Category Archives: Eagle

I Dream of Being the Wife of a Medicine Man

January 05, 2023

In the dream, I’m talking to an Indigenous man, about my age. We’re in a large lobby of a large auditorium for some sort of convention. As we’re talking, he looks up at the 12-16 ft rice paper eagle that spans the corner of the lobby and he mentions something about it. Just then, the paper eagle somehow gets unhinged from its latches and it swoops down and a wing hits the man on the head as it lands on the ground beside us. This is a sign, I say to myself. He knows it too and says let’s not talk about it.

Then we have another eagle symbol encounter. I’m beginning to think he’s meant to me my life partner. He thinks the same and surprises me by inviting me to his home in-between dinner and the evening dance at the auditorium. When we go in, he presents me with a ribbon skirt and beautiful ribbons and beaded jewelry for my hair, fingers, wrists and shoes. I put everything on, sort of in a state of overwhelm and shock and then he brings me into the main living area where there are dozens of aunties, uncles, and cousins. He introduces me as his girl friend and says even though my skin is white I have the heart & spirit of an Indigenous woman and even though some of his relatives give him dirty looks of scorn & disapproval, the majority of his relatives all do a ceremonial bow and they chant a thing which tells me that I’m not just his girl friend but his life partner and I’ll have a position of respect in the community because he is a spiritual leader but he didn’t tell me that so I didn’t know until I heard it in the song. The song is in their native language but someone I understand it all.

I’m just standing there, feeling happy and fearful, grateful and nervous and I just say thank you to them and smile and nod and then they get up and go back to what they were doing and I take his hand and we walk out and go to the dance.

This is my dream.

My Eagle Dream

July 18, 2018

Last night I dreamed of being on a First Nations reservation. There was lots going on. Some sitting by a bonfire. Some getting ready to go somewhere. Some playing games. I heard something and looked up and saw an eagle soaring very high above the trees. It was circling around. Others started noticing too. Then another eagle joined the first and it was even higher than the previous one. They circled around and around high above us. I just stared at them, not being able to take my eyes off them because of their beauty. Then I noticed the first one had something in its mouth and as it flew lower and closer to us I could see it was a tiger. I was stunned. “What?!” An eagle carrying a tiger in its mouth!? Impossible, I said to myself. “But there it is! Impossible yet it’s happening.”

By now the eagles caught the attention of the others and an elder beside me to the left was looking up at the eagles and then doing something with the sticks in front of her. She closed her eyes briefly as though in prayer or supplication. I glanced back up and sure enough, there truly was a tiger in the eagle’s beak, being carried in the way a mother cat carries her kittens.

Soon the eagles landed in a clearing nearby and before we knew it the tiger was dropped and surprisingly it was still alive. It started to run at us but we had lots of time to pack our belongings and get in the car although it was packed and we allĀ  just barely fit. The elder was giving us instructions the whole time.

There was a swampy area over further off to the left and at some point we had been playing a game over there, some sort of simple games like catch and tag. I had jumped in for a bit and got out, thinking I’d go back in later, but when we were getting in the car I realized I couldn’t go back to the water today.

So that was the end of the dream, getting into the car, watching a tiger run at us from across a field, with the eagles close by on its heels.

Dream: $300 & Confronting White Male Priviledge

Dreams give insights into things happening in culture which need changing. If we think of a dream as belonging to us just because we are the one who experienced it then we are sorely wrong. Dreams belong to everyone. A dream comes through the dreamer and has lessons for the dreamer but the messages are for everyone. The metaphors in dreams help us to understand important messages for our own personal growth and for the growth of a family, community or nation.Ā 

These dream images have a lot to do with money and feelings of safety or security. In the old paradigm, women used to depend on men to support them financially. Alternatively some women would try to collect charity to help them get through rough times. In some cultures, family members who earn the most money share with their parents and siblings. The important thing to remember is that women’s equality is the most important social justice issue of our time and one of the most significant parts of this equality is financial.Ā 

The metaphors in this dream series show where there is strength of character, in stating that there is no need to depend on a man for money.

23 May 2017

In the dream I received an envelop from my mom and as I looked at it more closely I saw it was also from my sister, dad and ex-husband. It had a $25 gift card in it. As I looked more closely I saw it had cash too – $300 in total. “Huh,” I said to myself. “That’s a good amount of money to receive.”

In another dream, I was watching an animal show which people were getting entertained with. I could not understand how they could find it entertaining to watch animals behave like people. There were some eagles in the show.

As I was watching through the gate I saw a monkey who was dressed in overalls put some sunglasses on. At first he flung them off distastefully. Then he went back to them. When he was reaching for them, my sister grabbed at them through the fence. Then the monkey looked disappointed. My sister threw them back over the fence but when they landed they caught the attention of the crowd. The monkey waddled over to the glasses, curious and wanting to still play with them, but a bigger monkey came along and grabbed at them. The smaller first monkey just waddled backwards, like waiting in line. But I could see the bigger monkey was going to keep the glasses for himself.

I felt such pity for that first monkey and was puzzled by the behaviour of my sister which would do something to mock and hurt the feelings of this small monkey. It was almost as though she took pleasure out of toying with him.

That was my dream.

In another part I was talking to a wealthy white woman who made her way to the top by connecting with a wealthy white male. She was trying to give me financial advice. I looked at her right in the eye and I told her that her way doesn’t work for me.

She looked pretty stunned and backed away. She tried to make excuses and I said, “Look! I like you and I appreciate what you did for us when we were children but I don’t like who you’ve become and I don’t want to be like you.”

I admitted mistakes I made with her – I told her I was sorry for turning to her when I needed help. She said she understood.

Then Ā again, I was walking down the street with a woman who is Asian and married to a wealthy white male. She tried to talk to me as though I was like her and I just said, “Lookit! What you say and do has very little value to me. I’m not doing it the way you do it (ie sleep with a wealthy white male in order to gain prestige and prosperity).” I showed her this little Elmo toy I was playing with.

“See this! That is the extent to which I value your high-end stuff. I’d rather play with children’s toys than talk about what you are talking about.”

I could see in her eyes she knew I was right and that I was stronger than she was and that she wished/wishes she could do it like me. But she couldn’t. She was too attached and too tangled up. It was hopeless for her. She was so jealous of me.

Our conversation ended like that.

Dream: Swimming With a Friend

23 March 2017

In the dream, I am swimming in an enormous pool, larger than Olympic-sized. There are lots of people swimming.

At one point I had been sitting on the ground with a friend S.? and we saw the earth move in waves which was made by the actions of the people. I turned to her and said it really looks like the earth is making waves like a pool. I think right after that it turned to a pool and we were swimming in it.

I nearly drowned because of the depth of water, the waves and the people but she swam right close to me and lifted me with her side and thigh so I couldn’t swim yet but I was more relaxed when I saw she wouldn’t let me drown.

We swam around the large pool and then I got even more relaxed and could even swim a bit.

Later we went to her apartment. When I entered I found it smaller than I expected but warmer than expected too. She had candles & incense burning and a small wood fire. Warm colourful carpets & rugs were on the ground and when her daughter came in she knelt in three places to eagle feathers and another symbolic item which I wasn’t familiar with. I asked her to show me how to kneel like that and she did.

After that I relaxed with them for a bit and then went to my own home. I realized we had both moved to Toronto in the city and I was missing my old home. Why did I move? I asked myself. Good grief! Having to settle into a new home again! It was tiring.

But then I started watching a video of Gracie when she was just learning to talk. She was sitting in a high chair and eating a few cheerios. When she looked at me she said “Mommy! Mommy!” and it melted my heart. Yes honey? I asked her. And she wanted to show me something.

When the video was done I saved it under the name “Mommy! Mommy!” and felt really grateful for having such a sweet daughter.

Daily Dream Diary: War, Media & Healer

September 26, 2016

In the dream, I was in the mist of a war or a natural disaster. There had been a big episode and then we thought everything was fine and joined together in an airport, mall & parking lot. But then an announcement came to all of our social media that it was coming again so we all turned and went back to our cars.

I watched how others reacted. Not thinking for themselves, just doing what they were told & what they saw others doing.

Gracie told me her friend with blond hair had been in an accident, maybe even died. It was tragic but we had to keep going.

I had this moment of being crouched down on the pavement and bombs were going off around me. But it seemed like I was imagining it & it didn’t really happen. We got home safe before anything dangerous happened.

In another dream, I walked into a room and found it full of First Nations friends and they were chanting, drumming & doing a ceremony. The chief stopped when he saw me come in even though I was trying not to draw attention to myself.

He tapped a skull of a buffalo with his staff and said, ā€œAt last you are here. The one who bridges the white man and the red man’s teachings. We’ve waited for you.ā€

I turned to him and said, ā€œThere is nothing special that I do. It is you who are the bridge.ā€ And I was bowing to him saying Miigwech & Namaste and he bowed back and neither of us wanted to be the one to stop.

Then I sat on a bed & A.L. came over. I was so happy to see her, a friend. She had a shell bowl & burning embers. And she waved her arms up like a heron or an eagle and uttered words like she was summoning all that was good in the world and I was just so grateful. Someone came over to her to assist her.

It was so refreshing.

After that the conversation & ceremony went on. Even though I didn’t know for sure that this group knew about the war I had the sense that what they were doing was directly helping it.