Mining the Jewels and Ore of the Earth, Nature and Her Cycles

Ariadne's Book of Dreams : A Dictionary of Ancient and Contemporary Symbols
by Ariadne Green

(Page 7 of 8)

Mining the Jewels and Ore of the Earth

Minerals, the jewels and treasures of the earth, are excavated from deep within the Lower World to offer up their radiant qualities and to help us glimpse the spiritual light within. Dreamers have reported being presented with a special crystal, such as an amethyst, in a dream by some wise woman or sage. Such a gift of power may awaken intuition and spiritual vision. More commonly, dreamers may find themselves wearing a special piece of jewelry containing a gem that may signify a special quality: Diamonds reflect radiant clarity, and pearls represent wisdom and enlightenment. Each brings a definition to an aspect of the soul. As a synchronistic gift, a dreamer may later acquire such a crystal or piece of jewelry in his or her waking life in order to work with its power more consciously.

The ore of the earth, when refined into precious metals, has meaning as different aspects of the soul. Silver as feminine and gold as masculine, together, bring balance. Raw metals such as iron may denote strength of character.

The process of alchemy, which turns base metals into gold, represents the refinement of the soul into its purified and untarnished state of wholeness. Ancient alchemy symbols may also appear in dreams to further our understanding of ourselves.

Nature and Her Cycles

If a garden serves as the dream environment, the varieties of plants, trees, and flowers offer messages to the dreamer. Each flower or plant offers a unique quality that reflects natural characters within the individual. Therefore, a rose may represent qualities of feminine beauty and a daisy may reflect a ray of sunshine into one's heart.

A beautiful dream told to me by a seventeen-year-old revealed the protective quality that nature bestows. In the dream, she sat beneath a sacred tree whose branches were expansive. For a time her family was there with her, but then they turned away, leaving her beneath the tree. When she journeyed away from the tree and down a path, the tree's branches reached out and continued to shelter her for quite a distance. In this dream, the tree is the tree of life, and its branches of wisdom offer protection while she embarks on an important rite of passage. It signifies her innate connection to nature's wisdom. The path leads her to mystical knowledge.

Seasonal changes may be announced to the dreamer attuned to the cycles of nature. A dream of a fox in a snow-blanketed forest may forecast more accurately the arrival of winter than the day marked on a calendar. Seasons in dreams may also represent the seasons of life. With each season of life, we are asked to embrace the milestones and the wisdom that come with each age. Spring calls us to embrace innocence, summer the magical, fall the mystical, and winter our wisdom.

In cultures where the seasons were celebrated by festivals and ceremonies marking the solar cycles such as the solstices and equinoxes, connections were made directly to the cycles of feminine fertility. In modern culture, we seem to celebrate the seasons with sports activities: soccer in spring, baseball in summer, football in fall, and hockey in winter. The male consciousness, with its preoccupation with competitive sports, may reflect a spiritual need as well. These games offer empowerment, much like the contests of any other warrior society that tested the strength of the masculine will.

Copyright © 2001 Ariadne Green and Skylight Press

About the Author

In Ariadne's Book of Dreams she brings meaning to the everyday symbols which we often witness without understanding. She is authoring a complementary book to the first, which will teach the reader how to view life as a dream more directly through practice. She views dream work and shamanism as the clearest and most direct way of tapping into the wealth of wisdom and healing potential within the subconscious. She holds the vision of transforming culture through dream work and shamanism.