Sacred Dreams
The following dream came to me recently. It offers us living images, scent, melody, intuitions. It points toward a way of seeing humanity’s fresh hope: a return to the feminine principle of relationship with all beings.
I am with a group of people somewhere in Asia. It is the time of ceremony. The Empress is to have her feet washed; the gilt basin is ready. I have been chosen to enact this ceremony with her, and am informed of the immense importance of this honor. She waits regally.
I am given a large water vessel but at my approach, she playfully pulls her feet up under her robes. Now we are twinkling and quietly laughing together. Amidst coaxing and playfulness, she slowly lowers her feet to be washed in the warm clear waters.
A smaller bowl is now given. It is a rich composite: frankincense, precious minerals, black deep-prairie soil. I am to pour this into the pristine water. As I wash her feet, I watch the elixir spiral around the basin:
I see
clouds
wave patterns
fractal’s swirl
orbiting interplanetary dust,
I see
evolution emerging
in generative waters
The foot-washing cleanses, blesses, and nourishes everyone. We are given wafers now, to immerse in the germinating elixir, to eat and thereby absorb grace.
this is Her body,
this is Her blood
this is a new
Holy Communion
Now, the washing finished, I turn to bring her shoes. Upon return I see
her feet bare
unbound
even by silken shoes.
She steps down and,
arms outstretched,
runs lightly away from
glistening marble
ornately carved wood
away from the prison
of separation.
Hair unclasped
flowing free behind her
lustrous in forest’s green light
she runs home
as a thrush sings in
the scented woods.
I offer this spring wish to you: fresh hope for humanity’s return to the feminine principle of relationship with all beings.
Come visit my website Wild Graces where you will find many resources to explore these life-giving practices of respect, relationship and responsibility ~ for yourself, your family and the community. https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/more-ways-to-connect
This dream is excerpted from my book of poems A Litany of Wild Graces ~ Meditations on Sacred Ecology.
Photo: Kuan Yin of the Southern Sea. This eight-foot painted wooden statue, carved in China in the years 907- 1000 is a stunning representation of Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. She resides in her own small temple, inside the Nelson Museum of Art in Kansas City. Although this photo is filled with beauty, to sit quietly within her temple and feel the power and grace of the feminine is a great gift, indeed.