(Image by Radyastezi)
When my husband, Joe, and I bought land in Colorado back in the 80’s we found a local fellow to dig our well. As we all drove out to the property, our well guy stopped alongside a nearby creek, got out of his car, shuffled through a stand of willows…and emerged with a forked willow branch. Joe said, “I wonder what he’s doing?”  I said, “If it’s what I think it is this is about to get very interesting.”
When we arrived at the property, we suggested to him where we’d like the well. He smiled and said, “Well, first we have to find where the water is.” He then proceeded to walk an imaginary grid with the point of the willow stick held up…yes, he was dowsing for water, also known as divining.
After a few minutes the branch point dropped decidedly towards the ground and he said, “Here’s the water.”  We were about to spend a lot of money digging a well based on this guy’s willow branch. It wouldn’t be the first time we went with our intuition, a gut feeling that this was a trustworthy moment.  A few days later, the well crew hit beautiful water…ancient mountain water. The dowser, trusting the wisdom of the willow, found the deep well.
Working with our dreams is like dowsing.  Water in our dreams is really important as it is a feeling place. Sometimes it comes as a leaky roof or broken pipe…sometimes as deep as an ocean that invites us to share in its depths…an invitation to experience our own deep well of feeling.
As Natural Dreamwork practitioners we, like the dowser, walk through the dream with our willow branch of deep listening, curiosity and heart. On the surface of the dream it may seem that there is no water in sight…no apparent feeling…and so we walk even deeper into the dream moment…trusting that like the willow branch, our intuitive felt sense of the dream will help us know when we are nearing an image in the dream that carries a feeling and we can explore together its watery depths.
Mary Jo Heyen is a Natural Dreamwork Practitioner working with dream clients in person, phone or Skype. Learn more about her work with dreams at her website: http://maryjoheyen.com/.