Letting Go – Day 11
30 Days of Letting Go Day 11
By Jenny Griffin
Shamans and Dreamers: Indigenous dreaming
Time does not exist in The Dreaming of indigenous Australian peoples. What happens while we are awake has huge effects on our dreams and vice versa. We can create miracles and wonders in dreams and, it is up to us to find them and connect with them in our lives. The Dreaming is a state somewhere between waking and sleeping, and in it are found the stories, songs and dances of the ancestor spirits.
According to the legends of indigenous Australian people, the land used to be flat, and their ancestors in the form of snakes, birds, kangaroos and other beings, moved across the Earth and shaped it as they went. When they died, they became a part of the land, and still exist to this day. The Dreaming connects each individual to the ancestors and the land, giving them a sense of who they are and where they belong. It’s a continuum of existence, and an understanding that we all return to the Dreaming from whence we came. We are all one, the rocks, the trees, the animals, the sky…
Among indigenous North American people, there are also Dreamers. The main purpose of the Dreamers is to bring to the conscious world all the power of the dreamtime, and to bring conscious knowledge into the dreamtime. It is a way to bridge a gap between this waking ‘reality’ and the spiritual power and wisdom that lies beyond. A Dreamer may undertake a journey on the behalf of others, and the idea is that they access the many realms of possibility in order to meet with the spirits that reside in each, bringing back knowledge that will help the individual (or tribe).
