This morning as I drifted back to sleep, I had a powerful dream. I was in a room with a large pool and leaders from the Center for Spiritual Living. I was dressed in very formal wear and one of the leaders hinted in a sarcastic way about my attire. I stood there and out of the pool came a Bengal Tiger. Now, when I even see a picture of a tiger, a chill runs down my spine. I am terrified of them, even though I have only seen them behind the bars at the zoo.

In my dream, everyone had left the room. I was left alone with the tiger who was swimming around the pool and then got out of the water. In my terror, I just laid down on the ground and became very still. The tiger approached me and straddled me. It put its forehead against mine. I lay frozen. I communicated with it with telepathy.  I knew I could not fool it and tell it I was not afraid. Instead I communicated that, yes, I was afraid of it, but that I would do my best to get over my fear. Would it give me that chance?  The tiger left me, and jumped back into the pool. I got up slowly to leave the room. One door was locked and the other was barricaded shut. I removed the barricade and left. I promptly woke up.

As I have thought about this dream, I realized its message for me. Tigers represent power and passion and some say sensuality. I fear tigers and perhaps that is a good thing. They are said to eat humans. However, do I fear Power? Am I living passionately or do I hold back? What about sensuality? I relate sensuality to being my true self. It doesn’t have anything to do with sex necessarily, but it is about feeling and experiencing all of the delicious in life. Perhaps there is more to embrace. Perhaps, it is about walking through my fears. The leaders of CSL can seem powerful for me. Perhaps, I am being urged to step into my own power in a bigger way beyond the opinion of others.

I have felt a tug lately to express more. I have felt that I need to open up more. Perhaps the tiger came to tell me that it is okay to be afraid. We can work with fear, if we allow it to be our companion and teacher instead of our enemy and master. The tiger in me was willing to accept my fear and allow me the time to work with it and walk with it.

We do not have to push away the things we fear. Sometimes, I think that we think that this is how we become brave – by not being afraid. The opposite of fear is Faith. Walking through our fears with the Faith is a real opening. Jumping into the unknown with the trepidation isn’t weak, it is strength. It removes the barricade to the life that is waiting for us, the one we’ve already planned, but have yet to live. I have a lot to ponder today, Monday on my day off.

I give gratitude for the Tiger and its message.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita