Symbols for Kundalini in Dreams: Volcanoes

Volcano: A Symbol for Kundalini
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A volcano about ready to erupt is a repeated symbol that appeared in my dreams before and after I had a kundalini release. It is not surprising that this symbol should show itself, given the power of a volcano to release energy deep from within the earth, spew content up to the heavens and have it rain down on everything. When kundalini is released it is often experienced as very strong energy erupting into consciousness through the pathway of the spine, going to the head and then descending to the rest of the body. In my case, after the initial rising of the energy, I generally experience kundalini as descending or falling from my head. The whole body becomes animated as the energy surges through it. Blocks to the flow of this energy within the body can cause uncomfortable and even painful sensations and unusual physical reactions such as itching, twitching or for some people, temporary paralysis.

Working with a Dream About a Volcano

Bearing in mind that dreaming of a volcano can mean many things, one has to ask what is going on—what energy is ready to explode in the life of the dreamer—that is manifesting such a power-laden dream. It could be long repressed anger or some other strong feeling. Or it could be some outside energy ready to explode such as growing quarrel between two people or it could even represent a real live volcano ready to erupt. Only the dreamer can know.

In my case, I had had a powerful kundalini release in July of 2007. Because of the enormous physical, emotional and psychological disruption shock this presented to me, I was placed on strong medications. As I came to fully understand what had happened, and that I wasn’t mentally ill, I realized I probably shouldn’t be on the meds. With advice from experts I eventually decided to get off the meds and let myself experience what the kundalini energy had to give me—with all its strong force. However, while still in the safe and relatively quiet stage of being on the drugs when I only felt intermittent and minor surges, I had the following dream in November of 2007:

I am in Hawaii. In the distance a volcano is sending up smoke and gas into the air. I am glad I don’t live near it. We have to go indoors as pieces of ash fall from the skies.

Because I live in Hawaii where there is an active volcano, I interpreted this dream to refer to my awareness of the periodic spewing of Kilauea crater that emits volcanic ash called vog. I was genuinely glad I didn’t live immediately downwind from the volcano since the vog puts a big coating of dust on everything and exacerbates respiratory problems. However, I also understood that the dream was making me aware of my feelings about handling the kundalini energy. The dream was reminding me that while the kundalini effects were suppressed by the medications, the energy was still there sending a bit of smoke and gas. Being glad that I didn’t live near the volcano told me I wasn’t ready to go off the meds. Going indoors meant retreating to the use of drugs to avoid serious effects that might “fall from the skies.”  As a result, I did not try to go off the meds then.  Eventually, I reached the point where I felt comfortable going off the drugs and successfully did so.

NOTE: My website, http://www.healingdreamgarden.com is undergoing changes so it temporarily unavailable.

Working with Dream Themes: The Loss of Identity

Passing Through a Tight Place

One of the messages that Edgar Cayce had to say about dreams is that they point out the difference between how my higher self sees me and how my ego self sees me.  Dreams are always trying to get us to let go of ego and grow into our higher selves.   Nightmares are often caused by this clash between these two parts in each of us.   The ego just doesn’t want to let go to that higher self and the results show in fear, anger or depression!  Loss of identity dreams especially seem to be related to this issue of ego letting go.  When we worry too much about things like money, status, job opportunities and people loving us, “loss of identity” dreams often kick in, reminding us that there is more to us than our ego identity.

How we think of ourselves is something that seems to be very important in dreamtime.  I say this because so many of my dreams and those of my friends, students and colleagues who have shared their dreams with me note the theme of personal identity, or the loss of it, showing up in dreams—especially when we come to recognize our unique symbols or the commonly occurring symbols for this event.

I have to admit it was a long time before I recognized the symbol for what it meant in my dreams, even though I had the dream repeatedly over many years.   In the dream I would lose my purse or have it stolen, usually by a bunch of bratty kids.  I was aware enough to realize these nightmares usually occurred when I was worried about finances so I just assumed that’s all there was to it.   Having the dream repeat over a period of time should have clued me in that I didn’t fully understand or appreciate the dream.  Here is a typical dream:

Dream:
I go through a tight place but make it through.  I realize I don’t have my purse.  I go back to the tight place and see a lot of women have left their purses here going through this tight place.

Reflection:
Going through a tight place evokes the feeling of going through the birth canal, the transition to a new level of being or awareness.  At the time of this dream I was just about to undergo a major spiritual event, a kundalini awakening.  After doing this, I would realize I don’t have my purse.  At the time, I had just come into an inheritance so money wasn’t an issue.  So what did the purse mean?  Sandra A. Thomson in Cloud Nine: A Dreamer’s Dictionary notes that it is related to identity. The purse holds one’s identity in the form of ID cards such as a driver’s license or passport.  Going through such a major transition would cause me to lose the way I look at myself, my identity—which indeed happened to an enormous degree.  The kundalini awakening had me undergo such physical, emotional and spiritual changes that I no longer recognized my “old self” on any of these dimensions.  However, eventually I was led to  experience the fact that at the core I am a being of energy and light, able to receive and transmit healing energy.   I was being transformed.  What a new spiritual identity!  The dream was telling me that it wasn’t just me but there are many other women who experience this loss of identity when undergoing major transitions.  The many women could be other women or other parts of myself.  As it turned out, I ended up making many changes which totally changed my waking life identity as well.  I left my career in IT consulting, moved to Hawaii, and became a writer, educator and life coach.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales: An intuitive teen dream detective mystery novel using dreamwork methods to solve a case. See http://tinyurl.com/MyBook4U

The Traveling Sketchbook: An American Kid Discovers Japan, a coming of age story set in Japan.  See http://tinyurl.com/readJapan