A Meeting of Minds (John Dotson’s dream of December 8, 2016)

With L— in the car and he is driving. We are moving along a “through-way” into a heavily developed cityscape, which appears on the horizon—massive works in concrete and masonry. We are heading directly into an arched tunnel when suddenly it strikes me that the whole infrastructure is in disarray. It’s not an earthquake, and it is not clear whether the situation is one of decay or of on-going construction or of both simultaneously. Our course, however, is not obstructed, as L makes some daring moves, careening off the road into a concrete water channel at one point, and defying the laws of gravity very adeptly. Eventually we make our way to a park where the sunshine is bright and all is well…

In the neighborhood (Santa Rita and 1st), I am aware of a commotion outside the house (EJ’s place). I go to the door to discover that some neighbors have spotted and, as I become aware, are tracking a mountain lion. This is a singular event, to be sure, but as I join in the tracking, I am not so concerned. The lion seems sufficiently distant among the limbs of the tall pines some distance away. No worries. I go back inside the house—but almost instantly, I become aware that the mountain lion is on the porch, just outside the door. I have an extreme close-up view of the lion, the richness of its fur, the profound energy flowing smoothly through its whole body and being. This front door has a pet door in it, and while the lion is huge and cannot come through, I feel very vulnerable, at high risk. The lion might put his/her paw through the pet door—smelling the pets, and me!, inside—and rip the actual door off its hinges. I can almost feel its claws and teeth in my flesh. It is clear to me that there is very little that I could do to prevent this. The lion can act freely and is in charge of the situation—certainly I am not in charge. Yet the outcome will be largely determined by my telepathic capacity to sync my mind with and befriend the lion—to establish by subtle means that there is no argument between us, that we are not enemies. And I am now succeeding at this. The dream closes with equipoise between the lion and me, and with the other animals inside. We are all quietly breathing at the doorstep…