The Waves is a newsletter reporting on the explorations of the
Sea Life community. Sea Life, the main web forum at Dreampeace, aims to
bring together a circle of dreamers from around the globe,
collaborating in mutual dreaming adventures, and 'dreaming with and for
the earth itself'.
Link: http://www.dreamofpeace.net/sealife
During
the Galactic Moon, we participated in a 'Dreaming with the Trees'
project. We learnt a way of hooking ourselves up to the energy web of
the trees, to empower ourselves in flight during conscious dreaming
travel, and explored ways in which we could slow the rapid
deforestation around the world; asking our dreams for guidance as to
how to assist the Tree of Life project, being run by the Life in Africa
Foundation.
Ever since I was a kid, I was taught that trees were central to our very
existence upon the earth. At the very least trees need carbon dioxide,
and we need fresh oxygen. A balanced relationship is essential for our
future survival. There's no doubt that the continued logging of
old-growth forests, has a negative impact on our environment.
Meanwhile, the trees live peacefully, their roots nourishing the earth,
and their leaves rustling in the wind, immersed in the natural harmony
that surrounds. Perhaps the trees have something to teach us?
The purpose of this project was to embrace the energy and wisdom of
trees through our dreaming, and to promote greater respect for them and
their protection. In discussion we shared spiritual practices involving
the trees, and considered ways in which we could improve their
environmental conditions. Vega shared an idea for making a "prayer
tree", pointing us to some magical inspiration:
http://www.soultospirit.com/earth/articles/shamanism/prayer_trees.asp
Pasquale, the creator of our sister forum LD4ALL, followed up with some
other interesting spiritual practices involving the trees:
http://forum.ld4all.com/
One is indeed
hugging the tree or standing with your back to it with your hands
touching. Just connect to the tree and feel the tree. Just talk to it
in your mind, you will feel/see/know a response. Sometimes even see the
guardian of the tree and communicate with it. Sometimes the tree will
give you their name. Do it with a tree that attracts you, most likely
it will have something to tell you.
Another one is a cool meditation I have done, which is becoming a tree
and feeling how it is to be a tree. This was very wonderful as it gave
me an understanding about trees - they are all one tree energy and
'travel' by shifting awareness through different trees. It is not like
they are bound to the place they happen to grow.
Pasquale also shared a conscious dream in which she shapeshifted into a
wolf-like creature, in search of dense forest, only to discover that
wherever she went there were only a few trees and a lot of humans
wandering around. "I simply cannot find a nice quiet piece of forest
where there are no humans". On waking she realized that this was
"probably all too true! Especially in Holland where there are not many
forests and those which remain are quite small and have bicycle routes
and walking paths all across them".
I set out into dreaming with the intention of participating in a DaFuMu
(big dream of good fortune) for the trees, and received an unexpected
gift in return:
CONSCIOUS DREAM: FLIGHT OF THE TREES (Nick/Explora)
I become conscious in my dream. I think I'm outside; I can't remember
what it is I wanna do. The dream is still powering into play, and my
dreambody begins to spin around and around. I suddenly feel that I
should look within to find the smartest course of action. I focus all
my attention on the heart; still spinning, and now with the intention
to manifest a teacher of the higher self, from within, and into the
external world.
It works! As my spinning comes to a close, I see that a new man has
appeared. He looks older and has reddish/orange hair. I decide to ask
him what his name is. When I do, he replies with the word 'Tree'. At
first, I am reminded of Pasquale's meditation about the trees all
sharing the body, and assume that he is another representative of the
flowing 'being' of the tree spirit. Then I realise that the message of
his name is that we are doing the dreaming with the trees project right
now, and that I wanted to try communicating with a tree.
There are a number to choose from; so I go with whichever one feels
right. I walk over to it, and at first try speaking with it using my
voice, but that doesn't work all too well. I decide that I need to tune
right into the energy of the tree, in order to speak with it. I wrap
myself around it! As I do, I notice that 'Jesse' and another friend
have appeared along with a shamanic drum of some sort. I get the
feeling that it's not really Jesse and is actually my spirit guide; he
just has that familiar energy which I recognise.
I speak to them; asking what I can do to communicate with the trees. He
laughs; the awesome rhythm of their drumming still in progress, and
tells me to keep doing what I'm doing now. Soon enough, some success!
The tree seems to be opening up, or more specifically I seem to be
passing into the inner hull of the tree. It's empty, apart from a small
single root at the center. This seems to be important. I notice that
the root is cut off down near the base, for one reason or another.
At some point, I remember asking the tree to show me what we could do
to support the environment, and the center single root growing taller
through the middle of the tree. Other inner parts of the tree rearrange
themselves to form a cryptic message, which I can't quite understand at
the time, and soon enough I am standing around again.
Now, I decide that I will try and tune into the energy of another tree.
