What Would Aragorn Do?: Part 2 – Taken In Under His Tutelage

If you have not read yesterday’s Part One article, I recommend that you do before reading this one. However, let me give you a brief recap.

I related experiences I had in two workshops at the IASD Annual Conference in Ashland, Oregon, last week. They were connected by a “big” dream I had back at the end of March of this year (i.e., memorable and moving to me).

The dream involved attending a conference that had people I knew from the past, particularly one of the participants being a great love of my life. We were reunited in a way, but then I became suspicious she was an impostor. The whole group of participants was then moved into a castle turret where the 60 or so of us boarded a small jet airplane that was to take off from the tower.

Yesterday, I took you up to the point at which I encountered Aragorn at what looked like the Prancing Pony in Bree during a facilitated group meditation experience at a workshop I attended.

There were about 40 participants in that workshop, and six of us went to the front of the room and shared our dreams.

I did not tell you about the other volunteers’ dreams, but in a way, my guided meditation experience was impacted by what they shared. It was wild.

The first volunteer was a woman who dreamed of being in a large library where she met and had a discussion with Martin Luther King Jr.

The second volunteer dreamed of being on the moon, playing catch with his dog.

The third volunteer dreamed of being in a forest and encountering a cathedral of sorts.

Then I shared my dream.

The fourth volunteer described an encounter with death, which appeared as a skinny white human-like figure.

The last volunteer shared a dream involving a collection of jewels.

When I met my shaman, we were in outer space (moon). We went to a castle (cathedral), and there were gems and jewels all around the outside of the castle (jewels). It was white in color (death figure, moon). When I was inside, there was a large bumping noise coming from upstairs, and I realized there were floors above the Bree-like inn where I met Aragorn. I remember thinking they were a library, or at least a place of learning. Again…wild.

Back to my encounter with Aragorn.

There he was, seated in a kingly-looking chair—but not a throne, per se. He was dressed as a Ranger of the North, his Strider persona.

There was light above him, almost like a spotlight you might find on a stage. The rest of the inn was dark, except for the glow of the fireplace off to the far right. The place was full of people feasting, drinking, and enjoying the pub.

Aragorn motioned to a chair on his right for me to sit and join him.

I asked him what the “big dream” meant. More specifically, I asked him how I might reconnect with a great and passionate love like I had experienced with my former girlfriend.

Aragorn said, “You must earn it.”

He referred to himself and his love for Arwen. He told me he had not yet earned her love. He had to prove himself worthy before they would be betrothed, and that is what I must do as well.

“Yes,” I replied, “but you are destined to become the King of Arnor and Gondor. What is my North Star? You are a warrior, and you bear the Blade That Was Broken—Andúril, the Flame of the West. What is my gift? My path? My task?”

Aragorn reached behind him and brought the sword out to show me. As he did, it transformed into a guitar.

He looked down at it, then looked at me, and without saying a word gave me one of those, There you go, looks—as if he had answered my question.

My path, according to Aragorn, is to go to places like the Prancing Pony in Bree and engage with the townsfolk. To be like him as a Ranger, bringing my gifts and being of service by performing my music for them.

Thus, the two of us sat beneath a spotlight, removed from the crowd, as if we were there to perform.

This, he seemed to say, is how I will earn the love of my own Arwen-type figure.

A very romantic hero story.

Almost a Divine Comedy or Dante and Beatrice kind of idea—the beloved who is glimpsed, longed for, and followed, not necessarily as a literal destination, but as the force that calls the hero toward becoming who he is meant to be.

But Aragorn also vowed to be my mentor in this meditation.

He would take me under his wing and help me unite with this great love, just as he was destined to do with Arwen.

I can dig it.

The guided meditation ended. We volunteers listened as the other participants shared what they had experienced and, if these dreams had been their own, what they thought they might mean.

Afterward, one of the participants came up to me. She told me she works with clients’ dreams and has encountered this kind of dream many times. She said it was a very powerful dream.

It often signifies a person’s desire to unite with the feeling of love, but it may or may not be only about romance. It can also point toward one’s true calling—a desire to continue following that North Star toward greater integration and wholeness.

Very interesting.

I thanked her and asked her name and where she had traveled from to attend the conference.

Massachusetts.

WTH? Seriously?

That is where I met and fell in love with the woman I was reunited with in my dream.

The synchronicities at this conference were amazing, and this was just one more.

I had been thinking about attending the workshop Gems and Dreams: A Sparkling Look at Dreams, Jewelry, and Gems next, and this experience sealed that decision for me.

So, off I went …

Well, my time is up for today.

There is more to come in Part 3, but I must leave you with another cliffhanger for now.

This is my own case study, but I think it has lessons and implications for anyone interested in the topics we discuss on this blog.

Come back tomorrow for the next episode of this epic encounter with a big dream—and what it might mean for finding your own way out onto the Highway to Yeah.