DarkHorse Ministries

Dream: The Gila Monster

The following dream occurred on 1-2-2000, a short time after my discovery of Sufism:

Over a several hour period, I see my white-socked foot repeatedly playing with a mysterious black swirling object that seemed to be attacking it. I feel curiosity, adventure and danger. Eventually, a very wise male voice called me by name and said, "You're playing with a Gila monster!  Do you really want to do that?"

 Interpretation:

     The foot represents my spiritual path or possibly my attempt at walking my own spiritual path. The Gila monster is a particularly scary and dangerous form of the symbol of the serpent. The very word "monster" itself indicates danger, and indeed, the Gila monster is a venomous lizard.  It is also constantly blurred and swirling, indicating that it is vague, mysterious and elusive.  In sufism, the serpent represents the sum total of all that which is deepest and darkest within the unconscious self.  The sock itself may be seen as a form of protection, particularly since white is associated with purity or redemption. The swirling of this vague black object about my foot also feels reminiscent of the dangerous deathmatch between a matador and bull. There is also the obvious contrast between opposites, emphasized by the black monster attacking my white socked foot. This same black-white motif, combined with a confrontation of some sort, showed up in another dream of this time period that involved an intruding man in black offering a white calling card. In both cases, it appears that my newfound interest in the Sufi path is being met with symbols emphasizing the extreme opposition of black and white. Clearly, I am being told that sufism is a path that has inherent ties to Jungian depth psychology, or the psychology of the unconscious.  The unconscious speaks in symbols that both oppose and compensate the position of the conscious self. Jung repeatedly claimed that the process of individuation required one's ability to withstand the tension of the opposites within oneself.  This supernatural connection between sufism and depth psychology has been very well demonstrated by the Sufi teacher and mystic, Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee.