I took Sarah along with me on the plane
A book, a dream, a request for interpretation--and an explanation of where I've been
The book
On the third flight of my recent cross-country travels, I finished reading this book … for the second time.
Sarah The Priestess: The First Matriarch of Genesis, a heavily footnoted, academic book, was perhaps an unusual choice for airplane reading. But while I also have some lighter “summer-read” novels loaded onto my book apps, I reached for this paperback when I settled into my aisle seat with hours of unscheduled time ahead of me.
In Sarah the Priestess, Sabina Teubal, a scholar of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, posits that Sarah was not merely a barren woman failing at her task of helping Abraham populate a new faith and many nations — but was instead a priestess who was trying to protect and defend a matrilineal culture and way of life in the face of mounting societal changes.
Over the years, this small book, which practically vibrates with intellectual excitement when I hold it in my hand, has become festooned with multiple bookmarks and sticky notes. Its pages are heavily underlined and the margins are packed with scribbled notes.
On my second reading, I even had to tuck a small notebook between the pages to accommodate some of my comments and annotations as I integrate, converse with, and question the text.
The dream
Soon after I finished re-reading the book, I dreamed I was showing it to a friend. I pointed out all the colorful tabs and sticky notes I’d inserted into its pages, which in the dream were transformed into a veritable peacock-tail of rainbow-colored tabs indicating passages I wanted to transcribe onto my computer. “See, I’m almost done processing all my notes,” I said. Then I realized that wasn’t true. There were more and more tabs fanning out, indicating I had a lot more work to do!
A request for interpretation
In waking life, it’s true! I’ve begun transcribing my notes into my Evernote app, and I’ve made good progress. But there are lots more to go!
I woke up wondering what my Dream-Maker-Mind is telling me:
Is the dream confirming my plan to spend the hours required to keep transcribing notes?
Or was the exaggerated image of multiplying tabs in the book prodding me to let go of the academic details and allow my poetic mind to take over?
A friend recently told me that at a certain point, I need to stop reading other people’s ideas about Sarah and just write my own. Could the dream be confirming this suggestion?
No one can interpret a dream for someone else … the ultimate authority for a dream is the dreamer. That said, if this had been your dream, what would it be telling you? Perhaps your associations will help me see my own situation more clearly!
And an explanation: Where I’ve been
So now you know that while I haven’t posted here for over a week — I’ve still been very much thinking about Sarah, her story, and what I’ll write to you. But I haven’t had a chance to compose a newsletter because I’ve been traveling!
I was in Ashland, Oregon for nearly a week at the annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD). There I offered a workshop based on my book Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing. I also stepped up and accepted an invitation to join IASD’s Board of Directors.
Then I flew down to Southern California to visit my daughter.
And I’m happy to report that I started reading a more summertime-friendly novel yesterday. But I still might settle back in at the computer to type up the rest of those notes next week … I’ll keep you posted.
While I catch up, you can too
I didn’t post a poem during my vacation time, and I’ll be doing some catching up when I get back to my desk. Until then you can catch up too — on any poems you’ve missed.
Learn more about me, my books, 1:1 dreamwork and writing sessions (and more) at www.thirdhousemoon.com
what catches my eye are the colourful tabs - peacock colours - what are your associations to peacock? and sprititual connections to peacock and peacock colours? what does that represent to you? Looking forward to taking the journey of Sarah with you...
Sending lots of love
so if the dream is compensatory, it seems to me that it might be pushing you in the direction of letting go of the academic work now and proceeding with your own poetic imagination.