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Bigfoot and the Woman

In the dream, Bigfoot is skulking through a cave, and the Woman is trying to stop him from getting out. She is old and clever and vital: a crone, a witch. She hunches herself into a hole in the cave wall so that she can attack him as he walks by. I don’t remember the attack; does she hit him with a spell? Does she throw rocks at him? He turns and looks to see what hit him. He can’t get at her, but he knows she’s there. He walks on.

In the dream, I pay the Woman to protect me and my family. Even if she can’t save us, I want to make a contribution to her work. Stopping Bigfoot is a worthy cause, right?

But when I wake, the dream looks different. Bigfoot wasn’t destroying anything; he was only looking for a way out. He’s trying to go home, I realize as I scrawl the dream into my journal.

Bigfoot is the Problem. He’s the illness, the situation at work, the painful relationship, the wounded world. The Woman is the wisdom I’ve acquired so far. She’s throwing everything she’s got at Bigfoot, but he won’t go away.

Crawl out of the hole, dear Woman. This creature you’re fighting is not the enemy. If there’s a way out for him, perhaps it will be the same way out for you. Do you really want to live in this cave for the rest of your life?

Somehow the Woman is going to befriend Bigfoot. She’ll be nervous when she begins; she won’t feel safe. First she’ll learn to watch him without attacking him. What next? Perhaps she’ll follow him at a distance. Perhaps she’ll make peace offerings. Perhaps she’ll learn to speak to him, or her songs will soften him. It may take months or years – it may take the rest of her life – but the time will come when the two of them walk together, all enmity dissolved.

And what then? Do they find their way out of the cave? Will they discover an exit to a world filled with light? That part I don’t know. What do you think?

cave

4 thoughts on “Bigfoot and the Woman”

  1. Thank you Hannah. 🙂
    Your dream, and later interpretation, reminds me very much of the Buddhist principle of the Middle Way.

    In it Life itself is the ultimate expression of the “harmony of contradictions.” A natural example is the lotus flower that blooms unsullied by the muddy waters in which it grows. For human beings, it’s the tremendous spiritual potential we each possess, which is often in direct proportion to the depth of confusion and predicament we might face.
    Be Well,
    Doug

  2. Hannah dear, I read this before bed last night and fell asleep thinking about it. Woke up this a.m. working further with the imagery…for you, for me. It made me think of walking a labyrinth – have you ever done so? It feels like you’re walking “in circles”, but you’re not…the way has been set (for me, by Love) and in the center/home(for the crone AND BigFoot?) we get a kiss, or sing a song, or lay something too heavy down…then we walk slowly out, trusting in the “in and out” (of each day) that the way has been set by Love and the way is laden with seeds of joy, inexplainable peace, love beyond telling – yes, even love of those who seem like enemies/Big Foot. Your dream also reminds me of some parts of the Beauty and the Beast story line…I can just see you, darling one, singing songs to Big Foot…is that befriending your shadow side, or “welcoming” the suffering that Love allows to touch us all so we can be transformed, over and over again? I do love you, Hannah Lynn.(I’m going to post a pic on your FB page). See you in the Center.

    1. Nancy, this is so beautiful! Thank you for this. I love walking labyrinths. We had one at Stoneridge (where I taught for several years), and I walked it many, many times. I’m going to hold onto that idea of the crone and Bigfoot walking the labyrinth together; that’s perfect.

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