Perhaps a bit of moldy bread? or Undigested meat?

Yes folks, it's dream interpretation time..

My kids went to grandmas last night, so I had an actual natural dreaming state with no interruptions or unnatural awakening in the middle, which usually totally disturbs whatever message is trying to be expressed.

So, last night, I had a dream. I was involved in a druid ritual, in a forest by moonlight. There was a short man wearing a robe covered with reddish feathers. He spoke in a language I could not understand, then finally urged us all to dance. (In my dream, I understood him to be Fox) So, we formed a circle and danced in a circle. Linked arms, doing that grapevine step.

Then, a taller man, dressed plainly, with dark hair and blue eyes - began to guide and instruct us towards the group mind/trance. Rather than the "be the tree" method, he guided us into this sort of variant of the rock-paper-scissors thing, something like Tai Chi. We were to do Pumpkin, Rock, Plum, and shape our hands... first sort of flat handed, palm down as if over the top of a large pumpkin. Then for rock, we cupped our hands slightly, still palm down, thumb parallel to fingers, as if cupping a softball sized rock. For plum, we were to shape our hand, still palm down as if we had a plum in our palm, but thumb and fingers now pointing down. Somehow, there would be this S-shape on the thumb, which had something to do with a sacred name of the plum. (I'm thinking, Pumpkin = paper by the position of the hand, rock, obviously = rock, and the S-shape/sacred name is Scissors). We were to continue repeating this sequence over and over until we could grasp the deeper meaning. Several people wandered off in disgust (this is SO not Indo-European!!) and others grew frustrated with not "getting it" The man who was leading this exercise eventually was standing just in front of me, and we two were the only ones left still doing it. (apparently the ritual itself was either abandoned, or relocated)

He began speaking of nuances - such as feeling the essence of the pumpkin, how it contains and preserves the warmth of summer into the cooling days of fall, how it's seeds wait for the first frost to begin the rot so that they may sleep the winter away, warm in the flesh of their mother, to be born in the spring. The rock, old and stable, formed deep in the earth, forced up, tossed through rivers, carried on glaciers, to be held in my hand. Ancient, traveled, wise, earth.

Then the plum. This one was the most important, but apparently still a little beyond my grasp. I just remember having that S-shape on the thumb was very important. Also releasing the qi to the universe between the plum and the pumpkin.

He encouraged me, that I almost had it, and not to give up, the deeper meaning was within my grasp.

I woke up from this dream at this point, knowing as I usually do that this was a guide of mine, imparting a particular message so I wrote it down.

That's right, my conclusion is that Rock-Paper-Scissors is an acceptable modern tool for divination. ;)

And that, I am in fact close to understanding something. (not sure what) but that my persistence will pay off somehow (not sure how).

I know for ME, the plum will forever represent community and fellowship, a cooperative and shared harvest. A gathering for strength, for healing, for a loving power, and a thundering raining down of plums on gathered friends. What is the essence of the plum?