Hero’s Dream Journey Stage 6: Belly of the Whale

Now that you’ve crossed the threshold, from a nighttime dream perspective, this is when you close your eyes to the waking world, and open your inner eyes to the topsy-turvy, Alice In Wonderland-esque terrain of your dreams (or more accurately, Jonas and the Whale-esque ocean). In some way, the Belly of the Whale represents every human’s greatest fear: being isolated, out of control, and overpowered. To most people this “dark night of the soul” is feared as a fate worse than death. The irony is, however, once you relax into it, it’s not so bad. In fact, in the dark of the belly is where the peace that passes human understanding can be found. In the belly of the whale you might actually hear the voice of your own inner wisdom, and in fact, it’s in the belly of the whale where the hero’s initiation takes place.

On another level, the belly of the whale can be seen as the sleep that swallows us whole every night. Just as little kids, scream, and throw tantrums in their resistance to bedtime, once they become enveloped by the whale, they “sleep like babies.”

Perhaps you’ve experienced a dream of isolation, rejection, or of being engulfed. Dreams of water, the ocean, or an actual whale, dolphin, or other sea creature relate to this stage of the Hero’s Dream Journey. I find that people either report feeling extreme joy or extreme panic with a dream that takes place in the ocean or that features a whale. I believe these dreams, in some way, represent our relationship with the deep feminine aspect of ourselves, our relationship with our mother, our intuition/psychic abilities, our relationship with our soul, and/or the mystery of life. In time, with more dream mastery under your belt, this phase will become quite blissful—even empowering—for you are on a journey to become familiar with the largess of the magnificent being that is you.

Contemplate the following questions:

• Can you see the benefit of being in the belly?
• Have you ever experienced a dark night of the soul?
• If so, what benefits did you derive from the experience?
• What is your relationship to whales…to the ocean…to your soul…to the mystery of life?
• What is your relationship with your whale-esque power?

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In this episode of weekly radio show, The D-Spot (Mondays at 11am PST on www.AwakeningZone.com), I discuss Stage 6 of the Hero’s Dream Journey (Belly of the Whale) in more depth: http://www.kellysullivanwalden.com/kelly-sullivan13.html

Stay tuned for next week where we explore The Hero’s Dream Journey Stage Seven:“Tests, Allies, & Enemies”…

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Kelly Sullivan Walden (a.k.a. Doctor Dream) is a certified clinical hypnotherapist, founder of Dream-Life Coach Training, and author of seven books, most notably the Amazon.com #1 bestselling, I Had the Strangest Dream and Discover Your Inner Goddess Queen. A sought afterinspirational speaker, Kelly has spoken, by invitation, at the United Nations. Kelly hosts “The D-Spot” weekly radio show where she explores Dreams, Desires, and Destiny. Kelly has appeared on over 1,000 media outlets including the Ricki Lake Show, and you can see her regularly as FOX news’ Dream Expert. As the past President of Women’s National
Book Association (LA Chapter), Kelly has served as a United Nations NGO representative, which inspired her to create The Dream Project— an educational program that empowers young people to dream to solutions to world issues. Receive free dream gifts from Kelly by going to: www.KellySullivanWalden.com.

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This blog has been excerpted from It’s All In Your Dreams…5 Portals to an Awakened Life (Red Wheel-Weiser, Spring 2013).