Shaker Pacifist Hymns and the War

"Dark is the cloud that rests over the nation,
Wild is the war cry that pierces the air.
God's heavy judgments spread wide desolation,
Strong hearts are bound in the depths of despair."

Would you believe this Civil War hymn came to a young girl in a dream? It is true. That girl was Shaker society member Cecilia Devere of New Lebanon, New York who lived from 1836 to 1912. One of the Shaker sisters that roomed with her scribbled this song down after being awoken by Devere singing the song aloud three different times.

This took place in 1862. There would be three more years of war.

Since the Shakers were pacifists they did not participate in battle, but their concern for all parties was apparent and enduring. They hoped to bring peace to the horrific turmoil through prayer and song. Devere's hymn is called "A Prayer for the Captive." I have posted only the first stanza of the song because I cannot, as of yet, find the full hymn. But it's chilling to consider this young pacifist creating a song of such clarity in her sleep, and with a poetic grace and poignancy.

Legend has it that on the day President Lincoln was buried, "A Prayer for the Captive" was sung in every Shaker community with no previous arrangement or understanding. Oooooooo...spooky.


**The painting shown at the top of this post is by 18th century artist Frederic Edwin Church, called "Our Banner in the Sky". Circa 1863. Do you see the banner?

I admire Church's style too much to even explain. Take a look at more of his paintings here. Just type his name into the search bar...and view the wonders he created! Even select some for purchase!

Also, check out my brother-in-law's painting that reminds me of Church's work. Amazing Daniel!

this was NOT day residue

The magic of this extraordinary occurrence I'm about to reveal calls for some Satie...Thibaudet on Satie at that! (the truest kind)


Ok...to explain...

I've been practicing lucid dreaming much more lately and have already had quite a few significant things happen to me. But this one is totally awesome.

The other night I was dreaming on the Astral Plane maybe (?) and found someone very interesting. I didn't catch his name, but we hung out and I watched him and his friends practice teleportation in the park. It was great fun to witness, I'll go into more detail on that later on...

So, tonight after work I ate dinner with family and then sat down to browse YouTube by searching "lucid dreaming" and what did I find? Well, let's just say I found someone!

I watched his video post and my ears were quite delighted and freakishly exhilarated to hear him say that a few people have 'seen' him in dreams. He considered that it was possibly 'day residue', from having watched his videos they were more likely to see him in a dream. But, he explained that there was an exception to this when a gentleman in Australia wrote to him stating that he'd never before watched his videos: that the dream took place first. Just like in my case!

Well, I have written to this guy, and we'll see what he writes back. I REALLY can't wait to see how my dream journal and his dream journal correlate for the night of January 5th...because I was there damn it, and he was too!

Lucid Dreaming Update

I just remembered I had a lucid dream the other night. It was what I consider to be "Partially" lucid. This doesn't mean that it's not a lucid dream, it is qualified as one, but it just isn't as strong as a lucid dream can be.

A Partially Lucid Dream is one where I become aware in a dream, and begin to take control of the dream world. There are limitations as to what I accomplish, however.


In a Completely Lucid Dream, I have no boundaries (mental or otherwise) to keep me from doing whatever I want to do. If I want to manifest a magical kingdom where clouds will transport me alongside the wings of angels, then it will be. A truly lucid Lucid Dream will have no interference with my 'rational' mind or my ego. If my rational, waking-world mind is involved while lucid dreaming, I might not be able to contain excitement about a particular dream endeavor, thus waking up. Another obstacle it creates is fear, which interferes when lucid dreaming. If you create a world lucidly, and then fear something about it, it creates drama and tension and wastes a lot of time. I spend time trying to rise above and disassemble the fear in a lucid fashion, which is always successful (because if you're truly lucid dreaming you can create ANYTHING, including the antidote to bad and terrible things). Time is of the essence in a lucid dream, at least for me. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to control and sustain the dreams to last a really long time. If my ego becomes involved while in the dream I begin craving selfish things, which throws me off track and into weird and sometimes dark worlds. In the excitement of becoming lucid, sometimes it's difficult to remember what it is you want to accomplish. Before sleep, I try to give myself a 'mission' so I'm more aware in the dream state of what I want to do. I have only on occasion had contemplative moments while dreaming. This was akin to meditating while awake. I think it'd be interesting to practice this more ...WOW...that could result in something incredible. I will post more soon on some lucid dreams I have actually had. I went on a ramble here without meaning to. Time to eat lunch! Learn more at the Lucidity Institute.

*Picture thanks to Armands Auseklis of www.TerraEscape.com

The Big Sleep

I actually slept through the night! I haven't done that in almost 5 months...I'm so excited! I fell asleep, (almost over the phone), at around 11pm last night and woke today at 11am! I hadn't even taken my contacts out, and the lamp was still on when I woke up. That is amazing. I usually can't sleep more than a few hours without waking up and feeling like I can't even stay in the bed.

Could it be due to my consumption of delicious and beneficial Tart Red Cherry extract??? I don't know, maybe!!

Or could it be that I was psychically abducted by aliens? Maybe, yes!!

I'm just thrilled. This could mean great things for me. Lucid dreaming here I come! Oh, and hopefully it means I'll have more dreams about Dinosaurs, like I did last night. I was attacked by a creature that I called a "turtle", but it was NOT a turtle. It was a spikey dinosaur that stained me with a weird substance that it emitted during its attack. I was worried that it was poisonous so I went around the town asking people for help, to make sure I wasn't going to die from it. They all seemed to not be concerned. One woman told me that the spray could have just been paint that someone had put on the dinosaur. Haha. So weird.

Cheers, to GOOD sleep!

It's Thursday. Time to Shapeshift !

I had a powerful dream the night before last. I entered a small home in the wilderness where I discovered four Black Bear cubs, playing and romping about. As began to play with these cubs, they became more and more tame as the dream went on. I wondered about the mother and if she would try to enter the home to get to her children. Finally, I sensed the mother's energy ... I knew she was outside the home. Just then, she burst through the wall as if a bulldozer. She seemed upset, but didn't harm me as that was not her intention. She ran through the home, right past me. She was large and I could see the thick fur on her back shifting around with each muscle movement. Was she just coming in to observe the home? Was she there to protect her cubs? The ending was unclear to me, but there is more to learn. I will be thinking about the "Feminine/Mother" aspect of this dream.

Bears have been a special totem to me for years (not to mention a constant source of creative inspiration). I became one in a dream once and I'll never forget it. I found a few "Shapeshift" tips for the Bear energy:

Begin a dream journal
Meditate
Curl up under your covers in bed and reflect on your dreams
Read about bear
Draw bears
Explore caves
Eat salmon or honey

Also, thanks to www.windwolfwoman.com, I was able to read more on "Big Bear" medicine and the relevance of bears in Native American lore, including ...


In bringing Bear into our lives, we must feel the power of the feminine. Bear lives alone and relies on no one but herself. She is a single parent and must provide all physical and emotional needs for her cubs.

She is loving and kind as she teaches her children about life but she is also a fierce disciplinarian if her children do not learn the lesson fast. She is disciplined in all things, including her own behavior. She sets limits and boundaries for herself and for others and will not tolerate others taking advantage of her.

These limits and boundaries are communicated by attitude rather than by words. Bear demands respect.

She has a high level of concentration and focuses on a goal without wavering. It has been said that Bear can stop a hunter from shooting her through her concentration. Making and maintaining goals is using the power of Bear. Bear will help with the focus and concentration needed for the completion of goals.