A lion has escaped. It is one that I know well, and it seeks me out and is very friendly and playful. I am a little concerned at first, but then realize it is all OK.

Day residue: I was in Ashland this weekend, noticing the banners of a golden lion on a red background. (or the Shakespeare festival, I assume.) I mentioned to Jen that the banner is similar to the coat of arms of Norway. There was also a toy store we walked by a few times with lots of stuffed lions and lion books in the display window.

I did a inquiry the night before this dream related to befriending passion again.

Before the dark night, there was a great deal of passion, but also a slight identification with it. Then, during the dark night, passion went away and it was a painful process since I had identified with it and resisted it going away. Since then, there has been some fear around allowing passion fully, especially as strongly as before.

There is a sense of having been “burnt” by passion, although the only thing that burnt me was identification with it and resisting it going away. And even that was really more of a “burning away” of that identification. 

(On a side-note:  During the dark night, passion took the form of pressure - “too much pressure” - while I felt my passion was lost. Now, it comes back as passion, in a more relaxed way and with more space around it.)

The lion has a relaxed strength, usually calm but also fiery when needed. It had been caged up but was now free. And although I was a little concerned at first, it turned out to be very friendly.

Update: A few days after this dream, I watched a movie where one of the characters told the story of Androcles and the Lion. It is in essence the same story as my dream, although I didn’t realize it until after I had watched the movie. There are apparently current retellings of the story (”Andy and the lion”) which are even closer to the dream.