Okay here we are.

What my theory was:  When we have nightmarish experiences, what is actually happening is, our own power, our greatest power, our greatest untapped potential is actually seeking to be integrated with us.

And so, my good friend here and I, she entertained my theory by allowing me to walk her through an experience of accepting the nightmarish experience by allowing it to transform her and integrate with her – and that certainly happened – as an experience of greater power, better sense of being able to breathe, a sense of integration.

Was there any other way of explaining how the shift felt or how it feels now?

Peaceful and strong in my body, in my backbone, which also translates to my lungs and heart.

So the actual imagery that was used in this scenario, was taking the opportunity to work with something she volunteered to me after we passed a rattlesnake on our path.  What she volunteered was that she often has a fear that when she comes into or out of her home, that a snake would – or might – wrap itself around her leg.

So I invited her to – as we were walking – to be still for a moment and close her eyes.   I created a space for her that I was on the other side of that door, and here comes the snake wrapping around her leg and just allow it to happen:  whether the snake wanted to wrap and hold her leg down, or whether the snake wanted to wrap and bite, injecting something into her, or whether the snake wanted to climb her leg – to just allow it to happen.

The experience happened that, in her dream, her waking dream, that the snake climbed up her leg, then wrapped around the midsection, and then came up right in her eyesight and said:  YESSS  YESSSS YESSSSS.  It was a very encouraging snake.  YESSS YOU CAN.  It was not a political snake, that is a very political slogan these days, but it was very encouraging, an energy of encouragement.

So right away, from the experience of accepting, something that was nightmarish became something that was creative and encouraging – RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

The next step of my theory is that this power that is integrating with us through these nightmarish experiences is actually ourselves, it is our true self. And our True Self is divine, so I’d even go as far to say that this nightmarish element, characterized also by the great beast in scripture, called Behemoth (Job 40:15-24), the great beast, the devouring beast, whatever the nightmare is, whatever it is that is we run away from in the experience of nightmares, is actually God. It is actually our true self and the power of our true self seeking to integrate into our identities and into our bodies.

The next step on this person’s exercise, once the snake’s words were complete “YESSS YOU CAN,” I invited the energy of Caroline’s true self, to reunite with her body. First it was felt in the chest, giving greater power to breathe and finally, it rested in its true home which is the spine.

The power of the spine: there is no greater power in our body than in our spine. This is the place of the tree of life. This is the place that is connected to all of the cosmos. The light that is in our spine and in our crown is the same light that is in the sun, and the same light that is in the throne of true beingness.

The spine is the tree of life, and its power is infinite.  Its power is the power of God, and the vibrations that emanate down the crown and through the spine are the voice of God.  Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father proceedeth in the crown, to the neck and throughout the body as the tree of life.

Now one might say, “Wouldn’t we allowing some foreign substance into our body by integrating with nightmarish symbols?  Are we letting unclean spirits into our body?”  The answer is NO.

There is no need to fear such a thing, because the things that we experience as nightmares, the things that we fear are actually within us.  The often-quoted quote of Marianne Williamson in “Return to Love” makes an excellent point: we don’t fear how weak and small we are, we fear how great we are.  The things we experience in the dream state, the things we experience within ourselves are actually elements of our own consciousness.

If we have rebelled against ourselves, if we have rebelled against God, that power seeks to reclaim us, to reclaim our identity as God.

When I invited Caroline into this experience, I specifically invited the snake to reunite and to speak this little girl, the little girl, the child, “Do you have anything else to say to this little girl?”

This energy that is seeking to reunite with us is our greatest self, it is our highest self, it is God.  We are God!   When we are rebelling against God, the greatness that lies within seeks to reclaim us, to be integrated in full wholeness, spiritual wholeness.

That reintegration process feels fearful to someone who is accustomed to rebelling against God.  It feels fearful, and yet, by the graces of divine law, our consciousness can make a story about it – to give it a face and an image.  In this case it was a snake.

Everybody’s nightmares are different, everybody’s power takes on different symbols, and yet – in almost every case – we reject it.  We run away!  But we can’t!!

Everybody has had a dream that they are running from something that they cannot get away from.  Why?  BECAUSE IT IS YOU!  That which you are, you can only escape to a certain degree.  But you will never get completely away from it!

We are so accustomed to rebelling against the presence of God within.

So this wonderful woman and I stand together, in a place of wholeness, a place of integration, in a place of reclaiming our power in our spines, in our chest, IN OUR VOICE.

We are able to awaken the untapped potential!!!  Stop resisting it!!  You are the snake trying to come into your own body!  You are the power trying to enter into your own life!!  Stop fighting it!!

When that power is fully integrated, the ability to spontaneously express enlightenment and wisdom, the ability to fully be present for the people in your world, the ability to truly own who you are,  all becomes possible, at that exact moment when you stop fighting it!

Take it into your body, hear what it has to say, and feel its power.

Carolyn:  I think also that part wants to express, and it can only express through you!

Ah, such profound truth.

That powerful part of us has a message for the world, and it can only express that message through you.