with reverence. "Grandmother."
Feelings: blessed
Dream
Great Turtle Rises
I am with a group in a rural location. We agree to enter the healing night together and bed down in a room full of mattresses. An elderly man moves among some of the dormant bodies with sprigs of wildflowers with lilac blossoms. I see that whatever he is doing brings immediate healing.
A woman elder is lying near me next to the wall and I notice there is a strong energy connection between us. I can feel juice streaming back and forth, balanced and powerful. I look at the wall. It is now natural stone, maybe limestone, with the clearly defined shape of a turtle. The stone turtle starts to revolve. It comes alive. Turtle raises its head and stares at me.
"Aksotha," I greet it in Mohawk, with reverence. "Grandmother."
Feelings: blessed
Reality: I know Great Turtle, as Teacher of the Deep as well as Great Mother, in the traditions of the Onkwehonwe, the Iroquoian peoples of the land where I live. Years ago, I was invited by a Turtle Clan healer to teach a circle of Mohawk women to dream in the ancient ways on a reservation in Ontario. I was presented with a turtle pendant (see photo) by a Huron/Wendat dreamer from the birth people of Island Woman, the ancient woman of power who called me in dreams half a lifetime ago. Here is a poem I wrote in honor of Great Turtle, whose form (be it noted) is that of the snapping turtle which (like the sea turtle) cannot hide in its shell.
Anonwara (Turtle Dreaming)
I am the turtle that does not hide.
I wear the armor of a knight, not a skulker.
My vulnerable belly says, Get me if you can;
I stick my neck out.
You call me slow, but on water
I am faster than you, and fast on land.
Deep down, I am the teacher you need
to show you how to fight the Dark One.
I am the broad back you live on.
Ignore me for too long,
go on harming my other children
and I will shake you off my back.
I wear the armor of a knight, not a skulker.
My vulnerable belly says, Get me if you can;
I stick my neck out.
You call me slow, but on water
I am faster than you, and fast on land.
Deep down, I am the teacher you need
to show you how to fight the Dark One.
I am the broad back you live on.
Ignore me for too long,
go on harming my other children
and I will shake you off my back.
Gratitude and appreciation
ReplyDeleteI like to read your blog because you write remarkably about a subject I have always felt aligned with- dreaming. Over the past two years I have had many personal synchronicities where I will dream of or be otherwise aware of a particular animal, and then you will write a post about the same animal. It happened recently with a bear post about an Icelandic shapeshifter and again today with turtle. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences, the collective dreamscape/synchronistic field is very fun to attune to and one of my favourite aspects of life.
ReplyDeleteOne question- who is the Dark One you refer to above? Thank you for your time.
Hello little sky: "The Dark One" is a reference to the Battle of the Twins in Iroquoian cosmogony. In some versions, the Light Twin (whose names include Sky Holder and Sprout) goes down into deep waters to seek counsel from Great Turtle on how to hold his own in his struggle with the Dark Twin (whose names include Tawiskaron and Flint). I retell the story in my book "Dreamways of the Iroquios".
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