Spirit Dreaming
Part 2: Building Your Symbolic Language
Hello!
It is a crispy cold 45 F Degrees, as our Mountain Spring weather has dipped another toe into Winter's pond, and we bounce back and forth between hot days and cold. But at least there isn't any snow.
It's been a while since my Letter on creating a Spirit Dreaming Altar went out, and even then I only gave very basic instructions.
Today I'm spiraling back over that original thread to take it into a deeper context.
Altars are tables, or spaces, full of symbols that speak to our souls and subconscious minds. It is a way to communicate that bypasses our inner critic and gives permission to live our lives the way we need to.
It is a way to communicate with our Higher Selves, as well as, Worlds and Beings beyond what we see every day.
This Letter will deal with the next layer in our Spiral Path, but first, start by going back and re-reading:
Spirit Dreaming: Part 1 Building Your Altar.
Upgrade to a Paid Subscription to access The Library Archives, and then continue below.
Questions:
Did you build an altar already?
Have you kept up with your Gratitude Practice?
Did you start, but then lose momentum, so now it's all gathering dust?
If so, take a moment, go back through the work you did do, clean off the dust and take a good look at where you started.
Is this where you still are right now? Or do you feel differently about it? What changes do you feel the need to make?
It's okay to change your mind. It's okay to need something different now. In fact altars should be reassessed from time to time because we do change, and they should change and grow with us.
Nothing in this work will ever be perfect, so you can throw that assumption out the window! As a recovering perfectionist, I know this idea may be physically painful, so, baby steps!
Know.
Once you start this clean up process continue reading below:
So how do we make the jump from building the Spirit Dreaming Altar to Dreaming with it?
This process may be a bit different for everyone, so use my process below as a guide in creating your own.
When working with Your Weaving, remember that while mimicry works in the beginning, at some point you will need to recognize your own process. Pay attention!
❤️ Light & Shadows,
Isabella, Pups and Family
The Call to Live Deeply
Sweetest Grass Roots Devotionals is about making a promise to devote time and give sacred space to our healing, our internal processes. I share my practice with you in hopes it inspires you to create your own. To show the way with words and images steeped within my subconscious tea brought to life on canvas, in songs, stories and spirit journeys. How to live more deeply within your awareness and connection of the microcosmic world, and in turn our macrocosmic universe.
To bring you along on my adventure into spirit, to show you how simple it can be, and to share in the beauty of my liminal spaces while you learn how to find your own… to make available sign posts, trail markers, bread crumbs and pin cushions.
To share Stories as Healing Containers within the container of our Sweetest Grass Roots Devotionals. ❤️
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Because I will not pretend to know your journey more than I know my own, I write within my experience as woman. Please change as needed for your experience on this journey… for such teachings apply to us all.
Grab a cup of hot cocoa, plate of brownies and sit by the window listening to bird song while you read… for we are going on an adventure!
Love, Light & Shadows…
Isabella, Pups & Family
P.S. After enjoying today's adventure, please “❤️” today’s Sweetest Grass Roots Devotionals! You can also share with a Friend by Re-Stacking this (and other) letters. Thank You for helping me spread this healing light into the world during such times.
Can't show monthly or yearly support right now? I am always grateful for a Cup of Hot Cocoa to Nourish me, while I create new abundant life, so we may all Prosper:
My Weaving
“It spirals until it unravels, and it unravels until it unfolds, and it unfolds until it opens, and when it opens, you let go.” — Sarah Elkhaldy
My Spirit Dreaming Altar is filled with symbols that speak to ME.
Communicating with words has been a struggle, and I've had to re-learn all that you read from me today.
Symbolic Language is how I re-learned to communicate with myself and others. I still depend on them for accuracy. Of course, not everyone else speaks in a Symbolic Language, and not everyone's Symbols mean the same thing, so that's still hard.
For the Spirit Dreaming Altar I built:
The symbols I have chosen for my Spirit Dreaming Altar encompass my ancestors, my heritage(s), lots of crystals rocks and stones that I have worked with in the past that mean something to me.
