Day Residue

I attended a talk titled, “Telling Dreams: Oneiric Circulation in ‘New France’ and Beyond, ” despite not know what was meant by Oneiric Circulation or (I’m embarrassed to admit) New France. I went anyway because the word Dreams was in the title, and as anyone who knows me knows, dreams are my thing.

Most of the people in the audience, laptops and spiral notebooks open on their laps, were, I assumed, the presenter’s students. I am not an academic and am fairly ignorant about the historical and geographical underpinnings of the talk, which makes what happened afterward either an interesting coincidence or a compelling synchronicity.

But first, the talk itself: In it, Professor Mary Baine Campbell described dreams of the First Nations people and Jesuit Missionaries living in New France (which I learned is the region containing what is now Quebec) in the 1600s. She explained that the Jesuits had come to the region to, among other things, convert the Native Americans. Dreams, it turned out, stood in their way. The indigenous people revered their dreams as a source of inner authority. They enacted rituals to announce dreams, honor them and employ their messages for the good of the community. They used dreams as the basis of diplomacy, and even as a form of currency.

Which was a problem for the Jesuits. This dream culture kept indigenous people from converting to Christianity. Listening from my seat in the front row, I thought: Here is one more piece of evidence that explains why people today disregard and dismiss their dreams—if they remember them at all. The widespread dream-loss we face today is no accident. The universal, profound, and guiding qualities of dreams can interfere with the agendas of religious institutions, governments or other historical forces.

I wanted to hear more, but it was my turn to prepare dinner that night, and it was getting late. I put on my coat and left before the Question and Answer period was over. That night, over plates of Mexican casserole and glasses of wine, my husband and I talked about the political events of the day, and by bedtime, I’d all but forgotten the lecture.

The Dream Report

The next morning, I woke from a dream in which I was pursued by a pair of wolves. I unwound a red scarf from my neck and threw to the wolf who was stalking me, as a matador might wave a cape to distract a raging bull. But it didn’t work. Eventually, the wolf tore the scarf from my hands and pierced my finger with its bone-slick tooth in the process.

As I wrote the dream in my journal I was intrigued by the wolves with their gray and white coats, so I went to the modern-day oracle, Google, for elucidation. An image search for my dream wolves led me to the Gray Wolf which, I learned, is indigenous to Quebec! I hadn’t connected the dream to the previous day’s lecture until that moment. But now my attention was piqued.

The Gray Wolf is believed by Native Americans of the region to guard the door of the West Wind, which brings change to those who walk the Red Road. The Red Road? That reminded me of the unfurling red scarf in my dream, so I looked that up, too. I learned that The Red Road represents a way of life that leads followers to Wakan Tanka, or the Great Mystery. More new words. But Wakan Tanka sounded familiar. Wasn’t that something that the professor mentioned in her lecture? Maybe. But what was clear was that the Gray Wolf was sacred to the people she had spoken of. And now two such wolves had stalked me in my dream. And one had bitten me.

The Dreamwork

From my study of dreams I know that when a dream animal licks, scratches or bites you, it has a healing message to give you. So, I kept reading. The Gray Wolf visits those who balance rational thinking with soulful awareness, one web site explained. The Gray Wolf reminds us to use our gifts to help others to spark their own soulful awareness and ensure the survival of society as a whole.

The dream reminded me that as a dreamworker, I am following in the Gray Wolf’s footsteps by using my study of dream science, psychology, religion, and spirituality to inspire others to listen to their inner voice through dreamwork, too. The lecture reminded me that there was a time and place where people valued their dreams as I do. And the wolf who sank its teeth into my finger in the dream affirmed that following my dreams, which others may view as quirky, off-beat, strange or inconsequential, is in fact worthwhile, healing, and even necessary.

Taking the Dream off the Pillow

Indigenous people believed that dreams spoke in a language of action, the professor had explained. The dream was shared, ritualized, and enacted in various ways to bring its message to the community. It is in that spirit that I am introducing you to the Gray Wolf and the message she carries still, through history, through stories, and through dreams.

May you dream and be well.

© 2019 Tzivia Gover

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