Paper Tigers; The Challenge and the Gift of Nightmares
The only way out, is through. And there is treasure on the other side. Always.
An ancient phrase in Chinese, ‘Paper Tigers’, is what I use to refer to nightmares. This metaphor suggests that a nightmare involving a terrifying image or dynamic, is really only as substantive as a sheet of paper. On the emotional level of dreaming, we create imagery and dynamics to process an un-integrated fear. It looks and feels terrifying, until you walk up to it and find it’s a painting on paper. The first step of moving through the fear is to not run. If you’re dealing with a persistent nightmare, this is major move. This is the first stage of reclaiming your personal power.
My Dreamwork began in my early teens, with seven years of recurring nightmares. After speaking with many people about their own experiences with shadow. What I found myself and with each of them, was a tremendous gift of personal power was available for reclaiming, by facing the fear.
This is always the case. Always.
When we’re experiencing nightmares, we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to confront an illusion that’s keeping us from a wealth of courage, insight, personal power, and more. Always. And the benefits directly affect our waking lives. Just like all the rest of our Dreamwork.
Here are some good steps to take when doing work with your nightmares;
Begin with calling in spiritual support. I call in the spirit of my grandfather, Ganesha to help remove the obstacle of the fear, St. Michael to do the same, angels and ascended masters as well.
I began doing this before I believed in them. Then, as I had more experiences, my belief grew. I won’t tell you they’re real or they’re not. You’ll have to explore that for yourself. What I do know is that when I call in the energy of protection and support it works. I also set the intention that only energies with my highest good at heart my come in. None others are welcome. My experience is that when I set my intention forth clearly, it’s incredibly powerful.
As you call in support, focus on the feeling of being held safe and protected, drawing your courage from Source. Don’t hesitate to use some of the visualization practices in that section, to support this part of the journey. And always ask for ‘Grace & Ease”. It’s just a good practice.
Begin to speak to yourself (and all those you’ve just called in), saying something like, “ Thank you (your name) for dreaming. Thank you for remembering your dreams. Thank you for dreaming and for having woken and remembered your dreams. I called forth my fear and I faced it. I moved through this fear and discovered a deep and vital truth, and reclaimed such a power! It felt so amazing to encounter that nightmare and to have moved through it! Wow. I can see exactly what was causing it and it’s no longer a block for me. I’ve reclaimed such power!
Play with the wording. Depending on how you want to approach it, follow the basic tenets I’ve laid out in the section on Intentional Dreaming for finding your right wording, for generating the emotion of having already done what you wanted to. If this is too much, and you want to take small steps, you can begin with asking just to see what’s going on. “Thank you, Jason, for being willing to look at what the fear is. I know what the fear is, I know what’s behind this nightmare and I can witness it neutrally (choose a word here that’s empowering and still protects you from the strong emotional charge of the dream itself. In this approach we’re looking to observe the energy of the dream through a thick, protective glass wall, or maybe from above. So, you’ll be able to witness what’s going on, without being subject to it.
This may take practice. The results of how your psyche and spirit deal with it will vary greatly. You may be given an entirely unexpected dynamic in your next few dreams, that are leading you around in a closing spiral, giving you ample time to see what’s going on, presenting you with your own process, innocuously, so that your defenses don’t respond. It’s a mechanism our subconscious uses to reveal things about ourselves, slowly and safely, so that before we know it, we’ve looked into the shadow before we had the chance to react to it.
The second facing of the fear happens once you’re standing before the tiger and you know all you have to do pierce the illusion, is poke your hand through a thin sheet of paper. This is the moment went you become totally present to the possibilities of what may be behind this sheet. We often expect the worst; parts of our history involving pain, loss, abandonment, shame & guilt, and so on. What we may find behind the sheet is the confrontation with a part of our history we cringe from.
The Dreaming can assist us in facing both parts of this journey; approaching the tiger and piercing it. Sometimes they happen in the same move, sometimes there can be a stretch of time between the two, as you’re spirit integrates the lesson. Depending how long and how many lifetimes it’s been with you, it will take as long as it needs to, being supported or challenged by life conditions relation dynamics of anyone in your life, astrological influences, you name it. And, all of that can be transcended when you’re ready. No one but you can say what’s to be. Only we know our truths. Trust yours.
Often, once we pierce the truth behind a nightmare, it reveals an entire, unexplored area of our lives begging our attention, in ways we can never predict. This exploration will fuel your creativity, emotional unleashing, and so much more.