I put both arms out, at 90 degrees to the hips, there in the air above
and around me. As I do this, a screen begins to appear. The mind is
silent, and soon the bubbly green writing of the screen seems to be
telling me how many trees energy I'm linked into! 1,3,5,10,- it's
awesome! I can feel myself powering up, spreading myself amongst the
mental network of the trees.
It doesn't stop there! As the number grows; myself now connecting to
this every larger web of energy and life; my friend Alana appears. She
seems to want to talk to me, but as I begin to rise higher into the
air, I know that this isn't really the right moment to talk. I'm torn
between the options of staying to talk (so as not to appear rude), and
this most incredible, magical moment of opportunity with the trees!
I surge with the energy of the trees; gripping hold of my freedom,
realising that in some cases a certain sense of detachment is
necessary. I now know that my flight; is actually assisting Alana break
free of attachment and find her higher purpose. At least 100 trees now
span across the screen. I sense their presence with me. We are seekers
of the infinite, and I am lifted into flight. The personal power and
joy I now feel is immense. Streaming out into the sky, I see myself
looking out across a city.
I'm half wondering if this is Melbourne; the detail is so intense,
every last element of every building can be seen. This scene is
familiar, as though I witnessed it in earlier dream that night. I race
across the sky, in absolute perfect control of my flight; my hands
still out like wings, and my feet in a pin-drop position!
Finally, I see something there far away in the horizon. It's a host of
Asian dancers, doing a traditional dance. It's quite beautiful to see
from above. Hovering above in the sky, I'm in an awfully playful mood.
I begin to do this bow and dance routine in the sky above, before
finally coming back to land next to one of the dancers. She must be
about 30, and I jovially ask, "What are you guys doing?" I'm full of
charm, and decide that since they're not really guys, I probably
shouldn't really call them guys after all. The woman laughs at me; she
seems surprised to find such a friendly visitor drop down from the sky!
One thing that especially interests me about bringing together a large
community of dreamers, is our potential to dream for other communities
involved in work for the benefit of our planet. This project was in
part inspired by reading about the Tree of Life 4 Africa project, being
run by the Life in Africa Foundation.
http://lia4.com/7/trees/
The Tree of Life 4 Africa project is based in Uganda, East Africa, and
aims to facilitate global mass participation in creating a rapid and
meaningful change in the developmental direction of our planet, and the
well-being of the people on it.
For every $8 Tree of Life 4 Africa sold:
- $2 pays for a real tree, sustainably planted in Africa
- $2 empowers the global and African people who helped to create the sale
- $2 enables the African connections, thru which the global network will grow
- $2 impacts Africa communities with new forms of credit for participatory development.
Having first met Christine Jordan, the founder of the Life in Africa
Foundation through the World Dreams Peace Bridge, I decided to ask if
she'd be interested in us joining a DaFuMu (dream of big good fortune)
for the Tree of Life 4 Africa project.
TREE OF LIFE 4 AFRICA
Hi Nick,
My name is Christina Jordan, I am the Founder of the Life in Africa
Foundation. I've just taken a look at your site and find it so very
interesting; though I have to admit to you I don't know much at all about team dreaming.
That said, over the course of developing the piece training network,
when people have asked what they could do to help, my answer has
typically been something along the lines of "pray" or "send all your
positive energy." If I had an extra $10,000 right now I'm not sure what
I would do with it. Part of the essence of this project is that it will
create itself virtually from next to nothing. It's the way the concepts
interlock and interact on the impact level that will make it run...
getting that out of my head in words and an order that will help it to
make sense to others is really THE challenge.
One way to describe what I'm developing is as system to enable the
African grassroots to have access to the fruits of the Internet in the
form of development "goodies," such as alternative forms of development
credit. Key to the system is the social collateral that the
"glass-house" transparency of the Internet makes possible.
Nick, I also find the Tree of Life concept inspiring, but there are other
things that need to happen before it will get off the ground. Namely,
Trees won't sell without the people to sell them. On Monday, I'm
bringing in a new user group of 5 new African "piece builders" who are
completely new to the Internet. They'll be doing what I hope is the
final testing of agent training materials we'll be launching Africa
wide in March. Then there's the Time4Africa campaign, which is designed
to bridge the financial gap for potential agents to be able to undergo
the training... There's also a coaching structure to put into place,
and lots of technical fine-tuning to do at this point that I feel very
unqualified to do.
I think I see that it's possible to get the basics of the system I've
been "seeing" for over 2 years finally "erected" between now and
September. What I don't know is if I have the strength to do it! It
daunts me, scares me. I feel too often as though I am buckling under
the weight of it. I feel I need help, but don't know how to ask for it
in the absence of words to describe the new paradigm emerging with
every step I take. Inside of me it feels like a ball of loose threads
spinning; my task is to catch them in and piece them together in the
right order - this is very important - and then push them out into the
world with words that can help others to see it.
