Would you agree, Katie, that sometimes there IS a message? I consider openness to that possibility a very important element in my own life.
Perhaps. But I think it's much rarer than most people hope, if it exists. And I do think it is probably in the mind of the receiver if there is one. Also, it is not an indicator of 'closedness' to accept that things are seldom meant for me. I used to think everything was a message, until someone asked me 'what makes you so important?' (Hilary Poole, Isle of Erraid in 2001. Now she is a wise woman). My world view has altered radically as a result of that question. I now consider such events as chance (or sometimes sought out) encounters with other persons (human and otherwise), and that is more cosmic to me.
Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful reply, Katie.
I suppose, I have mixed feelings about this - personally, as it applies to me (of course whatever you understand is your own gnosis..I don't presume to question that). I suppose, really, that I feel something of a paradox - both that- sure, everything is not a "sign" and yes, it takes years, even decades of practise to understand the difference...but also, I am sure, I mean I *know* that everything is singing to us all the time, and when we stop, still our minds and listen, messengers do arrive and they can be life changing. This isn't narcissism ( eg all about ME) but skillfull discernment(and yes, open-ness). So, I respect your balancing words here, but I think we can swing a little far towards dismissiveness just as we so often start out on a path with excessive credulity.
I don't believe in some external force that 'sends' messengers about delivering metaphorical meaning. Rather, I believe that the physical universe contains enough of wonder and relationship that ascribing invisible meanings is only helpful or necessary if you believe it to be (which is fine and I don't have a problem with people believing that, though I do like to question it and share an alternative perspective). I believe that encounters change lives, but not necessarily because they are sent by some higher power. Seeing things as random co-incidences doesn't lessen the wonder and beauty or even spirituality of such moments for me.
That's maybe where we differ; I Do understand the Universe as containing powers and entities far outside my own sensorial grasp; and I am sure I have been "messaged" - though by what or whom or why, I can only speculate (that's where the idea of faith comes in; I feel pretty sure about who and why, but I can't offer you any proof...) Every blue jay at my feeder isn't a messenger, but they are all little miracles; when messengers have come and my life has been touched with synchronicity/numinosity, I open to it..I don't necessarily (anymore) try to explain it, but I work with it as some element of divinity, and as such recognize the miracle of the blue jay and the Miracle of this communication.
Dreams, on the other hand, come from our own subconscious and I do think they contain messages for us. Not ones sent from outside ourselves, but from deep inside. I think people try to analyze physical experiences as if they were dreams, but I see a huge distinction between them. In the case of a dream about a deer, I think the dreamer is of the utmost importance and the message is worth unravelling, since dreams are our way of conveying messages from the hidden parts of ourselves to the conscious parts.
Well, a a former Jungian I wouldn't dispute the centrality of the dream - but, I think the numinous and unusual confrontation with animals(birds, insects, reptiles, people!) is equally important. If encounters align - as in, you dreamed of a moth, then that moth appeared in your garden, then you did an Animal Card reading and drew the moth - well, time to listen. And it's been my experience that working on all of these levels is deeply powerful and yes, magical.
The emissaries that come to us in a dream are not different from those who arrive in a turtle, a deer, or a butterfly. As above so below - as within, so without.
Or so my own experiences and observations tell me.