They are all understandable reasonings. Though only in everyday life. Because, unfortunately, society judges and the human being is no longer aware of the freedom enjoyed in his own inner space. In the Land of Dreams, however, things are different: what is inside of you must come out. If you want to sing, then sing! If you want to shout, then shout aloud! If you want to cry, then let the tears flow! If you want to laugh, laugh until you roll! If you want to embrace, cling onto who is next to you!!
You are free, in this dance of fire! This is the dance of your rebirth!
Play your rhythm, sing your melodies. You are dance, music, voice of your dreams, and allow all your feelings to emerge, without fear of them!
If you feel angry, do not let go of yourself by hurting someone, instead dance with more force, turning around the fire without stopping and throw little pieces of wood onto the flames, so that burning, they will dissolve into ashes, along with your anger.
You, Spark of the Way, who have lit the fire, lead the dancing, because the task is yours now. From now on, you will repeat everything you have been taught: you will light the bonfire, lead the dances, give the rhythm and voice to the melodies inside each one of us.
You, who have lit the fire using wood and stones, from now on, will know how to bring warmth and force to the souls of those around you. It will not be an easy task because many souls may not want to be warmed: they prefer to live behind a wall of ice where feelings arrive muffled and cannot enter. These souls do not want to suffer because they have already suffered too much in the past. Your task is to melt that ice and you must do so with all the passion that burns in your heart, just like this fire. You will do it because it is your mission, but if you do not succeed, don’t blame yourself: it is impossible to obligate someone to do something he is not ready for, or perhaps, he never will be. Do not feel all this as the inability to get into the heart of ice of people, but accept this experience as a test, to improve your sensitivity, your empathy, your ability to rekindle life.
Do not think that mine are only words and that I do not know how difficult a task it is. I was born in the fire and I am not allowed to extinguish myself. I am not allowed to surrender because fragile people become vampires thirsty for life that draw from my sap to survive. My fire must be kept constantly lit. I have tried to put it out many times, but just as many times, he or she who was who you are now, Spark of the Way, spent all his precious time to light again the fire that I had suffocated myself, with my actions. Every time I extinguished myself, his task became more difficult. The same thing will happen to you, because you can revive the desire for life in the human heart.
Look now, how the Brave Wanderers are dancing. Listen to how they sing. See how they cry. Enjoy as they laugh. The feelings that once were imprisoned in the knots of their frames of mind are now melting like snow under the sun and this will make your mission much easier. There is a need for carelessness, peacefulness, moments in which the mind rests and the lost child is found.
Give back to the souls the gift of feelings. Light that fire, Spark of the Way. Light the way of who is lost, and the warmth that you are capable of, will never ever be put out.
CENTAUR
I am sorry, Wanderers in the Land of Dreams, for ruining your party with my presence. Do not be afraid: I have not come to harm you.
I am the Centaur and do not exist in your world. I am just a fantasy, a fairytale, a mythological creature which can be disrupting at times. Here, nevertheless, I breathe and live, and I am not alone. There are many other Centaurs, with me, who will show themselves to you soon.
I was drawn here by the flames of your fire and I realized that The Dream keeper had chosen he or she who would have earned the title of Spark of the Way. A noble title, so important, which requires sacrifices and great responsibility.
I understood the sign and reached you. Thank you, precious Dream keeper, for giving me the opportunity of being useful to these Wanderers. Thank you, Spark of the Way, for starting your next conquest.
I have come to guide you across a large portion of this Land. We will reach the seacoast on the opposite side of where we are now, where we will find shelter, in a cave. Each one of you will ride a Centaur. You need not be experts in riding: it will all come naturally if you believe in yourselves and put your trust in who is guiding you.
We do not have names but appreciate whoever shall give us one. In doing so The Centaur will be bonded to whoever has given him the name, for as long as the Wanderer shall remain or return to this Land. No-one else will ride The Centaur: only he or she who has given him a name and an identity.
We have only one sex: male. Nevertheless, we all have mothers. Our mothers are creatures of the wood, who look similar to you and to the Triad. They do not couple with animals but with other creatures, men, who are distinguished for their unique talent in being able to read the language of the animals of this Land, in understanding their psychology, in respecting their lives and the love they feel for them.
We Centaurs can also be born from a woman who comes from the dimension of reality but this opportunity is not given to many of them. They must distinguish themselves for loyalty, fairness, honesty and innocence. We are born like children with two arms and two legs but, in this Land, we appear like this.
In fact, however, we are part of you.
The Dream keeper will ride her Centaur to whom she had given the name Andromeda. From when she has given him this name, he has undergone a physical and interior mutation. His fur is as black as ebony, just like the color of his hair and eyes, but his skin is white, as pure as the color of the most beautiful lily. He is strong, resistant, clever, quick moving… but, above all, he is loyal, devoted, brave, hard-fighting, determined, protective towards she who called him and the others she brings with her.
