Last night I had a dream where a female figure with authority told me I must start working with another female character in the dream. She clearly told me: “You must start working together now”.
My dream-ego recoiled in its usual fearful and resistant way, thinking: “I don’t need anyone else, I’m fine on my own and that’s the way I’ve always done things!”
And yet, I also had enough awareness both in the dream and when I awoke to realise that this inner female authority figure was now instructing me that it is indeed time to start working with this other inner-female part.
Now, although the dream didn’t make clear which other female part I need to start working with, I have a good idea of at least two possibilities, relating to what’s been going on over the past few days.
One of these inner-parts is a wounded, younger female part who causes me actual physical pain when I continue to neglect her and her feelings, particularly her fear and rage. She’s shown up a small number of times in dreams to tell me this, but most of the time she works behind the scenes keeping me in pain when I ignore and disconnect from her.
The other possibility is my inner-female healer part whom I still struggle to fully claim and live. I’ve been receiving some very powerful energy healing over the last two months which has helped all my physical symptoms and energy levels enormously, where nothing else was working at all. So I was astonished when I read the healer’s email to me stating that it was in fact ME who was doing all the very powerful healing! Me?! I gasped, little, powerless me who always looks to others to support and heal me. How incredible! This is indeed going to take some “working together” from this point on to integrate and fully claim this part of myself.
Then, the song in the title of this piece from the musical The King and I, popped into my head as I was reflecting on the dream and it made me laugh. Now, while the song is about a woman’s desire to get to know another person, in this case the King, in my dream it was clear that it was another inner part of myself, and specifically a female part, who I must now start to work with; together. And I found myself realising that all the things we desire to learn about someone we’re drawn to in a romantic sense in our external world, also applies very much to forging genuine love and desire for our own inner-selves, through getting to know them and learning to relate to them. And ultimately, becoming partners and working together, instead of in diametrically opposed ways causing further division, conflict, pain and suffering.
As within, so without, and vice versa.
Whichever part it is I’m sure my dreams or outer life will make this clear at some point. And in fact, I need to start working with both of these inner-me’s more closely, so I can’t really go wrong, as both are equally important and I suspect, intimately connected anyway.
Some prompts for reflection:
When has a dream illuminated something so clearly for you?
Have you ever received clear instructions like this from a dream figure and if so what were they telling you? And moreover, did you start to do it?
How do you work together with your inner-selves?
©Angela Dunning
Artwork: 'The Two Fridas' by Frida Kahlo.