Is it a Visitation or a Sign & Does It Even Matter?!

Is it a visitation, an omen, a sign or a synchronicity, and does it even matter?!

A few nights ago, after the full moon, my friend and I were blessed by the presence of a Luna Moth. She indeed looked like a fairie as she flew. At first, we had no idea what she was. I said “Please stop so we can see you,” and she did. Then she sat above us the rest of the night as we continued our conversation around personal growth and future visions / ideas.

The next morning I awoke feeling a sense of joy and renewal. I couldn’t stop smiling and feeling love in my heart. I felt as if I had won the lottery! How lucky was I to have seen such a sight, to experience this divine interaction.

I believe the Luna Moth is truly an essence / expression / reflection of my personal transformation. Her arrival at that precise moment of our conversation felt like a visitation of something divine, mystical, magical. I never saw a fairie before ;-) It also felt like a sign of acknowledgement and recognition of the deepening of my soul direction around my business and creative career choices. I knew in that moment, my ideas were good ones. I’m on the divine path to my soul power, gifts, magic.

I’m sharing this delightful story because, well, my experience is too beautiful not to share. And the understanding of it can be discerned. What I don’t want to do is influence you or your beliefs around what may or may not be a sign / symbol / visitation to you.

As a Dream Reader, a best, I am here to inspire you. To support you in following your path, your dreams and inner wisdom. Not mine. I will be here to remind you that everything you need to know is already within you. Listening to your guidance will lead you to your magic.

So does it matter if it’s a visitation or a sign? To me, absolutely. To you…only you can answer that.

What is a Dream Reading?

Similar to a tarot reading, Angela helps you discover the meanings & feelings of your dreams, dream symbols, images and recurring themes. Through Embodiment / Interpretation /Analysis you explore the deeper caverns of your dreams.

Where can I get one?!!!

You can always book with me online for a virtual session, but if you’re in New Orleans this weekend…

Angela will be offering in-person Dream Readings

NOLA MAGIC MARKET

SUNDAY 12-5PM

$30/30 mins

MARKET PRICES ONLY

Cottage Magick is a New Orleans based collective founded by Asia Strong. She's gathered a network of brilliant craftspeople, artists, artisans, healers, mediums, and psychics to bring you the best real magick New Orleans has to offer. Together, their talents are vast and include tarot readers, physical and mental mediums, Reiki healers, past life specialists, and those who are inspired to create products that are holistic, earth-friendly, witchy, or inspired.  

​Other metaphysical services are also offered throughout the weekend!

Importance of Group/Collective Dream Work

What is A Crow’s Calling?

A Crow’s Calling is the collaborative work under which myself and Susan Ackerman Joseph, aka Sackjo22, call ourselves. We are integrative creative/healing arts practitioners and facilitators. Our sisterhood began through developing/producing theatre & performance. We currently create multi-media productions and experiential workshops together. Some days our teaching looks like a virtual workshop where we guide embodiment practices, dreams, and/or sacred activism. At other times, we are exploring our personal growth & transformation through creative play, storytelling, sharing insights. The crow has been a mystical symbol with us since the beginning, literally and figuratively.

I’m excited to share the recent discussion/interview we had with Katherine Bell on her radio show, The Dream Journal. Katherine Bell is the creator of Experiential Dreamwork. We had the pleasure of first working with Katherine at the 2019 IASD regional dream conference, Festival of Dreams, which she produced in Santa Cruz, CA. Recently, we were asked to co-lead her weekly dream group, discussing/embodying “Dreams & Community”.

The past two months have been so full of profound experiences and collective aha moments through sharing this dream practice with multiple groups of people. If you’re interested in hearing more, I hope you take the time to listen to this interview and feel inspired - creative - hopeful - curious.

You can also find this podcast on APPLE , Google Play, Stitcher & Spotify.

