Have you ever noticed your unconscious wishes? 

These are desires that are often very subtle or hard to identify. 

They can be tiny fleeting desires or they can be so profound that your conscious mind has trouble capturing the desire’s exact form. 
 
Recently, I had an unconscious wish of wanting to try rhubarb flavored ice cream. A few days later, my friend Laura surprised me and another friend with some RHUBARB frozen yogurt that she’d made from her recently acquired ice cream maker.

When an unconscious wish comes true, you often will recognize it.

Then there are unconscious wishes which unfold over many years and are very meaningful to your life path. These are the ones you can really pay attention to, because they reveal aspects of your true self and purpose.

When I was eight years old, I saw the animated film “ The Last Unicorn”. In the opening credits montage, a Unicorn kneels down to purify the water flowing from a fountain while the surrounding medieval hunters and forest creatures gaze upon it with awe. This enchanting scene was only a few seconds long yet it really left an impression on me. 

Of course, it was the 1980’s so I had no computer or internet to google “medieval unicorn kneeling by a fountain”. The beautiful image entered into my heart quietly, without fanfare, yet it was a seed that would grow into something notable.

At some point in adulthood, I learned that the opening scene was based on an actual tapestry called The Hunt for the Unicorn: “one of the most famous and spectacular but enigmatic survivors of the late Middle Ages”. It is one of seven extremely precious works of medieval art known as the Unicorn Tapestries. (source: Wikipedia)

In 2010, while I was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I learned that the Unicorn Tapestries were part of the Museum’s collection. Alas, they were housed at another museum called The Cloisters and circumstances prevented me from seeing the Tapestries in person.

In February 2020, while browsing online for a renovation tool that I couldn’t find locally, I suddenly thought of searching for a reproduction of that Unicorn tapestry. After all this time, I finally conceived of the idea that someone might have created a consumer-level re-creation of one of the greatest medieval works of art ever produced!

(The originals were woven in the early 1500’s and only the wealthiest royal families could commission such fine works of art for their castles. In 2002, hand-woven reproductions of the Unicorn Tapestries were commissioned for the Sterling Castle in Scotland. That set took 13 years to complete and cost £2 million.)

Since the internet is one of the great wonders of the modern world, I soon found a woven reproduction from a vendor in Russia. My eight-year old self high-fived my adult self in disbelief.

After four months of delays due to the global pandemic, the tapestry finally arrived in my mailbox. With tremendous delight, I hung it up in my teaching space where I hope future students will be able to enjoy it with me. (see image below)

When Unconscious Wishes Are Connected to Something Deeper

While some wishes are playful winks from your psyche, certain wishes are actually reflections of your soul’s deeper nature.

The rhubarb ice cream was a playful wink; the Unicorn tapestry is a symbol of my sacred dream.

I define a Sacred Dream as an exquisite vision that exists within you, even before you are conscious of it. It is a timeless aspect of who you are and reflects what you care most deeply about. 

When you finally do conceive of these visionary dreams on a conscious level, your childhood self will nod and say: Oh I have always loved or longed for THIS but didn’t have the ability to name it or describe it.

In other words, sacred dreams have been held in your heart since childhood, yet they may not become fully conscious or understood until adulthood.

For me, the medieval Unicorn is a recurring symbol of my sacred dream of the True, Good and Beautiful within Humanity’s soul. Over the last 15 years, it has been my mission to help people heal from self-doubt, fear or cynicism and commit to their sacred self and dreams.

When we forget what is sacred and beautiful to us, we lose our purpose and direction. We live in survival mode and waste our precious days focusing on meaningless tasks or unfulfilling goals. Living the “grind” instead of living the “dream”.

We are not here simply to survive. We are here to love and find ways to honor what we love. 

Living the dream is not about material things, productivity or achievements. It’s about expressing your soul through how you live and how you interact with others. While wealth or success can be part of your experience, it is not a sacred dream.

What unconscious wish or deep yearning from childhood does your adult self want to express or honor? 

What precious values do you hold in your heart, which you would like to express more visibly through your relationships, creations and projects over the coming chapter of life? 

These are the timeless questions that I can support you in exploring, if you feel called. 

With deep reverence for your life,