subject: Chapter 17: The Year of the Rainbow [print this page] Chapter 17: The Year of the Rainbow Chapter 17: The Year of the Rainbow
Chapter 17: The Year of the Rainbow
As I began my dream journal, I chose the rainbow as the symbol for that first year, 1982. A friend of mine had given me a beautiful picture of a rainbow path as a gift. It seemed a premonition of a glorious adventure to come and indeed it proved to become thebackdrop for every series of seven years. The red, orange, yellow, green, blue, dark blue and purple of the rainbow reminded me of the colors of the seven chakras or energy systems of the body with which I had become familiar from my yoga work. I decided that each year would also be dedicated to one of the seven chakras. The raibow also reminded me of the beautiful union of the many colored races which make up the human family. In retrospect, I see it as the herald of a wonderful journey of enlightenment whiich continues throughout all of life and beyond. It also symbolized the call to be a member of the Rainbow Tribe, the weavers of unity in the web of life, the peace workers, the emissaries of light.
Honey and Cheese
January 1 of the Year of the Rainbow began with my "Honey and Cheese" dream. In the dream, I was rejoicing at my grandmother's farm, happy to be out of doors in touch with nature. I was explaining our use of corn and tomatoes and honey. (Now all of this was true of my childhood except the honey. We really did not have the beautiful row of hives that the dream depicted. The closest thing we had to honey was maple syrup which we tapped regularly from the maple trees in the woods.) My mother was in the dream also, even though in real life she had been dead for a year and a half. She was reminding me of the goodness of cottage cheese! Now as a child, I hated cottage cheese, yet in the dream I was agreeing withthe great goodness of it all, cottage cheese included.
Like all the difficulties in life, in retrospect they contain great goodness and the ability to make us into the people we were meant to be. In my waking hours, I began to study the symbol of the bee hives. Scripture was very helpful with the symbol of honey. It is the symbol of the promised land. Jonathan also ate of it and it made his eyes "brightr". Indeed I felt that I was being called to make my eyes "bright" by seeing the really real behind all that my eyes obsersved. Good news, bad news, is all in the eye of the beholder.
The Masculine and the Feminine
It was at this time in my dreams that I realized there were within me a very positive oriented male figure who often encouraaged and praised me and a very negative female figure who was freequently correcting and scolding me and others. Since my favorite boy's name was Michael, it was immediately chosen for my gentle masculine wisdom dream figure.
One night he smiled approvingly as I slid down a disappearing staircase. Another night he was a retreat director who gently kissed me on the forehead and told me that he loved the deep goodness within me.
My feminine authoritarian figure who frequently took the form of a nun, I named Luella. This name was taken from my well-meaning but overly concerned novice mistress who felt it her bounden duty to humiliate me at every possible opportunity. This was to test and strengthen one for the vicissitudes of life. As to whether it achieved its purpose, I have my doubts. Curiously the name reminded me of Lucifer and I realized that there was within me a real struggle between good and evil. Yet Luella means "light bearer' and I am convinced that acceptance of the shadow within oneself brings with it gifts and powers hitherto unknown and unsuspected.
Upon looking at my drawings, a friend of mine observed that they really looked like the same person. How true! They are both parts of me. Luella and Michael and I have been through much together. Luella is indeed the part of me that keeps good order, discipline and quiet. She is an excellent organizer and always wants me to do the proper things at the proper times. She takes things very seriously and usually looks for the worst to come. Valuing efficiency, she frequently evaluates people by their accomplishments, giving a high place to achievement. I resolved to teach her to enjoy life more! Later on in my active imagination, I held the marriage of Michael and Luella, hoping that their offspring would sonmehow take the best of both. It was here that the clown within me was born. It was truly a "gift of God" --Tobit. Realizing that his mother was not all bad, just very undending because of her history, Tobit seemed to be able to laugh at Luella's inability to roll with the punches. He could actually make me laugh at my own foibles.!
