A DREAM KEEPER'S TALE

Out of the great cosmic ocean flowed a river of stars scintillating with light down, down until that river of stars flowed onto a small thirsty brown planet where that river of stars transformed into pure crystal water. In this way water entered the world spreading across the brown land turning it green and blue with life-bringing waters.

Light years away on an island in the great cosmic ocean, the gods and goddesses watched and smiled as steadily that small brown planet turned pale blue. Time passed. Land forms became mountains, valleys, plains, and deserts, life forms evolved and were born and died and reborn over and over again until one day sentient human beings joined other sentients born of the seas such as whales, octopuses, and dolphins. These species were among the first sentients birthed when the river of stars brought water to the world.

Once sentient humans arrived, they would leave their mark upon the world for millennia.

My own life as a sentient began when I emerged from the birthing sea and walked upon the shores of my lush island home on that very same pale blue planet which was transformed by the river of stars eons before my birth. I heard the dream-story of how water entered the world in community gatherings of the people when I was a youngling. My people are the Dream Clan. Brizora is our sea goddess and governs over the moon, dreams, sleep, birth, mariners, navigation, and seafaring vessels. Dreams are the foundation of our lives.

As I grew older and taller, my love of the sea and all life within it grew also. I knew it was the source of all life and dreams and desired to learn its ways so that one day I might be counted among the elders known as the Dream Keepers who are our guardians and guides helping us to navigate wherever we travel in our dreams. They also function as keepers of the dream-stories of our people, especially the story of how water entered the world. I desired to become worthy to be one of the Dream Keepers charged with the telling the dream-story to the younglings of how water entered the world, and the dream-power that accompanied that entry. I exalted the abundant life of our people who emerged from the sea. I saw the beauty of protecting and defending the Society of Dreamers built and maintained by our people on this tropical island we all call home. I yearned to become one of the Dream Keepers whose sacred duty it has always been to care for our Mother Oceania. Dream Keepers are tasked with keeping our Mother free from harm that she might continually nourish life with her sustainable gifts of oxygen, food, medicine, shelter, all that was needed to create and sustain our way of life in a habitable environment that hosted sentient and non-sentient species alike, all integrated into a whole. This was my personal desired path born of dreams and experiences as a youngling.

At my time of maturity, I received my name from the Master Keepers Council. I was called Bryziana and was assigned to an apprenticeship as a Dream Keeper. Year by year, I learned what that meant. It required the development of courage, integrity, unwavering dedication to truth, respect and acceptance of unlimited opportunities for experimentation and exploration in dreams. Moreover, Dream Keepers needed an understanding of consciousness beyond the common waking consciousness shared by all humans. Waking consciousness was fed only by physical senses and experiences. As an apprentice Dream Keeper, my training would teach me how to navigate the realm of dreams so that I might bring inspiration, as well as succor, to those in need. Basically, the Dream Keepers were healers and nourishers of the inner realms of what it meant to be a sentient human being.   

The first lessons in my training were focused on listening. I learned the basics after a year of intense training. I practiced these basics under the tutelage of various masters for another two years, because listening is considered the first step to understanding. An ongoing exercise throughout our training was our morning dream-telling circles assigned by the masters. We met at breakfast to tell each other dreams from the previous night and discuss these, sometimes with prompts from the masters and sometimes not. These were much like our experiences in family dream-telling circles in which we had participated prior to becoming apprentices. After another year, I received instruction in seeing. The instruction included seeing the dreamer as well as seeing within the dream of the dreamer. That instruction led to a required three years of application through practice. The next level of instruction was focused on learning dream control. The goal of all this instruction was to learn to be conscious in our own dreams and to be able to enter the dreams of others in a lucid state in order to help those others gain greater understanding of themselves as sentient dreamers in our society. We had lessons in awareness of different dream states and ways to take ourselves deeper into those states. For instance, we were taught to transform falling dreams into flying dreams. Flying dreams are empowering to the dreamer upon awakening. We learned how to extend our lucidity into prolonged states as needed to help other dreamers unravel puzzles they encountered and simultaneously help them receive dream gifts to be used for the common good of the people. Some of us were more suited to lucid dreaming instruction than others, which I later learned was to be expected. In the end, every apprentice found his or her place to serve.

We were tested by the Master Dream Keepers all along the way. However, we were not told when tests of our development would occur or what form such exams would take. We were encouraged to be kind and social with our fellow apprentices, but conversation outside of dream circles was absolutely to be kept in the realm of common courtesies. Silence was praised and encouraged as a necessary avenue of processing all that we were learning and applying. This was to protect us from ego flare-ups, fears, jealousies, all of which were considered blockages to our training. The Master Keepers always seemed to know if one of us slipped in our training. An apprentice might disappear for a while and return. Upon his or her return, one of the Master Keepers would simply announce, “Slippage occurred, healing occurred, the training of this apprentice will continue. No questions asked.” It always seemed to me that the Masters knew about slippages before anything manifested outwardly, perhaps from the Dream records to which only they had access. I never saw the sense of a slippage. To what purpose? None as far as I could see. I tell you this that you might know something of the training I received.