Some of my favorite takeaways from this interview are around the benefits of facilitated group dream work:

• See the themes of the collective unconscious

• Build awareness how we as individuals play a role in community & collective healing

• Ability to support others just by showing up

• Integrate the group experience/awareness/healing into your individual waking life

• Ability to see from others/group perspective

• Opportunity to connect with others, and who are interested in the same things (especially during times of isolation)

If you’re interested in sharing in a dreamy virtual holiday party…Book your

I still have availability! And, I would love to share these gifts with you and your family & friends.

become one with the moon

Thank you Rainbow Love App for the beautiful art to design & play with!

On June 16, 2011, I called this dream “THE MOON”

I was told I need to get as much light from the moon as possible. I go in this small outdoor patio, white, with chairs to sit on (feels like old round chairs at a bowling alley). My sister, Amie comes in with a friend, Brian. I want to sit on his lap in order to get the best light. When we get in, I don’t need Brian because the chairs are high enough. It is the biggest-brightest setting moon I have ever seen.

Its so big and so close. Just outside these windows my back is faced to see, just at the horizon of the ocean is this moon which looks like the setting sun and I am soaking it all in. This is what I am supposed to do.

Walking into a spa – on a bridge – following a woman who knows and is telling me the science behind this moon in particular and why it is so powerful, where its from. She gets side tracked as we walk in on ice. Little mounds of ice through the hall and into the spa. Through overweight naked women. I’m leading the woman to show her where the bathrooms, changing rooms and sauna are. Though there is ice, there is steam. Especially coming off the large pool up the steps to the right. We are also being followed by a group of women. I get back to asking her about the story.

Now the moon is setting and I’m outside, closer to the water. I look up and I see more moons. One is a crescent moon. Another male friend walks out towards the still large full moon setting. He is walking on a dock. I can’t see where it ends, but he’s going. He has his shirt off. I feel like, he’s not coming back this time.

In honor of our recent power-full moon, I am peculiarly feeling into this dream, remembering the work I did with it at the time, how many moons later I realized this dream was a premonition or precognitive dream and that the dream and the moon, still resonates and is guiding me to more insight.

A dream that keeps giving…I think I will reflect on this dream every full moon because there is so much to share and learn from it - it has been giving to me for over six years! As I go back through my journal from June 2011, I realize I don’t have a lot of entries of my waking life. I was very busy at the time directing a play in Los Angeles. It was a a new start of a play in development, “Box, Window, Door” that was opening soon at the Hollywood Fringe. I was working intensely and consistently with my dreams with dreamworker and Shaman Chris Doggett through the use of Embodied Imagination – a process based in alchemy developed by Robert Bosnak. (EI will be discussed more in depth in future posts). But there are no entries of how I was feeling, about anything.

I think about this now as I sit in feeling and realize how being in feeling has dramatically shifted who I am, the actions I take and how I treat others. My perception of myself and everything around me has changed, including how I feel about the future. We all have the power to manifest and its through feeling – how does a thought make you feel?  Living through feeling is a new way to be! It is becoming conscious of who you are (inside). We can get all the information we need from within, if we listen…how does that thought make you feel? If it makes you nervous, I completely understand. I was anxious to start writing this.

When I worked this dream through Embodied Imagination, I became the moon or what the moon feels like inside of me. It was:

cool, spinning, giving, floating, contained power, happiness of giving light, higher consciousness, sponginess, tempurpedic, resilient – takes an impression, feels one with earth and living with it – connected to

I would meditate with this composite points of feeling(s) throughout your body that are realized through becoming the symbols/places/people in a dream, in this sort of body graph of feeling and let it do its healing and I would wait for a new dream.  

Then in October 2011, I went to India and studied yoga. I met my Guru and miraculously attracted 50+ people to a full moon meditation that lasted over four nights; the three leading up to the full moon and the night of. I say miraculous because I told no one, it was originally only going to be about three of us – by the end, the rooftop overlooking the Ganges was completely full and we were glistening and feeling into the phrase “become one with the moon”.

