Lynx Dreams
May 23rd, 2008
Since reading Steering by Starlight, I've been paying a little bit more attention to my dreams. Martha Beck describes an interesting way of interpreting dreams in the book that changed the way I looked at the things that show up in my dreams. Beck suggests looking at every symbol, place, and person in your dream, ask them what they're there to do, what they represent, and then answer as that person, symbol, etc...So, for example, if you dreamt about an alligator, then you'd ask the alligator what it was there for and what it's there to teach you. And then you might answer something like, "I'm an alligator, I live in the swamps. I'm here to help you come out of hiding, to be in the sun." Or something like that. I don't think I'm all that good at determining what symbols mean, what they represent in my life, but seeing each symbol as something that is trying to help or guide me in some way, has shifted the way I look at all those crazy night visions that I have every night.
So anyways, last night, I dreamt about a lynx. It was a very vivid dream. I didn't write it down in the morning like Beck recommends, but I kept thinking about it during the day. I remembered that in the dream the hubster and I had bought a baby lynx, but it was growing big fast and had huge claws and one big sharp tooth. It looked a bit like my orange cat, Tabbers, but much bigger. I was worried that the lynx was going to hurt us or our cats and felt that we had to bring him back to the shelter. I felt so guilty and sad about wanting to return him, but I also felt it was necessary. During the day today, I remembered that I'd called the big cat something that started with an "L". In the evening, I remembered that I called it a lynx, but I wasn't 100% sure that was an actual animal name, never mind whether or not it was a big cat.
So, after watching a disappointing Celtics game, I googled "lynx" and saw the cat from my dreams. Very weird. But the thing that totally blew my mind was reading that the goddess Freya (who I've painted and experienced much synchronicity around) was said to have ridden on a lynx. Now, I'd read that Freya was sometimes depicted with cats, but I'd never read about the cat being a lynx. Goose bumps!
Further reading showed that the lynx is supposed to help with psychic abilities and divination and are believed to be the keeper and knower of secrets. The lynx is associated with inspiration, revelation, and mysticism. Actually, the more I read, the stranger it got. Actually, this was kind of cool, there was a group created in the early 17th century called the l'Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of Lynxes) that was dedicated to scientific investigation and the search for truth through observation. They chose the Lynx as part of their Academy's name because the lynx was known to have penetrating vision. The 6th member of this group was none other than Galileo. I found this particularly interesting considering my post this week about how I consider myself a scientific and spiritual person, which is somewhat similar to the associations the lynx has with skeptical, scientific viewpoint and also mysticism.
So, what does my dream mean? Not sure. After answering the questions as the lynx, I believe the dream has something to do with taking risks. But I may do some more writing and see what else comes up.
(Images from National Geographic and answers.com)
p.s. Like the new look? I may tweak it a little bit, but for now, I'm liking it. I'd like to change up the banner a little more frequently. I used to change my blog banner with each season change, so perhaps I'll go back to that.
16 Responses
The new look is brilliant – light bringer.
Posted by: Caroline | May 23, 2008 at 7:14 am |
Hi there! I just came across your blog in the ring surf and loved reading your dream interpretation stuff. That is so interesting! I had a vivid dream earlier in the week and tried doing research online to figure it all out. I have decided to just believe it was encouragement to remain on a creative path. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences…we’re all in this together!
Posted by: Lisa C | May 23, 2008 at 7:17 am |
Hi Leah,
Love the new banner ! Shining the light on things, looking for understanding… beautiful!
Have you ever used Medicine Cards ? They are cards (kind of like Tarot Cards)portraying North American animals, and linked to Native American Indian animal legends or “medicine”. They come with an interpretation book that gives you the “message” that the animal medicine in sending you. Kind of like a horoscope of sorts. I have used them periodically and love the earthy messages they bring. (Not very scientific, but very spiritual !)
I looked up Lynx medicine in my book this morning after reading your post. So cool that you would have a vivid dream about that beautiful animal.
If you check out the book on Amazon, you can look up “Lynx” medicine and read the message for this animal in an excerpt from the book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0312204914/ref=sib_dp_pt#
Thanks for your recommendation of Martha Beck’s book. It sounds like a tool I could use right now myself.
Take care,
Kim
Posted by: Kimbo | May 23, 2008 at 9:02 am |
The new banner is great – and so appropriate for your spiritual questing.
Maybe the Lynx has shown up because it is your spiritual guide. The First Nations peoples believed that spiritual guides would made themselves know to a person through the image of a particular animal, and that animal had things to say that the individual prticularly needed to know in this life. Seeing a particular animal in a vivid dream is one way of meeting your totem. Ted Andrews wrote the definitive book on animal totems and how to find and work with them.
Posted by: Susan | May 23, 2008 at 12:22 pm |
all of this psychic/synchronistic information in your dreams reminds me how much on subconscious mind really knows! and your banner..lightbringer (reminds me of the hermit card in tarot) also reminds me of your dream
have you ever heard of billy jonas? he is a musician. http://www.billyjonas.com
check out these lyrics to lighting of the lamps:
http://www.billyjonas.com/index.php?page=songs&display=46&category=Life_So_Far_-oparen-for_adult-slash-general_audiences-cparen-
bright blessings,
sue
Posted by: Sue O'Kieffe | May 23, 2008 at 12:40 pm |
oooh. dream expansion: write a question with your dominant hand; answer with your non-dominant. You can do it in pictures. I do it on the computer. Just ask and then type whatever flits through your brain. Amazing stuff, dream expansions. Can’t wait to get that book (it’s ordered, here today or tomorrow I’m guessing).
