In 2008, I had registered to participate in the International Association for the Study of Dreams online Psiberdreaming conference. I found myself hesitating before actually signing in and engaging, even after the conference had begun full swing. I had participated at previous conferences, even as a presenter, and felt comfortable in this community I had come to know since joining the IASD in 2000. I just couldn’t seem to get myself there this time though. Well, when in doubt, a little help from your dreaming friends can be just the ticket.
The conference connects dreamers from around the world and creates a container for sharing dreams over multiple time zones and across continents, within a two week period. We are talking non-stop dreaming. Well, in my experience, dreams don’t stop simply because we happen to be awake; dreams are beyond the boundaries of time and space. It makes sense that a gathering such as this, would create such a ripe environment for mutual dreams to occur. Rather than logging into the dream conference, I chose to log some zzz’s instead and slipped into my dreams. I soon found myself in the midst of a dream with several of my dream friends, who suddenly appeared inside my dream to come and wake me up.
Entering the Dreamtime with the Rainbow Serpent
Upon entering my dream, I immediately receive a visit from a dreaming friend from Australia, Kathy Turner, who said, “Come on Valley, wake up! Let’s go!” I could see she is connected to a red cord of light and there are 3 other women also coming with us, each connected by their own colorful cord of light. Now inside a conscious dream reality, I see another dreaming friend, Teresa MacColl. She appears in my dream and approaches an ancient tree that has been hollowed out; it holds rainwater and she is lying inside it. I then find myself speaking with an older, full-bodied woman with skin the color of the dark earth. This African looking Medicine Woman offers me a glass vial of a flower remedy that she has made. I decline her offer because I do not know her. She grimaces at my choice, shaking her head. I then find myself in a circle of women gathered together in the dark of night, all wearing dark hooded garments. Each holds a large orb of light in front of them, showing their sacred light.
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These women are healers, gathered together, as from a distant ancient memory. It is the light they each hold, which identifi es them as a member of this sacred circle of women healers, each with their own gifts and wisdom. I then began to hear music playing and see three aboriginal men bringing their song lines to me, offering their sacred song, to take me into the dreamtime. I find myself entering the dreamtime where the world is formed in dreaming. My consciousness is spread out through the stars in the galaxy and there swims the giant and beautiful Rainbow Serpent of Aborigine creation myths. The dream brings me into contact with this beautiful energy in a cosmic dance of the heart. The dance weaves back and forth, undulating into my heart and back out to the expansive beauty of the galaxy and the Rainbow Serpent.
The next day, my dream was vivid in heart, my body and my mind. I was conscious through most of the night in my dreaming adventures. I realized I really wanted to share my experience with my dreaming friends who came to meet up with me in my dreams. When I finally arrived at the conference and shared my dream, I found there was a Telepathy Dreaming Contest going on. Everyone was sharing the dreams they had focused on the previous night with the intention of connecting with an undisclosed dreaming target.
I decided to share my dreams there, even though I had not consciously made the intention to participate in the contest. Not long after sharing my dream, I received a nudge from my friend Joy. She also did not participate consciously in the contest, but submitted her dreams anyway. In the process of reading through the dreams submitted, she noticed strong mutual dream connections with me and another dreamer.
Joy:
I come upon 2 large-trunked reddish-brown-barked trees that the path goes between…. I thought/ said “Aha! 2 redwood trees” (in fact the bark was scaled, not shaggy) …I decide to climb… and arrive in a big nest-like, rounded-out platform/hollow made by the junction of wide sub-trunks [very thick branches], worn smooth (aware this was more oak-like than redwood-like) … I ask myself “Now what shall I do here? - Oh yes, heal my uterus, or see what’s within it!” A shaman-like woman is before me then, waiting there in the high tree hollow, and I make this arrangement with her: If I do not succeed at this, then she will destroy me…. I decide it can only be a destruction of current ego patterns.... “Okay, destroy me!”
Val Bigelow:
I see a very thick, large tree trunk or the bottom of a tree with some branches intact and some cut off (not a lot of leaves to be seen just THICK BRANCHES.) Last segment… A girl is sitting up in a large tree (similar to the first tree dream) with a white top on and dark blue skirt or jeans. She may be turning down a proposal (of marriage?) but I can’t see the person she is turning down.
Valley Reed:
Teresa MacColl appears in my dream and approaches an ancient tree that has been hollowed out; it holds rainwater and she is lying inside it. An African-looking Medicine Woman offers me a glass vial of a flower remedy that she has made. I decline her offer because I do not know her.
Yes, we all agreed these were very strong mutual dreaming connections. The conversation continued and the connections expanded to impact more dreamers. What eventually became of this mutual dream for me, is not so much that we experienced one together—although powerful in its own right—but that there was a deeper message here for me. Our dreams seemed to bring us the potential to dream together for the purpose of healing in connection with the divine feminine, the earth, the sacred tree and each other. I had experienced the power of mutual dreaming in a conscious dream state that drew me into the dreamtime… a place where we can dream the world into being. I felt inspired by this, so expanded on the energy of our mutual dream by creating the dream tree healers group. This online group of women dreamers has been ongoing since 2008, when we discovered our mutual dream. Together, we have gathered, shining our light in rhythm with the moon and the seasonal turnings of the wheel. We planted the dream tree, where the roots reach deep into dreaming, while her branches stretch out into the brightest reaches of the universe, so that together we may dream strong, with a little help from our friends. ∞
