Trying to find my place

[AWanderingSoul]

I've been interested in paganism for pretty much all my life, but could never read so much as a paragraph about it due to my strict Christian family. I am on my own now and have been reading into it for the past six months or so, but I've only just begun my journey. I've been meditating on where exactly I belong. This morning, while meditating, I saw a woman dancing with a red cloak (hood on) and a staff. I tried to see if I approach her for a clearer view, but she faded out of focus. Then, I saw a white glowing light come from a hole. It started to close the closer I got to it, but I managed to teach and hold it open long enough to slip through. Once I made it through, it was like I was flying through a tunnel of pulsing light. After a few moments, it stopped and everything was calm. I looked around and saw a cellar door that was glowing red from within, but I hesitated to investigate and ended my journey there. Any thoughts on this?

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[TheGreenWizard]

I've been interested in paganism for pretty much all my life, but could never read so much as a paragraph about it due to my strict Christian family. I am on my own now and have been reading into it for the past six months or so, but I've only just begun my journey. I've been meditating on where exactly I belong. This morning, while meditating, I saw a woman dancing with a red cloak (hood on) and a staff. I tried to see if I approach her for a clearer view, but she faded out of focus. Then, I saw a white glowing light come from a hole. It started to close the closer I got to it, but I managed to teach and hold it open long enough to slip through. Once I made it through, it was like I was flying through a tunnel of pulsing light. After a few moments, it stopped and everything was calm. I looked around and saw a cellar door that was glowing red from within, but I hesitated to investigate and ended my journey there. Any thoughts on this?

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Welcome to the Cauldron! Just a reminder to please make sure you introduce yourself in the Introductions portion of the forums so that we can get to know you.

Regarding your meditation, I'll repeat what someone else here told me for my lucid dream - what's your take on this? What does the woman in the red cloak with a staff represent? What about the white light and the hole? What's the symbolism for the cellar door and red light? What feelings did you get from it?

I ask you these questions because, as I just learned, interpretations have different meanings. How I interpret these images is different from how someone else will, and how you will interpret this meditation.

Lastly - keep learning and keep being curious about the path, and I do suggest you come back to this meditation - you'll find that as you accrue more knowledge, you'll get different insights of past dreams, meditations, and such.

[AWanderingSoul]

Thank you so much for the reply! I will be sure to go introduce myself. (: The only thing I can seem to come to a conclusion on is that the cellar doorway is my deep subconscious. Why is it red? I have yet to figure it out. I have been meditating on it. Yesterday all I was about to get was white mist with what looked like an opening far off in the distance, but was unable to move. I'll get to it eventually!

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[Jenett]

Welcome to the Cauldron! Just a reminder to please make sure you introduce yourself in the Introductions portion of the forums so that we can get to know you.

A Reminder:

Hi, TheGreenWizard - It's great to be friendly, but one of the rules here is that board users should avoid telling others where or how to post. In particular, we don't require people to post introductions here (though if people do, that's fine too, and we provide some guidance for people who aren't sure what to say or what might be helpful) If you think someone is posting in a way that's against the board rules, we ask you to report it (using the 'report to moderator' link for that post), and then staff can look at it and take any action needed. Another of our rules is that discussion of moderation actions shouldn't happen in the discussion thread, so if you have questions about this, please ask general questions about the board rules in the Board Questions folder, or please feel free to contact a member of staff privately if you have questions about this specific case. Thanks, Jenett, with staff hat on

[Jenett]

Thank you so much for the reply! I will be sure to go introduce myself. (:

A Reminder:

AWanderingSoul Just a quick note:  Please remember to quote, even if you're just replying to the first message in the thread.  It makes the discussion easier to follow, and it's required by our rules. (If you're using tapatalk on a phone, please hold your finger down on the message you wish to reply to until the quote function pops up.) This isn't a formal warning, just a reminder. No reply is necessary, but if you have questions or need clarification, please feel free to contact a member of staff privately. Jenett TC Staff

[Jenett]

I've been interested in paganism for pretty much all my life, but could never read so much as a paragraph about it due to my strict Christian family. I am on my own now and have been reading into it for the past six months or so, but I've only just begun my journey. I've been meditating on where exactly I belong. This morning, while meditating, I saw a woman dancing with a red cloak (hood on) and a staff. I tried to see if I approach her for a clearer view, but she faded out of focus. Then, I saw a white glowing light come from a hole. It started to close the closer I got to it, but I managed to teach and hold it open long enough to slip through. Once I made it through, it was like I was flying through a tunnel of pulsing light. After a few moments, it stopped and everything was calm. I looked around and saw a cellar door that was glowing red from within, but I hesitated to investigate and ended my journey there. Any thoughts on this?

