And it all falls into place
I just had the most uplifting dream, that led me to waking with a huge grin on my face, and a 'that's riiiiiight' feeling inside (warm and fuzzy and all)
I was at a party outdoors with my parents, and there happened to be a wood festival nearby (Pagan rites? Renaissance fair? that kind of thing) that I felt myself immediately drawn to, so I went there instead. They had one activity in the heart of the fair that you had to get to by horse and cart, and I remember feeling as though I'd come home. My parents showed up too, and my mum fell under the sway of a healer for her back, and I left them to it to pursue my own interests, being merry and drinking just enough wine to get very happy indeed. My dad showed up and joined me in the wine, and we were relaxing together when word came that my mum had suffered a setback and needed to go to hospital. Dad wanted me to come along, but the pull of my heart was to the party in the woods, as I had not done the crucial activity yet, and wanted to soak up more of the atmosphere. He left, I stayed, but did feel guilty after a while, so asked whether there was enough time to take a cart back to the other party to check up on my mum's progress and then come back to the woods. People said they didn't know (the party was winding down), but I felt I had to try anyway, so got in a cart to head back. There was a jam at some point, and the horse keeled over, so the cart was stuck with me running out of time. I pulled the cart myself for a while (which was incredibly easy and light), but abandoned the idea in favour of just walking soon after. Then it veered into the bizarre, with me meeting Milo Ventimiglia on the road, and us establishing that we didn't know each other's names, but kept bumping into each other, and falling into easy conversation, him with an arm flung around my shoulders. He was then accosted by this girl I knew in school, Dieuwke, being all fangirly and asking for autographs and suchlike, and I gave her a witty but damning put-down with an added ' bye, Dieuwke!' in a funny voice at her retreating back, while Milo giggled. Turning to him I said 'yeah, I didn't like her in school anyway', at which he kissed me and I fluttered (and it has to be said I don't like the actor when I am awake, or maybe I think I don't, because the subconscious appears to disagree) and we stayed with the woodsy people and I just felt in place and at ease.
So I woke up with this huge grin, and then grabbed a book that felt right at that moment 'The Druid Way' by Philip Carr-Gomm, and it was so right, like coming home yet again!
The passage that stood out most clearly is this:
With psychological understanding, we discover that one of our central problems is alienation: from ourselves, from others around us, and from the world of nature. Psychotherapy began the task of putting some of the different parts of ourselves back in touch with each other, so that our minds were no longer alienated from our feelings or our bodies. Group psychotherapy began to help us communicate with others - thereby easing our sense of alienation further. Transpersonal or spiritual psychotherapies put us in touch with our 'Inner Selves' and with spiritual realities. But a further step is now necessary - we need to heal our alienation from the world itself. And so in response to this need, we are turning to a study and practice of traditional ways, of earth-religions, to rediscover our sacred connection with the world around us.
Now the combination of that dream, with that passage read right after waking, is as strong a sign as I have ever felt. So it will be heeded, and followed, and acted upon.
I was at a party outdoors with my parents, and there happened to be a wood festival nearby (Pagan rites? Renaissance fair? that kind of thing) that I felt myself immediately drawn to, so I went there instead. They had one activity in the heart of the fair that you had to get to by horse and cart, and I remember feeling as though I'd come home. My parents showed up too, and my mum fell under the sway of a healer for her back, and I left them to it to pursue my own interests, being merry and drinking just enough wine to get very happy indeed. My dad showed up and joined me in the wine, and we were relaxing together when word came that my mum had suffered a setback and needed to go to hospital. Dad wanted me to come along, but the pull of my heart was to the party in the woods, as I had not done the crucial activity yet, and wanted to soak up more of the atmosphere. He left, I stayed, but did feel guilty after a while, so asked whether there was enough time to take a cart back to the other party to check up on my mum's progress and then come back to the woods. People said they didn't know (the party was winding down), but I felt I had to try anyway, so got in a cart to head back. There was a jam at some point, and the horse keeled over, so the cart was stuck with me running out of time. I pulled the cart myself for a while (which was incredibly easy and light), but abandoned the idea in favour of just walking soon after. Then it veered into the bizarre, with me meeting Milo Ventimiglia on the road, and us establishing that we didn't know each other's names, but kept bumping into each other, and falling into easy conversation, him with an arm flung around my shoulders. He was then accosted by this girl I knew in school, Dieuwke, being all fangirly and asking for autographs and suchlike, and I gave her a witty but damning put-down with an added ' bye, Dieuwke!' in a funny voice at her retreating back, while Milo giggled. Turning to him I said 'yeah, I didn't like her in school anyway', at which he kissed me and I fluttered (and it has to be said I don't like the actor when I am awake, or maybe I think I don't, because the subconscious appears to disagree) and we stayed with the woodsy people and I just felt in place and at ease.
So I woke up with this huge grin, and then grabbed a book that felt right at that moment 'The Druid Way' by Philip Carr-Gomm, and it was so right, like coming home yet again!
The passage that stood out most clearly is this:
With psychological understanding, we discover that one of our central problems is alienation: from ourselves, from others around us, and from the world of nature. Psychotherapy began the task of putting some of the different parts of ourselves back in touch with each other, so that our minds were no longer alienated from our feelings or our bodies. Group psychotherapy began to help us communicate with others - thereby easing our sense of alienation further. Transpersonal or spiritual psychotherapies put us in touch with our 'Inner Selves' and with spiritual realities. But a further step is now necessary - we need to heal our alienation from the world itself. And so in response to this need, we are turning to a study and practice of traditional ways, of earth-religions, to rediscover our sacred connection with the world around us.
Now the combination of that dream, with that passage read right after waking, is as strong a sign as I have ever felt. So it will be heeded, and followed, and acted upon.