I dreamt that I was a phoenix made of stone, an architectural feature on top of a hospital that was four storeys high and felt higher.

I was conscious that there was great injustice in the land. The final straw was an incident in which a little boy could not obtain treatment. I knew then that I had to come down to save society.

There was a huge storm of lightning but no thunder, some rain and huge gusts of wind. Activated by the lightning I descended as a living golden phoenix and I knew everything was going to be all right. I could feel my chest expanding and my wings beating as I came down to earth.

I could still feel this sensation for a few minutes after I woke up.

EDITOR'S NOTE

So... Fiona transforms into a magical bird in order to... restore universal health care!? What is this?

Simple: it's a shamanic dream--from a dreamer in a society that's lost its shamanic tradition. Despite shamanism's New Age, psychedelic reputation in technocracies, health care and revising tribal policies are the main jobs of a shaman.

I don't think it's chance that the dream opens with Fiona as made of stone--a purely symbolic "guardian" of an institution--and ends with her as a living defender of healthcare rights for people.

--Chris Wayan

SOURCE: The Tiger Garden: A Book of Writers' Dreams by Nicholas Royle, 1996, p.195. I added title & sketch.

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