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Dreaming in Mohawk 
Exploring the World of Sir William Johnson and the Iroquois through Dream
Archeology
When bestselling novelist Robert
Moss moved to a farm in the upper Hudson Valley in the 1980s, he started dreaming in a
language he did not know, which proved to be an archaic form of Mohawk. He also started
dreaming of his Colonial neighbors – of an ancient Iroquois arendiwanen, or “woman of power”, and
of Sir William Johnson, a colorful Anglo-Irishman with a rage for life whose influence
over the Iroquois, as King’s Superintendent of Indians and an adopted Mohawk
warchief, was a key factor in the British victory in the French and Indian War that opened
the road to the American Revolution.
Moss’ dreams spurred him on
parallel lines of research. He use his skills as a former professor of ancient history to
track dream leads through the colonial documents, confirming (for example) details of the
Battle of Lake George, of Johnson’s personal life, and of Iroquois shamanic practice
and beliefs about the soul. He consulted memory-keepers of the Iroquois today, who helped
him translate his dream vocabulary and told him that he might be in contact with some of
the “great ones who stay close to the Earth to watch over the people”. He
deepened the practice he calls dream archeology,
through which we can use the art of conscious dreaming to reenter the past and fathom the
deeper meaning of events and the deeper dramas of lives played out in other times.
After publishing a series of
gripping and closely researched novels centered on the life of Johnson and the family of
his Mohawk consort, known to history as Molly Brant, Robert Moss has now published Dreamways of the Iroquois (February 2005), which is
at once a personal odyssey, a tribute to the wisdom of the First Peoples of the Northeast,
a scholarly study of early Iroquoian shamanic practice, and an invitation to reclaim the
ancient dreamways as an act of “cultural soul retrieval.”
Dreaming Like an Egyptian
Dream
Travel, Soul Remembering and Transformation
In
the hieroglyphs of Egypt, a dream is both a place and
an awakening. The ancient
Egyptians developed an advanced practice of conscious dream travel. Trained dreamers
operated as seers, remote viewers and telepaths. They practiced shapeshifting, crossing
time and space in the dreambodies of birds and animals.
Through
dream travel, ancient Egypt’s “frequent flyers” explored the roads of the
afterlife and the multidimensional universe. It was understood that true initiation and
transformation takes place in a deeper reality accessible
through the dream journey beyond the body. The dream teachers of ancient Egypt knew that
the dream journey may take the traveler to the stars – specifically to Sirius, the
“moist land” believed by Egyptian initiates to be the source of higher
consciousness, the destination of advanced souls after death, and the home of higher
beings who take a close interest in Earth
matters.
In
this exciting and challenging weekend of dream travel, shared dreaming and soul
remembering, we will enter the Magic Library of the Egyptian dream-priests and embark on a
series of journeys into the deeper reality through Egyptian gates: the Falcon Gate of the
shapeshifters, the Uraeus Gate of the seers and psychonauts, the Anubis Gate to the
Otherworld, the Stargate to higher intelligence and celestial life. We’ll practice
Isis Rebirthing, rising from the coffin of our old lives, gathering and healing the
wounded parts of our selves, awakening our creative center under the shining wings of the
God/Goddess to deliver new life and beauty into our world.
The Underground Railroad of Dreams
Escaping slaves followed their dreams to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Harriet Tubman, who personally conducted 300 slaves to freedom, was guided by specific
dreams to safe houses, river crossings and other locales she had never previously visited.
Though often neglected, our night dreams run like an underground railroad through our
lives, offering paths that can lead us, as individuals and as communities, to creativity,
healing and mutual understanding. Dreaming, we rehearse our future challenges and
opportunities and receive roadmaps for our life journeys. When we share and celebrate our
dreams, we become storytellers and performers, and open ourselves to deeply rewarding
relationships with others.
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