Dream: Where do I Find the Granny Woman? LUCID
Dream 200311003, 9:45 AM:
This was a WILD – Wake Initiated Lucid Dream. As I was drifting off, I kept focusing on “visualizing” textures and sensations with my hands – imagining vividly that I was touching and handling things with different temperatures, shapes, and surfaces, trying to engage that tactile awareness that is often my first sign of the onset of dreaming.
When I first become aware that I am in the Dream Body, the first sensation is tingling in my feet. I realize that I am barefoot on a pile carpet, and I scuff my feet a little to emphasize the sensation. I am standing just inside the green bedroom at the Kingwood House. I walk out into the hallway, and look into the blue bedroom, saying out loud that it’s Richard’s room, although it hasn’t been for a couple of years now. I look into Mom and Dad’s room, and again say out loud which room it is. I remark to myself, out loud, that this is a particularly strong lucid dream; the sensations are full-strength, and the environment seems stable. I go down the hallway (somehow skipping the living room) and into the kitchen; I look around, sweeping my vision left to right across the counters, and notice that they are much less cluttered than in real life, but seem very real. I pick up a can of soup from the counter top, and roll it back and forth in my hand, enjoying the sensation of its weight. I walk into the living room, and the old velvet couch is here; I kneel down and pinch the fabric of the cushion between my fingers, rolling it and feeling the texture of the velvet. I walk back down the hallway. I remember my dream mission quite clearly; I want to visit with one of the old Granny women, and ask her to teach me about yarn magic. I am talking to myself as I walk through the house, thinking about where I’d find one of the Granny women around here. I mentally run through the neighbors, and can’t think of any of them that quite qualify. I always envision the Grannies living in old houses, or out in the country, or both. I’m considering whether I should try some kind of dream transportation, like stepping into a picture or opening a door into another space – they often don’t work well for me in the most realistic dreams, because my mind doesn’t want to let go of the apparent realness of the situation.
At this moment, the Nova Dreamer lights go off. I count through them, knowing there will be five. The dream environment starts to gray out and lose its realism. I hear a sound like a crying doll; like the ma-ma sound they make, but without sounding like a word. I see something on the wall, maybe it’s a toy hanging up there, but I can’t focus clearly enough to really tell. I become more aware of my body, and then can’t get back to dream consicousness. *end*
What’s with the spinning craft imagery? Has Athena been knocking on your door lately? 😉
“Poor Philomel but lost her tongue, and in a tedious sampler sewed her mind…”
Actually, I’ve been knocking on hers.
I’ve been interested in textiles most of my life. I started learning to sew, crochet, and embroider when I was five or six; I “helped” Grandma by pushing on the treadle while she was sewing, and she taught me how to guide the fabric through while I sat on her lap.
I learned to weave in college, and also started learning about the important roles that textiles play in myth and folktales. Lately, I’ve been trying to focus on that connection, and especially to pull it into my dreamwork.
I want to make some special items for magical purposes. The one that’s foremost in my mind at the moment is the white cingulum for my dedication with a coven I’ve been circling with for almost a year. I received approval on my “rough draft” samples, and the finished piece will be made of three plies, one of which is doubled, and will contain the white cotton that I use to teach weaving classes, cotton and lurex threads from my Grandma’s stash, and reeled white silk from my silkworms.
What I really want to do, is tap into my “inner Yarn Granny” through dreamwork, and get her to teach me yarn magick. Particularly, ways to enchant yarn, cords, and textiles – I know that these are things that are lurking somewhere in my subconscious and genetic memory. So, I’ve been cultivating textile dreams by spinning, knitting, and weaving before bed, reading myths and folktales that feature textiles, and putting the implements and materials beside my bed. It’s been moderately successful, although I really want to meet one of the Yarn Grannies in one of my *lucid* dreams, so that I can remember what I want to ask, and remember the answers!