This weekend I attended a workshop about dreams and tarot with Robert Moss and about 25 other powerful dreamers.

One of our activities was to journey into a tarot card, then create our own version of that card, based on the information we received from our journey.

Not sure what card I wanted to focus on, I drew a card from my deck. I turned it over to see that I’d chosen the Ace of Cups: A happy looking card that I interpreted as symbolizing the seed potential of love, beauty, and pleasure.

That was nice, because earlier in the workshop I’d chosen the 8 of cups, which is labeled “Indolence” in my Thoth deck: a card that I see as symbolizing misused emotional energy, and a blocked flow of love.

During the shamanic entry into the Ace of Cups, I saw beautiful images of happiness and love, most of which came from my recent trip to St. John in the US Virgin Islands, where among other things I lived close to iguanas, and floated blissfully in the Caribbean sea.

That evening, I made my own version of the Ace of Cups, based on the images that came to me in the journey Robert Moss led us on during the workshop.

In this card my cup is a beautiful golden vessel, surrounded by and filled with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean sea. It is ringed by the energy of the animals and sea life I encountered on St. John: sea turtles, iguanas, tree frogs, and geckos–all warmed and nurtured by the vibrant sunny blue sky, and tropical breezes.

Later that night, when I went to sleep, I entered a lucid dream in which I asked to experience bliss. I wasn’t thinking of tarot or my day or anything else. In the dream state I was only conscious of the fact that since I’d achieved lucidity, I could ask the dream for any experience I’d like to have.

The dream swirled me into a pool where I found myself floating peacefully on my back. Nice, I thought, but bliss? Not quite. Why such a small pool? I wondered.

But moments later I realized there was more in store. What followed was a magical dream adventure, in which I floated down a giant waterslid and met a Priestess who offered me a gold ring, and a lesson in graciously accepting life’s gifts.

On waking, I realized that the magical waterslide I’d encountered in my dream, and which I learned to float down gracefully, rather than questioning the gifts the dream was offering, was in fact a giant version of the blocked and choked 8 of Cups Tarot card – only this time, instead of the flow of water being constrained, I was able to happily flow through it.

This was a joyful dreaming adventure. But even more than that, it offered me lessons for my life awake: I had a direct experience of how it feels to trust the gifts of love, beauty, and pleasure that life offers. What might look at first like a small pool (disappointment) may just be the prelude to a beautiful ride!