Just before I woke up today, at 9:28am, I had a sort of strange dream that I have been trying to cipher out. It was one of those ones that repeats a few times, but differently each time. It revolved around some empty storefront or something. Which I remember going into, and the walls were painted mint green, and a man and a woman were tracing paper snowflakes (which turned later into leaf patterns) onto the walls. I joined in, and started tracing also. But I think there was also some other instance of this empty store before this one, with some kind of odd religious significance, but its only a shadowed reflection in my mind - I know it’s there, but can’t get to it.
Anyway, at some point, things changed inside this store, and we stopped tracing and painting brown falling leaves on the wall, and there was a small group of us, and there was a young black woman with a whitish (but shiny, like satin) small headwrap. She was very, I don’t know what the word is, pushy and bossy, and kind of a know-it-all. And she made us sit down at this table to talk about some kind of weird religious things, but to me, it seemed like she was just showing off, and trying to prove how smart she was.
And then, during a pause, I said something to the effect of, “Please, continue, show us how smart you are!” But then instantly realized how mean that was, and how I was reacting too critically to her, and that she actually had something important she was trying to get out. So, I instantly apologized for it, and then she got up, and I followed her, to console her or something, cause she was obviously upset.
This guy from work was there too, Amit, and I guess the two of them were together or something, and he came over to her also, but before she told me about some “ancient Jewish ritual” called “Salaam Saheed” (I’m guessing on the spelling), in which the soul of a person was given permission to part from the body, and was given into the protection of the guardian spirit. It was something that was done for people who were dieing, so they could pass on more easily.
Then Amit came over, and was hugging and consoling her for a bit, cause she was crying. Then she went off somewhere else, and he said to her, that she shouldn’t think about it too much, with how sick she’d been. And I hadn’t realized before this that she was very sick, and probably dieing herself, and that was why she was talking about this ritual. Verbally, I agreed with Amit, that she shouldn’t think about it, but knew inside that was not true, and immediately set about possibly making plans for it. I’m not entirely sure. I take it that she was asking me to help her perform the ritual. And I think somehow I had agreed. Anyway, that’s when I decided to wake up.
Oh, I also forgot part of an exchange that took place before she told me about “Salaam Saheed”. She was still mad at me because I said she was trying to sound smart. So I said to her, amidst apologizing, “Do you know how hard I’ve looked for someone I can talk about this stuff with?” Meaning, like this weird religious-mystical stuff. I sort of said it to pacify her though, because I knew I didn’t really mean her, in this case, and that I meant someone else (ie, a certain Laura Jane).
Right, what else? Oh, I looked up the name of this supposed ritual, and of course didn’t find mention of any such archaic rite of passage. I did find that salaam means peace, or thereabouts, which I think I already knew. I couldn’t find what saheed means though. I did find that “shaheed” means something to the effect of “witness”, and those two words together, “peace witness” makes a certain type of sense for what this ritual was supposed to entail. But I’m certain it wasn’t a “sh” sound in front of the word. But oh well.
Vision of the Ritual
Oh, did I also mention that when she talked about this ritual, I saw a vivid display of it in my head. The light was kind of brown, and there were a few figures over a body laying on the ground (maybe in a cave) and there was a small fire, and for some reason, I’m fairly certain that one of the officiators at the ceremony was dressed as a stag, with also some greenery about his neck and head. It reminds me of some ways of the painting by Francisco Goya, called “Witches Sabbath.” Except it was definitely not a goat, but a deer, and the people and the setting were quite different. I think the deer may have been some sort of symbol or protector to help the soul pass into the underworld. Maybe it was the guardian spirit mentioned by the woman. I’m not totally sure.
Here’s a link about more totem animal stuff (celtic, in particular - not sure why I picked that angle, but it seemed appropriate), and heres what it says about the deer/stag:
- Deer (Fiadh) or Stag (Sailetheach, Damh): In its form of the White Doe or White Stag, the deer was often a messenger and guide from the Otherworlds. Following such an animal led the unsuspecting human into contact with supernatural beings. The antlered headdress of Cernunnos may have been copied by Celtic shamans as apparel in their rituals. The deer represents keen scent, grace swiftness, and gentleness. There are ways of reaching your goals other than force.
Yeah, that stuff about guide and messenger to the Otherworld makes perfect sense, plus the shamanic apparel. But it wasn’t just a man dressed as a deer, like he had an actual deer-head and stuff. If I come up with anything else relevant, I’ll toss it in here.
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