Dreams, Dots, and Dancing Gods

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” – Albert Einstein, letter to family friend, 1955

Beyond the Wall

I’m still trying to make sense of a recent hypnagogic experience. Not quite awake, my eyes had just begun to focus on the first thing they landed on, a framed piece of art hanging on the wall. At first glance it should have been an ordinary, familiar scene. Instead, I did a double take.

The upper-left corner of the picture seemed to come alive. A pool of white bubbled with black dots, flowing outward as if reality had sprung a leak. The display appeared to emerge directly from the frame, overlaying the wall beside it. Even when I blinked, the vision didn’t fade.

The artwork in question? My Kokopelli creation, “9 Gods Dancing.”

Symbolism: Kokopelli, a humpbacked flute-player from Native American Southwest traditions, is a symbol of fertility, joy, music, and abundance. Seeing the wall dissolve beside his image felt almost like a trickster’s calling card, opening a window where solid space became fluid.

I stared in amazement; fully aware I was in a liminal state — the threshold between sleeping and waking — watching what felt like “reality” bleed into something other. A pool of moving dots in place of a wall. Fascinating.

Liminal Space: a zone of transition, a between-place, neither here nor there — but open to possibility.

Why? Why not?

Reflecting on the experience, I thought of William Blake’s words: “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” What I saw was not only a visual anomaly but also a prompt, a nudge to engage my art in a new way. I had been experimenting with how to expand my pieces into collage, but this felt like something more: guidance without words, a suggestion beyond influence. An opening of perception.

Searching for context, I came across a passage that seemed to fit. Lightly edited: “Many famous creatives throughout history have harnessed the power of the hypnagogic state. Thomas Edison would often take brief naps while holding a steel ball in each hand. As he drifted off to sleep and his muscles relaxed, the balls would drop and wake him, allowing him to capture the creative ideas that emerged during his hypnagogic state. Similarly, artists like Salvador Dalí and Mary Shelley are said to have drawn inspiration from the vivid imagery and unconventional associations experienced in this liminal phase of consciousness.” Source

I am still playing with that dynamic image, revisiting the moment in my mind, where imagination and perception collide, and the everyday becomes a living canvas for something larger than ourselves. Again, the crossroad. Something is calling me.

Envisioning Kokopelli as an instigator. He might have had a hand in it — flute-playing trickster, opening a door between worlds just long enough for me to glimpse the dance of creation in motion. The wall became fluid, the picture bled into infinity, and I was reminded that art comes alive through us.

Messenger

Almost ready to post this when I discovered a friend crawling on my arm. I was outside earlier, and this one must have hitched a ride.

Spiritual Meaning of the Walking Stick

Camouflage & Invisibility: The walking stick survives by blending seamlessly with its surroundings. Spiritually, this reflects the ability to move quietly, unnoticed, in alignment with nature’s rhythms. It is about stealth, patience, and trust in subtlety.

Stillness & Observation: Its long pauses, motionless stance, and careful steps embody a lesson in presence — knowing when to move and when to remain still.

Patience & Timing: The stick bug reminds us transformation and revelation often come slowly, almost imperceptibly. It is a teacher of right timing and the power of quiet persistence.

Shape-shifting Reality: Its uncanny resemblance to a twig or branch is a living metaphor of perception, how easily what is “real” can blur or morph depending on the observer. This links beautifully with your wall dissolving into dots: both are reminders that reality is not fixed, but flexible and dependent on perspective.

Insight

Message from the Guides (with an assist): “You saw the wall dissolve because you are ready to dissolve your own boundaries. The art you create is not confined to its frame. It is a doorway. The white pool and black dots are seeds of possibility, flowing outward, waiting to be arranged. Behind them, no wall, only open space.

This is how reality works when you stop believing it is fixed. Let Kokopelli remind you: creation is play, music, and movement. Your art is alive, and it longs to dance beyond its borders.”

The Walking Stick: As you wrote these words, a walking stick appeared. This insect thrives by disappearing into its surroundings, a master of camouflage and stillness. Spiritually, it teaches invisibility as strength, patience as power, and the art of blending with the environment until the moment of movement arrives. Its presence at this exact time underscores the message: reality is never as solid as it seems.

Just as the walking stick shifts between twig and insect, your vision revealed a wall shifting between solid and fluid. Your guides remind you that creativity, like the stick bug, is about knowing when to emerge from stillness. And when you do, it is with perfect timing and quiet grace.

How’s that for synchronicity? A living punctuation mark.