Thursday, May 15, 2014

a REAL owl plays a pivotal role in last nights dream

this morning I heard the mournful hooting
of a great horned owl out my window

I had a dream last night that was interrupted, or maybe punctuated, by the call of a great horned owl. I am writing this within minutes of getting out of bed.

The dream started in a bland suburban setting, and I was standing out in the driveway of a house that I assume was mine. The other homes were spaced sort of far apart, it was summer and the lawns were green. The sun was low in the sky and everything was calm.

Then I saw there was a grizzly bear poking around on the lawn across the street! At first I didn’t feel nervous or threatened, it was an amazing sighting. Then I realized this big thing was sort of lumbering towards me, and I retreated into the garage.

I went into the house through the inside garage door, but I realized there were a bunch of doors from the garage into the house (I think as many as six), and they were all slightly open. I quickly went into one as the giant bear entered the garage. I locked it from the inside, but typical of this kind of anxiety dream the whole thing felt awkward and frustrating, I needed to force the bolt in place.

I went to each door, one by one, and locked it from the inside, and each door was progressively more flimsy and each lock was harder to latch closed. I could tell the bear was right outside each of these doors. Just like me, it was going from door to door, and each was just a little bit open as I got to it, so I could see the bear as I pulled it closed.

Eventually, the doors would just barely close, as if they were sized wrong for the frame. The locks were broken, and parts would fall off as I tried to get them to work.

The final door was nothing more than a small sheet of thin plywood, far too small for the door frame. It was barely hanging in place on deteriorating hinges. The plywood was warped and rotten, and I could see the bear over the top and sides of it, slowly coming towards me, then his big paws were reaching through the open spaces as I frantically tried to somehow get it locked.

Suddenly I was hearing the hooting cry of an owl, steady and clear. I could hear it as this bear was pulling at this thin sheet of plywood with it's claws.

It was at that point I woke up, but the hooting continued. I lay there in bed, with the pale light of dawn easing through the only window in my bedroom. I was hearing the unmistakable call of a great horned owl, and it must have been on the telephone pole right outside my window.

Let me state this nice and clearly:
A real owl woke me up 
right as a bear was about to rip down a door!

I was going to get up to see if I could get a look at it, but it stopped before I could muster the energy to climb out of bed. I lay awake for a long time, deeply impressed at the symbolism of the dream, and that a real owl would invade my dream-scape just as a bear was about to pull down the final flimsy barrier between me and it. (Bear? Barrier?)

I have lived in this cabin for over 20 years, and I’ve occasionally heard an owl, and very rarely seen one nearby. But starting at the end of March of this year, I’ve been hearing them outside my bedroom window and they’ve been waking me up, something that’s never happened in the decades I’ve called this my home. (see THIS and THIS)

And in the essay Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO abductee I come to the conclusion that the owl plays the role of an alarm clock. A real owl blatantly played that role for me!

Yesterday, I saw a mother owl with two fluffy owlets in a nest (see below) on my daily bike ride to town. And, last night was the full moon.

mother owl and owlets 
from today's small town newspaper

How to analyze the symbolism? 

Maybe the bear is the truth and the flimsy doors are the crumbling barriers between me and that truth? The owl was saying (quite literally) WAKE UP! Bear is bare, the naked truth. Bare also means to suffer a burden. Anyway, this is sure how it feels.
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Text added May 16th (the day after the posting above)

Another persons dream:

I know a guy who has had a lifetime of what sure seems to be abduction events. He also had a grizzly bear dream the same night as I did, the morning after the May full moon.

We talk together quite a lot, and we’ve had a few other shared dreams. I spoke with him last night, and he told me about his grizzly bear dream.

This guy’s dream starts in an idyllic forest where he sees a grizzly bear on the opposite side of a river, it’s just sniffing around and he feels no threat. The whole seen is beautiful and majestic.

The next thing he remembers is a small house, he walks up to the side door and knocks on it. He peers through a window into the house and sees a woman walking up to the door, and walking behind her is this massive grizzly bear.

She opens the door and the grizzly bear comes out. They guy then moves behind the corner of the house. He know if he runs or panics the bear will chase him down and kill him.

