This morning as I was coming awake, a bird flashed into my mind’s eye. It was clear and boldly covered with black on white designs. When I picked up my pencil to draw the bird, though, it faded from my mind.
I tried to coax it back, but all I could see were little flits and parts of what I saw in my almost dream. As I kept drawing, though, the bird changed shape. The bold markings disappeared, the wings stretched out for flight and her tail spread out for balance as her head came up to look at me. There I was, eye to eye with a dream bird in flight.
Some shamans believe each type of creature has a spirit form. One mighty spirit that represents the whole race. Maybe what I saw, on the edge of sleep, was the Bird Spirit painted on a cave wall deep in my subconscious and its bold aboriginal markings were the secret symbols of its life force.
The lesson learned from this was to not grasp an image too tightly. Sometimes they are spirit forms that will lead on to many other ideas if you hold them like a seed in your fertile mind.