I’d say I miss the subway banner, but, ahem, I have it right here to look at anytime I want. So, tutorial on banners? oh guru of how I get around typepad. =]
xo
Posted by: Tammy Vitale | May 23, 2008 at 1:28 pm |
Talk about synchronicity. I just read about the goddess Freya right before reading your blog.
amanda
Posted by: amanda | May 23, 2008 at 4:12 pm |
Great post! I’m big into dream interpretation so I’ve noted the book down. I also have the Medicine Cards book by Jamie Sams and David Carson and it says the Lynx is the Knower of Secrets. It says to be still and pay heed to any signs you receive. You could receive information in the form of omens, mental pictures, or a high, singing voice in your ear. VERY interesting stuff, huh?
Posted by: Serena | May 27, 2008 at 12:00 am |
hello, leah.
i was so pleased to find your blog. i just woke up from a very powerful lynx dream. in it, the lynx was prancing…so intelligent and almost playful but could also be dangerous. i didn’t know about freya but now plan to do more research…to follow the rest of the synchronicity.
speaking of synchronicities, i’ve been reading everything i can on the subject and now wonder if you’ve read jung’s treatise on the subject? http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Connecting-Principle-C-Jung/dp/0691017948/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214795378&sr=8-4
thank you for your beautiful art…feels familiar to me somehow. maybe lynx led me here for a message?
kelly
Posted by: Kelly | Jun 29, 2008 at 11:11 pm |
this is so incredible and i just had to tack this comment onto my previous one! after i left my message, i began to browse your art for a synchronicity…there it was…your risk triptych.
before i dreamt my lynx dream, i dreamt i was jumping into a hole (a little like alice, i suppose), and i was a little afraid. trying to catch up with someone but afraid i wouldn’t. i asked for help and he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto a boat. it was a sailboat and our mission was to “catch dreams.” at one point, i had an aerial viewpoint of a small sailboat on a great ocean. your triptych looked very similar to my image…goosebumps!
have you read any work by robert moss? i’d recommend his “unconscious dreams”!!!
Posted by: kelly | Jun 29, 2008 at 11:23 pm |
oh, one last thing…lynx represents taking risks! i find that fascinating.
Posted by: kelly | Jun 29, 2008 at 11:28 pm |
Hey!
What a wonderful moment of resonance that must have been for you.
Lynxes are a big symbol for me. I just came across this blog when looking for pictures of them to reference for a story I am writing. They have always been my favorite large cat, ever since I heard about them when I was little and my mum read “The Duke of Sycamore” to me (haha) and I learned what they were. Anyway, in my creative writing, anything I end up trying to make work in the long term I end up throwing a sentient lynx into. And the lynx, this particular one that’s always there, lives in closets and travels between them so that he can emerge from any one, anywhere in the world. The story I’m writing has to do with dreams and where we go in them and where that takes us in waking life. In this case, the lynx has become an even more prevalent character for me, as the guide for the main character.
Anyway, it was very cool to learn that about their association with Freya. I didn’t know that either.
Posted by: Karma | Nov 26, 2008 at 5:00 pm |
Wow! I’ve had a dream about a Lynx too! It MAY be your spirit guide, if you touched it in your dream, it bit you or you just felt very happy then they are signs it could be your spirit guide. Also, I WOULD write the dreams down if I were you, or note down on a calender how often they happen, you may find they happen on one certain day or week. I have spiritual dreams every six days, on a sunday or a monday night, it can say a lot about you.
Posted by: Chakra | Mar 27, 2009 at 1:19 pm |
I had a dream about a bear and a lynx; however after reading comments on the matter, it gave me a scare since I was choking the poor lynx thinking it was the bear! I was trying to save my timid dog from the bear when the lynx appeared at the window. The lynx was as surprised as I was! I shook her & let her go, still trying to gather my dog from the non-threatening bear. Confused about the meaning…am I choking my guide due to fear?
Posted by: Bek | Apr 25, 2009 at 7:13 am |
this is my second dream about a lynx the first dream i was at dead grandmas house when i noticed there were several lynx in and around my car. i had nver seen this type of cat before so i looked it up on the internet and found a name to go with the cat . i still have alot of questions about my dream.
Posted by: bridget mac | Oct 12, 2009 at 11:26 pm |
Last night during the moon eclipse I had a vivid dream.
I saw a Lynx..he was standing un a pothole of mud
He was sad and looked at me
I knew he needed help and I called him without words.
He came un full trust..I knew he was Hungry and have him a bit of food.
Afterwards he came very close …his eyes closely gazing into mine and while doing so he softly put his paws on both my cheeks
It was a soul to soul experience..it was beautiful
Posted by: Joan | Nov 19, 2021 at 1:14 pm |