The only way out, is through. And there is treasure on the other side. Always.
An ancient phrase in Chinese, ‘Paper Tigers’, is what I use to refer to nightmares. This metaphor suggests that a nightmare involving a terrifying image or dynamic, is really only as substantive as a sheet of paper. On the emotional level of dreaming, we create imagery and dynamics to process an un-integrated fear. It looks and feels terrifying, until you walk up to it and find it’s a painting on paper. The first step of moving through the fear is to not run. If you’re dealing with a persistent nightmare, this is major move. This is the first stage of reclaiming your personal power.
My Dreamwork began in my early teens, with seven years of recurring nightmares. After speaking with many people about their own experiences with shadow. What I found myself and with each of them, was a tremendous gift of personal power was available for reclaiming, by facing the fear.
This is always the case. Always.
When we’re experiencing nightmares, we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to confront an illusion that’s keeping us from a wealth of courage, insight, personal power, and more. Always. And the benefits directly affect our waking lives. Just like all the rest of our Dreamwork.
Here are some good steps to take when doing work with your nightmares;
Begin with calling in spiritual support. I call in the spirit of my grandfather, Ganesha to help remove the obstacle of the fear, St. Michael to do the same, angels and ascended masters as well.
I began doing this before I believed in them. Then, as I had more experiences, my belief grew. I won’t tell you they’re real or they’re not. You’ll have to explore that for yourself. What I do know is that when I call in the energy of protection and support it works. I also set the intention that only energies with my highest good at heart my come in. None others are welcome. My experience is that when I set my intention forth clearly, it’s incredibly powerful.
As you call in support, focus on the feeling of being held safe and protected, drawing your courage from Source. Don’t hesitate to use some of the visualization practices in that section, to support this part of the journey. And always ask for ‘Grace & Ease”. It’s just a good practice.
Begin to speak to yourself (and all those you’ve just called in), saying something like, “ Thank you (your name) for dreaming. Thank you for remembering your dreams. Thank you for dreaming and for having woken and remembered your dreams. I called forth my fear and I faced it. I moved through this fear and discovered a deep and vital truth, and reclaimed such a power! It felt so amazing to encounter that nightmare and to have moved through it! Wow. I can see exactly what was causing it and it’s no longer a block for me. I’ve reclaimed such power!
Play with the wording. Depending on how you want to approach it, follow the basic tenets I’ve laid out in the section on Intentional Dreaming for finding your right wording, for generating the emotion of having already done what you wanted to. If this is too much, and you want to take small steps, you can begin with asking just to see what’s going on. “Thank you, Jason, for being willing to look at what the fear is. I know what the fear is, I know what’s behind this nightmare and I can witness it neutrally (choose a word here that’s empowering and still protects you from the strong emotional charge of the dream itself. In this approach we’re looking to observe the energy of the dream through a thick, protective glass wall, or maybe from above. So, you’ll be able to witness what’s going on, without being subject to it.
This may take practice. The results of how your psyche and spirit deal with it will vary greatly. You may be given an entirely unexpected dynamic in your next few dreams, that are leading you around in a closing spiral, giving you ample time to see what’s going on, presenting you with your own process, innocuously, so that your defenses don’t respond. It’s a mechanism our subconscious uses to reveal things about ourselves, slowly and safely, so that before we know it, we’ve looked into the shadow before we had the chance to react to it.
The second facing of the fear happens once you’re standing before the tiger and you know all you have to do pierce the illusion, is poke your hand through a thin sheet of paper. This is the moment went you become totally present to the possibilities of what may be behind this sheet. We often expect the worst; parts of our history involving pain, loss, abandonment, shame & guilt, and so on. What we may find behind the sheet is the confrontation with a part of our history we cringe from.
The Dreaming can assist us in facing both parts of this journey; approaching the tiger and piercing it. Sometimes they happen in the same move, sometimes there can be a stretch of time between the two, as you’re spirit integrates the lesson. Depending how long and how many lifetimes it’s been with you, it will take as long as it needs to, being supported or challenged by life conditions relation dynamics of anyone in your life, astrological influences, you name it. And, all of that can be transcended when you’re ready. No one but you can say what’s to be. Only we know our truths. Trust yours.
Often, once we pierce the truth behind a nightmare, it reveals an entire, unexplored area of our lives begging our attention, in ways we can never predict. This exploration will fuel your creativity, emotional unleashing, and so much more.