While the flame of your fire gradually burns out and dies, I have brought to you those who have come with me. Come out, thus, other Centaurs, and go towards them. Don’t be afraid. They bow to you, to serve you. Climb onto them without hesitating and do not be afraid of falling: your Centaur can read your hearts and knows what frightens you or what might harm you. He will protect you from all perils and will not allow you to fall.
We will pass through the woods and then head towards the coast. However, before arriving there we will have to separate and each one of you, for the first time, will be alone, with yourself and your own Centaur. Along the way you will meet your Power Animal. Maybe, many of you have already heard of it. The Power Animal is an ancient symbol of what was, and still is, Shamanism. The Power Animal is the reflection of what you are inside and perhaps, were not aware of being. Thus, who saw oneself as a tiger might realize he is a mouse, and who saw oneself as a rabbit might see himself as a hungry wolf.
How will you recognize him? Simply, because you will not see any others.
How can you approach him? You will not: he will come to you.
How will you communicate? You will discover to be able to communicate in a language that goes beyond space and time, against all human logic, against all the wildest imagination.
He will not try to kill you, nor to conquer you. He will be there, only for you to see him.
You will communicate extensively and many of you might want to flee, but your Centaur will stop you.
Listen carefully to the message that your Animal Power will give you. You might not understand it straight away but in due course. First you must understand yourselves to be able to accept yourselves for what you are. When you have established a bond, you will be asked to assign a name to your Power Animal.
This name will have the same effect as it has for us Centaurs, and also the power to bring back those who have chosen you, even from the world of Reality. You will see him in your dreams, or along the road, or with whatever other means life will decide to put him in front of you.
You will be able to recognize him, always.
Be careful, however, not to confuse your Power Animal with another one that looks like
him, but that, instead, brings with it fear, danger, chaos and destruction. Use your insight.
After you've talked to him, the Animal will give you something with which you can feed yourselves, at the end of this day. A bee might give you some honey; a goat might give you some milk; a chicken might give you its eggs; a bear might take you to a river from which it will fetch a fish for you. Whatever you might be given, it will be shared on our return, inside a cave that looks over the sea, where the Dream keeper will be waiting for you.
Her Power Animal is the Wedge-tailed Eagle – or Eagle Hawk– even though she expected a horse, which she loves. But that was not what she was inside. So, today, even your Dream keeper will discover her new Power Animal, by means of which she will share with you what she will receive as a gift.
Now, if you are ready, choose your Centaur. Choose one of the others, not me. I am destined to the one who is watching you, who evaluates your steps, who walks in the shadow, with you, without being seen. The one who, maybe, one day, you will get to know, but you cannot see now. Your eyes are still closed.
Have you noticed that there is nothing to cling onto with your feet and hands? This is because we are not beasts, and we do not need reins or stirrups, to understand the need to pay attention to the safety of those who rely on us. Thus, don’t be afraid. Embrace your Centaur and trust him: nothing will happen to you. The embrace will not be an easy thing for many of you, because the contact means the invasion of the personal sphere of two people, or, as in this case, between a person and his Centaur. But why do you need to be afraid of an embrace? If Human Beings were to talk less and embrace themselves more, there would be fewer conflicts, fewer misunderstandings, less doubts and suspicions, and more love, respect and dedication.
Go then. Run across the woods, the flowered meadows. Let yourselves be carried where the wind blows, where the sea smells of salt, where the seaside is soft, white and pure.
Run with your mind in unison with your Centaur and stop only when you find your Power Animal. Then resume the journey, riding the wave of a new feeling, the one that you had not felt for a long time, the one that will fill your lungs with oxygen and happiness, a happiness that cannot be explained by humans and should only be accepted as a precious gift.
Run as if you were flying over this Land and on the border with your life. Free yourselves of the doubts, worries, arguments, hesitations. Let yourselves be carried where you really need to be, and be satisfied, grateful, for what you are receiving.
We are taking you back to the condition in which you were when you were born and that was taken away from you once you grew up.
We are taking you back to freedom.
Go then, brave Wanderers.
Be free, in the Land of Dreams.
THE CAVE OF OBLIVION
You have arrived here, Wanderers. Here, in this cave just over the cliffs, where the water breaks, yet cannot pass through.
We are safe here.
Can you see? It’s evening now, and we can eat, at last. Thus, I will ask you, Spark of the Way, to light a fire, to warm ourselves and cook the food that was given us. We will use these big seashells as plates and, for now, I will give back to you the crystal bottles that She-Who-Receives gave you, to drink from. But… I see that there is one left over. This means that one of you has abandoned the journey. Perhaps, in the eagerness of newfound freedom, he wanted to live it more intensely and never return to the group. But he will return one day. Perhaps not with us. But he will come back.
