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When shamans go dreaming, characteristically they operate under the protection and guidance of animal guardians. Forging a close relationship with one or more “power animals” is central to developing the arts of shamanic dream travel and tracking. It is invaluable in maintaining healthy boundaries and defending psychic space. A conscious connection with the animal guardians shows us how to follow the natural paths of our energy. A strong working connection with the animal powers brings the ability to shapeshift the energy body and project energy forms that can operate at a distance from the physical body.
Our ancestors believed that we are born with a connection with a particular totem animal; this was the raison d’être of the clan system. Some Australian Aborigines believe, up to the present day, that when a human is born, its “bush soul” is born in the form of an animal or bird. We may feel that we have a lifelong connection with a certain animal or bird. Others may observe this in our body type, our life styles, our modes of responding to challenges.
But in the course of a lifetime, we may develop many animal connections. Some of these may stem from our relations with the animals who share our homes and habitats, from the family pets to wild animals encountered in nature and in our travels. Animals we have met in the physical world may reappear in our dreams, as allies and helpers.
Here are two personal examples, one involving a dog who had shared our home, the other a bird who had shared our habitat:
After a black dog I had loved was killed on the road, he appeared again and again as a family protector. His presence, for a time, was all but physical. Driving the Jeep he had loved to ride in, a family member saw him in the rearview mirror and told him firmly to “Sit down!” The dog had died, but he was still very much around, watching over the family he had loved fiercely. After a time, I performed a ceremony to release his spirit.
After this, he appeared in a different way. A larger intelligence began to work through his form, and I found a black dog – who sometimes walked upright and even drove an automobile – appearing as a guide and bodyguard in my dreams and journeys. He showed me passages into the afterlife. He played guide and escort for me on a powerful and challenging journey that finally resolved a past-life issue that had shadowed my current life in many ways.
I believe that, in the year after his death, I was dealing with the individual spirit of the dog I had loved. I feel that in later years, the form of my beloved dog has fused with a larger transpersonal source of guidance, linked to the precinct of Anubis, the “Opener of the Ways”.
On the same land where I lived with my black dog, I had a series of physical encounters with a red-tailed hawk who spoke to me in a language I felt I could understand – if I only spoke hawk. In a spontaneous vision one night, when I was drifting between waking and sleep, the hawk lent me her wings, and I found myself drawn to a cabin in the woods, north of Lake Champlain, where I had the first of a series of life-changing visits with an ancient Iroquois “woman of power.” I have written about this at length in my book Dreamways of the Iroquois. The hawk has appeared again and again over the years, to offer confirmation or warning in its flight patterns over the roads of everyday life, and to lend me her wings in dreams and visions.
Animal dreams may be the doorway to developing strong working relations with the animal guardians. These dreams may hold up a mirror to our health or habits. They may show us how we need to feed and attend to our bodies. They may reveal a potential we have not yet developed. They may tell a story about our lives or relationships like one of Aesop’s fables. They may be the place of encounter between our dream self and a spiritual ally or guardian.
Our true spiritual teachers come looking for us in our dreams, and often they come in unexpected forms.The cat in your dreams may be the kitty you remember from childhood, or an aspect of your self that needs to be pampered or walk by night or play hunter, or a guide that has assumed a familiar face.
“Meeting the Hawk”, drawing by Robert Moss.
Cat Huntress, photo by Savannah M. Caitlin
posted July 6, 2010 at 11:43 am
Hi, Robert,
Actually, it was a powerful animal dream that brought me to search for a dreamteacher – - and I found you!
I never expected the depth of the animal power that found me because, while I am an animal lover, I am not an outdoorsy type. I like the feel of a bit of cement under my feet. So, when this powerful animal ally showed up and brought along a number of other animals that I was told to wear around my neck (showing me the necklace I was to wear), well, that was very motivating for me to want to go deeper with my dreams.
As a bit of synchronicity. I had this dream while my husband was traveling in Europe on business. He didn’t know anything about the necklace I was shown in the dream to wear, nor the dream. When he returned from Europe, he brought a present with him. It was the exact necklace that I was shown in my dream! I wear this necklace often. It is a Native American totem necklace — looks like a cross with wings. I place a little (costume jewelry) diamond slipper next to it to remind myself that animal allies speak to everyone — even those who consider themselves “Pool-side Las Vegas!”
posted July 6, 2010 at 11:59 am
Janice – I’m chuckling over your wry description of your connection with nature as “poolside Las Vegas”. Very funny! You remind us that the dream animals come stalking us even in the midst of urban cement and headphones, and that when the connection is real it will be confirmed and supported by events in the outer world – like your husband returning with exactly the right necklace to help you honor your dreams.
posted July 6, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I love seeing the hawk here, as on our last morning at last week’s teacher training I woke somewhat amused staring at a large fly on the window between two slats in the vertical blinds, as I remembered the word FLY another participant had marked on the back of her hand earlier in the week. Funny way to bring a message about taking flight, I thought. I was humbled when with that thought a hawk appeared, turned to face me and hovered intently for several seconds right above the “fly” on the window.
The black dog merging with a larger transpersonal intelligence reminds of a short dream I jotted down a few days ago. I am just inside the doorway of a bathroom, facing a group of dream friends crowded around, including Robert who is standing in the tub along with some others… I land up talking about the animal soul, insisting that it is important not only to feed the individual animal but also the collective animal and then give an example of the collective tiger. I am still not sure entirely what that means, but I have been thinking of power animals associated with tribes and communities…
posted July 6, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Savannah – I’m tickled by your dream image of me standing in a tub, amidst a gathering of dreamers. When I was composing the chapter on Pauli and Jung in my “Secret History of Dreaming”, I dreamed that I went into my bathroom and found Wolfgang Pauli bobbing around in the tub like a human-sized rubber duckie. I was greatly entertained by this image, which seemed to confirm that I was on the right track with my version of Pauli’s life and dreams and his notorious Effect on machines.
The issue of the collective soul of animal species is interesting and important, and we’ll return to it. I’ll just reaffirm for now that a dream animal may be individual (for example, a pet – often deceased – that we know) or generic or the group soul of its kind, or all the above. Indigenous shamans, traveling in dreaming before the literal hunt, sought not only to locate the game animals but to seek permission from the individual animal spirit and/or the group soul to take life to feed and clothe their people.
posted July 6, 2010 at 4:11 pm
When I was growing up we had a German Shepard named Prince. My mother use to put Prince in a pen along with my 1 1/2yr old brother. It was Prince’s job to watch my brother while Mom prepared dinner. Once complete, Mom would let Prince know he was free to go and he would jump over the 3ft. fence and go play.
About 6 years ago, Prince showed up during a journey at one of your workshops as one of my guides. He has been an ally ever since as we travel between the worlds.
posted July 6, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Donna – That shepherd sounds like he lives up to his name, as a prince among dream allies. Some of the most gifted dream trackers I know – shamanic lucid dreams able to travel across time and space and bring back reliable information – work with beloved dogs that have passed on but are available in nonordinary reality. There’s a reason why, cross-culturally, the dog is often a gatekeeper and companion of the pyschopomp (guide of souls).
posted December 22, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Robert, I enjoyed your insight on my White Lion a few months back. I now have a bigger challenge. My 8 year old son is very spiritually sensitive and I am worried about his adventures in the dream world. I understand what he is going through, however, I don’t know how to help him. He keeps having this reaccuring dream about the severed head of a seahorse floating in the swimming pool. Scared, he runs home only to find a dead horse in his bedroom. This dream is extremely traumatic for him, however I think it has a hidden meaning. I want to help him through this, but there aren’t too many people who understand. Help…
Rachel
posted December 22, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Rachel – Something that can be very helpful immediately is to help your boy pick a dream guardian. You could help him choose a stuffed toy or a toy soldier to play that role. He will then call on that friend whenever he needs help in the night. The content of this scary dream makes me think of the original “Godfather” movie, and I would wonder whether he may have been exposed to the scene where the severed head of a horse is found in a bed, or whether there is anyone in the family circle who – for any reason – may remind him of any of the characters or issues from that movie.
posted February 11, 2011 at 11:31 am
Horses have been showing up in my dreams my entire life. I also grew up riding horses but had long periods as an adult not riding. In one dream a beloved horse I had once owned showed up in front of a car I was driving. He opened his mouth in a huge fashion and as he breathed on the car I suddenly experienced a force of energy run up my body. I traveled up to my heart at which point I awoke from the dream feeling very euphoric. I continue to experience the guidance of horses in my dreams.