Great Turtle Rises

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

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.

Rescuing Turtle, Releasing the Artist Within

More than ever, my dreams are driving me to draw and paint in watercolors in my journal. I dreamed that my little dog rushed ahead of me at what I first thought was a pigeon that had picked up a paper plate. When I got closer, I saw that the "pigeon" was actually a tiny turtle. It managed to jump up on my left arm, near the shoulder, and held on tight.
    I began to leave the dream but thought No, I must make sure the little turtle is safe. Fully lucid, I walked, with the tiny turtle on my shoulder and my dog held on a short leash, until I saw a pleasant garden, with a pond and some statues, behind an ornamental iron fence, I opened the gate, tied my dog up, and walked down steps towards the pond. I saw a safe spot on the grass to release the turtle from my shoulder.
    No sooner had I done this than the waters spurted and roared. A huge being exploded from the waters and loomed over me. I realized this was a giant snapping turtle, maybe a distant cousin of the one I rescued. Though huge and fearsome, the intent of the giant turtle was wholly benign. I was instantly reminded of the role of the snapping turtle in the cosmology of the Iroquois, the Native American tradition I know best. A'nonwara, Turtle, lends its back for the Woman Who Fell From the Sky to dance an new Earth into being. And Great Turtle is also the teacher of the Deep.
    In my conscious dream, Great Turtle invited me to go to the depths of the waters to recollect essential things. I did this, and I feel blessed.
    My first action to honor the dream was to make this picture. Our dreams call us to release the artist, as well as the writer, within.

Drawing of Great Turtle from Robert Moss journal January 3, 2017.