Spiritual Healing Dream
Genevieve, 53, lost her mother in early childhood and was raised by a series of caregivers, then her grandparents, then boarding school, all within the Roman Catholic Church. She married young, and became an active leader in the Charismatic movement, with a strong commitment to pastoral ministry. Before long, she was in conflict with the parish priest. At about this time, she began to have flying dreams, which happened several times a year.
Dream report: Power Lines
I would be standing somewhere on the ground, and I would will myself to rise into the air. I’d start to rise vertically, feeling delighted, and I’d challenge myself to rise higher – could I get away from all these disapproving people? – or get higher than that tree? – or above the power lines? By putting more energy into it, I could lift myself further up. Sometimes I was inside a room, looking down from the ceiling at my own body in a coffin. Sometimes I was sent on missions to another part of the city or the world – I never knew where – but I always had to be careful that I didn’t hit the power lines. I would be in danger of electrocution if I forgot.
I felt very free in the Holy Spirit, working for social justice, but very constricted by the authority of the priest, who said he did not believe in healing prayer, except by the proper sacraments. Eventually I had a confrontation with him about it, which led to my leaving the Church. But the dreams continued till my marriage broke up. I see now that the power lines symbolised all the traditional authority figures in my life who kept power to themselves.
Genevieve’s delight in experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit is symbolised by her ability to rise above the groundand fly on “missions,” while the power of vested authority is symbolised by the formal structures of electricity distribution across the land – based on a simple pun on the word power. She can use her own source of power, but she has to be careful not to run foul of existing power structures, which are associated with death. This has always been the dilemma for practical mystics, in every faith – how to move with the Spirit and not get burnt.