Myths
and Dreams
“Myths
are public dreams; dreams are private myths.”
Joseph
Campbell
In my
dream just before waking this morning, I was calling out the name of Mekhala. Since
I had no idea who this might be, I googled it. Turns out Mekhala is the Thai goddess
(or witch) of lightning. She was given a crystal ball made from morning dew
that shoots out flashes of blinding light, which she uses to protect herself
from the thunder spirit (or demon), Ream Eysaur. In this Thai myth, Mekhala was
born in the frothing white foam of the sea and represents the characteristics
of calmness, passivity, fearlessness, lack of criticalness, and modesty. Ream
Eysaur, on the other hand, represents greed, treachery, violence, and vengefulness.
Joined, they create lightning and thunder, provide rain and therefore fertility
to the land. Together they represent polarities of human behavior.
Why I
dreamed of calling out to Mekhala is still a mystery. It will require pondering
and simply holding the dream in consciousness until it explains itself. Perhaps
I want to become more like her—undemanding, fearless but calm, passive and
uncritical. This is how we come to understand what our unconscious is trying to
communicate to us—by allowing the symbols to unfold, by being aware of their
message even when we don’t fully understand. And by honoring the dream by doing
a little research to uncover images or historical references.
In A
Mystical Path Less Traveled, Jerry Wright tells us that “wisdom is
within life itself, in the depths, within each of us.” He quotes Rilke in
saying that wisdom is found “in the innerness of all things.” (p.139) Our
task is to pay attention to what our inner wisdom brings regardless of where it
originates or whether it “makes sense” to our rational mind. Our dream-giver
does not throw out superfluous material—but it does sometimes give us information we
don’t immediately understand. I consider it a homework assignment from the
Universe.
What is
your imagination giving birth to today? Are you watching, listening, and acting?
We are surrounded by the Mystery and clues abound. All we have to do is follow
the breadcrumb trail.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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