Dreamers As Shamans by Robert Moss

The essence of the shaman’s power to travel and to heal is the ability to dream strong. In our everyday modern lives, we stand at the edge of such power when we dream and remember to do something with our dreams.

We all dream, and as the Kagwahiv, of Brazil, say: “Everyone who dreams is a little bit shaman.” Our dreams will show us how far we can go and when it is time for us to embark on our deeper journeys. In respect to soul, we can say this: the dream will teach you how to recover and nourish your soul.

The Meanings of the Words for “Dream” in Different Languages

If you want to know more about what dreams can be, consider the meanings of the words for “dream” in different languages. You’ll find clues here to what dreaming meant to our ancestors:

• A dream is a “journey of the soul” (adekato), for a dreaming people of Venezuela, the Makiritare.

• A dream is a “zephyr,” according to the people of ancient Assyria; it is a gentle breeze slipping through the keyhole, or through the crack between the door and the lintel, to breathe in your ear.


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• A dream is an “awakening” (rswt), according to the ancient Egyptians.

• A dream is a “spirit messenger” (oneiros) that travels from the Republic of Dreams (Demos Oneiron), as recorded in the writings of archaic Greece.

In Old English, a dream was “merriment” and “revelry” of the kind you might encounter from downing too many goblets in a mead hall. But by Chaucer’s time, the same word, but with a different, northern derivation, also implied an encounter with the dead. As in northern Europe (German Traum, Dutch droom, and so on), the word dream we have inherited is linked to the Old Germanic Draugr, which means a visitation from the dead.

Dreamers As Shamans by Robert MossAs explained by the great Tuscarora ethnographer J. N. B. Hewitt, the old Iroquoian word katera’swas means “I dream” but implies much more than we commonly mean when we say that phrase in English. Katera’swas means dreaming as a habit, as a daily part of one’s way of being in the world. The expression also carries the connotation of luckiness, in a proactive way — as in, I bring myself luck because I am able to manifest good fortune and prosperity through my dream. The related term watera’swo not only means “dream” but can also be translated as: “I bring myself good luck.” Early Jesuit missionaries reported that the Iroquois believed that neglecting dreams brings bad luck. Father Jean de Quens noted on a visit to the Onondaga that “people are told they will have bad luck if they disregard their dreams.” So if you want to get lucky, you want to dream a lot.

Dreams in the Hawaiian Culture

The Hawaiian language contains a rich vocabulary for dreaming that makes a delightful study. A general word for dreams in Hawaiian is moe’ukane, generally translated as “soul sleep” but better understood as “night experiences of the soul,” since for traditional Hawaiians, dreaming is very much about traveling. The soul makes excursions during sleep. During sleep the dreamer also receives visitations from gods (akua) and ancestral guardian spirits (aumakua), who may take the form of a bird or a fish or a plant.

Like all practical dreamers, the Hawaiians recognize that there are big dreams and little dreams. You don’t want to pay too much attention to a “wild goatfish dream” (moe weke pahulu), which is caused by something you ate or the speed at which you ate it. The colorful term is derived from popular belief that eating the heads of goatfish — at other times a delicacy — in the wrong season, when bad winds are blowing, causes sickness and troubling but meaningless dreams. On the other hand, you want to recognize that a dream may contain the memory of a trip into the future that can give you information of the highest practical importance. Especially helpful is the “straight-up” dream (moe pi’i pololei), which is clear and requires no interpretation.

There are “wishing” dreams (moemoea) that show you something you are pining for, which may or may not be attainable in ordinary reality. There are “revelations of the night” (ho’ike na ka po) that carry the power of prophecy. A most interesting category of Hawaiian dreams is composed of those — believed to be gifts of the guardian ancestral spirits — that are given to promote the healing of relations within a family or community. Dreams are also given by the aumakua to promote personal healing.

The ancestral spirits also deliver “night names” (inoa po) for babies that are on the way, and cautionary tales are told of misfortune that comes when the parents ignore a baby name delivered in a dream. The Hawaiians pay special attention to visions that come on the cusp between sleep and waking (hihi’o), believing that these are especially likely to contain clear communication from the spirits and “straight-up” glimpses of things that will unfold.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
New World Library, Novato, CA. ©2012 by Robert Moss.
www.newworldlibrary.com
or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.


This article was adapted with permission from the book:

Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole
by Robert Moss.

Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole by Robert Moss. Robert Moss teaches that our dreams give us maps we can use to find and bring home our lost or stolen soul parts. We discover how to heal ancestral wounds and open the way for cultural soul recovery.  You’ll learn how to enter past lives, future lives, and the life experiences of parallel selves and bring back lessons and gifts. He writes. “It’s about growing soul, becoming more than we ever were before.” With fierce joy, he incites us to take the creator’s leap and bring something new into our world.

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About the Author 

Robert Moss, author of the article: Discovering Aspects of the Self by Looking in a Tarot Mirror

Robert Moss was born in Australia, and his fascination with the dreamworld began in his childhood, when he had three near-death experiences and first learned the ways of a traditional dreaming people through his friendship with Aborigines. A former professor of ancient history, he is also a novelist, journalist, and independent scholar. His nine books on dreaming, shamanism and imagination include Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, The Three “Only” Things, The Secret History of Dreaming, and Dreamgates: Exploring the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death. Visit him online at www.mossdreams.com