He ends up moving away, and the bear follows him, they both end up right in front of the garage. The bear has done nothing threatening, it is just lumbering along and sniffing around. But this guy is very aware of the danger. Then the bear looks up at him, and he thinks, “Oh F*ck!” It’s right at this point he wakes up.

There are so many elements that feel similar to my dream and his. The grizzly bear and the garage are the most obvious, but the feel of the dream is similar.

This guy is about to undergo hypnotic regression in an attempt to retrieve what might be buried memories, and this has been (understandably) a looming stress for him.

We both saw the bear as representing fear. Or more correctly fear of the unknown. I feel my bear (from my dream) might represent the unknown truth, or fear of the unknown truth. We were in agreement about all these facets of the grizzly bear symbolism. I sense that this lumbering fear is something deep inside, and it's following both of us.
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18 comments:

Merlyn's Apprentice said...

ohhhh! Love this one! As i have shared with you i too have encountered a bear within this (these) experience(s). Seems to me the door getting flimsier and flimsier feels a lot like you slowly being more and more willing to face the bear(inevitable). This is identical to the symbology i found in my bear dream. AND.. the owl calling you... if you remember in my "dreams" i was only able to meet the shaman (decorated in white feathers) after i faced the bear directly. Dude! face the bear. no fear! :) The owl is waiting.

On another note... My daughter (12) shared with me a "dream" she had in which a tall slender dark eyed man came out of her closet and visited her. Afterwards he walked through the wall and into a craft. immediately after she finished the story an owl swooped in front of our car. I thought to myself "too bad it wasn't a bear, this owl thing is so predictable" ... immediately after a huge black dog ran in front of us and up a driveway. My daughter's friend shouted "Look! a bear!"

I'll private message you my daughter's drawing. She is completely unaware of my experiences... but is apparently now starting her own.

Red Pill Junkie said...

I agree with Merlyn's Apprentice; seems to me you're fully aware the layers of BS in which you've been trying to hide from the truth are getting thinner & thinner. It's time to bear the burden of it, Mike.

But I think the feathery guy at your window hooted in order to remind you you won't go through this ordeal alone :)

Unknown said...

I also had a dream this morning involving a grizzly bear, what are the odds?

Mike Clelland! said...

Merlyn's Apprentice:

Please - Send me the image via email

hiddenexperience [the @ symbol] me [dot] com

Mark B said...

Hi Mike

While the dream is clearly yours, it almost seems to have a Robert Moss/shamanic theme to it. If it were my dream, I would consider the bear to be some sort of energy that is pursuing you. The big dreams are looking for people to have them. You weren’t concerned at first when it was on someone else’s property but retreated when it came closer to yours.
As Robert Moss also says (and he might be an interesting person to interview), “The role of the animal messenger in the dreams of modern city-dwellers is often to recall us to our wild side, and the natural path of our energy.” As you noted, in the dream you are in a “bland” suburban setting in “your” house (when in reality you live in a cabin in the woods). So, in what part of your life are you still symbolically living in suburbia? The garage is a place where people keep their spiritual travel vehicles. The bear is coming toward you through the garage and not through the front door. You also note that there are multiple doors that are slightly open but as the bear approaches each of them, you slam them shut. But the doors don’t fit, they aren’t keeping you from seeing the bear.
Is the bear calling you to your wild side? As others have noted, each time the bear keeps getting closer to getting into your house. Each door is flimsier than the last. Are you getting closer to your bear energy? What would happen if the bear got in? What changes would embracing the other do to your self-identity? I know you have touched on shamanism but what is your relationship to it now?

Red Pill Junkie said...

Excellent input, Mark B. ;)

Mark B said...

Thanks Red Pill Junkie

Of course, a few minutes later I go to the Chive Website and there is a video of a bear breaking into a person's house.

