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| SWIMMING WITH THE SNAKES. I dreamed I was swimming with two "good" snakes--companions. Then flying out of the water was this giant water moccasin with its mouth wide open. It was angry, and I was discombulated and yes, frightened. What does this dream mean? (c) art by Hallelujah Truth |
"Can water moccasins swim under water and bite you?" was one of the questions that came up this past summer of 2016 in Albany, Georgia, at Jim Fowler's home and animal park. I was there with my Chiboogamoo in attendance with the Atlanta's Explorer's Club. A friend of Jim's was wrangling a rattlesnake he had found the day before and detained to show those of us who were visiting Jim's home for the afternoon and evening supper. The snake was released later, but it left a big impression on my psyche, for the snake has been one of my dream totems since 1988 when I was turning 30 years old.
"Anytime a snake shows up as a totem, you can expect death and rebirth to occur in some are of your life." Animal-Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small.
When I was turning 30, my LIFE as I knew it was changing cataclysmically. Previously having earned my living as a writer, editor, and professional graduate student. Suddenly, I grew verbally silent. Then my thoughts started erupting in visual imagery--beginning with snakes! In my dreams, snakes the size of pine trees cluttered the pathways before me. Clearly, symbolic "death and rebirth" were taking place in my life!
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| HOLDING ONTO THE DREAM. I like to explore what my dreams mean. They are a part of me and hold wisdom for my life. Dreams speak a universal language and our lives are enlarged by one another's dreamings. How does my snake dream expand your thoughts about your own life? (c) art by Hallelujah Truth |
And, now, turning 58 years old (not far from 60), Snake Medicine is reasserting itself in my dreams. What am I to make of my "Swimming with the Snakes"? Yes, like most of us, I am always in the process of HEALING. And birthdays offer opportunities to review and assess where we are, what healing has taken place and what additional healing needs to occur.
For now, thanks to SNAKE MEDICINE, I am going to play around with the following:
1. Releasing old perceptions no longer serving me
2. Opening my eyes to SEE anew
3. Continuing to practice trusting my feelings/intuitions
4. Looking more closely and directly into my own heart and that of others
5. Being attentive to my excellent since of smell (Using aromatherapy to heal? Or discriminating if things "smell right" around me)
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| TRANSFORMATION. Snake Medicine came to me in my dreams. I open myself to new keener sight. I release old perceptions. Thank you Dear Readers to be present with me here both by viewing my artwork and reading my meditations. (c)art by Hallelujah Truth |
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| Atlanta Explorer's Club, Albany, Georgia |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Big thanks to my Chiboogamoo whose sense of adventure takes us to places like Jim Fowler's home in Albany, Georgia, and other places where people talk about water moccasins dropping into boats and places dinosaurs have roamed. Thanks to Donna Mazzola, who I met at the InterPlay Leader's Gathering in Racine, Wisconsin, and who is leading an online class on playing with dreams. As a person who has working ongoingly with my dreams since I was in my early twenties, I appreciate having my community widen through friendship with those who study their dreams. As a visual artist (since my 30s), I have worked with my dreams in isolation other than when my blogging and art work bring me into discussion with others. Gratitude to Cynthia Winton-Henry who supports so many of us in finding ways to connect with one another.