This is a dream that I had on March 10, 2020, a few days before Covid-19 shut things down in my area. This powerful dream turned out to be a sequel to Wandering in the Spiritual Bardo. I only realized the two dreams went together, because The Dream Exhibit suggested that I look for bookend dreams.

The Dream: I am In a small car with my husband, Denny, and another couple. He is driving and the other couple is in the back. We see this incredibly beautiful wooden structure with tall spires rising up into the sky. It is like an open air room or tree house (with no tree). This structure resembles an enormous art piece, which is composed of beautiful church steeples made out of soft, weathered, natural gray wood. (Like the beautifully weathered wood from an old barn or other functional structure.)

We pull the car over, and it parts the tall grass along the side of the road. We want to see if we can go see the structure. A man who lives there comes out to greet us. Denny knows him, and introduces the man to the other couple. However, Denny messes up the woman's name and calls her something similar that sounds like a spiritual retreat place. Denny doesn't introduce me because he doesn't remember my name. I'm not sure if I remember my name either. I feel fine about not being introduced.

Other people are there, including a group of young black men all dressed in the same purplish blue colored shirts. The black men look like they are part of the same school group or team. We go inside the house and look up at the beautiful wooden structure from below. It is a very spiritual uplifting place to be. I ask and am told that no one lives up there; it is communal space.

Then suddenly we are up on top of the structure. The feeling of it has changed from a home, to some kind of special tourist place that other people are climbing onto. Instead of a room like space, the structure has become a huge vast deck. There are open straight wooden path-like structures that go further out. These paths are all made of the same soft, weathered wood.

I am surprised to see that Denny is unafraid of the height. He has gone out way ahead of me on one of the paths. As I walk further out along the narrow wooden boards, I see how easy it is to fall off either side. They are very flimsy structures in a vast space. I then become afraid of the height and decide to turn back. It feels like I am making the right choice to respect my fear and desire for safety. I have seen enough of the vast heights!

As I am walking back, more people, primarily women, are walking forward. As fast as I am walking back, men are pulling up the wooden boards from underneath me. Pure vast black water is rising up and subsuming everything. I realize that I don't have to be afraid of falling, because the water would cushion my fall and I can swim. However, I also know that anyone unable to swim is going to drown. I am almost back as the black vast water consumes everything. (End of dream.)

I wake up in a profoundly peaceful and still state, feeling as if everything is so profound. The stillness lingers with me as I get up and go about my day. I had also been feeling sick and extremely achy the day before, so I am also relieved to be feeling better.

Once I make the connection between them, it is obvious that this dream is the sequel to Wandering in the Spiritual Bardo. Like that dream, it will influence my life for years to come.