I'm not going to include a picture of my dream altar because I want You to create your own. I know this is harder, but it IS worth the effort!
Trust.
I am going to give you the basic assembly structure; the scaffolding, so to speak.
I do have it marked and arranged on the altar table according to how the table sits in my bedroom on my local area's compass lines, and organized by elements, although, perhaps not in the way you might expect.
My Altar Compass
North: Cold, dry winter winds mostly blow out of the North towards the east here. Think Winter-Wonderland. Element: Air
East: Dry, golden plains with a very good view of the ball of of fire that consumes the sky every morning. Think Hot, Fire, Summertime with Brightly lit days and Bonfire nights. Oh! And maybe some smores! 🤣🤣❤️ Element: Fire (dominant), Air
South: Beautiful red soil and while it is technically a desert region (as is my whole town), it is also where a lot of trees, herbs and flowers grow. The overall color scheme is red clay, sage green, and an array of colored wild flowers. Here is where the growth of Spring shows up for me. Element(s): Earth (dominant), Fire, Air
West: My city's water source resides in the western mountains as snow melt and thunder-rain storms. It's interesting because that leaves Autumn for the West, which I don't think of at first. However, in the Autumn our western mountains are covered in beautiful golden Aspen Leaves from the groves that grow here, so in the end it makes sense to me after all. Element: Water (dominate), Earth
I'm just now seeing that my next steps are to realize how this changes the Power Dynamic of the directions, elements and seasons in comparison to say the typical UK compass, which is what most magic these days is based on.
It also shows me that ‘real life’ doesn't come in a neat and tidy little package, so adjustments need to be made:
What unique energies will this bring to my work? Does it explain the way the seasons in my area work the way they do? Perhaps one of the reasons we have so many wildfires, and if so, what corrections do I need to take into account with my own work?
To make my Dreaming more successful, do I need to bring a bit more of something in particular to the table?
While part of me ruminates on this new idea, let's move ahead.
My Container at the Center
At the center of my Altar Compass is a Container that holds personal significance to my journey, and whose purpose is to hold my essence, provide support via tools and guardians, while I am Dreaming. A place where I can return to when dreams get hard or scary; a doorway back to my room, my bed, eyes open.
My Container does just that; it contains. Inside of it, I've placed small representations of my guardians to aid in my dreaming, healing herbs, and the all important cover for the top.
Each Compass Quadrant holds items that represent/ symbolize those aspects within my local area for each direction, element and season: colors, temperatures, life forms (plant, animal, mineral, mythic).
I also include the different aspects of my Self (think Archetypes) with little Divine Feminine statues for each main compass direction.
The in-between spaces of the Altar Compass (NE, SE, SW, NW) are great areas to include aspects to balance out the energies needed in order to create a shift for manifesting from the macrocosmic into the microcosmic (and for Traveling back and forth!). Especially, if you're going by your area’s personal compass and not the generalized one created in the UK.
My Tools
This is something I did with my children when they were small some 20 odd years ago. Tucking different tools they might need to work through certain dreams into their beds with them, so they felt more Prepared, Confident and Brave to go to sleep on their own. It can feel scary to feel your Self fall asleep at night, sinking into a darkness that some cultures call a ‘small death.’ It's no wonder children want a nightlight, a bedtime story and/or a parent to hold them while they fall asleep.
I know it's easy to become frustrated and impatient with this process when Netflix tugs at your attention, or the kitchen that still needs to be cleaned, or a spouse who frowns when you nuture your children.
This doesn't only apply to children either. Many adults have problems falling asleep at night because they were not nurtured as children, or because body-processes separate the mind and body causing a falling asleep sensation that feels like youre actually dying. To avoid this terror, the body shifts to the state of insomnia.
Adults can benefit from these bedtime rituals the same way children do, especially Women Becoming Crones (and all the terrifyingly unsupported phases of Menopause too many women endure).
Accept
For my children’s empowering symbolic language, we used their toys. Nightmares required protective amulets and the hero’s silver sword from their Halloween costume. Sometimes they'd wear their hero Halloween costume to bed.
When Harry Potter was all the rage, a magical wand was also tucked in. Need a magical guide and protector? That's what all the stuffed animals were for. Need an incantation? We read bedtime stories to prepare for entering the Dream World Empowered. We even wrote our own stories when needed; created our own Empowering Mythologies.
The closer we get to adulthood, the more these types of behaviors are discouraged.
This was my favorite part of being divorced with small children. No judgment when I nurtured my children in this way, or when I created the same bedtime routine for my Self. No comments to “Grow up and act like an adult,” which personally I think is unnecessary and damaging on so many levels.
This is where Spirit Dreaming Altars come into play. I approach mine from a magical childhood lens, while including some adult practicalities.
For my basic tools, I have:
A real compass that I oriented to the directions of my local area.
Figurines in different aspects of my Self (think Archetypes) with little Divine Feminine statues.
A mirror to send secret messages to my soul before sleep. What do I want to dream about? Is there a question that needs an answer?
Paper cut-out sculptures of different animal guides and protectors.
It's a little bit hard to admit, but there are plenty of stuffed animals too that are tucked into my bed, which I justify to my inner critic by calling them ‘creative pillows’ 🤣❤️.
Tools can be handmade with intent or purchased and later cleaned with intent. Hand-made dolls are a wonderful inclusion in this process.
It can become very complicated very quickly, so start small, and go from there.
I take time each day, and especially before bed, to look at, feel, and absorb the symbols on my Spirit Dreaming Altar.
My reminder to my Body, Heart, Mind and Soul that IEM Strong, Capable, Courageous, Creative, and that I have what I need to survive my trauma-filled dreams and rebuild my new life.
I'm going to stop here. This in itself is a lot to absorb.
Just Bee 🐝
Add it together with the Spirit Dreaming Part 1 Letter and take this practice deeper from where we started…
Building upon the basics required for the Traveling that will come later.
In the meantime, keep tweaking your Spirit Dreaming Altar and restart your Gratitude Practice, see below for some suggestions.
❤️
Your Weaving
As you read this work, what percolated up from your subconscious? Emotions? Thoughts? Images? Does my work inspire you to create one of your own?
Creating Your Symbolic Language:
If you essentially created a logo for Your Self, what would it include?
What pictures or symbols would it encompass?
Who am I? That's a hard one because you have to be very clear on who You really are. Can you be honest with Your Self about who You really are at Your Core?
Not personality traits. Not the sometimes characteristics, but Your Always and Never Aspects.
Start where you can. It won't all be answered today. You will peel back your layers one at a time. Which is why we give room for growth, change and revision in the altar setup for possibilities.
Who Am I?
Tools: Make a list. What items do you always need close-at-hand to be who you are and to live the life you want to live?
Look at your list. Can multiple items share a symbol? What do they have in common? What items stand completely on their own?
If you arrange them on a table what is essential? What is not? Distill and Explore.
We are in a foraging phase — this is not where we spend money on any particular items yet.
You are Nature. What are you drawn to in nature? Seasons? Temperatures?Plants, Animals and/or Minerals?
Take a little expedition with your Altar Compass. Which directions (NESW) where you live hold which elements? Earth, Air, Fire, Water?
Which direction holds the most of one of these? Where's your water source? Which direction does the wind blow from and to? What is your climate?
Make sure you have a dominant element for each direction, but it doesn't have to be what is expected. It doesn't have to be perfect. Real life tends to be messy.
Be messy in a cheap notebook right now. Just write and write what comes up. I use legal pads and then transcribe them into my little books.
Bring all your findings, your little treasures, together on a table. Hold each one, how does it make you feel? Where do you want to place it on the table within the Compass on your Altar?
What doesn't fit after all? How does that make you feel?
Get Back Into and Continue Your Gratitude Practice from the Spirit Dreaming Part 1 Letter (Upgrade Your Subscription to Access The Library Archives).
