FOR THE BIRDS...

I am in my friend's back yard, and she is showing me a nest that some birds have made under some wooden planks (this actually did happen yesterday, and that image appeared in my dream).  I stay there while she goes off, just to watch the nest, and see a wooden fence followed immediately by a concrete wall - the two were separated by about a foot.

This is very interesting to me for some reason, and I begin to follow both the fence and the wall from end to end.  It's not very long, about 10 feet, and about in the middle of this structure, very close to the ground I see some movement.  Suddenly, I am attacked by a large bird, and I back off.  The bird flies at me again, and this time I see another bird, obviously its mate, swooping down to the ground.  I realize that I was about to step on another, somewhat larger nest that has chicks in it.  I also recognize the birds as owls, and this is a surprise to me.  I know from somewhere that this would not be their normal place to nest.  

I actually apologize to the birds as I step back further, and they leave me alone, although they still fly in an agitated manner around the nest.  Soon I see a couple of fuzzy heads stick out and am delighted with the appearance of the chicks.  Now something else catches my eye - I see that beside the nest is a small hole in the ground, and out pops a small animal - a gopher.  I am alarmed at first to see it go straight to the next and actually climb into it, but the parent birds have no such concerns.  It is obvious that the chicks and the baby gopher are friends.

It was almost like a scene out of a fairy-tale book, where animals co-exist and live together (much like a deer, a rabbit and a skunk did in Bambi).  The parent birds keep a strict eye on all the little ones as they play, and at one time even fed the gopher the same way they did their chicks.

****** 

This dream is actually loaded with totem symbolism that I must investigate.  It was also influenced by my activities this weekend, first by the attendance to the discussion group where we talked about shamanic journeys and dreams, and then yesterday's outing to my friend's home where I actually saw the bird's nest in the tree-house.  


Oh - I just remembered another part of the dream:


I am in some kind of an institution. There is an old-fashioned feeling to it, especially in the dormitories, where many beds are lined up against the wall, like a hospital ward in the early 1900's. I know there are several floors of similar wards, and I am told by a woman that I will have to move to one of them. She seems like she's in charge here, friendly in a very efficient and arm's-length sort of way.

I gather up all my bedding and go down one floor and see that there is an extra bed there, squeezed in between two other beds, and I assume this bed to be mine. I lay out my bedding on it all the while thinking how neat order has been disrupted by the addition of this extra bed.

I am vaguely aware of other people around me, but do not interact with any of them except the head nurse, as I began to call her. She approves my choice of beds, and I think this is rather strange since I have yet to see anyone else in either of the dormitories. At that moment, I do see someone I know, my friend from the east coast, and I go to him.

He greets me almost off-handedly, indifferent to seeing me, and I feel confused and hurt by this. Again I try to initiate a conversation, but he interrupts me by answering his cell-phone - I note this as another anachronism in the dream, since the entire scene is very old-fashioned. He eagerly says yes to something, and once he hangs up, tells me that he'll be going to see the latest Harry Potter movie. I ask if I may also come, and he very coldly tells me that he's had enough of my company, and that he would rather not see me again.

I feel very hurt by this, but outwardly just shrug and walk away to join the Head Nurse again, and begin making myself useful with her.

*****
And again this part was influenced by something else that happened yesterday, which I prefer not to talk about. It was a small incident in which I was the one, while not outrightly rejecting, but perhaps setting boundaries.