The thought I keep coming back to is that a single experience is just that - a single experience. It's hard to draw conclusions from just one thing. Multiple experiences usually give us more information, and in particular may turn into a particular direction to explore (or alternately, indicate some stuff that probably isn't where you should focus)

Trying again, like you did, is one option, but it's sort of like trying to step in the same river twice: you may get a very different experience. Often trying a mix of things (additional meditation or trance work, trance work where you focus on a symbol or specific piece of an earlier experience in a more structured way and see what happens, divination, ritual work that isn't trance work, free-association sketching or other forms of art, and a number of others) often help fill out some of hwat's going on.

Sometimes, too, this stuff doesn't have easy answers.

A figure could appear a certain way to you because that's how your personal brain (and soul, arguably!) interprets something. Sometimes, even if it's an experience with a deity (or a deity other people work with that you can talk to), experiences can be rather different because we come from different backgrounds and experiences. And if we're just talking about a 'you experience this concept as a personified thing' it can be even harder to pin down.

That doesn't mean stop! It just means that assuming a given experience in trance or meditation doesn't have specific answers is usually the safer way to bet. Don't make major life decisions based just on something like that - explore it in other ways, run choices through common sense, and so on, first.

[Altair]

The thought I keep coming back to is that a single experience is just that - a single experience.
(SNIP)
That doesn't mean stop! It just means that assuming a given experience in trance or meditation doesn't have specific answers is usually the safer way to bet. Don't make major life decisions based just on something like that - explore it in other ways, run choices through common sense, and so on, first.

I mostly agree with Jenett here, except that I think sometimes a single dream or meditation experience packs enough of a wallop that it has definite significance. (That doesn't always mean you'll be able to figure out the meaning, but you'll know that Something Important Was Going On.)

The last part of what she said is important, though: Keep the common sense filter on! I get really uncomfortable when I read that someone here at the Cauldron has made some decisive call based solely on a vision. Even if you buy that they can transmit important messages, few of us even after years of work have the skill to confidently and accurately interpret them.

[AWanderingSoul]

The thought I keep coming back to is that a single experience is just that - a single experience. It's hard to draw conclusions from just one thing. Multiple experiences usually give us more information, and in particular may turn into a particular direction to explore (or alternately, indicate some stuff that probably isn't where you should focus)

Trying again, like you did, is one option, but it's sort of like trying to step in the same river twice: you may get a very different experience. Often trying a mix of things (additional meditation or trance work, trance work where you focus on a symbol or specific piece of an earlier experience in a more structured way and see what happens, divination, ritual work that isn't trance work, free-association sketching or other forms of art, and a number of others) often help fill out some of hwat's going on.

Sometimes, too, this stuff doesn't have easy answers.

A figure could appear a certain way to you because that's how your personal brain (and soul, arguably!) interprets something. Sometimes, even if it's an experience with a deity (or a deity other people work with that you can talk to), experiences can be rather different because we come from different backgrounds and experiences. And if we're just talking about a 'you experience this concept as a personified thing' it can be even harder to pin down.

That doesn't mean stop! It just means that assuming a given experience in trance or meditation doesn't have specific answers is usually the safer way to bet. Don't make major life decisions based just on something like that - explore it in other ways, run choices through common sense, and so on, first.

Thank you for bringing me back down, I got a bit carried away!

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[AWanderingSoul]

I mostly agree with Jenett here, except that I think sometimes a single dream or meditation experience packs enough of a wallop that it has definite significance. (That doesn't always mean you'll be able to figure out the meaning, but you'll know that Something Important Was Going On.)

The last part of what she said is important, though: Keep the common sense filter on! I get really uncomfortable when I read that someone here at the Cauldron has made some decisive call based solely on a vision. Even if you buy that they can transmit important messages, few of us even after years of work have the skill to confidently and accurately interpret them.

Yes, yes. Thank you both for pulling me back a bit, hahah.

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[TheGreenWizard]

A Reminder:

Hi, TheGreenWizard - It's great to be friendly, but one of the rules here is that board users should avoid telling others where or how to post. In particular, we don't require people to post introductions here (though if people do, that's fine too, and we provide some guidance for people who aren't sure what to say or what might be helpful) If you think someone is posting in a way that's against the board rules, we ask you to report it (using the 'report to moderator' link for that post), and then staff can look at it and take any action needed. Another of our rules is that discussion of moderation actions shouldn't happen in the discussion thread, so if you have questions about this, please ask general questions about the board rules in the Board Questions folder, or please feel free to contact a member of staff privately if you have questions about this specific case. Thanks, Jenett, with staff hat on

Thank you Jenett for that - I'm used to a different forum where it was more self-policing than having moderators... Definitely will keep that in mind!