Harnessing The Power of Ritual Following a Dream

In my personal dreaming experience, I’ve learned that taking an action in waking life following a dream you had the night prior has profound effects. It deepens the dream experience in that you’re not just being a passive dreamer, you’re being an active one! Letting your subconscious know you got the message so that new messages can come in. I wanted to share a personal example of this that I encountered recently. I worked with my dream to get the message, and then carried out a physical ceremony to cement the message. It was a powerful and profound experience!

The Dream: “Chasing the Money”

Dave and I are at a big open market. There's a section down a long aisle with tons of ice cream flavors to choose from. You can scoop your own as much as you want. I'm excited. I'm choosing chocolate and peanut butter and cookies and cream. While we're scooping, a woman announces it's time to break the glass. Apparently, this is a daily event where they make a show of getting rid of extra, very large pieces of glass. Like 10' long and 5' tall. She taps it with a small hammer in a way that it cracks a whole bunch but doesn't break. Then takes a hair dryer and waves it back and forth and all the glass shatters perfectly and neatly into millions of super tiny bits. Tinier than it seemed they would or should break based on the way she cracked it. While we're watching, there's a guy behind us on the other side of the ice cream who works there. We all applaud after the glass breaking and Dave turns and tips the guy $5. He remembers us. I'm wearing a band tshirt and he explains he's in the music industry and works there on the side. He looks like our friend who is in the music industry in waking life. Super friendly and chatty. I turn and see the five dollar bill blowing away while we're chatting. I run after it and Dave tells me not to worry and starts to pull more money out of his pocket or wallet.

While working with Dave on this dream, he said a phrase and pointed out that I was “chasing the money.” That was my ah-ha! The day before, my focus was on money. I was working on a proposal for an editing client not 100% sure on what I should charge. I also was thinking about it terms of my side hustle of crafting.

Also, while working with this one, I asked myself what I would do differently, and what outcome that would have. If I could go back into the dream and take a different action, I would have stayed in the conversation instead of running after the money. Afterall, it was only five dollars! If I stayed in the conversation with the guy that recognized us, I feel there more possibilities or opportunities may have arose; I wouldn’t have missed them. In waking life, this happens often…we have unexpectedly deep conversations with someone, even a stranger, which ends up leading more connections and opportunities down the road.

And while there are a myriad of other symbols and meanings to explore here, my focus was on the main message with the money.

So here’s where the ritual came into play.

In order to truly “let the money go”, I carried out a fire ceremony by burning a piece of paper with a dollar bill to release any attachments or expectations or stories I have about money. I blew my intentions into the paper before placing it into the fire. I felt weird doing it at first and then felt liberated realizing I don't need to "chase money". It's okay to let it go in certain circumstances. It’s best not to have money at the forefront of any situation. I realized then it was just like the glass...it was let go. It wasn’t being used for anything else, and couldn’t be repurposed, so it was broken. Yet broken in a purposeful, beautiful way!

I absolutely love this dream and its message and how it led me to carry out a physical ritual to solidify the meaning. Next time you remember a dream, see where it’s pointing, and what it’s nudging you to do. Then, carry that dream into the waking world, and see if there is any way you can do a small ritual to honor that dream. Your subconscious will thank you!