Dreaming the Light
Sometimes a dream shines a light in a dark place.
We are in the midst of an onslaught of terrible news. Our country has long been a beacon of hope for immigrants, including, for most of us, our ancestors. Now our government is incarcerating immigrants in concentration camps at our southern border and across the country. Many of these people have entered legally, seeking asylum; those who have entered illegally have committed only a misdemeanor. The conditions in these camps are brutal, abusive, in many cases murderous. These conditions amount to crimes against humanity, by the United Nations definition. This weekend, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be sweeping ten major cities for immigrants without legal status in this country. Many will be forced into camps while their fate is determined, a process that can take many months.
On a daily basis, the Trump administration continues flagrantly breaking the law and violating the Constitution. Abroad, Trump continues his deadly, terrifying, inept flirtation with war.
Last week I dreamed:
I am concerned about current events, particularly how our elected representatives are responding to the crises we face. I experience this as moving through sheets of black and white written material. Then I am standing in a clearing in the woods, with sunlight shining on me through the trees. The light is bright, and it warms me. From this place, I can see the light projected into every difficult situation. Solutions are possible. I feel hopeful.
Each of us has particular work to do here on Earth. As we do it, light shines on and through us. Part of my path is to engage in social justice work in a spiritually grounded way. The dream connects me to the Sidhe or Sí (pronounced “Shee”), also known in Ireland as the Shining Ones – the ancient people we call the faerie folk. They are Earth spirits; the word Sidhe means “people of the mound,” referring to the sacred mounds in which these Otherworld beings live. Thanks to Walt Disney and others, we tend to think of faeries as tiny winged creatures, but ancient lore depicts the Sidhe as tall, powerful, and filled with light.
The outcry against our government’s dehumanization of and cruelty toward those it defines as “other” is getting louder by the day. Today the “other” might be immigrants; tomorrow, it could include any one of us.
“Solutions are possible.” Light shines through each of us as we use our voices and bodies in whatever way we can to resist oppression and create those solutions.