My sleeping dreams associated with this process have been lucid but few
- In each I am a warrior figure. It's dreaming/seeing while awake that
brings the conceptual images, and often leaves me feeling my sword is
not (yet) sharp enough for the battle. A sWord is a word with an S. The
S is the essence of the snake in the garden - the appeal that draws us
into a new level of reality. What I need to be able to do to make these
radically new socio-economic concepts fly, is describe them in a way
that makes participation appealing across cultures.
The order of things dictates addressing the lowest common denominator
first, and so that's where I am now. Entering this last phase of
testing with a new group of African newbies means making sure they get
it, even if nobody else does right now. The main thrust of their
training is about the nature and location of online opportunities and
platforms for change - including but not limited to the piecetrain and
what it will become.
You ask about my organization - at this point it's an assistant, 8
in-house trainees, 2 remote testers and me. There's also a discussion
group at http://click4africa.com, which might have members interested in Sea Life - you're welcome to post something there.
Nick, I don't know at all if any of this helps you understand what you wanted to know, but the ramble has done me some good. Thanks enormously for your interest.
.piece
Christina
Life in Africa
http://piecetrain.com
By participating in a DaFuMu (big dream of good fortune) for this
program, my hope was at the very least that we could help inspire a
flow of positive spiritual energy to the project, and bring good luck
its way.
There is a Planetary Movement focusing on calendar change, changing to
a 13 Moon 28 Day Calendar in order to reconnect to natural cycles that
encourage peace and unity. "The Lakota Indians based their 13 Moon
Calendar on the keya, or turtle since the turtle has 13 scales on it's
back. Modern science has even discovered that dolphins keep time with
13 sets of 28 grooves along their teeth."
http://www.tortuga.com/
My DaFuMu reminded me of the importance of each of us doing whatever we
could to spread knowledge of the 13 Moon Calendar, and it's incredible
potential for recreating a global culture built on the strong
foundations of equality, harmony and love. I was given to understand,
that I was one of a growing number of people whom others could ask, for
exploring the applications of the 13 Moon Calendar, and gaining answers
to their own questions about its use. In the eloquent words of a turtle
(keeper of the way of 13 moons), who appeared to me in dreamtime only a
few months earlier, "Turtle comes to teach the humans on Earth how to
use their resources most effectively".
Finally, Vega dropped in with the results of her own DaFuMu (big dream of good fortune) for the project:
In a country
close to the equator, I'm digging furrows for potato-cultivation. It's
a bit over midnight, the moon is almost full. When digging, I'm
positioned under the earth, on some kind of underground scaffold with a
layer of earth above me, so that I am somewhat balancing over the
furrow - a deep shaft of about ten meters. Someone hands me a bag of
horse manure mixed with straw, which I blend into the furrow. Since
it's rather dry, the sandy earth from the walls on the sides of the
furrow sometimes collapse a bit into the furrow, but it doesn't seem to
be a problem, I just clear the furrow again.
I feel very drowsy, and repeatedly doze off, which worries me a bit
since I realize I might fall in the shaft if I fall asleep. When dozing
off, I have a dream within the dream: I wake up in a room, wondering
where I am, trying to collect my senses. When I reach out my hand, I
touch a rocking-chair, and conclude I must be in my cabin. Having no
clear memory of having returned to the cabin, I still feel disoriented.
I let it be at that, and step up, looking through the window. There are
two rather tall, modern buildings, with a glassed passage between them
in the air. In the middle of this path, there is a man with
outstretched arms and intense, almost glaring eyes. I think of a
scare-crow or The Fool in Crowleys tarot deck.
What struck me when waking up was the parallels - since I was
drowsing/dreaming, I kept shifting between the under-the-earth and the
over-the-earth scene. Then when stepping on a bus to work this morning,
it struck me that both scenes had a vehicle-like feeling - there were
the potato-land with furrow/wall/furrow following each other, and the
building-link-building-thing.
Realising Uganda's position right on the equator, and the similiarity
between the concept of digging furrows for potato-cultivation, and
Christine's work with the Life in Africa foundation, there was a
feeling that this dream was offering guidance for the Tree of Life 4
Africa project. If this had been my dream, I wondered if it might also
be offering a reflection of Christine's involvement with the project,
and what she was trying to achieve. In any case it seemed to suggest,
that while not everything might work out exactly as planned, things
would sort themselves out in the end.
Many thanks to the trees for making so many of our dreams possible!
Stay tuned next month for the results of some time-travelling adventures, in
'Dreaming Our Way to 2012'. We welcome new dreamers to join us in our adventures.
Email: explora@dreamofpeace.net
Forum: http://sealife.dreamofpeace.net/
Newsletter: http://www.dreamofpeace.net/thewaves
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