Dream Stick – Week 4
This week’s topic is a dream stick.
A literal stick, yes. An object from the garden or veld. But also a dream that sticks: A dream that stays with you long after you wake up…. some dreams just feel different and “stick with you” more than others.
Many cultures have treated dreams as meaningful. Dreams were not dismissed as random brain noise as they sometimes are in our modern culture.
Dreams were often seen as messages, warnings, invitations, or pieces of wisdom arising from somewhere deeper than ordinary thinking.
There is also the tradition of the talking stick, often associated with Indigenous communities, where the person holding the stick is given the space to speak without interruption. The stick becomes a symbol of attention, respect, and listening.
I love the idea of a dream stick!
Whoever holds the dream stick gets to speak their dream. Not necessarily make sense of it immediately. Just tell it. Then, when the stick is passed on, others may offer what symbols stand out to them, what feelings arise, or add some sort of interpretation or view point.
Dreams do not always respond well to rushing, fixing, or over explaining… sometimes the dream needs space to be understood. Maybe a dream you write down today will only make sense to you a few months down the line.
Robert Johnson, author of Inner Work, suggests not only interpreting a dream but doing something to integrate it, to acknoledge it. For example you could write about it, draw something, pray about it, light a candle.
This week, make a “sticky dream” you have had more real and write about it, draw about it, paint it or express it.
Or, make a real dream stick! Find a stick. Paint it. Wrap it. Decorate it. Let it become a symbol of reminding yourself to listen to the strange but wise language of your dreams.
Here are some of our creativity this week:
Also made me think of when:
_”Moses threw the staff on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it….So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand._
I made a bird out of clay for the head of the stick. This is specifically from a dream I’ve had where there were birds sitting on top of massive towering pillars at the edge of the ocean.
My parkrun cap tells the story of my journey.
Every badge holds a memory, every coloured bead represents a parkrun completed, and every step reminds me how far I’ve come.
So far I’ve completed 98 different parkrun venues — only two to go to reach my dream of 100!
I’m also close to another milestone: 400 parkruns in total, with just 8 left to go.
More than anything, my dream is to continue this journey in good health, with gratitude, joy, and many more parkrun mornings still ahead. 🏃 🏃♂️ 🏃♀️ 🏃♂️
Ochre is one of the oldest colours humans have used. It comes from iron-rich clay, and carries something ancient, grounded and wise. To me, it feels like warmth, remembering and nourishment.
I added small pieces of mirror to symbolize reflection and introspection, and a marble on top because it looks like a tiny universe.
The colourful string binds it all together, like a spider’s web. It’s a symbol of connection, patterns, and the unseen threads between everyone and everything.
Tonight is full moon, a time to illuminate what is hidden, to reflect, and to notice what is asking to be seen… sort of what we ask about the dreams we have.
“As within, so without. As the universe, so the soul.”
In the dream, I arrived at my parents’ house where my boys were spending the week. All I wanted to do was get to my son’s room and greet him. But the house was filled with parrots—dozens of them. They were noisy, unfriendly, and some even tried to attack me. No matter what I did, they blocked my path, and I couldn’t get to my son.
Reflecting on it afterwards, the parrots felt symbolic. Parrots are noisy, demanding, and constantly repeating sounds. They reminded me of the endless demands, messages, meetings, emails, responsibilities, and expectations that come with work and adult life.
The part that struck me most wasn’t the parrots themselves—it was the feeling. I desperately wanted to reach my son, but the things demanding my attention kept getting in the way.
The dream’s message felt simple but powerful:
“The things demanding my attention are preventing me from being where I most want to be – with my children.”