As previously mentioned, in our island society, every morning within each family unit everyone told each other their dreams around the breakfast table. Everyone. Dreams were discussed as well. If someone within the family unit thought someone else’s dream needed to be told to a Dream Keeper, for whatever reason, that person acknowledged the dream and suggested the dreamer go to the Residence of the Dream Keepers and request an audience for a second telling. Such suggestions were always followed, no questions asked. Such requests for a second-telling audience were always granted immediately. The dreamer was led to the Hall of Listeners to have a second telling. This second telling was shared with an apprentice Dream Keeper who had advanced to a position of Second-Tellings Listener.

After many years of training, I was working in the Hall of Listeners as such a Second-Tellings Listener when one day a dreamer appeared before me for her second telling. I greeted her and asked her to begin. She began her telling with the ritualistic phrasing: “Last night I dreamed…” I closed my eyes as is customary when listening to second telling dreamers. She had not gotten very far into her dream when I felt prickles rising on my skin, and light spreading in my mind. These were always strong signals that the energy from a dream might be of interest to a Master Keeper. That should have been enough for me to politely end the second telling and kindly and gently escort the dreamer to a Master Keeper. I did not do so. I was intrigued and continued to listen. There was no rule forbidding me to stop listening. Although, I knew that by continuing to do so I was making a deeper commitment to the dreamer to guide her understanding of the dream. I did not sense an exam approaching.

The dreamer paused in her telling. I opened my eyes, smiled encouragingly, and nodded for the dreamer to continue. I closed my eyes again.

Suddenly, I was unexpectedly inside the dream of this dreamer. After my years of training and practice listening to second tellings, I knew this was not how things usually went with second tellings. So, I did not struggle, but relaxed deeper and accepted that I was now in a lucid state within the dreamer’s dream. When the dreamer beckoned for me to follow, I did so…curious, unafraid, and energized.

The calming music of a flute and lyre filled the space where we were. Brilliantly colored large flowers lined our path and we began to dance slowly to the music as we advanced along the path.

After a short time, the dreamer stopped and spoke in mellifluous tones, “You have done well, Bryziana.”

"Thank you,” I answered simply. At the sound of my name, I entered a state of intense awareness, realizing I was sharing a lucid dream with a Master Dream Keeper. I waited.

She reached down and plucked a brilliant flower from the borders of our path, smiled, and reached for my hand, which I freely extended.

She spoke again, “This flower is your dream-gift from the Council of Master Dream Keepers. Your training is almost complete. Today’s test was to see if you would accept the leap from listening to sharing a lucid dream with a dreamer. You have succeeded. When you awaken, the flower will remain with you as crystal glass to remind you of the power and responsibility of being able to share a lucid dream with another dreamer when invited. Today my invitation was so subtle it seemed unexpected to you, but your response was correct. You relaxed deeper and followed when beckoned to do so. Thus, you moved with ease and grace through the Dream Door into the dream of the dreamer …in this case, myself. Your specialty shall be Lucid Dreaming. This will be your last training and when finished, you will become a Master Dream Keeper.”

I stood transfixed filled with joy and a full heart. I chose my next words carefully, “I shall strive to be worthy in all ways always.”

She smiled and responded, “And so you shall be.”

With that, our shared dream ended. I opened my eyes and found myself alone in the Hall of Listeners holding a large crystal flower of brilliant beauty in my hand.

And, lo, in the fullness of time, I became such a Master Dream Keeper growing ever more one with Mother Oceania. I felt deeply connected to and guided by our goddess Brizora. My compassion and skill as a specialist in lucid dreaming laced with humility and gratitude increased over the many years of my long life. I served well as was intended. Like all Master Dream Keepers, I exited from life within a dream. I share that with you here.

When the lucid dream came that called me Home, I found myself on the shores beside the birthing sea lulled and comforted by the sweet Song of Mother Oceania’s waves lapping the shore. I held out my arms to embrace her and sensed the comforting presence of our patron goddess Brizora. I raised my gaze to the night sky. I sank down onto the sands and stretched out under the starlight. I remained in the dream. The crystal flower from long ago lay beside me on the sands. I was immersed in the stars and the dream. My body stopped breathing. I stayed in the dream. I was not afraid. I was filled with starlight. I slipped completely free of my aged physical body. I would not return to it again. I flew toward Home navigating easily with Brizora’s guidance among the stars.