<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Dreaming a Musical Universe</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">( A Dream Group Experience )</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">Some say a Great Spirit dreamed the universe into being.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> Versions vary in different lands. Yahweh proclaimed: </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">“Let there be light,” and Purusha: “enveloped the earth</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> with outstretched hands,” but I’ll take the dream version,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">infused with rhythm, melody, and harmony, bone flutes</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> and drums, the aboriginal sounds of song birds, the</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">rumbling of thunder, the rattle of snakes, and the howling</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> of coyotes . </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">Our monthly dream group of eight gathered recently</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> and yes, we too, discovered an entrance to the world</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">dreamed by deities and elves; we were challenged to</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> explore instruments unknown to ourselves, and called</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">through portals whose entrance visas required Afro-Cuban</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> rhythms played with exacting precision.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">We learned that the solos we are called to perform first</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> require the loving presence and embraces of parents</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">and ancestors, and that we’ve been called to play wind</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> instruments that breath primordial sounds where spirits</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> roam, reminding us that music is the shortest way home.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">Flutes and lutes, not brick and mortar, are the stuff of</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> creation. And in<i> </i>this universe, dreaming is the</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">foundation. Each time we re-enter the dream world, </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"> we keep hearing the same musical refrain:</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"><i>You are welcome to come home. </i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"><i> You are welcome to come home.</i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Bruce Silverman</div></div></body></html>