Keep it easy. Keep it simple.
“This is your thread, your lifeline, as you work through the maze — the labyrinth that is you.” — Isabella
Weave Your Personal Mythos: Is there a Mythos or Series of Mythos that you identify with?
What happens if you plug-in your own life events into that Mythos?
Take that story and merge it with the Mythos of Your Astrological Sign(s).
What is your end result? How does it make you feel? Will this new story change your life choices moving forward?
Do you agree with it? Disagree? Why? Do you have a friend or therapist who will welcome bouncing the ideas around so you may see a deeper well within your Self?
Journal Prompt for Secret Messages: Choose an idea, word line, or entire phrasing from what I’ve written here and write down everything that comes up for you in a free-flow without censorship. Go back through and circle key words and phrases from your own writing. Is there a secret message hidden within your subconscious? Within your Soul?
Take it one step further, and continue to journal about how that secret message makes you feel. Do you agree with it? Disagree? Why? Do you have a friend or therapist who will welcome bouncing the ideas around so you may see a deeper well within your Self?
Accessing Spirit through Creation… Words, Artwork, Jewelry, DIY Rosary or Prayer Beads. Create a more physical practice through Yoga, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Nature Walks and more! Pick one or two for your practice today and see what happens! Don’t forget to journal about it so your future self will have a road map on challenging days.
Today’s Resources
Line “…to make available sign posts, trail markers, bread crumbs and pin cushions.” : Refers to all the different sign posts and trail markers that you might find in fairy tales and wisdom stories. Bread crumbs famously found in Hansel and Gretel, and following the pin cushion comes from my family’s deep dark forest roots across the ocean.
Poetry/Quotes/Images: Unless otherwise stated, I wrote/ created it :) IEM 2025
Glowing Lights Image Photo credit: pexels-nothing-ahead-6789767
My Journal Entries: Dated May 2025.
Books:
Crone Wars Series by Lydia Hawke phrase in book 3 (I re-arranged some things but this overall combination of Symbolic Language is credited here): Know, Accept, Trust, Be.
Check out my Notes inside the Substack App to see how the puppies are doing and other fun tidbits I post!
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❤️ Light & Shadows,
Isabella, Pups & Family
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Disclaimer
I do not get paid for recommending any third-party products or materials that may be included on this journey. I simply share this information from my own beloved practice, so you have a wider range of options available for building your own.
Please take responsibility for your own devotional practice and health by making sure you do your proper research, which may include speaking with (but not limited to) your doctor, medical provider and/or mental health therapist before integrating new lifestyles, herbs, foods and practices, etc.
These Letters are about deepening your own personal world-spirit-view and practices to help heal your self, and by extension our communities and, perhaps even, the world. These sharings do not certify you with any particular cultural or vocational title.
Rooted and Anchored in the Deeply Spiritual Mountains of Colorado, we work under the Women's Model of Healing the Heart, Body, Mind and Soul through many modalities…
Including, but not limited to: the Healing that can occur through the telling of Feminine-based Stories, Myth and Metaphor, that works in compliment with modern medicine. Healing is not the same thing as ‘curing’ and our content and/or services are not considered westernized medicine, so please speak with your physician/ mental health therapist for any health issues that require medical monitoring, medication, etc. While I do have a variety of qualifications and trainings to share this educational material, I am not your medical provider and/or mental health therapist (etc); engaging in any and all activities, products, and/or practices stemming from this publication, or any other publication, written by Isabella E McClellan, are utilized at your own risk; results are not guaranteed, any and all sales are “as is” and final.
Thank YOU! ❤️
Love, Light & Shadows,
Isabella, Pups and Family
Thank YOU again for helping to support my Great Works!
PS… After enjoying today's adventure, please “❤️” today’s Sweetest Grass Roots Devotionals! You can also share with a Friend by Re-Stacking this (and other) letters. Thank You for helping me spread this healing light into the world during such times.
