I like to create a shift in perspective. Fear, when shifted, can be a real gift. I have had the fortunate experience of a visitation from fear, appearing to me as a powerful teacher.
I have vivid dreams in which I often experience profound learning. I had several dreams of a snake that came out of nowhere to strike at me, always showing full fangs. It certainly brought on feelings of fear, as I pondered why I could possibly be having these nightmares.
I decided that, if the snake appeared to me again, I would ask it what it was trying to tell me. I know enough about the power of symbols to know that our consciousness, & I believe Divine Consciousness, accesses them to communicate with us regarding the things that are outside of our awareness. Understanding how to consciously interact with our subconscious (or the unconscious) in this way is known as lucid dreaming or conscious dreaming & can be extremely valuable as a tool for understanding our lives - in this case, moving through fear.
The snake did come again. And I was ready for the encounter. I was sleeping peacefully, when suddenly a cobra appeared before me, striking right at my face. It was frightening, but because I had set my intention, I was able to access my conscious mind within the dream & ask the snake, "What is it you're trying to tell me?" An amazing & enlightening thing happened. The snake said back to me, "Ah, now we can take a look at your fear." It moved to stand next to me. A scene then unfolded, before us both, of me in a situation that I had been contemplating for a while. As with many new creative endeavors, it had seemed larger than I could handle when forming in my mind, untested. I had pictured all of the reasons why things might not work well, why I might not be fully prepared, or why I might not be accepted in the role.
Looking upon it in my dream, however, the scene seemed perfectly safe - an enjoyable experience, with wonderful people, that would take my life in a new direction. I said to the snake, "Wow, I don't know what I was so afraid of." Snake said, "See, your fear is really nothing - nothing at all." The conversation went much deeper & I will reveal more in my next post.
The point I want to make here is that most of our fear is unfounded & is a creation of our own minds working counterintuitively - a distrust or disbelief in the existence of our own higher spiritual nature or of ultimate creative guidance - Divine Spirit or God.
This experience had a profound effect on me & on my understanding of fear, as well as symbols. The snake is, of course, a universally feared creature. It is also a powerful symbol, associated with ideas as diverse as evil & healing, depending on the tradition using it.
It was a very natural symbol for Consciousness to use to reveal my personal fear to me. Genius! Consciousness coming in the form of fear to teach me about fear.
Consciousness always uses symbols we can recognize & identify (or at least trace). This powerful symbol moved me from fear (as the representation of evil in the Western Christian tradition) into peace (as the symbol of healing & knowledge in Eastern traditions & more esoteric Western mystical traditions) in a matter of seconds. I was left smiling, even in my sleep.
It is worth noting FDR's famous first inaugural address, in which he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." It reveals an amazing parallel to our current times, showing us that we have still not moved far enough beyond fear, have still not learned to fully trust that there is a higher form of guidance that is reliable and true, operating in our lives at all times.
Divine Spirit speaks to me personally, as it did in this dream. Divine Spirit speaks to us collectively - read FDR's address. This Divine Guiding Power is personal & at the same time, impersonal. Spiritual leaders have been pointing us in the direction of our highest potential for thousands of years, probably since the beginning of mankind, yet we still have to be reminded constantly that there is a source & a force that is more capable of managing the universe than we are as individuals! We don't yet believe it because we're still fearful. To fully embrace the existence of our Source & let go of fear completely, collectively...can you imagine the freedom?
Freedom from fear is within our grasp. We are the only ones holding us back.
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