Years ago, in 1986, in the early years of my apprenticeship with Don Elijio Panti, I was overwhelmed with the sense of responsibility I felt for Maya Medicine and Don Elijio’s legacy. I felt guided to make a pilgrimage to Palenque in Mexico to seek an answer to this question: “How can I best serve God and humanity with what Don Elijio has taught me?” Seated atop the ancient Maya observatory, I meditated and prayed on my question the entire day. That night, while I slept in a hotel room, the following dream occurred:

A naked Lacandon Maya Indian walked nonchalantly into the hotel room and sat down on my bed. I felt the mattress sink with his weight. His raven-black hair fell to his low back. Blunt-cut bangs lined his forehead. With his arm around me, he leaned over and whispered, “Teach. What you are planning to do with seminars is fine.” By then, Don Elijio had already gifted me a sastun for my 44th birthday. It sat on a dresser at my bedside in its little clay jar. The Lacandon took the jarrito and the sastun in his hands and just like Don Elijio always did, twirled it around and around in small circles against the wood repeating a Maya chant. Then he stood up and said, “I am going now but I will return tomorrow.”

I have received many emails and notes from practitioners of ATMAT detailing their dreams that often include Don Elijio, Miss Hortence and sometimes myself. The receiver of these often mysterious dreams asks me to translate the symbolism of the dreamscape. Sometimes, the message or symbols seem clear and at other times it remains behind the veil until one day, “out of the blue” the meaning becomes clear. How thrilling to have our beloved Don Elijio or Miss Hortence appear in your dream to bring a message of confirmation or a warning to deter you from a path that is not in your best interest. Like other traditional healers I have known, Hortence and Elijio experienced regular dream visions from early in life until their deaths. Their dreams taught them plants, prayers and counsel from Spirit about patients.

Dream visions happen often enough to ATMAT practitioners to give me spiritual comfort. They tell us that our mentors, now in Spirit, look after us. That they know your name and your concerns and that they take the time to pay attention to your spiritual needs is heavenly and validating. We are loved and looked after by our mentors in the astral world.

I am also asked how to engender dreams, a subject we teach in Advanced Spiritual Healing and during The Wisdom Circle. Don Elijio brought dream visions from the Maya Spirit to me by enchanting his sastun while I sat in his thatch hut with him. He asked that the Maya Spirits give me the same consideration they would him. Other mystics say that the dream request must be constantly instilled in the conscious mind day after day all day long. In order to avoid the often chaotic and inconsequent dreams that seem to have no meaning or message, or to overcome the problem of never dreaming at all, we must avoid chaotic and petty thinking during the day. During sleep, our physical bodies rest while our astral bodies travel seeking experiences, lessons and like companions. If we would have meaningful dreams, it is necessary to garner control over our thoughts and to always strive to attune our thoughts to higher things especially at bedtime. The lower passions of anger, greed, fear and envy must be overcome in order to achieve the insights bestowed upon the dreamer.

If we enter the state of sleep with our mind fixed on high and holy things, our rest is peaceful and our minds open to impressions from above. Thus, try to lift your thoughts to lofty levels before slipping into slumber if you would have your soul receive its deepest lessons. A light, easily digestible dinner is very helpful because it allows blood and oxygen to flow freely to the brain.

“If one guides his soul persistently upward, its inner senses will at last begin to unfold; the light within the shrine will burn brighter and brighter, until at last the full continuous consciousness comes and then he will dream soul lessons.” Charles W. Leadbetter (Dreams. What They Are and How They Are Caused).

I often meditate at bedtime on a subject I would like illuminated then devise a concise one sentence request that I repeat nine times with nine deep breaths. Every year, I make an amulet with the intention of engendering soul lessons through dream visions, hold it while I breath and pray, then slip it under my pillow. A crystal works, too. If you do all this and a dream does not occur, it may be because your request is a personal issue you have to figure out for yourself for your spiritual advancement. We cannot expect Spirit to put on a Broadway show for our benefit nor can we use Spirit as an emotional crutch. If you are fortunate and Spirit smiles upon you during your slumber, be sure to keep a special journal to record your dreams. My own dream journal dates back to 1980 and by now reads like a mystical novel. I often brew a cup of tea and read through it as a way to stay in touch with my spiritual mentors Don Elijio and Miss Hortence.