The caption is "The man reacts a lot better than I would’ve. This is the stuff of nightmares."

http://thechive.com/2014/05/15/bear-breaks-into-guys-house-and-my-palms-are-still-sweating-video/

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about Robert Moss too when I was reading the post.
If it were my dream I would ask myself what the bear made me feel. You express the anxiety and frantic feeling of trying to lock yourself away from the bear in your serene suburban home.. Do you feel like the bear will consume you or is the bear bringing an increased sense of things falling apart as the doors increasingly fall apart. Add in the OWl saving the day and maybe the owl and your current waking interest and energy into owls is keeping you from falling apart. It keeps the bear at bay! I can see that. But I will say again that that is how I would think of it if it were my dream because I may have just put all my stuff into your dream.

AND Robert Moss would be an awesome guest and you would be a really great person to interview him because you are so capable of asking some deep stuff. You can really get into the bear thing with him :) I would love to hear it.

thanks for sharing Mike. so interesting
Melissa

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike,
I have been a shamanic practitioner for some years, believe that no one can really tell us the meaning of our dreams, but offer these reactions and thoughts about what your experience means for me. Bear is a Guardian and totem energy of the West, a power animal that guides, protects, teaches the inner path; can help me find the path to inner secrets and knowing with strength and confident footing. You have been calling for a Vision, seeking information and knowledge. Now Bear has responded to your call, although you are still fearful at some levels about what you may experience. Bear is determined to get through to you. Owl was also there for you, in both non-ordinary and ordinary reality, helping you to wake up, You were afraid of the experience you anticipated with Bear, but Owl showed you that you could wake up, be safe, and be amazed.
Love your site and the work you are doing~
M.

Mark B said...

Mike

As a third synchronicity, I went to read another chapter in Robert Moss's latest book. Chapter 14 is titled "Making a Bear." He talks about making a bear his ally (and how the bear found him.) He also relates a story about how a spiritual "intruder" came to visit his house and how he used his bear ally to remove it.

Derek said...

Hi Mike,

I too have had recent dreams where a bear is pursuing me. In one dream, it caught me and was chewing on my head - I could hear it's teeth on my skull. My girlfriend woke me as I was shouting in my sleep.
In the more recent dream, a bear was just closing in on my when my girlfriend woke me because I was again shouting in my sleep. We chuckled about me shouting after I was fully awake and calmed down but I can assure you that I was extremely stressed and fearful during these dreams.
Peace,
Derek

Ken said...

In the framework of someone working on recall of repressed/locked up memories the bear might have something to do with waking up from hibernation. It's like the 'real' person -- who is identified largely by the totality of their memories -- needs to deal with their 'bear waking up' scenario. A lot of people are coming out of hibernation now and the process is just about as scary as confronting a bear in one's 'garage' i.e. the mind. Anyhow, that's just a thought . . .

Red Pill Junkie said...

Oooooh... 'hibernation'! Nice :)

Nick Redfern said...

Mike:

This may interest you: an article I recently wrote on an old "ghost light"-type story that includes a comment about will o'the wisp type lights being due to a white owl:

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/05/ufos-and-the-military-1915-pt-2/

Mike Clelland! said...

Nick,


I have found a hand full of times when the folks critical of truly "unknown" will use an owl to dismiss the claims of witnesses.

The Mothman sightings as reported by Keel were scoffed as an owl, as was the Flatwoods Monster.

And now this one.

So, even when trying to deny UFOs the owl still shows up!

Lucretia Heart said...

I've had some pretty powerful dreams of a female grizzly bear coming after me. They started off with me always running and trying to get away.

Then one day in my dream I stopped running and saw that bear from another perspective:

http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/570189.html

Eventually, I had more dreams with "Angel the bear" and realized it was a about a truth I feared overwhelming me. When I allowed it into my life, however, I was healed and reassured. Don't know if anything like that applies to your dream, but I thought I'd toss it over for you to think about! =^)

Mike Clelland! said...

Lucretia,

I spoke to a UFO abductee and he said he had a dream with a bear. They were sitting together on a log in a forest, and the bear was sitting upright, like a human. My friend asked:

"You aren't really a bear, I can tell. But what are you?"

He replied: "I am an angel."

This from a UFO abductee.

Lucretia Heart said...

The "bear as angel" thing is WILD. Talk about something people don't usually pair together! Wow.