I felt what it was like to become one with the moon and it was scary, at the time. I could not feel my own body as I knew it. Its like all my pores opened up and it was cool and there was movement, it felt like flowing water, as if I was floating. What was scary was the loss of feeling contained within my own skin. There was expansion of my cells that were no longer touching yet connected to everything. I felt like I was becoming one with everything and there was no single me anymore. I was losing attachment to my identity.

I was told, “do not be afraid of what your body can do.”

Dreams are based in feeling. You wake up from a dream and you most likely feel something. You know those dreams you can't shake and you live with them all day? That's because we remember them based on how they make us feel. They are living within the body.  The body holds so much more than we know, known and unknown. Do not be afraid of the wisdom within - within the body, spirit, and soul. Do not be afraid of the consciousness beyond the conscious mind.

While working with dreams, there is never one answer and there is always more to discover. Let it unfold and trust in the unknown.

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer

"Snakes in my dreams"

Image from alchemicalmagic.com by Irene Payne

“Snakes in my dreams”

Dreams are full of metaphors and symbols we often don’t understand. We can theorize, we can look up the many different interpretations online or say “well, I saw that yesterday so that must be why I dreamt it.”  Dream images are layered with conscious and subconscious associations and experiences we personally and collectively have.  They are also full of mysticism and mystery.  Snakes, are definitely one of them.

My dear friend Jennifer lost both her parents last year.  This year has been one of the toughest times of her life. She was very close to her mother.  She is looking at her life differently now because of this. I believe her perception is changing.  She had and is continuing to have snakes in her dreams.  A boa constrictor, loose in the house. One playing tricks on her – she knew in the dream she was seeing the snake again and thought “I should’ve known you were here!”  This snake keeps coming and going.  Another, she was able to escape from in a field.

Sometimes dreams are hard to figure out and they take time to work with and integrate the energy of a symbol or an archetype. We have to ask questions. We have to let the dreams speak to us, explore them, honor them. I discussed a couple of these dreams with Jennifer.  I had all my knowledge of snake symbolism and its transformative power ready to go. I’ve had plenty of snake dreams and worked many times with Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak.

So I know the snake is about death/rebirth, the shedding of skin and its mystical nature because while in this state its eyes cloud over and it is said to have the power to live between worlds.  The snake has perception, wisdom, transformative and healing powers.  Dreaming of a snake may be an initiation -  an awakening of your life force.  This could be creativity, sexuality – all energies found within Kundalini, subtle energy that is within each one of us.  In yogic culture, kundalini is symbolized as the snake coiled up at the bottom of our spines, until it is aroused, then we quickly begin to experience its power unleashed in us.  

So we talk about health, jobs and wealth (inner/outer).  But the power of the snake was not resonating solely on any one of these topics. We discuss forgiveness, and we remember her “mama”.  We feel her mother at the core of our conversation the entire time. But we were missing something, just as she felt she didn’t know in the dream but then she knew! It had to be something that goes in and out, the wisdom is there but not acknowledged all the time.

Then I remember “…look into the hearts and souls of others…look more closely into your own heart and soul.” (Andrews, p363).  I ask her “what are you most afraid of?”

“Not being loved,” she says.

Her mama would love her no matter what and now that she is gone, how could she be sure she would ever be loved again?

The dream is talking about everything we discussed, but in order for the shift…she has to love herself as a mother would – her own mother within.

We all have blocks around loving oneself. If not, then you have worked on it for a long time and that is amazing! I’m sure you are sharing this love with the world and that is very important. In this dream, the snake may be here to help transform these blocks within Jennifer. This dream being shared, is a reminder to me of one of the most important aspects of understanding your dreams, which is to develop a relationship to your inner self, which is here to guide you to loving yourself more - to live wholly through the integration of all the aspects of yourself – the dark/light, good/bad, masculine/feminine, etc.

So when you think you know what a dream is about…keep digging…keep asking questions.  When you touch on what your soul is trying to get you to hear – you will know. Your world as you experience it may come crashing down, but trust its for a change in perspective for building it back up again.

