The Dragon Slayer Dream

 

Almost 12 years ago I had a vision that I have only shared a handful of times. Some experiences are sacred and shouldn’t be taken lightly so I have kept it close to my heart.  

 

Last Sunday, as I woke from sleep and the rose gold light of the sun reflected off the snowy mountains and filled my bedroom window, the words came to my mind “share your vision today.” I knew immediately which vision it was.

 

So I shared it with a handful of friends as we worshiped together. And again today,  after a conversation with another friend who likened our current struggle to find truth with a battle for what is right, the thought came again to share my vision.  

 

As you read please know this truth: this vision is about each of us, not just a single individual.  We spend our lifetimes believing that we are small,  insignificant,  and unimportant. We begin to believe that our thoughts,  words,  and actions are of no consequence in the onslaught of worldwide contention and pain.  

 

But it isn’t true. 

 

We are children of a living, loving God. We have conquered evil before and we will do it again.  

 

Remember who you ALREADY are.  The world needs our strength of character, our commitment to truth, and our compassion for one another. The world will change as we do and become the place of peace we desire it to be. It is an eternal truth worth defending. 

 

 

Dragon Slayer Vision

March 18, 2010

I woke up out of a dream/vision last night, incredibly impressed with what I saw and heard.

In my vision I was standing in a large open room shaped like the rotunda in the Capitol building in Washington DC. On the other side of the room from me stood a warrior, dressed and armed for battle. Someone else was standing with me in the dream, though I wasn’t completely certain who it was. I felt he was a spirit guide and well-known to me but not recognizable at that moment.

I was in awe of the warrior. She was strong, she stood straight and with firmness. Her armor and clothing were beautiful, glowing, and seemed to radiate a power of its own. I felt that her armor was complete, though it looked different than I would expect armor to look. Instead of a helmet that covered her head completely she wore a thick circlet on the top of her long, loose hair. It was almost like a crown, but it seemed to be both a marker of rank and protection. 

 

She was wearing a sword with a large hilt low on her left hip, tied on with what looked to be a sash or girdle made of a silken type material dyed a deep, rich purple-blue color. She wore a cloak of the same material that fastened at her shoulders to the breastplate she wore. 

 

I couldn’t see a visible shield, but I could FEEL it, as if she was surrounded and protected by a large shield. She didn’t have to hold her shield, it held her. 

 

On her feet were simple, Roman type sandals. Under the sash, falling from her hips to her calves, was a pleated skirt made of an unadorned, light colored fabric.

The breastplate and long armbands that went from her wrists to just below her elbows were made of a material that I had never seen before. It looked almost like fish scales, fashioned of iridescent gold and silver, and woven into a body-fitting, impenetrable mesh that covered her from collarbone to her lower abdomen, resting under her sash girdling. It wasn’t clunky or huge. It was lithe and beautiful, moving and breathing as she moved. It shimmered and caught the light when she laughed, appearing to glow.

I wanted to speak to her so badly. I knew in my heart that she had spoken a quote about slaying dragons that I wanted to hear again. I wanted to write it down and put it in a book. I wanted to put it on my wall and see it every day.

I rushed across the open room to stand in front of her, my companion coming with me. I spoke to her, saying “You said something amazing, can you remember what you said? Can I write it down?”

She just smiled and nodded at me.

I turned to my companion and gestured to the warrior, “She said something amazing, I know she did. I really need to write it down. What she said really was important, people will want to hear it again.” I turned my head back to her, “Please, can you tell me what you said?”

She just kept smiling and shook her head like she was laughing, not unkindly but as if my question was humorous. I asked her again “Please tell me the quote you said about slaying dragons.”

She laughed out loud, shook her head, then grew serious and looked me directly in the eyes with a very penetrating, deep gaze and drew her sword.

It was majestic. So phenomenally beautiful that I can’t really describe it. There’s just no other way to explain it than beauty. I have never been one to be impressed by weaponry or to consider a weapon beautiful, but this blade took my breath away. It was a moment similar to the one scene in C.S. Lewis’ “The Last Battle” when the Calormen man tells Aslan that he would rather be killed by Aslan than to live and worship another God. In that moment, looking at that blade, I would gladly have been killed by its power than live without having seen it. The blade was glowing, filled with light, and words in a language I didn’t recognize inscribed all along the blade. The hilt was large, providing protection for her hand.

She raised her drawn sword to shoulder height so that the blade pointed directly at my face, extending from her straight and steady arm. She stood so strong, pure, and beautiful. I was completely overwhelmed at her beauty and strength as she stood there in her armor that protected and strengthened her, from her crown-like helmet, her breastplate that fit like a second skin, all the way down to her sandaled feet. Seconds before she spoke I realized what I was seeing: she was wearing the armor of God.

She stood there, piercing me with her eyes, sword pointed at me, and in a soft but ringing voice said very clearly, “I AM you and we were slaying dragons before the world was. You NEED to remember it.”

My mouth fell open in shock. I was this beautiful, strong, faithful, amazing warrior?  How could I be HER? How could she be ME? I felt weak, short, fat, and dumpy next to her. 

 

And yet…I did recognize some things about her. The gold-red hair of my youth, her humor, her smile, some of her mannerisms, the way she shook her head, the way she laughed.

The words she spoke about slaying dragons… Those were MY words?

As I stood there shocked I felt myself slipping away from her, waking up, leaving the rotunda. I was so frustrated, I wanted to fall back to sleep and stay there. I found myself calling out to her again asking what we had said about slaying dragons. At that, she threw back her head and laughed out loud at my silliness as the scene dissolved and I woke.

I started chuckling too as I came fully awake and realized that I didn’t need to remember someone else’s words,  I needed to write my own. I understood that I needed to help others see themselves as the warriors they are. To help them see their divine,  spiritual self. And, as my husband William often says, to “become who they already are.” 

 

We must learn to see our own light, our own strength and compassion,  and to know its source. Then in that strength we must do the work the Armor of God was designed for.  

 

 

Ephesians 6:10-20 KJV

 

“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

 

Let us pray for one another, that our hearts will be joined in peace.  Then let us add our voices and the work of our hands to those prayers and bring about the change we’ve sought for in our hearts.  

 

-Vernie Lynn DeMille