Does Anyone know about Native American rituals/ dreams?

[runningdeer]

Hello,

A couple nights ago I had a vivid dream about a man I had met that day. I participated in a Native American sweat lodge ritual. The man who 'poured the sweat' also spoke to me about the rituals of the sweat lodge before and after the sweat. He and I seemed to connect, and my respect for him grew during the ceremony. We talked after the ceremony, and an older man--the tribal chief--actually teased us because we seemed to like each other.

That night, I dreamt that I was alone at a lake where I used to work in Tahoe. I was thinking about this man and hoping to see him again, and then he arrived at the lake as well, but he was on the other side of it.

It was nightime, a clear night, and the lake was placid and peaceful. This man was there with friends, and perhaps another woman, and though I thought he wanted to see me, I never crossed the lake and he never came over to my side, whether unable or not wanting to, I wasn't sure. I awoke feeling sad and a little bit frustrated.

The next night, I met a SHAMAN. He did a reading for me and several others. He gave me the SKUNK card, and told me it meant that I should respect myself, and also to mind my manners.

Does the skunk card tie into the dream? (I am in a relationship, and I know it's wrong to dream of another man). I'M CONFUSED, please help!

[mwyna]

The skunk has the qualities of respect, confidence and esteem of self. The spiritual attributes of the skunk are an understandings of inner knowledge and intuition. I can't guess if these things mean something to you. But if you think of your behaviour in your dream the night before you can see where these things would or could also fit there. I do believe some dreams show us the future but I do not think your dream is such. It seems more of a personal thing to me and something that you probably need to discover perhaps about yourself.
I am a little confused if you met a Shaman in real life the next night or in your dreams? I've not heard of Shamans doing readings with cards so I may be wrongly assuming you dreamed this? Not saying some don't but it's not a traditional Native way.

[runningdeer]

Thanks for your reply. The man who did the reading, David Carson, is an author who created a popular tarot deck in the eighties which depicted native american symbols. He is part Native American but in some ways is more of a scholar and thinker and may not be an ordained shaman, so some of his practices may be a-typical.
I think you're right that it's a personal rather than a spiritual dream.

[mwyna]

No thanks needed. Sorry I could not be of more help. I am not necessarily great at figuring out dreams. Trust me I have trouble enough with some of my own
I have not heard of this David Carson so I don't really know how his cards work or what they mean etc sorry.
When I mentioned your behaviour in your dream, I hope you don't think I meant you had wrong behaviour! As I did not think that at all.

[runningdeer]

Hey--
I didn't think you were commenting at all on my behavior! I just appreciate your comments on the dream. Here's more about David Carson if you are interested in Native American spirituality: Crossing Into Medicine Country by David Carson
Fascinating stuff.
Best wishes,

[Wolfjk]

Originally Posted by runningdeer

Hello,

A couple nights ago I had a vivid dream about a man I had met that day. I participated in a Native American sweat lodge ritual. The man who 'poured the sweat' also spoke to me about the rituals of the sweat lodge before and after the sweat. He and I seemed to connect, and my respect for him grew during the ceremony. We talked after the ceremony, and an older man--the tribal chief--actually teased us because we seemed to like each other.

That night, I dreamt that I was alone at a lake where I used to work in Tahoe. I was thinking about this man and hoping to see him again, and then he arrived at the lake as well, but he was on the other side of it.

It was nightime, a clear night, and the lake was placid and peaceful. This man was there with friends, and perhaps another woman, and though I thought he wanted to see me, I never crossed the lake and he never came over to my side, whether unable or not wanting to, I wasn't sure. I awoke feeling sad and a little bit frustrated.

The next night, I met a SHAMAN. He did a reading for me and several others. He gave me the SKUNK card, and told me it meant that I should respect myself, and also to mind my manners.

Does the skunk card tie into the dream? (I am in a relationship, and I know it's wrong to dream of another man). I'M CONFUSED, please help!

Hi Runningdeer,
I'm not familiar with Native American spirituality. However I know about European practices, especially Transilvanian folklore.

