Dreaming of Halloween

I had another one of my strange dreams last night. It was kind of funny to me in that it was seasonally appropriate.

I was walking alone at night, down a small paved road with trees on either side. There were bright lights strung up all around - orange, white and yellow. All the trees were beautiful shades of red and orange.

There was a cottage at the end of the path, decorated with fall wreaths, Indian corn, pumpkins, squash, etc. I knew that I was supposed to go in, so I did.

Inside, the house was decorated for Halloween, and there were bowls of candy out. I didn’t see them at first, but there were a bunch of other women in the house with me - some little girls, some teenage girls, some women (who I somehow knew were the mothers of the children) and a very old woman who seemed to be in charge of everyone. EVERYONE was wearing a costume - the little girls were dressed mostly as fairies and imps, and older girls were dressed mostly in fantasy costumes - goddesses, witches, queens, etc. Everyone was laughing and working on small crafts, or cooking.

But something strange was going on in the back of the main room.
The old woman, the grandmother of the group, was stirring a large cauldron over a fire bowl, while reading from a large, old looking book. When she looked up at me, I was scared, and I rushed forward to stop her - I thought she was doing something bad, like she was planning to hurt someone. But when I got close, I realized she looked kind of sad, but was glad to be surrounded by friends and family. One of the younger girls came over and explained to me that the old woman was just saying goodbye to someone she loved, and that we were all there to comfort her, and celebrate. When I asked her to show me what she meant, the girl took out a string of beads with a stone hanging on the end, and leaned over to dip it in the cauldron.

When it came out, as the beads dried, they changed color - not just color, but composition. They changed from some sort of plain looking river pebbles into smooth round beads of rose quartz.

I was astonished, and asked if I could change my own string of beads. I reached into my pocket and took out a dowsing pendulum, which was a silver chain with each color of the rainbow in sequence strung along it, and a jade weight. I told her that I wanted to change the color of the weight, that jade wasn’t right for me. She was very happy, and told me that that would be wonderful. I dipped it into the cauldron.

As I stood there with the dripping pendulum in my hand, I felt very calm, and safe - like I was home with friends. I woke before I could see the weight change color.

It’s been a while since I posted - nothing significantly spiritual has happened recently, though I am excitedly preparing for Halloween. However, hen I was thinking about this dream earlier, I knew I had to post about it. It had to mean something. So I started looking around.

The part of the dream that stood out the most to me was the dowsing pendulum. Dowsing pendulums have been used in multiple cultures for centuries - the idea is that some outside force guides the movements of the pendulum into giving you answers to questions. It could be anything as simple as yes or no, to names, places and dates.

For yes and no questions, it’s as simple as watching for a specific movement - for the more complex answers, you need a board with letters and numbers on it, arranged in a certain way (usually in a circle) so that the pendulum can swing over it to spell things out. (The same idea applies for Ouija boards and similar devices) In reality, the pendulum responds to minute muscle movements from the person holding it. In other words, you can only get answers to questions you already know the answers to - consciously or not.

I’ve used pendulums for years, usually to get ‘honest’ answers out of myself: to look into myself and find out what I really think about something.

But I’ve NEVER used a pendulum like the one I saw in the dream - I usually just attach a weight, like a bead or a ring, to a string - and then disassemble it once I’m done. I’ve seen pendulums like it - the color arrangement is supposed to correspond with the different chakras of the human body, and the weight is typically a quartz crystal, or whatever stone or metal the user prefers.

In the dream, I wanted to change this stone, which was Jade, to something else. So, I looked into what Jade typically corresponds to when it comes to gemology.

It’s a stone associated with healing, and self-realization. It’s thought to extend one’s life, bring luck and prosperity, and aid dream recall - as well as bringing dreams into reality. It’s supposed to help you put things in order, and give you self confidence. The Jade I saw in the dream was a creamy white-green - a very fine jade, associated with prosperity, longevity and spirituality.

What a powerful stone! My dream self was carrying something very significant in her pocket. So why would I want to change it? When I held it in my hands in the dream, it didn’t seem right to me - like I’d used it up somehow, and needed something stronger. Now that I think of it, perhaps ‘jade’ was also meant to point me to ‘jaded’ - I’d stopped looking at the seemingly magical properties of using dowsing to look directly into the subconscious. Maybe changing the color of the pendulum was meant to symbolize changing my views on the practice.

 

But what about the old woman?

Well, in the practices of modern pagans and Wiccans, Halloween - known as ‘Samhain’ (sow-en) - is when the male God dies, to be reborn later in the winter. His queen, the Goddess is left behind to mourn him, though she is pregnant with his child, whom he will be reborn as.

 Samhain is also the time of the Crone: last harvest, and souls being ushered on, to wherever it is that they belong. In fact, Samhain is pretty much the Pagan new year - it’s considered one of, if not THE most important holiday, and is a time to remember those past, as well as renewing oneself - perhaps reflected in my dream via the changing of beads in the cauldron. The Crone, the oldest of the triple-aspect of the Goddess (Maiden, Mother and Crone) is the one responsible for guiding souls passing on, and presiding over the celebration which marks the end of the harvest season. You see her demonized or caricatured in the form of rubber masks, or cartoon witches with long crooked noses riding broom sticks past the moon.


Her time is the New Moon - coincidentally, the time of the month thought best for divining, and the state of the moon the night I had the dream.

If I get the chance, maybe I’ll act on getting or making a proper dowsing pendulum. No matter what, at the very least I’ll be sure to try scrying this coming Halloween. 

Though I have started to slow down with the movements of fall and the coming of winter, it’s nice to know I’m still getting messages about spirituality. If not from some form of higher power, than at least from myself.

I think that’s the input that matters most, anyway.