This practice is inspired by Dr. Tererai Trent’s book The Awakened Woman. Dr. Trent tells an incredible story about transforming herself from a cattle herder in Zimbabwe to getting her PhD in the United States, to traveling and speaking around the world, and ultimately coming back to her home to improve the lives of women and girls. By awakening to her dream of higher education she was also able to improve the lives of others by creating schools and Universities to share the change for further education. 

A main pillar of her book is the ritual of burying her dreams. She wrote her dreams on a piece of paper, put it in a tin can, and buried the can under a tree where she would visit often. Her mother shared this ritual with her as a way of immersing the dream into the earth to let the whole ground support her.

I love embedding ritual into my life. I have rituals for the full and new moon, for the solstices, a ritual before eating every night, and a prayer each morning. What struck me about this ritual is the inclusion of nature and calling on the earth for support. The ground is the literal material that is supporting every single one of us every day. It connects us all and it is there for us throughout our entire lives. In yoga, we place our hands and feet firmly and with grace and gratitude on the earth so that we may feel grounded and rooted like the trees. In rituals, we offer back energy that we no longer need, material, or blessings into prayer or water or fire or in this case into the earth. 

I am writing this post in late January in the Northern Hemisphere, just before the Earth Holiday of Imbolc, the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. This is a perfect time for seeding dreams. In women’s traditions, winter is in the crone stage of the cycle. The crone stage is also related to the menstrual phase of the menstrual cycle. This is the cycle of death, space, blackness, and quiet. It is also the perfect time to plant seeds that want to be born in the spring stages to come.

In practicing this ritual, I wrote my dream on a piece of paper:

To create gathering spaces, both physical and virtual for women to share knowledge, express themselves, and be supported. 

Then I sang a song and created a hole, underneath the snow, that surrounded the tree that covers the window outside my yoga room and office.

(When I do this ritual with groups and Women’s Circles, we add pieces of special materials to enhance our wishes - lavender for soothing, rice for vitality, rose petals for love, red pepper flakes for sparks and creativity.)

After buying my dream I stood and connected with the earth, and placed a hand on the tree telling it I would visit often. The next morning while I was practicing yoga, I saw many little birds playing in the tree. It brought to light a new way to share dreams, by not only holding them alone in our hearts but by sharing them with the ground, the earth, nature, and each other. 

The crone stage of the year is also known in some traditions as the dreaming time. Take time and care to choose your intentions for the year to come.

What dream will you burry?