In my dreams last night, a golden eagle flew overhead swooping down around me and eventually landed on my arm, its large talons wrapped securely around my forearm. In waking life, I likely would have shrieked and attempted to ward off a large bird with razor sharp talons diving from the sky towards me, but in my dream, I calmly held out my arm as a perch for this majestic bird.
We beheld each other, our gazes locked and unblinking and I felt myself absorbing the strength of this mighty bird. The golden eyes observed me from the side of its head. The entire being of this golden bird with shades of brown I had not known existed that showed up in the layers of feathers, this being emitted pure presence and embodied intelligence. There was a moment where I experienced no separation between the eagle and myself. The energy of the exchange of our respective gazes forged this magical union.
A friend that happened to be with me in my dream thought the bird was ill because it wanted to be near me. The bird allowed us to look into its beak and check its pulse (I know, dream life is weird).
I felt it was a happy accident this amazing species of bird landed on my arm and several times I raised my arm up as it grew heavy and felt perhaps the bird needed flight. The talons, sharp and scaly, adjusted around my forearm and remained steadfast for awhile until, ruffling its feathers, with a piercing cry that landed in my heart as a longing, a cry that contained ecstasy and pain, pressed down to rise up soaring into the sky.
Waking up, hours later, I find the presence of the golden eagle from my dream still with me, a gift of strength and power within.
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Here in this threshold time between the end of 2022 and the emergence of 2023, I resist the urge to analyze this dream. Instead, I allow the mystery of this transmission of strength, freedom, liberation and resilience to land in my body and inform my waking life in this liminal space.