This dream guidance would not be here without Jennifer’s recurring dreams of snakes and her fearlessness to share. Our stories and dreams are vulnerable and collectively powerful. I am grateful for you and your dreams Jen.  I hope more of you will be willing to share yours, for they hold wisdom and transformative healing abilities for all of us.

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer

Me, Too - The Intruder in Our Dreams

Image from Marie Louise Van Franz's Interpretation of Fairy Tales

Me, Too - The Intruder in Our Dreams

There is one that penetrates me deeply to the bones and it’s the man within my own psyche.

I feel this fear every time I have this dream. I can feel it now as I am writing about it.

Recurring Dream:

I am running from someone. A man. Him. I am trying to find a place to hide. It’s dark out. Night. I go through multiple places, sometimes an empty hotel or convention center or a house. Trying to find the best place to hide...I run through showers, spa like areas and locker rooms until I find a bathroom to hide in. (Bathroom, a place to express oneself.)  I crouch down, I am silent. I sweat. I feel the cold, damp floor. I wait and listen to see if I hear him coming. My heart beats. I’m terrified.

He, is the Intruder, that prevents me...all of us...from furthering. From owning our own power, beliefs, identity. 

I recognize him as my masculine shadow aspect in the self that "manifests as the spirit of courage" in all that we do including our thoughts, feelings, using your voice to express your needs and developing one's own spiritual beliefs. (Clements, Analyzing Your Dreams Dictionary).

I see him as the collective unconscious’ masculine energy energy associated with doing, creating, destroying, opposed to the female which is being, containing, nurturing. (Clements, p106).

In dreams, we may meet him and experience him through feeling fear of him.  He is the dark man in the shadows. In my dreams, no light ever sheds on his face or his build. I never see him hunting me, but he is behind me, coming after me. He is the intruder in our psyche.

The intruder doesn't only show up in women's dreams - he shows up in men's too.  You may be running from someone, authority, conflict or fighting with another man.  This would reflect the shadow not acknowledging this unconscious aspect of yourself, there is conflict between it and the ego.

I was unconscious of him for a very long time. Night/darkness unconscious. I had many different versions of this dream over the years. My sister recently shared one of hers with me, which was similar and carried the same weight of dread upon her. It wasn’t until I was well into dreamwork, studying Marion Woodman’s theory of feminine consciousness when I spoke of one of these dreams. It was suggested to me to begin reading “Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

There it was! Chapter 1: Stalking the Intruder, the Beginning Initiation - the story of Bluebeard. For those of you who do not know this tale, Estés will indeed tell it better than I, so please do read her stories. She also has a live performance series called “Theatre of the Imagination”, which is very powerful to listen to. Her storytelling is healing and truly transformative.

Bluebeard is a tale of a frightening man with a blue beard who entices the youngest of three sisters to marry him. This young woman is lovely and innocent and naive. Unlike her sisters who had the intuition that something was not right with Bluebeard, he had some sort of power over her. The young woman was not in touch with her instincts yet. There was no mother or father to teach her these things. As the story goes on, her sisters attempt to guide her. Through her unconscious desire she does something she was told not to do, which leads to the undoing of Bluebeard’s power over her life and so many other women like her.

I finally stopped dreaming of running and hiding in the bathroom, when I began to acknowledge my strength as a spiritual being.  I began embracing my power within and honoring my own beliefs, gifts and creativity. All the things I wasn’t authentically doing.

THIS is how we change consciousness. Tuning in, listening to the dreams, sensing, feeling - in order to become aware of the beliefs and belief systems handed down to us from generation to generation and making a conscious decision to believe you have the power within to change them, the power to think and act differently, the power to use your voice and discuss with each other - as I see so many sharing "Me, Too" stories on Facebook. 

So how do we share this power of awareness to those that were never taught differently or our young? How do we build trust in our feelings and instincts through our sensing abilities when something doesn't feel good or right? How do we protect our innocent, vulnerable, and delicate youthful beings? This is a discussion that I would love to be having.