What did you receive? Fish, milk, eggs, honey, as the Centaur said. But I can see some fruit as well, some chicken, corn… Your Power Animals have been generous. Someone has received wood and I know he’s asking himself the purpose of this gift. It’s quite simple; how could we ever light a fire, here, without wood? Yes, you are nodding … prior to becoming The Dream keeper, I was a Wanderer myself. I asked myself the same question and I comprehend you more than you can imagine. Someone has received a flint. Very well. In the Land of Reality, I am allergic to some of this food. But here, in the Land of Dreams, I can eat whatever I want without being ill. And that goes for you too. Let us begin, then, to prepare what we have been given, before nightfall.
I still have not seen, though, what I have received. I am aware only that Centaur was right: my Power Animal has changed. We shall look at my gift later. It must be something very special because I can feel some vibrations that are new to me.
While we wait for everything to be ready, I want to tell you where we are. This cave is called the Cave of Oblivion. Here everything starts and finishes, for a few hours that seem to last forever. When the night comes, if some Wanderers get together here, the sky turns off its stars, the moon stops shining and the sea remains silent. The darkness that reigns is so overwhelming that you can feel the weight of it right in your soul. It was given this name by the first Dream keeper who stopped here. She was a little girl, six or seven years old, and she had ventured here, to the Land of Dreams, all alone. She had deliberately refused to climb the hill, to launch herself into the river and she had searched for the birds that you have not seen yet. She lit a fire without asking the Nature for permission, counted the footsteps of those who observe without being noticed, mocked a Centaur for its dual nature.
She did what was considered “normal”, by many, for a child of her age. But our concept of “normal” is different from what is considered to be normal in the Land of Dreams. Hope, trust, respect, loyalty, honesty…..these are the values in this Land. The diverse which come here, do not follow its laws. They violate them. They infringe them. This does not mean that they will be punished, but just as a plant is straightened by a piece of wood embedded into its roots, in the same way, the Human Being who mocks what is part of nature, will be corrected by Nature itself. Even when it concerns the Land of Dreams.
While I continue the story, you can start eating the ready food. I will eat later, time permitting, or when my journey with you shall be terminated.
Once she had seen everything she wanted, the little girl wandered on to explore the coast, right where we are now. It was so full of objects, stones, wood, that she could no longer move a step. The Centaur had abandoned her because he could not violate his law: he was not allowed to go any further. So, she was left alone, but she did not care. Walking barefoot on the cliff, she managed to reach this cave where she rested, after she had eaten and drunk everything she was able to find. She was very tired and the night was approaching. She had brought lots of wood with her, but she wasted it all in the attempt to light the fire to warm the fish and the milk. She had not wanted to learn how to do it and no-one had come nearer to teach her. The fire was dying out and the night was approaching. It was getting colder. The little girl had had everything in just one day, and now, in her greed, she didn’t know what to do, nor where to go. But it was only the beginning. Slowly, the stars were turning off, one by one…
Then it was the moon’s turn. In complete darkness, with the flame that petered out, the little girl began to get scared. When every little light had disappeared, the sea stopped its waves from dancing. Silence fell, in the darkness. The little girl was taken by panic and began to look for a way out, but she had no reference point and if she made a false step, she would fall onto the rocks: the sea could have withdrawn for all she knew. She looked for an exit inside the cave, sticking close to the rocky walls, one step at a time, to be sure to step onto something that was not only darkness and emptiness. But, wherever she went, she seemed always to come back to the same spot. She started to shout, desperately, but nobody was paying attention to her. She had taken everything. Now she was losing everything. The darkness could remain for a long, long time…..and she would die here, in this cave, the Cave of Oblivion, where many Wanderers get lost and also those of this group who have decided to proceed alone. They will have to return here, sooner or later. But we will no longer be here.
The little girl cried and was in despair. She was cold, scared and felt as if she we
re dying inside, little by little, always more. Finally, after many hours, a little shiny spot appeared in the sky……and that bright dot, little by little, radiated more and more light: it was dawn. The sound of the sea and its waves were returning to life and the darkness, little by little, disappeared. The little girl left the cave, utterly exhausted by the horrible experience, dirty, chilled, scared… but alive.
She retraced her steps and this cost her a lot because she had nothing left with her. But she commenced her journey anew and this time, she was consistent in respecting the laws which regulate the Land of Dreams. And, over time, and over the years, her awareness grew, until, one day she was appointed as The Dream keeper.
Why do you think I am telling you this story?
Have you noticed that it’s night now? Have you noticed that the fire is burning out? While I was telling you the story, I poured the water contained in the crystal bottle abandoned by someone and the water dampened the wood. The fire cannot take root. Why did I do that? Because even when one single person is on the verge of breaking a delicate balance, like the one you are about to reach, nature must bring the burdens back as they were when the journey began. Now, the sign that I have given will reach up to the stars, which, one by one will turn off. And so on with the moon, that in turn will stop the tide.
Just as is happening now.
You will be afraid and hate me for what I have done. Nevertheless this is a small price to pay, when compared to what those who have abandoned the journey will be called to pay, causing all of you undergo this test.
The Dreams Keeper Page 3