Chasing Shambala

There is nothing more magical, yet more common, in each of our lives than the place we go to in our dreams. We spend up to a third of our lives in this mysterious place out of time and space, but most of us are asleep to its value in our waking lives. Just as the "real" world we awaken to is still there following our dreams, the dream world continues with us in our waking hours, awaiting our attention. People of great creative vision - prophets, seers, mystics, and psychics, as well as artists, musicians, and inventors, have always found a way to harmonize the awakened mind with the deeper realm found in dreams. With practice and attention such individuals learn to tune into the world beyond everyday experience and use it as a resource by paying attention to intuition, a lucky guess, or a hunch to make great discoveries or produce wonderful masterpieces.

We each enter a dream landscape that could be used as a valuable resource if we can learn to cultivate the ability to enter sacred space and become more attuned within the dream world. Mystics chant and pray, breathe deeply and meditate; prophets practice meditation and fast during introspective isolation; seers stare into flames or dance themselves into trances; psychics stare into crystal balls or employ the use of tools such as Tarot cards or runes or I Ching to help them open the neutral space beyond time and space.

The visual imagery of tools like card and runes is believed to activate certain energies with the power to unify the conscious mind with the subconscious or dream state. Quantum physics proposes that our world is holographic in nature. Everything around us is a reflection of ourselves, and we a reflection of all that surrounds us. The 78 figures of the Tarot deck act as reflective visual guides that can assist us any time we face a question that requires amplification and clarification. Like dreams, the Tarot holds the power to help us focus on our potential, transcending all language and culture. Striking similarities of theme and myth run threadlike through the Tarot, runes and I Ching. If we can sensitize ourselves to their symbolic, visionary art, then we can enter a vast reservoir where potential feelings, ideas, and experiences reside, waiting to be awakened.

The images and meanings of these tools radiate life and love, and can help overcome unconscious fears, allowing one to explore unknown aspects of the self. Each hidden face of one's own personality is a teacher to help make poetry out of chaos. One need only to quiet the mind that thinks, listen to the part that knows, breathe deeply and focus just as deeply on the matter of concern. When dream consciousness is blended with that of the waking mind, a state of enchantment results and the lines of communication with the Higher Self clear and open. By observing any personal reaction to the messages and feelings that are offered one gains a better understanding of who one really is at that particular moment and what it is that may be blocking progress; also what action will give strength and what will offer release. We need only to return to that place which we never really leave, where we can examine the folds of our past and what potentialities the future may unfold - the land of our dreams.