I am in a relationship, and I know it's wrong to dream of another man

Dreaming is about what happens in your sleep. The thoughts and experiences of the past, especially the recent past often intrude into sleep. Your sweat lodge experience with the nice, friendly man entered into your sleep. It is not wrong to dream of any subject. Your subconscious creates the dream to respond to what is happening in sleep. Your conscious self have absolutely no control over what you dream.
However if you have good memory, and can remember some of your fleeting thoughts, you may find amongst them the the bittersweet thoughts your subconscious used in your dream. Don't feel guilty about about your dreams. They are always dreamt to help you, they always do a specific job in the sleep.
My experience with dreams is that they deal with the past or the time they are dreamt and have no relevance to the future.
Cherish the memory of the experience and the dream.
Cheers Wolfjk

[runningdeer]

Hello,
Many thanks for your reflections! I appreciate them. You seem very wise. I will try to just use the dream as a guide to self-knowledge but not obsess over what it portends.
Cheers,

[IrisRavenstar]

Hi RunningDeer,

I love your name. My mother used to live in a big old farmhouse on a main road, with a big field where she and her beau kept their small planes, and ran a little gift shop there called "Deer Run Trading Post." Now my brother has a cabin in Tennessee he calls Deer Run. I, on the other hand, have deer munching in my garden every night, and am awaiting this year's crop of babies, as Mama Doe likes to bring them here in daytime to feed. She usually has twins. I hope she still will, with the noisy young dog I have now! She's a barker if anything comes into the yard. She even barks at ants!

I am a small part Narragansett, which is a Rhode Island tribe, but did not grow up knowing that or around the culture, which sometimes, I wish I had. It's on my biological father's side, and I didn't meet him until I was in my thirties, so that was when I learned about that part of my heritage. It was nice to know about it though! I have always felt drawn to the culture and to their spirituality.

I have Jamie Sams' and David Carson's "Medicine Cards", and yes, Skunk is about respect, but not so much self-respect as getting others to respect you! Skunk doesn't endanger anyone, really, just says hey, be respectful, or expect me to raise a big stink! Most people learn quickly to respect skunk's particular gift. For such little critters, they are really pretty unmolested. The ones who come into my garden never bother me, just waddle slowly away, unfrightened, in no hurry, if I go out when they're there. They seem, like the other wildlife here, to know that I keep the land for them... I have made it a mini-nature preserve. It's only a half acre, but there is an abundance of life that lives off of it, as I grow things purposely to feed them. So I guess, that at my house at least, skunk is capable of minding his/her manners. But probably will not if feeling threatened.

I've never attended a sweat lodge, but have read beautiful descriptions of them in the novels of Priscilla Cogan (starting with _Winona's Web_, my favorite of the series). She is not Native American, but her husband is, and she uses that in the book as a way to teach about the culture by someone who has embraced it. The books are set in Michigan, and it sounds so beautiful there, near the Great Lakes.

How can it be wrong to dream of another man? I mean, if you're awake and daydreaming or fantasizing, that's different, of course. You're doing that deliberately. Dreams come pretty involuntarily though. Dreams often come to make us aware of something we're feeling. It's probably not really the particular man, but the feelings that Shamanism and Native American culture bring out in you, a need to get back to something more intuitive, more organic, closer to Nature. A need, perhaps, to find a man who lives closer to that way of living, you know?

I appreciate knowing David Carson wrote a book! I bookmarked the site. It should be interesting. Have you read Robert Moss's books? You might like those, especially _Dreamgates_ and _Conscious Dreaming_. He's Australian by birth, but with a N/A spirit guide, and currently living in the U.S., very interesting. His site is <www.mossdreams.com> and you could spend a lot of time there... many interesting articles. His take on dreamwork is very shamanistic. I think you'd like him.

[mwyna]

Just a further thought. Did you know beforehand that you would be seeing David Carson? If so it would probably explain the subject matter of your dream the night before the visit.

[runningdeer]

Dear Iris,
I like your name too, and your garden sounds lovely. I have been wanting a closer connection to the earth and to a more spiritual way of life, and I think you are right that it was the feelings evoked by the experience that attracted me most of all, more than one particular person. I think his effect on me was as powerful as it was because he poured the sweat, and guided our experience, but he was really more of a conduit than anything else. If you haven't been to a sweat lodge recently, I highly recommend it--my skin is still glowing, and I feel filled with a new and calm spiritual light. I do run often, and the closest experience I can equate to the sweat lodge is that high, that clearing of the mind, that I experience after running six or eight miles, hard. This summer, I plan to participate in a sun dance in California, which I'm really looking forward to!
That's cool that you've read David Carson, and thanks for the other book recommendations--I will definitely check them out. A woman at the sweat also recommended "The Good Earth" by Eckhert Tole--have you read that?
My best to you and to your little critters!
Running Deer