Threshold Moments In Dreams
What if there are not just two threshold moments in our life…birth and death? What if, in each moment, in each choice we are at a threshold moment…the choice to step closer to soul? — Mary Jo Heyen
Our dreams offer threshold moments all our lives, unique invitations of soul. These moments invite us into embodied presence and can help us align with who we truly are. Our dreams also bring light to the ways we hesitate and get caught in conditioned patterns. In one dream I awaken at night in my childhood home and feel a strong desire to go downstairs to the front door. When I get there the door is wide open: I see trees moving outside, a beauty and mystery. I feel presences, a fullness. I feel a longing in the moment, this sacred encounter with the numinous, the wind moving in the pines I love. The dream is calling me to take a step into this vulnerable place of being open to something larger. But I don’t stay here. I go back upstairs to tell someone. I know about this place of hesitation, moving into the past, talking “about” rather than being present and alive to the moment. We all miss encounters, which can feel disappointing. And that’s okay and human. This gives us a chance to return.
In Natural Dreamwork we feel the dream as a living invitation. We can re-enter the dream and practice taking a step closer, allowing this way of being to deepen in us and bring healing effects. This practice can also give us more courage in our waking lives and more freedom from stories that hold us back. In another dream the image of an actual threshold and a voice of encouragement have become touchstones for me. As the dream opens I throw a ball playfully but then worry when it seems to hit people. This is an old pattern for me, thinking I have caused harm. In the dream I feel “frozen.” Time passes, and I’m at a threshold. “Kate” (beloved cousin) comes and says “Let’s go!” and I’m going with her, over the threshold. I see the people and they are ok. Nothing is wrong. I feel happy and free to move. Here I’m invited to move away from old stories and into connection with others, with more playfulness and freedom. My cousin’s “Let’s go” can help me take a step in waking life where I’m tempted to stay back. Her love and support are the key.In this recent dream I’m driving on a familiar road: A shade comes down in front of me so I can see only darkness. I feel fear with the car still moving and wait for a crash. After a while the shade lifts. My car hurtles into a yard with a roar and spins around digging into the earth. I feel fear and gratitude no one is hurt.Later I see a woman who speaks to me with kindness and compassion and hands me a mysterious shape that feels alive, meaningful. I feel tremendous comfort with her. She seems to be saying “I’ve been through this too.”
Some dreams plunge us right into a difficult moment and feeling, into fear or terror or perhaps pain. In deep feeling and in moments of darkness our ego certainty softens. If we can pause here, this opens us to soul and our need for connection. To practice these moments even for a few seconds can bring healing effects.
This dream reminds me that our feelings connect us to one another and to our inner healers like nothing else. And that we are not alone.
Marian Enochs Gay is a certified Natural Dreamwork practitioner offering a contemplative approach to dreams as a path to soul. She is devoted to helping dreamers deepen their relationship with their own dreams.