Brainy Vapours

We're very poor and have an extremely strict budget to live on. While on our way to a food shop I notice a jewelry shop. I can't help but drool over some of the trinkets while my (ex) man waits outside. I come out, very depressed, knowing we can never afford anything in there, especially not the necklaces I love so much. I tell my man so and he drops everything, practically running into the store. I can hear him asking about second hand jewelry.

A friend that I suddenly notice with me asks me if I'm happy. I smile and say that although I think it's a nice gesture of him to do this for me, I do wish he'd have done it later while I was not here. I explain that I know he will buy something, and just come out and hand it to me, rather than saving it to give to me on Mother's Day, for example, which is in a few days. As I predict, he does just as I said he would. I ask him to take it back and give it to me on Mother's Day.

Suddenly we're mugged by a very tall man who doesn't even bother to hide his face. A fight breaks out, and its actually me that's kicking his ass while my man watches from the sidelines. I am so angry, telling the thief that his is so low for stealing from people who can't even afford to buy food. There is going to be a court case and I'm very emotional.

Dream skip and I'm at a garbage can outside that same jewelry store, sorting through what I find in there, looking for something of value. I'm shocked at my luck that I actually find something - a fairly expensive set that someone has taken a few pieces off and thrown the rest away. It looks as though they took only a few pairs of ear rings and tossed the rest, which includes some bangles and a ring. It's not really my style, all in kind of a floral print, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. I notice a price tag that reads $124.99. I also find some ornate elephants that are covered in dirt which I wipe carefully away.

Me and this random guy are looking for our estranged fathers. We're in some retreat kind of place for people who are looking for lost family members. In our research we discover that we actually have the same father and are in fact brother and sister. We plan to track down our father together and tell him who we are.

We do find a man whom we know to be the one we've been searching for, we succeed in getting him to come to the retreat often, and we get to know him well. He looks a bit ZZ Top-ish, with a long white beards and glasses that always hide his eyes. I get the impression he's a trucker or something, and his accent is American, which is odd to me.

My brother is supposed to be around a lot more than he is, but he's gotten involved with some sort of television reality show like Pop Idol or something. Because of this, he is always busy and never around to help me with the plan anymore. I decide that I am tired of waiting around for my brother, I will tell our father who we are on my own. I decide to construct an art project and give it to the man as a gift, but the twist is that the art will be of an obvious sort that will send the message that the receiver is, in fact, my father. I create the piece and it ends up incredibly random (has a hockey stick in it?!?) but dream logic tells me that he will know what it means.

I present the artwork to my father and his reaction is not at all positive. He is defensive, confused, angry, and yet he does know what it means. I tell him about my brother, his son, as well. It does not go over well.

I do actually have an estranged father, but he is actually British and not American. Interesting what my subconscious came up with as my father figure. ZZ Top? Lol!

I am in some sort of camp cabin type house, on some endowment kind of lands. I get the feeling it’s a college or university, and it’s definitely in Canada. There are a lot of trees. It’s night time, and with me are a gathering of about 4 other people. We’re discussing religion, a certain type of Wicca/Pagan belief that involves a deity that appears masked and shrouded in many layers of draped cloth. She is said to come to certain devotees late in the night. After discussing this for a little while, we move on to talking about prophets. As the others are talking about some random prophet, “THE Prophet” comes to me. The others don’t seem to notice, they kind of fade into the scene, still there, but not as noticeable. The Prophet is a man, dressed in draped cloth, smiling down at me in an absolutely radiant way. The feeling that he exudes is pure love and joy. He reaches out and takes my hands, holds them gently, Even though there is a sense that he has no hands. He tells me how happy he is to have me join them. This moment seems to stretch out for a time, then it fades and the scene with the others comes back into focus. I tell them about my experience and they are all in awe. The meeting ends and we all leave. I hope that someone will walk home with me, as it’s dark and I don’t feel safe, but they all scatter in different directions before I can ask anyone.

Flash forward a bit into the future to a completely different climate, one that is warm and somewhat tropical in feeling. There are huts scattered around the landscape. They look like a futuristic version of a teepee. Someone has left the daily food ration outside the hut in a special hammock kind of thing. I go to collect it. They are gourds, and I am familiar enough with them to know that they are spiced and very tasty. I notice a woman slips by the hammock and steals some of the gourds, then hurries away. This upsets me, but I know there is nothing I can do about it, so I take the rest into the hut.

There are seating places on the floor of the hut where the residents can sit around in a circle facing each other. In my place there is a gift box, very organic looking. I pick it up and unwrap it very carefully, taking my time and enjoying the process. I can’t remember all of the items that were in there, but there was a roll of cloth with detailed instructions on how and why to wear it. It said something like “Drape this cloth over your body to cover as much flesh as you can, as your body is precious, and should be protected”. There were also a few ornate ear rings and some semi precious stones.

We’re eating the spiced gourds now, and suddenly we’re interrupted by a visit from the prophet and his “Speaker”. The Speaker is draped in so many layers (including all around the face) that it’s very difficult to tell if it’s a male or a female. S/he begins to speak and I look at her/him as s/he does. I am scolded and told to look either at the Prophet, or at the ground. We are instructed in quite a few things which I don’t remember, but I do remember something to the effect of being told we should not eat meat for some critical reason. We are allowed to eat grains (such as rice) and vegetables like the gourds we are eating now.
I realize that all the others in the hut with me are also new to this way of life, and the dream ends.