The Dream: I am in the spirit realm and I ask Spirit for a name. The name I am given is Salmon because “I try so hard and through my struggles new creation is born.” As I try to tell the people in my dream about my name, I find myself swimming in the ocean. There are thousands of fish around me and I’m moving with the currents. I feel a big fish under me with my foot and in the distance I see a Killer Whale breaching...
I remember as a young child hearing mom call, “Little Jimmy or (in my case) Little Brenda come home! Dinner’s ready!” Hearing mom’s voice calling was so comforting and I was always so grateful I had a home and a family with whom to share dinner. I would drop what I was doing and run straight for the house! I knew exactly where I was going and how I would be greeted. More importantly I knew my name and when I was called my immediate thought was “Home.” The dream “I AM SALMON” is about my spiritual call home, my special purpose as an artist and my place in our collective human struggle. The giving of a spirit name is a very ancient practice, usually marking a type of rebirth, an initiation to a new path. I have never consciously wanted a new name but my higher self has witnessed my efforts to change through difficult personal struggles and deep soul searching to be authentic. In all my struggles there was an unspoken wish for a new name.
In many myths and cultures the name Salmon is connected to Wisdom and Spirit. Salmon’s body is so rich and nourishing, it is literally life sustaining to many earth creatures. My spirit name Salmon ensures a new spiritual path for me and seems to point to a work that provides a source of nourishment to sustain the spiritual lives of others.
Salmon’s literal journey home is quite miraculous! After spending years in the deep, they’re signaled by a creative urge to spawn. All their energy is devoted to this urge and they're driven to return home. Most of them don’t make it, becoming food to predators, exhausting themselves in rivers. It’s uphill all the way, against the current, jumping over huge obstacles! This so describes my path as an artist! There are millions of us passionately trying to express ourselves! Artists lead the way, pointing to what’s coming into consciousness in the collective. In this way, we have to fight tradition and push our way through obstacles to new thinking.
When my husband saw my painting of the Salmon with the foot he made a connection to evolution and the question of what’s next? I thought the connection brilliant, for many people now hold the belief that humans are on the cusp of a huge evolutionary leap! There was the sense upon awakening from the dream that we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves and that we are being moved by currents toward a destination that is out of our control. At this moment we are in the midst of a great economic recession. How we all struggle! How difficult our situation! However, the implications are much more grave than the loss of a weekly paycheck. There are great planetary issues coming to the fore that have to be resolved if our children’s children can survive.
Now is the time to use Salmon Wisdom. Now is the time to journey home to nature’s harmonious ways. Do we hear our Mother calling?
