I dreamed last night I was being chased.  What a classic dream to have, right?  I was almost out of breath, and I was slapped by branches and scratched by the spines on the bushes that tore at my clothes.  I ran for what seemed like hours from the unseen creature that had to be large from the sounds coming from the forest behind me.  I tripped a few times over exposed tree roots but managed to stay upright, and I could feel my chest burning from my fear and the air I was gulping.

I broke out of the trees and ended up on a rocky ledge with only a few scraggly bushes, but I soon realized I was almost out of room to run.  I still heard branches breaking behind me in the forest, so I decided to stop running and turn to face my pursuer.  I bent to catch my breath and looked up to see a hug mountain lion burst from the forest, and I had a flash of knowing what the deer feels when he stares into the headlights.

It hit me that I didn’t have to stand here and be his lunch without at least trying to communicate, so I raised my hands palms up a bit and lowered my head slightly.  I was trying to convey peaceful intentions, but I also realized that if he was hungry I couldn’t expect him to do anything else but make me his dinner.  He stopped and regarded my posture for a few moments, and then he proceeded to walk slowly toward me.  To my surprise he wasn’t stalking me, but instead was casually walking toward me with an almost playful air to his steps.

I stayed as still as possible and he came up, sniffed my hands and my whole general area, and then to my astonishment started rubbing against me much as my old cat does every time I feed him.  Of course the difference between this big cat and my pet cat was about 30 inches of height and at least 150 pounds, so I stumbled backwards and landed on my seat on the rocks as he rubbed his head hard against my belly.  I leaned back to catch a breath, but he rubbed hard against me again and I ended up lying on my back looking up into two beautiful eyes and some huge teeth.I still was a bit dazed from frantically running for my life and then finding out this terrible beast was more like an overgrown house cat on catnip when he made a growling noise in his throat as if to remind me I still could be a nice meal if he chose, but then began to purr so loudly that I almost burst out laughing at the idea of a mountain lion purring in such contentment while standing over a mere human female.  I really was sure if they could even purr at all, but apparently it is true.  He stared into my eyes with the intensity that only a large predator can possess, and he gave me insights as to why I was dreaming such an odd sequence of events.

He let me know that I ran before I even knew what was following me…following is the operative word here as opposed to what was supposedly chasing me…and that he simply wanted to spend time with me, help me with the message I needed to receive, and ask me for some healing energy.  Instead I heard something fearful and ran, so I would indeed have missed the message and he would have missed the energy he needed if I hadn’t stopped and been open to him.  Then I remembered the journeys I have been taking over the last week in my sleep and realized why I have been so exhausted each day.  I had been running with all my animal friends, chasing deer, snuggling with the wolves and their pups, galloping on my white horse friend on the beach, stalking prey as a tiger, paddling back to the sea as a baby turtle, and splashing in the waves with a meal on my tummy as an otter.  Then I had spent time standing over my home in the storm as a tree and been a green bean plant sharing my pods with my family in the summer.  No wonder I have been so tired lately! 

If I had not faced my mountain lion friend I wouldn’t have remembered all those journeys nor appreciated all the creatures I had spent time with, and I was happy to give this amazing creature some healing energy.  I would have kept running and not seen tah tmy fears weren’t based on reality and that I could not only learn from facing my fears but experience affection and share with this supposed wild hungry beast who was still purring and shifting to lie alongside me.

I thanked him for his information, and the thing I remember in my dream was cuddling up against him, wrapping my arms around him, and sending him some healing relaxation.  I was still tired this morning, but the feeling of sharing warmth and wisdom with such a powerful creature who could have killed me with one swipe of his paw still remains even now.  I am so glad I remember now where I have been all these nights and hope to journey again soon.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 10:49 am and is filed under Dreams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.