Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Lent Day 25: Dreaming (edited)


The other night I dreamed I was in a seminary classroom, except I was lying down in bed. At a certain point I realized that everyone else was sitting up. I suppose this registered with me somewhere in my consciousness as "Oh, this is going to be one of those dreams," meaning, the ones where we are utterly unprepared in a school setting, or making a speech. But the dream took another turn.

The professor handed me an icon of Christ, Pantocrator. I had heard the word, obviously, but feeling a little like Bernadette Soubirous upon hearing of the Immaculate Conception, I was clear that I had no idea what it really meant. That word stayed with me the rest of the dream... Pantocrator, Pantocrator. I looked at the icon, and it was, roughly, the icon you see at the right.

When I awoke I looked the word up. It is a Greek word, translated in the New Testament as "almighty," and used in the Septuagint to translate "El Shaddai," though without the same groovy "breasted God" undertones. It is unusual in that it refers to Christ, not to God the Father/ Creator.

In my dream I then handed the professor an icon of Christ Sophia... so I think a feminine divine image was stirring under all this in my head/ heart. This is the image I handed him. Now, obviously, this is a "madonna nursing" image. But in my dream, it was the Christ, the Wisdom of God.

I woke from the dream calmed and reassured.

3 comments:

Dr. Laura Marie Grimes said...

Oh, too cool, C.

Anonymous said...

nice dream. which professor? and what does it all mean?

peacester

Cecilia said...

It was a Platonic form of a "traditional" seminary professor-- middle aged, white, male. Not someone I recognized.

What does it mean? I'm going for the connection with El Shaddai, Breasted God, feminine wisdom... in other words, it/ She is with me.

It was lovely.