Duty, destiny, and my friends

[one3rd]

Before I get into the dream, here's a little bit about me. I'm a Marine in my mid-twenties. I finished college before joinging the military. I'm a Shinto Buddhist, rasied Catholic in an predominately Irish family. We're blue-collar, Chicago folk. I hope this is enough background. Here's the dream. It's a long one. I dreamt that I was riding in the bed of truck that stopped at a farm house in what looked like rural Illinois. I jumped out of the bed, and a guy I don't know in real life got out of the driver side. He had a handle bar moustache and messy hat coming out from under a trucker hat. An Asian woman gets out with him. I notice that her hands are tied and he's holding an end of the rope like a leash. I ask him what's the deal with the rope. He tells me to mind my own business. I feel suspicious but I keep going along. We get inside the farm house, and takes the Asian woman to another room. I don't see her again in the dream. I wander around the upstairs of the house. It's old, and run-down. One room has a sliding Japanese style door. I open it, and on the other side is a Japanese style room with a balcony and a garden. In this room are three women from my unit. They're all close friends of mine in real life. I tell them that they need to get out of here. The don't believe me that they're in danger. I get a feeling like I should leave right away, but my friends won't come with. I give up on them, and sneak out of the house. As I go, I see the man with the trucker hat with more rope. I get to the street and run away. On the country road I see a guy from my unit. I tell him I need to run away from here fast. He says he shouldn't get involved. If I run and he helps, bad things will happen. I beg him to help, and he agrees to get my back to town. In town, I end up in a shop where a psychic woman agree to hide me, but she insists on giving me a tarot reading. She lays down one card with a picture of a lamb and a sword on it. She says I'm very special to get that card, and asks if I remember the lamb from church. I say what I remember, "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the earth. Have mercy on us." When I say that, she smiles and says, "I knew it was you." Suddenly I see clouds behind her rolling in fast. I think of Tir, Norse god of the air. He's the spiritual warrior god. I say that I'm not ready for this. She insists that I am. Then an old man with a white beard comes up to me. He says there are things I have to do, and I should be afraid of what other people think because what I must do is right. I refuse. Then the guy that helped me escape comes in, but he looks like he had the hell beat out of him. I ask him what happened. He says he was punished for helping me run, and that the women are in trouble. I feel like a coward, and like I should have stayed and fought. I turn back to the old man, and tell him I'm ready. He hands me a 1911 .45 pistol (my favorite pistol in real life), and tells me that he's going to make me a warrior. When I take the pistol from him, I know that it's my duty to go protect those women even if it means killing someone. I feel ready. And that's where I woke up.

[altarfire]

This is a complex dream, as you know, so I'll need to take some time to break it down into its elements to understand it better. I'll do my best to get back to you in a day or two (getting ready for my son's graduation party, so kinda frantic busy right now, but I really want to respond to you.) Thanks for your confidence and for your patience! May your dreams be sweet!