Dream: The bridge of enchantment

You must accept this gift, the dream woman said.

In the dream, I realize I’m on the wrong train.

I look out the window and on the next track, I see another train moving in the opposite direction. Inside of that train, I notice a woman. She walking from the front of the train to the back. This creates the illusion that she is moving in the same direction as my train but I know (in the dream) that her train is moving the ‘right way’.

At the next station, I hear an announcement for her train. I run from the wrong train to the right one, jumping on just as the doors close.

The moment I enter, the conductor is there. “You have to sit down!” he says. “Sit now. Exactly where you are.”

Chastened, I sit down exactly where I am. This puts me on the lap of a big tough-looking fellow who seems to be traveling with a small group of others. They all seem a little in awe of him - and maybe afraid. I realize: he’s the boss.

“Go find your own seat,” he says. His group members shuffle in their seats, uneasy. They caution me with their eyes. In the dream, I notice I’m not afraid of ‘the boss’.

“I’ll get up at the next stop,” I promise, and he shrugs. Everyone relaxes. Crisis averted.

At the next stop, I get up to find my own seat. The train has stairs. I climb to the upper level. Just then, one of the boss’s group, a young woman, comes to find me. “The boss wants to give you a gift,” she says.

“That’s okay. He doesn’t have to do that',” I say.

“Yes, he does,” she says. “You must accept this gift.”

I agree to receive the boss’s gift and she tells me he will send it. She asks for my address and I look for something to write on, something to write with. This is when I realize I’ve left my luggage and my briefcase containing all of my old work on the other train.

I’ve lost everything I own I think but this doesn’t seem to bother me. I pat my pockets and find my cell phone, my Kindle and my wallet. I’ve got what matters, I think. I let all the rest go.

“I will bring you my address,” I tell the young woman and she returns to her seat beside the boss.

That’s when the train stops, paused between stations. I look out at the landscape, lush and green. A brook burbles and flows beneath the wooden bridge just ahead. I feel a rush of joy as a man’s voice says, “We’re about to cross the bridge of enchantment.”

Delighted, I laugh, as the train starts to move across the bridge. We are halfway across when a golden star flies through the open window beside me and lands on my lap. Amazed, I examine it. The star is made of foil paper (like the stars a schoolteacher might stick on a child’s paper). When I turn it over I find, on the back, a red almond-shaped leaf.

Though this gift landed on me, I give it to the little girl who is sitting with her father, a few steps below me. She smiles and I sit back, watching her and her father delightedly play with the treasure.

Just then, a woman in the seat across from mine scoffs. “They do things so simply there.” Her tone is critical and I realize, I don’t care what she thinks. I turn away.

A moment later, the train lurches and I am thrown from my seat. I land atop a young man with bright red hair. (He looks like Eddie Redmayne). He is flustered and awkwardly asks me for a gift.

“If you will sleep with me (I sense it’s his first time), I will let you also sleep with my twin brother,” (whom he seems to believe is more beautiful, more worthy - a gift to me).

In an instant, I remember my lifetime as a sacred prostitute and I smile. I speak to him telepathically, beaming the message: I can do this for you. I don’t need the gift of your brother. You are enough.

He is overjoyed. I give him my card so we can connect, and before exiting the train, I leave another card for the young woman to give to ‘the boss’.

I wake up.

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What do we make of a dream like this, so full of symbols and guidance?

I’d love to know what you see and what do you feel when you read this. Leave your impressions in the comments below.

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I’ve been a vivid dreamer all of my life. My dreams have guided me many times - before I ever understood one particle of ‘dream interpretation’ - through feeling and mood, through words like those messages in the dream above: You must accept this gift and You are enough. I can do this for you.

When I help someone interpret a dream, I suggest that, rather than googling around, trying to find an expert to tell you what a dream symbol means, you ask: What does it mean to me? Symbols are illuminated images, plump with memory, cultural narrative, personal story and mystery. In one person’s dream, an apple might signify ‘original sin’. In the dreams of other people, an apple could be a reminder of a loved one (a beloved grandmother who had an apple tree in the back yard, for example). An apple might represent the ripening of a project, the realization of a pregnancy, a new idea (Newton’s Apple comes to mind). One person’s apple is not the same as the apple of another. Look to your own story for the meaning of dream symbols.

I ask dream clients: What did you notice in the dream? What stood out? What images seem most vivid? This question focalizes the dreamer’s gaze on the ‘message’ or ‘story’ a dream is offering. In other words, noticing what you noticed in your dream helps you notice what matters to you when you’re awake.

Other questions I might ask: How did you feel in the dream? How did you feel when you woke up? Who else was in the dream? Describe them - in as much detail as you can. Remember, in a dream, everything originates from the dreamer. What we conjure in our dream landscape tells a story of who we are, where we are and how we experience the world.

So, the last thing, when looking over a dream: Consider everything in the dream as if it were ‘giving voice’ to an aspect of your own consciousness. Ask yourself: What might this dream be telling me?

There is so much to see in dreams! That said, some people simply don’t remember their dreams. Even so, we are dreaming. I have found in my 15+ years of listening to other people’s dreams (and waking experience) that the people who don’t dream while asleep often have the most vividly symbolic, even mythic, waking lives.

Dream symbols pop up in waking life all the time, and messages are often delivered by strangers. Meaningful events (like that gold star flying through the window!) happen all the time - even (dare I say, especially) when we’re awake. Developing fluency in the language of dreams and symbolic sight will help you understand the story you’re in - and give you clarity about what life is really about. (Hint: It’s not about fame, money. It’s not about getting a job, getting an education or getting married. It’s not about getting anything. Life is really about realization of where you already are and who you already are. )

That’s one of the messages I received in this dream, when you accept the gift ‘the boss’ is offering, you cross the bridge of enchantment into the world of the imaginal - and begin to receive its gifts!

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As you can see, I’ve been thinking about dreaming a lot lately and that got me thinking that this year, for Summer Salon, I’d like to do something with dreams.

So, this June and July, I’ll be hosting an 8-week SUMMER SALON about interpreting the Waking Dream of your everyday life.

We begin June 9th
Meeting every Thursday at 11:00 am.
With a second cohort on the weekend (probably Saturdays).

Every call will be recorded - so you can do this one live or by recording.

Click for the details: https://lu.ma/1nq0rtt4