Dreamtime

Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi
Kuninka (Western Quoli) Dreaming at Kaakaratintja, 1987

My dreams have a way of pulling me in, sometimes to my own horror. Lately I've been having a lot of dreams that would terrify me so much that I couldn't return to sleep. At 2:30 a.m. in the morning you are shining the dim light from your iPhone at the dark corner to see if any monsters are lurking there. I don't know where the dreams come from, or why they come all at once for a time. Maybe they are a way of telling me that something is wrong that needs to be righted.

Many Cree people believe that spirits visit us in our dream state. Especially those spirits that have departed from our world. Separation from the body does not necessarily mean that all ties to loved ones are disconnected. It is believed that spirits have the power to manifest themselves in other forms. Take the Northern Lights, as an example, there is a believe that it is our ancestors dancing. My grandparents were big dancers so I love that particular thought.

Various Spirits such as the Old Woman, the bear or the buffalo often enter the Sweat Lodge during prayer. At other times, depending upon our need, particular Spirits are called upon to provide us with assistance. I must need to be scared half to death.