I believe we all have to live this way. We have to trust our inner guidance, use the power of our voice and support one another through feeling. And stop letting others make poor decisions for us, our communities and our country. The transformation begins within. 

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer

Baby Breaks the Crib

Throughout my years working with dreams, there is not a woman I know who has not had a "baby" dream.  And it's no wonder, during this intense time of awakening to our full potential, our dreams are guiding us to create.  

"The birth of a baby symbolizes the birth of a new creative idea."  From dream guide Rosalynne Clements Analyzing Your Dreams Dictionary.  This is my dream dictionary of choice, it is the one I most often turn to for insight. There are of course associations one may have to this baby - circumstance of the dream, gender, age, etc. All things to be considered while working with a baby dream. 

I recently had a dream with babies and tigers! If you're having dreams with animals as well, the dreams are really trying to get your attention.  Animal energies, totems, spirit animals coming to you in your dreams, I believe are a sign you are tapped into the spirit world around you.  Listening to animal medicine can teach us so much about our true nature, instincts and where the energy wants to go. I dream of animals often, so Ted Andrews "Animal Speak" is my number one bedside table book.  His insight will help me unpack this short but fully loaded dream I had.

Dream Aug 19, 2017: "Baby Breaks Crib"

I'm watching all these children. 3. Two young girls and the baby boy (looks like the boy I watch). The girl keeps wanting to be up. It's like 3am and she gets up and so does her lil sister and the boy wakes up too but I leave him in his crib. I'm trying to clean up and get them back into bed. I say "you have each other to sleep with, now it's time to go back to bed!" I sort of chase then back into her room- she's really not listening and says back something like "I can be up!" As we head back in there - they're in before me...I see a tiger. Oh fuck, a tiger has gotten in and another one- a cub? Oh no, the little girls will totally get eaten. I run in and kind of yell. The older girl comes out- I have to get the younger one. I'm waving for her. (They seem 4 years old. Maybe 4 and 2 but mature for their age).

The baby broke his crib. The mattress is on the floor- wood bars.

I start with the baby and the children.  CHILDREN represent a whole new life ahead of me, a new start.  I love kids so they also symbolize joy and innocence, and truth for me.  These girls are me, the divine self and the baby is a new creative endeavor.  Their ages also inform me on when the creative idea may have started.  Many things have changed in the last ten months to four years, but what resonates for me, is the connection between how my dream work was developing throughout this time.  I began studying Jung's Redbook four years ago, two years ago I entered an MFA program where I created Dream Crafting and ten months ago I was preparing to leave San Francisco and beginning my move to New Orleans.  I could see none of this until now, when I dream of the baby breaking the crib.  I have outgrown the old relationship to my dreamwork into something more beautiful and nurturing - which, the tigers presence represent. This somewhat abandoned child, the part of myself I have been learning to love is miraculous and has expanded to break the container, the space in which he sleeps soundly.  Consciousness has broken through. Dream crafting is the creative idea, which I was writing in my thesis ten months ago.

It all clicked when I read more into the tiger - there is a mother and a cub.  For me the cub represents a new way of being through tiger energy. The tiger represents "passion, power, devotion, and sensuality.  They have a mystical quality...they display great motherly devotion with their offspring." (Andrews, p318)  The mother is here protecting her cub and I am here protecting the children - all of the creation within me.  This is a sweet double image for me, seeing the tigress as a reflection of me, also in the bedroom, where we sleep, dream; the unconscious becomes conscious.  I see the bedroom as my sanctuary.

FEAR in dreams is often the EGO's fear.  The tiger is here as a helper and a gift.  My dream ego is frightened of course, but the tiger is not there to harm me or the children. She is here as a symbol that "new adventures, renewed devotion and passion for life are expected to begin within 6-8 weeks and last for a year and a half." (Andrews, p319).  I had this dream eight weeks ago and I am now in the thick of my new adventures with Dream Crafting!

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer