I’ve been reading a book by a Cherokee woman that’s quite different from the other Native American books I’ve read. It was written in the 1980’s and has a kind of a New Age flavor to it, which is kind of disconcerting and kind of good at the same time. A lot of what she’s saying connects with what I’ve been experiencing lately, especially about the land and energy.

Last night I kept dreaming on and on about how the position of my body during sleep affects the quality and nature of the dreams I have. This is something I’ve recognized for years, even back when I was a teenager. But I kept dreaming it. There was far more to it than I’m remembering now. I vaguely recall being delighted that these teachers were teaching me this now (what teachers?) and there was some instruction on the chanting of sacred vowels, something I’ve been practicing since reading another Native American book, Touch the Earth, in February. Mostly I chant “O”. That’s the most powerful for me, especially I think because of my mystical experience with it when Di was in labor. Powerful stuff, these sound vibrations!

I first encountered the concept of sacred sound back in 1991, while reading some arcane little book whose title eludes me. It felt so intuitively right, everything the author said about sound, and I knew he was on to something important. When I chant “O” it’s such a pure sound, that even in my deepest voice there’s also a higher tone present, like the sound of someone running their fingers over the edge of a wine glass. Often the human in me is lost. It all becomes pure vibration.

I don’t know what the teachers were teaching me in my dream. I wish I could remember. Lately I’ve had very vague recollections of receiving many teachings during the night, but I can never remember them by day. I guess it doesn’t matter. My dreaming self is likely the most receptive part of me anyway, so I suppose the teachings are being assimilated.

 

I’ve been feeling for years that I’m not meant to have any human teachers in this lifetime, yet I still have teachers. Isn’t that incredible! Clearly were not alone here. Clearly there is a whole universe filled with sentience.

I just had another vague recollection from another recent night of dreaming. Something about or related to that quantum physics reality of two particles staying in sync with each other even on other sides of the universe. There is no separation, I understand that, but there’s more here I can’t put my finger on.

Generally in my life I’ve been feeling a greater sense of oneness lately. There seems to be little separation between the cats, these wonderful marvels, and me. We’re emanations of energy from the same field or ground. We don’t really start or end as individuals because where we merge with the ground there is no separation.

And back to the sleep-position issue. If subtle changes in our position while we sleep have profound effects on us, then location is far more powerful than I ever imagined. Imagine what is happening in our waking day, when we’re not just turning from our left side to our right, or moving an inch or two here and there. We’re moving profound distances, feet and yards and even miles. And re-orienting our bodies, north, south, east, and west countless times.

And when I get in my car and drive all the way up to Boulder County, and two days later drive back, maybe that’s so disorienting to me because it requires too massive and quick a response to changing energies. There’s probably a possibility of deep teachings here, I’m sure. Hard as this back-and-forth lifestyle has been on me, maybe it’s teaching me about energy. I’m learning to feel the subtle differences from place to place. I think I need to make a practice of grounding myself in the energy of each new place as I arrive. It’s so disorienting as it is. I need to make sure I’m connecting.

Our human potential is astounding. The person we can become in response to the energy of just one spot is vastly different than the person we can become just two inches over. I’m sure of that. Place holds potential.