Read

May/June 2010 Spirituality
Dreams in Crisis: Guidance When Dad Held Hostage in Iraq

by Christina Bjergo

It is in your darkest moments that you have the greatest opportunity to grow beyond your comfort zone. It is particularly in difficult times that guidance dreams appear to help you.

I found this out personally back in the spring of 2005. Returning from a relaxing Saturday morning walk around the neighborhood with my kids and dog, I heard the phone ring. It was a call from a hysterical family member telling me that my father, Douglas Wood, who had been working and living in Bagdad, Iraq, had been taken hostage. His whereabouts and condition were unknown.

I would later verify the truth with my own eyes through hours of watching CNN. I watched the beaten image of my father, head shaved and face badly bruised, with guns pointed to his head on a video clip filmed by his captors. They demanded the removal of foreign troops from Iraq or he would be executed.

Later that night I had the first of three dreams that would guide me through the crisis.

Dream one: We are in a time of war. I am looking serious as I approach the skyscrapers of a downtown city. Watching the buildings in front of me, I know that if 12 bombs go off everything will be fine. With bated breath, I carefully observe the buildings, counting the 11th, then final explosion. I sigh, feeling a sudden wave of relief. The critical moment over, I begin walking home. I pass several people who are joyfully celebrating this new era of peace.

Having followed my dreams for many years, I assessed this latest dream, putting it in context with my dad’s current situation. My analysis was that I had been given a spiritual message of reassurance. My dad would be all right though certain events, signified by the succession of bombs, which were needed before things would resolve successfully.

I would need to be particularly mindful of my thoughts and actions, not falling into anger, blame or other ego trappings over the international conflict that affected me personally. Rather, I would do everything I could to be constructive while my dad was in danger, trying on a personal level to remove all levels of separation within myself (those tall sky scrapers needing to be removed in the dream) that may on some level be blocking a positive resolution.

Despite this first dream of hope, however, the weeks ahead were filled with mental challenges and emotional turmoil. About four weeks into the hostage situation, I took my dog walking through the park to center myself. It was then that I had my second intuitive dream experience related to my dad.

Dream two: I experience an inexplicable lightness of being as I walk among the trees. An unknown intelligence silently communicates through the wind that everything will be fine and a positive outcome is imminent. I feel this message reverberate deep within my heart.

This second dream experience, though hopeful, initiated a deep personal crisis within. I wondered, as I continued my walk back home, if I could trust my intuition as it sharply contrasted with my current reality. Contact from the people who held my dad captive had dwindled and my extended family was preparing for a funeral. The situation seemed bleak and I could hear it in the sober updates of government officials.

But I had to ask myself this question: If I couldn’t believe in my own internal guidance system, what could I believe and trust in? It was a deep soul searching moment for me and a true test of faith.

My dad had been a hostage more than six weeks and I was exhausted and losing hope once again. The prolonged emotional and physical hardship was lowering my spirits so I went to be alone in my room. With eyes closed, I called upon God as I went within and began dreaming.

Dream three: Dark clouds begin to roll in the sky. At first my body and mind resist the approach of dark clouds. I am then able to let go and surrender to the uncomfortable feelings and images that appear. So bone tired, I could not fight and resist anymore. Without thought I entered a state of being. Suddenly the energy shifted, rippling outward like a sonic wave and I watched as the clouds in my dream vision separated, creating a circle. Where the clouds parted, beautiful blue sky and the central image of the sun appeared.

I did not know the significance of this dream, but it felt like something very powerful had just occurred. Hours later, the phone rang and I woke up, racing out of habit to answer the phone in case there was any new word or updates about my dad.

My primary government contact was on the other end of the phone. With a newfound lightness in his voice, he told me my dad had been rescued by Iraqi troops after an unexpected tip by a local Iraqi civilian. It took a while for the good news to finally sink in and to realize that my dad was once again safe. The horror of the past six and a half weeks was thankfully over.

People tell me that I was helpful in the release of my dad. But all the work of writing letters, working on international blogs, helping prepare press releases, finding pictures and medical histories, government planning, and family strategizing and peacekeeping were nothing compared to that one final small act of spiritual surrender.

I feel deeply that we each need to learn, as I did through this difficult time, to trust our intuitive selves. When we keep faith and follow our dreams, just imagine what we can do.

How do miracles work? It is the great mystery of life. But I have learned that inner promptings of awareness through dreaming come when you most need them. They remind you of the bigger picture, help you grow and mature, give you peace in moments of suffering, and expand your concept of yourself and your own inner potential.

Christina Bjergo is a Vancouver-based acupuncturist and author of The Tao of Tarot: The Way to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination through Qigong Dreaming. She is a qigong grand master of sacred serpent spiral qigong and founder of Qigong Dreaming. Visit www.taooftarot.com.