Dear Dreamers,
The first day of spring has come and gone, and I for one couldn’t be more excited. It has been hot, here, in Oklahoma, and despite being very sick for the better part of the month (two and half dreadful weeks) I’m feeling better and am looking forward to the spring and summer months, even after and through all of it. It, of course, being the general state of the world.
I spent the whole yesterday in the sun, a blissfully cool day moving large and heavy furniture for a friend and his fiancee, and it got me thinking, as spending time doing good works does, about the nature of community in the modern age, and how grateful I am to have found a renewed sense of that in my late twenties, a few months before I turn thirty. This is not to say that this city in my home state is full of a bustling network of my loved ones, but the connections I do have are beautiful, growing stronger every day. This has been an intentional choice on my part, to be sure. To open parts and corridors of my heart I thought were withered, or else entirely impossible to navigate. Not for me. I’m not sure how to write about that yet, but I think one day I will be.
Today, before sitting down to write this letter to you, the Lawyer and I went to a small town I once knew very well. We thrifted, popped into antique malls and a tiny bookstore with a large basset hound. We saw the sights, we laughed, we stumbled into the renaissance fair. We had breakfast in a diner decorated with chickens. I thought: Oh yes, this is my life. And it was a happy thought.
Sending you your own happy thoughts,
Cowboy
Queer Dream Interpretation
This isn’t so much a recurring dream as dreams with a recurring theme. For context, I graduated college last May. In these dreams I am either graduated, or am about to graduate, but still at school, and my family is coming to pick me up and move me back home. My stuff is still all unpacked. I have just hours to pack everything. But there’s always some sort of obstacle: I am miles away from school on some trip, or my room is just so huge I get overwhelmed (or alternatively so small I literally have to crawl through entryways), or I keep getting lost on campus despite ostensibly living there for four years… stuff like that. The dream always ends before my family arrives. The feeling of the dream is never frantic, though… it feels like a sort of farce or comedy, like a playful sort of panic. Like, “Oops, how’d I end up at a party???” “Woopsie, I just keep forgetting where my room is!! Silly me.” Though, I always wake up incredibly drained.
– Ollie
Dear Ollie,
Thank you for the gift of your dreams. What a terrible thing, to wake up from a setting all too familiar, but warped! I have had plenty of these dreams myself: a gonzo world, a familiar childhood haunt, the halls of my high school, different, but intimate and awful.
Though, thankfully, you describe that the feeling of your dreams, which is important, is never frantic, instead a playful sort of panic. This tells me a lot about why this dream (or dreams) keep recurring, or at least its themes do (more on that later), and also tells me that this is not an Anxiety Dream in the way we usually think of them, as one of the core tenets of said dream is, of course, anxiety, and fear.
You shared with me, in your note, that college sucked for you. That it held fallings out, breakups, terrible stretches of mental health. That, though you do miss many aspects of college beyond the horrors, it was still a bad time. And, very notably, you never waited to pack. That there was never a moment when you might have been entered into the situations that you are experiencing in Dreamland.
Which is why, among other reasons, I do not believe that this dream should be simply cast off as silliness. Instead of seeing the items in your dorm room as items, we must begin to think of them as experiences, emotions, and yes, even trauma. The obstacle course you are undertaking to begin “packing” them might seem farcical, but it’s actually what is keeping you from taking everything seriously, from sitting down and processing the hurts and the wrongs that have been leveled upon you. You wake up drained because this is a Processing Dream, a way for your mind and spirit to sort through that time without burdening your conscious mind. But, in this case, your conscious mind does need to be a part of your healing. Something hasn’t been processed about your time in college (which makes sense, given that you just graduated) but at some time, it must be. Don’t rush yourself, but do understand that your dreams, at least, think this is something that must happen.
Sending you good dreams,
CC
How To Make the Most of Spring, Mystically
Oh, Spring. Aries season. Wet earth and bloom. The equinox leveling us all out. It’s a time of deep magic and rebirth, as well as a time to cover ourselves in the fire of the ram, following its trailblazing course down the mountain. With this in mind, I’ve put together a list of four easy things we can do to usher in the flowers of spring, spiritually, so we all might better bloom.
ONE: CLEANSE, CLEANSE, CLEANSE.
Spring cleaning isn’t just for families, it’s an actual physical movement that can in turn cleanse our spirits. As a young mystic, I was taught that my living space was integral in my spiritual health, that mounds of objects, dirt and dust, and the like were vats of energy, and might in turn draw something close to me that I didn’t want there. So, this spring, make a concerted effort to clean out your closet and donate the excess, let your friends go through a pile of objects from your cabinets, and sweep every bit of dust up. Then, light a candle and speak a blessing over the home. Use lavender and rosemary and mint. I promise you will notice a lighter, and cleaner, energy.
TWO: BRING FORTH FERTILITY
I don’t mean fertility in the traditional sense, though I have recommended a spell for queer couples looking to conceive. Instead, I mean fertility of the spirit, of the mind, and of ideas. This can be accomplished many ways, but I do love a candle spell. For this ritual, I recommend a green candle, yellow paper (even a post-it!), and the happiest heart you can muster. As always, start with a quick cleanse and centering gratitude. Then, while the candle is burning, write: There is nothing that I cannot grow myself. The field is open to me. I am bountiful. For an extra dose of magic, write things that you want to grow, metaphorically. Your writing career. Your love life. Your bank account. Then, fold the paper into three sections, passing it over the flame three times to “seal” it. After that you can burn the paper (with proper ventilation), bury it (if it’s compostable), or just tear it into three and trash it. Happy sowing!
THREE: BE COURAGEOUS AND CONFIDENT
As I mentioned, and you Dreamers probably already know, spring is the season of the fiery Ram, Aries. Even if you’re another element of the Zodiac entirely (double Virgo, here, with little fire in my chart), we can all benefit from an Aries bravery. The universe, often, rewards the bold, so this spring, put yourself out there. Ask for what you want, with an open hand, not a closed one. Text your crush. Email your boss about that promotion. Cultivate the energy that pulses all around us, pulling from it whenever you need it, and your spirit will respond in kind.
FOUR: SPREAD THE WEALTH
Wealth, in this context, can mean many things, but I’m specifically not talking about money here. In spring, we sow what we might later reap (and what is good for our souls), so give, as you receive, with an open hand. Listen actively and attentively, give your friends the special attention they deserve, and that your schedule has recently made impossible. Carve out the time to talk on the phone. Help a friend move. Dictate an email. Bring over fresh eggs or muffins. Wave at your neighbors, even if you haven’t before. What do you have that others lack? Even if it is simply a kind word, pay it forward.
