July 20, 2011

Stealing Stripes

One of the things I have learned recently is to tend more closely to my dreams.  (And I mean the night-time REM sleep kind of dreams.)  I have always been a frequent dreamer- dreams filled with life-like and real situations. But since they are often mundane and repetitive or sometimes unpleasant I’ve developed a habit of ignoring them.  
However, at the ranch, we work with a theory by Dr. Stephen Aizenstat regarding the idea that we should tend to our dreams with care and attention.  Esssentially, his theory believes that dreams are alive, and they are a way of receiving and interpreting information that our mind has for us.  (Or, if it fits for you, information or guidance from the universe.)  I happen to believe that our body and mind stores a lot of information that we don’t access or use and dreaming is a time that our brains tap into those multi dimensions. [For more information about Dream-Tending visit: http://www.dreamtending.com]  So, it is using this theory that I have been tending to a dream with Holly and I had recently. 
There was a large crowd of people spread out through a field, I felt familiar with the people, but they were no one in particular.  Holly and her grandfather horse, Thunderheart where the only equids in the field and they had been isolated there.  The group then ‘captured’ Thunder and were holding onto him.  At this point, I realized that they were trying to catch Holly too.  I had the feeling that this would be very bad, I tried yelling and calling to them to stop chasing her but to no avail.  Finally, I got close enough to her to call her over.  She came towards me quickly and then she said, clearly, that I had to take her stripes.  At first, dream me did not understand.  I was telling her she had to run away.  But she insisted and when I reached out towards her I discovered that her stripes could simply be unbuckled, like a traditional horse blanket.  As soon I pulled off her ‘stripes’ she turned and ran away and I was left holding this strange blanket of stripes. Then I woke up.
I’ve tried tending to this dream over several weeks trying to decipher the meaning.  I cannot really decide if it was a message from Holly, or from myself.  However, as I shared this dream with a friend as we walked through the pasture, Holly fell into step and walked with us.  When that happened, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a message from Holly, although it’s probably combination of both dimensions.
Mostly what comes up for me when I ponder this dream is the idea of protecting Holly. She needed me to carry her ‘stripes’ for her so that she could run to safety. The idea that she would trust me with something as defining as her stripes in a time of danger is a sign of trust, absolute trust.  But when I put myself in Holly’s ‘hooves’ the dream changes meaning.  What if I’m the one who is being chased?  What if I’m looking for someone to hold onto my stripes?  Is there someone trying to steal my stripes?  
I’m still very much processing and tending this dream.  But I can’t deny that it has stirred up some of that old mistrust in my heart.  I’m on the alert for anyone trying to steal any ‘stripes’-mine or Holly’s.

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