Is the Earth Dreaming Through Us?
Abstract
Recent research in dream science has established that we dream about the issues that matter to us emotionally: from immediate personal problems to spiritual and political issues. Indigenous cultures constantly call us to honour our relationship with Nature, and prophets throughout history have urged us to care for God’s creation. Evolutionary psychology also suggests that a primary purpose of disturbing dreams is to raise issues that threaten our survival or wellbeing, so that we seek solutions. A major issue pressing on our consciousness now is the health of our very planet, the literal ground on which all life depends, so it is not surprising that some of us are having dreams and nightmares warning us that our environment is in great danger – as if the Earth itself is calling us to action. In this paper I consider a series of striking dreams from New Zealanders which are relevant to this theme.
Waitara
Kei ngā rangahau pūtaiao moemoeā o ko tata tonu atu nei e kī ana moemoeā ai tātou mō ngā take kare-ā-roto e ngākau nuihia ana e tātou: mai i ngā raruraru whaiaro tata, ki ngā take wairua atu ki ngā take tōrangapū. Kūmea tonuhia ai tātou ki te whakamānawa i tō tātou piri ki te ao tūroa, ā mai noa ngā tohunga e aki ana i a tātou ki te manaaki uri o ngā atua. E kī anō ana te mātai hinengaro kunenga ko te pūtake o ngā moemoeā whawhe he whakaara kaupapa whakawetiweti ake i te ora i te hauora rānei, ana ka rapu oranga haere. Ko tētahi kaupapa matua ē pēhi ana i ō tātou hinengaro i tēnei wā ko te oranga o te ao, te mata o Papatūānuku, nōreira kāre noa iho e ohorere ana e moemoeā e kuku ana ētahi o tātou mō ngā whakatūpatotanga ki te āhua o te taiao — pēnei i te mea nei e whakaohohia ake ana tātou ki te whakatika. I roto i tēnei pepa ka whakaaro ake au i ngā moemoeā whai kiko mai i ngā tāngata o Aotearoa e pā ana ki tēnei kauapapa.
