As we learn to share and celebrate our dreams, we find that dreaming brings us, and our communities, back to the place of the heart. When I was teaching inCalifornia, I found myself in a dream that made this very clear:

Mountain Lion Pulls Me Up to the Place of the Heart

I am climbing a steep cliff, carrying a small white box. The cliff is hard to scale, but someone at the top lowers a beaded strap to me. When I grasp it, I am startled to see that the other end is held by a mountain lion. The mountain lion pulls me up, immensely higher than I had expected, until I am on a lofty peak with a commanding view over the coastline and nearby towns and forests. Now the lion directs me to open the box, and I take out a beating red heart. When I place it on a boulder at the summit, the heart beats steadily and powerfully. I know that the heartbeat is reaching people across a great distance. I feel the heartbeat shepherding them towards healing rhythms in their lives, and recalling them to the wisdom of the heart.

I shared this dream with a circle I was leading. We did more than discuss it. We agreed to travel inside it, in a conscious group journey assisted by shamanic drumming. We climbed the mountain to receive healing and guidance in the realm of the animal guardians and the place of the heart. The heart center is where we find courage, and reconnect with what truly matters. Our role, as dream helpers, is to encourage each other to go there, and move beyond our conflict and confusion to the heart of the world