Transformation

The Transformation Process
By Rita Milios, MSW

(The following is an excerpt from a longer article on Transformational Dreams. RM)

There is an innate drive within each of that moves us forward on a personal and spiritual path. The process of personal and spiritual transformation starts with individual growth and proceeds toward growth that engages our souls and encourages us to become what is called in esoteric terms "soul-infused". This means that we become less driven by our personality and ego needs and more guided by our soul qualities. This process has also been called "The Hero's Journey" or "The Self-Actualization Process". It begins with a "call" or "urge" to action, where the process is set in motion. At this time, we begin to look at our lives and wonder if there is not something more. This marks the initial "challenge to grow" that our soul initiates within us.
I recall my own challenge to grow. It was marked by a constant and confusing "nagging" by my subconscious mind, that I needed to "do something," but I did not know what. At that same time, I began to have the first of my transformational dreams. They were reoccurring dreams, the kind where your subconscious mind is ceaseless in its efforts to get a message through to you. I dreamed often during this period of my "plants in the basement". The dream was focused around concerns that I was not sufficiently attending to my plants, and therefore they might shrivel and die. I would dream of frantically running down the basement stairs, expecting to see only dead, dried, brown leaves. But instead, time after time, I was greeted by healthy, green plants. I came to realize later that the dream had come to encourage me not to forget that I needed to "attend to" my old emotional issues, which lay buried deep in my subconscious mind, but if I did this, things would turn out fine.
Following the "urge" mentioned above, I did venture into my own mental "basement". This step marks what is called the "launch" or the "plunge" (into the transformational process). It is for some a "recovery" process, where old habits and disruptive habits must be given up and new ways of coping found, as growth demands a cleaner and clearer vehicle through which soul urges can continue to emerge. Esoteric symbols for this stage include the "waters" of emotion and the "fog" that comes when "illusions" or mistaken beliefs are burned away by the "fires" of soul process. (For those who are familiar with the chakras, or energy centers of the body, each step in growth is also marked by a 'burning away" of the barrier between one chakra and the next.) At this stage, we move from concerns over mere physical survival and comfort, to concerns about our emotional well-being, Issues of trust are common, and old childhood traumas present themselves more overtly, as our inner wisdom encourages us to reconcile them.
During this stage of the transformational process, there comes a time of testing, which may be called "the challenge" or "the turning point." I simply call it "the test." It is a time of initiation, a time of facing one's self and discovering the truth. The test marks an important milestone, because at this point our soul's growth process must become consciously driven. We must choose to continue to progress beyond this point, and we must also consciously and actively take control of the process. At this point, many people choose not to continue because they have come to recognize how difficult and scary the process can be. Facing one's demons, one's shadow side is never easy. But for those who do continue on, the rewards are great.
After the struggle of the test, or the challenge, is over, we begin to merge our personality with our soul. This is often a time of falling back and starting over again, as the personality resists what it at first perceives to be a "takeover" of the human vessel by the soul. However, once our personality can see that what occurs is really a merger instead, then the "illusions"(false beliefs) that hold us back can be removed. We "surrender" to the soul and integration takes place. During this time, there may be dreams about "left and right," reflecting the soul's urging that our left and right brains, representing our conscious and subconscious minds, become integrated. Such integration is not a desire, it is a necessity at this juncture, and without it, there can be no further soul growth. Illustrating the importance of this "left and right" issue is a dream I had where I was frantic about whether to use the left or right doors to an entrance. This dream reoccurred several times during my "testing" period. Another prominent dream, occurring during this period was my "bus" dream. In this dream, I was on a runaway bus, which was going at breakneck speed, careening around corners and scaring the wits out of me. I managed to position myself behind the bus driver and was about tell him to "for God's sake, slow down," when he turned and smiling sweetly at me said, "It's Ok. I'm a careful driver, too," As a student of dreamwork, I recognized the bus as my indicating "direction in life" and the driver as my soul, who was now "taking over the driver's seat." This dream reflected both my personality's initial resistance and my soul's reassurance that it was OK to let go and trust the process.

How Dreams Catalogue Our Transformative Journeys
Dreams like this can become an active part of our personal and spiritual transformation process, guiding our growth and allowing us a direct window into the process itself. As in the example above, dreams can come to give us a "state of our state of mind" message. They may come to say, "You're doing fine. Hang in there." Or the message may be, "You've gone off in the wrong direction. Take a close look at your life and make some adjustments." In this same way, transformational dreams offer suggestions and feedback, but they also catalogue our personal and spiritual growth process over time. If we learn what to look for, and what to be aware of, our dreams can communicate to us where we are on our personal and spiritual growth journey, what obstacles we may be facing, and what we need to do to overcome these obstacles. In this way, our dreams are not only "reporting" on our state of mind, they are tracking and guiding our growth process as it happens, becoming an active partner with our inner wisdom in helping us to achieve our soul?s purpose.
Like intuitions, dreams come from the inner, subconscious mind. Dreams are very personal and must be interpreted individually, in response to emotional "truths" that the dreamer uniquely discerns. By looking at our dream images as aspects of ourselves, we can most often identify the feeling or attitude associated with an image and uncover its hidden message.

Rita is available for spiritual coaching and transformational dreamwork. For details and information about spiritual path coaching or dream interpretations, email her at: coach@ritamilios.com

Rita is also available as a speaker for workshops, trainings and keynotes. For workshops, email speaker@ritamilios.com