I, who was trained as a scientist, would like to tell you a true story about “dream magic.” Some prophetic dreams anticipate precise details of our future and are not probability predictions, as you will see.
In the 1980’s, I was training Hollis, a talented intern, to interpret dreams, when we explored this dream which foretold her future in a way my scientific training declared impossible:
“I am driving along in my car through ever-deeper mud. Soon I can’t progress at all. I’m stuck. I get out and slog along through the deep mud. When I look up, a beautiful African woman reaches out and helps pull me up out of the mud. I go to a house to get cleaned up and in the entryway there is a magnificent, ornate vase.”
Dream symbols are like diamonds: from every different point of view, some new facet of light is revealed. We viewed each symbol from many angles: intra-psychic, inter-personal, physical, spiritual, archetypal, cultural, etc. to show her the power of dreams.
The dream reminded Hollis about the “beautiful African (American) woman,” who was her nanny, and whose love was truly uplifting. This child of white employers, had a second mother–who was very beautifully, very black! This dream rekindled Hollis’ love and gratitude for this special woman, giving credit that was long overdue.
Anyone who truly sees and loves us helps to birth us and becomes part of our “spiritual family.” Hollis embodies the brotherhood of two races. This and many other insights arose from her dream.
Finally, Hollis drew a detailed image of the impressive, ornate vase in her dream. It spoke to her of esthetic treasures, some new vessel–or capacity–for flowering, for elegance, for feminine receptivity, for life!
The essence of our analysis was this: Some inner gifts and capacities… of great beauty can be discovered, but only after trudging through her own stuckness. We must sometimes leave whatever vehicle/attitude/identity we have been relying upon to travel through life. And after serious efforts of our own, a helping hand may be offered… often by a scapegoated and under-appreciated part of us! Some beauty we have denied and have hidden in our shadows comes to our rescue us creating a new vessel.
Years later Hollis phoned me saying, “I found that vase from my dream, I found it!”
Recalling this training dream, I asked, “Wasn’t your vehicle stuck in the mud?
“Yes, that was my marriage which went downhill for years, going nowhere. We even lived on a rutted country road where people would literally get stuck in the mud trying to visit us.
Even the road to her house–which mirrored her life experience–was foreshadowed in the dream! Outer challenges mirror our interior life: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
“That very dream helped me realize I had to get out. Out of that house, that marriage…” she continued. “I was depressed, stagnating; I was stuck in the mud!””What about the African woman who helped you out?” I asked.
“I’ve been studying African drumming and dance and they are bringing out a whole buried part of me! They’re helping me feel in touch with my body, to feel like me again. They really get my energy moving, getting me unstuck from the inside. When I found the courage to leave my husband, friends offered me a place to stay. And in their entryway–there it was: the vase from my dream!”
“How similar?” I inquired.
“It isn’t similar,” Hollis clarified, “It’s exactly the same vase that I drew years ago!”I was stunned by my first encounter with this “everyday miracle” of dreams. I said: “Wow, it’s like a ‘You are Here’ sign from the Cosmos!”
Her difficult choice to leave an unhappy marriage was facilitated, prior to the marriage! Apparently, some divorces are made in heaven. Seeing that familiar dream vase in the “real world” she knew she was on the right path.
Hollis’ discovery of African dance and drumming marked a “coming out” for a young black woman inside her white skin. Hollis is a vessel of a double heritage. Both mothers should be proud of her. She now rescues children at risk… as once was done for her! Her dream vase runneth over.