The Stillness Within (Part 2)

Jeremy Taylor writes in Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill, “All dreams reflect society as a whole, as well as the individual dreamer’s relationship to it.” In America, we have entered a time symbolized by the expansion of a fast and furious existence that is lived on the fast track, that is reflected in our entertainment, our fast talking “got to have it now” sales pitch for consumerism, along with a fast food life that we are living in the fast lane even in our leisure moments. But the world does not operate at such a rate.

The slow, methodical growth, evolution and change that is the pattern of life is being disrupted, leading to the dis-ease of society as a whole, and America in particular. Our dis-ease may well be reflected in the difficulty that we have had in going from a state of the “individual” to that of “individuation”, from a selfish narcissism intent on a blind rebellion that mimics the flight of the lemming, to an expanded self whose aim is to uncover individual gifts and development that benefit the whole.

It would reflect the difficulty in America’s challenge to evolve our “melting pot” culture into the beautiful tapestry that is created when creative energies are connected through the web of life. As in my dream, our landscape is radically changing. The expansion is reaching its peak. The stillness is about to commence, has already begun with many individuals seeking that still spot in green living, spirit-oriented practices, community service, healthy eating and ecumenism.

This relationship with stillness, a time of setting an intention before going within, is also reflected in a growing understanding of the role of dreams in American society. The current psycho-social-ecological trend allows the “universal language” of dreams to speak volumes to our present generation and describes the unfolding creativity of self and the interconnective resourcefulness of Self and Other that we find increasingly present in the current generations of Americans who are taking the time to stop, look and listen to a more internal call for health and wholeness.

In this way energy is taking form—creativity is taking shape—purposefully shaping communities and connections. More and more people are seeking alternative forms of health care that involve uncovering these energies. Perhaps America will allow the inclusion of dream work in the Wellness Centers that seem to be the next step in our health care communities.

I have just spent the summer in an intense search for my Shadow self. What I have discovered is that there is a definite connection between what I am able to accomplish and the time I am living in. This going within to discover the fullness of myself has been mirrored in my dreams.

I was in a city at night, lit by streetlamps that were reflected in the puddles at my feet. Arising in front of me were three pyramids with a light shining behind the largest that eclipsed the whole city. I traveled to this place through a tunnel on the back of a translucent blue snake, and as a pillar of light and energy rose up in front of me, I became a pillar of wind. Robert Johnson’s explanation in Owning Your Own Shadow seems to fit: “ . . . if our consciousness is sufficient, we can synthesize these warring elements and come to the all-knowing eye at the central point.”

“This represents a whole new order of consciousness . . .” With these words Johnson describes what I believe is not only my own awakening, but a pattern that I see emerging in our society as well. The roadmap is set before us every night. In the stillness, as the sun sets, and before we begin the descent into the Underworld, we must set an intention to remember our authentic self, experience the presence of the Divine and awaken to who we are and who we are becoming.