Singing at Church, Children Plant Time Capsules

Drawn with ProCreate on iPad

I am at my church. It looks similar to previous dreams: It is much lighter, more open and spacious than my waking life church (which is saying something; the waking life church itself very open and spacious). There are a ton of people here. It’s almost too difficult to walk around, there are so many people. The mood is cheerful, almost celebratory.

I become aware that I am supposed to sing “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” for today’s anthem. I forgot I was supposed to do this. I look up the lyrics on my phone - the words are small and the screen keeps going dark.

I see someone who used to be in Youth Group when I was a mentor - it’s so great to see him! He’s grown up now. We greet each other and hug. I see another young woman who used to be in Youth Group - she comes up to me through all the people and says “Hi, Eliz!” We hug as well. I’m so happy to see them both.

Now we are all outside in front of the church - it’s a giant, open area, like a great grassy field. It’s overcast, but very bright out. People are milling about, and I think we are all going to walk across the field for something. As we are walking, I see several rows of little containers with slightly domed screw tops of different colors. They are under the earth, we can see into a cross section of where they are buried. They are all held together by with a single layer of horizontal chicken wire. The children from Sunday School have buried them there as little time capsules. They are partially filled with a white liquid - it may be milk, but we’re not sure. I am talking with another woman, who remarks how lovely it is that the children did this. I agree.

Associations: A day or two before having this dream, I underwent a routine medical procedure which required I be put under general anesthesia. The anesthetic I was injected with was a milky white substance. I looked it up after having this dream and discovered that it was likely Propofol. I was amused to see that the chemical structure resembled a chicken wire shape.

Reflections/Questions: I’m curious about the children putting little capsules underground, half-filled with a substance I associate with being “put under”. I’m interested in seeing the grown-up children from past Youth Group iterations in the dream, and then seeing time capsules left by Sunday School children. It feels like a through-line of past and future.

The dream imagery and underground themes remind me of my Burial Ground dream from 2013 and my Train Tracks dream from 2011. I’m always curious when things are found underground in my dreams; it tends to be generative (although sometimes more than I bargained for).