My dreams in these last months have been rich with information about how I am traveling my inner landscape; but just recently, I am finding even more accurate and pointed data in the “in between” place, that middle ground between dreaming and waking. The visions are sharp, clear and jaw dropping in their revelation.
In my dream visions this early Easter morning, I was presented with a journal made of an elephant’s ear. The grey skin was the outer cover, and had a couple of hairs sprouting off of it. It was open. The inner “pages” were a soft cream and had an interesting, spongy texture which would make for a delicious writing surface.
In the dream vision, there was no disgust or horror, but a feeling of hesitation when I was prompted to take up the pen and write. I said I was afraid the elephant would hear me if I wrote my thoughts in it.
The elephant is my energetic kin, right between the whale and dolphin. I know this as I asked my inner guidance to show me the creatures and plants of the earth that are closest to my essence in an effort to understand and accept myself.
This morning, I reflect on this remarkable message from my subconscious as an invitation to write into the ear of a trusted aspect of my higher Self , trusting the painful secrets that are being revealed by my body’s memory to it. A journal made of an elephant’s ear is a perfect place to put down the things that I don’t want to remember, because IT will remember.
Godde, I am in love with the subconscious.
An integrative collage I was guided to make for myself (I make these for others, too) recently produced a timeline that spanned my early childhood, my relief and victory at having survived it, my blooming into midlife, and near future. Of the several images that spelled out this linear progression of my life, one is an elephant gingerly picking through ice to get to the treasures inside.
This elephant is the place in my timeline where I am right now in my life. Little treasures are yielded up from my subconscious as a result of my integrative collage technique, sand tray therapy and the inner work I am doing on my own. The elephant is playing a large (ha) role, as she is much bigger than any unpleasant secret she may find buried in the ice. She can handle it.
I have worked with elephant energy for some years. I know elephant to be utterly devoted to family and community, possessing a large and wise heart with an ancient knowing and memory that transcends lifetimes. They are quiet for their large size (like me, perhaps?) and remind me that I have little to fear due to the size and indestructibility of my spirit. Revered in many cultures, the White Elephant was once chosen by Buddha as one of his incarnations. I trust elephant as a guide to the feminine, a strong, intelligent advisor, and an advocate for boundaries and discernment.
A friend shared her thoughts this morning: “Your dream sounds like you’re at a very interesting time in your development – elements of bringing together that which was separated, facing culpability, interconnectedness of all. Elephants are very interesting to me as a symbol of human oppression of other manifestations of consciousness.”
I love her thoughts, as they reflect the integration that is occurring within me and the magical energy that is being freed by the sewing together of my disparate parts. My Easter elephant has shown up on a day devoted to the energy of life and resurrection, to having victory over difficulty, to the rise and return of the eternal spirit.
