The old skin

 

Some nights ago I had a “special” dream. Special dreams for me are not just a psychological expression of the inner state, but they also open up a new door, a possibility which up to the moment seemed unthinkable.

In the dream I was in a new home, which seemed to stand solitary in the hills. From that height I could see all the soft hills that surrounded us. From the landscape I could guess it was between late summer and the beginning of autumn. The season I have always loved the most.

The house reminded me of an ancient watchtower with a kitchen on the ground floor, a living room on the first floor and a bedroom on the second floor. 

In the dream I was in the living room, happily tiding up while now and then looking out of the two windows of that tiny sitting area. I felt so relieved of being there, I felt the happiness that inner peace grants you.

Sometimes I went to one or the other window, and leaning against the sill my gaze indulged on the hilly horizon. So peaceful and fulfilling!

While breathing in the fresh air of that beautiful day I realised that one of my cat, the round red cat, was beside me, staring at a small wood inlet in the window. I looked and I saw a small coiled snake, black with some yellow that reminded me of arrows.

I was surprised and upset. What am I supposed to do now, I wondered with anxiety. My red cat tried to touch him with his his chubby paw. The snake played dead.

I looked around to see where the other cat was, a very elegant black cat. He was sleeping. Thank God, I thought, I didn’t want them both to be here, together, trying to play catch with the little snake.

Meanwhile the snake was trying to figure out how to escape. My red cat was waiting and after a while he seemed plunged into meditation. Suddenly the snake slid forward quickly, trying to escape. Let’s hope he manages it, I thought, I didn’t want to even think of how to save him! The whole thing was deeply bothering me.

Then I saw he was losing its old skin. Oh, no, not that too! While fixing the old skin left behind, the little snake disappeared quickly, the cat awoke from its slumber, and I got the idea: I took dustpan and brush, and threw the old skin out of the other window, as my red cat was still casing the sill wondering about the snake.

When I got rid of the little snake’s old skin I felt finally at ease and with relief I looked up at the sky, I saw swallows flying around, I heard their sound and I intensely felt the energy of Spring (but we were in almost autumn, weren’t we?!) and a deep relief inside mixed with an acute, almost overwhelming happiness. Next thing I know I was flying in the sky together with the swallows! How divine!