Sun and moon dream catchers represent the duality that we create from the underlying oneness of the universe.  The moon changes, the sun is changeless, they are as different as day and night, and yet they are One in the seamlessness of reality.  They teach us that we, too, Different as we may seem, are connected to everything else in the Web of Life.  That which is outside the world of time and space is also within it because the One is not limited.  This is the Dance of the Spiral, the All that is everywhere and no-where at the same time and is not, spiraling into and out of existence, within time and timeless, defined in space and indefinable.

The Marriage of the Sun and Moon

“Now he is ready. He is grounded in the knowledge of one people's way of knowing – they call it science – and another people's love of Mother Earth and Father Sky.”

“But is his heart still open? Can he approach life with joy and a light heart?”

“Yes! That's the amazing part! He has not forgotten how to be a playful connection between Mother Earth and Father Sky!”

“Then he will be able to hear with his heart? He will be able to tell our stories?”

“At first he will think that he is the one who is being inventive and creative. We will let him think that for a few years. The time will come when we will show him that he is a co-creator of the stories, that they do not originate with him. We must be careful to avoid inflating his ego. He has many surprises ahead.”

“There is a fine distinction between being humble and having a low self-esteem. The only way to receive the power that is naturally his begins with a sense of worthiness. Then with a balance of open mind and open heart he can accept the gifts of being fully human.”

“Yes, we will arrange for him to experience the possibilities slowly enough so that he understands that WHO is the giver and 'what' is the receiver. He must know the difference between Allen as 'WHO' and Allen as 'what.' Allen as 'what' is always being born and dying. Allen as 'WHO' is beyond all limitation.”

“His training as a scientist and as a teacher should give him the capacity to speak and to do so with a breadth of knowledge. With the wisdom of the spirals he can become a bridge, a rainbow bridge, to a balanced way of being human. He will Sing the Songs and Dance the Spiral.”

Merely playing with the possibilities of materials and new ideas, I was shown new forms and combinations. I tied a small dream catcher inside an incomplete ring shaped like a “C.” It was very simple yet beautiful. Of contrasting colors, it looked like a moon with a sun suspended inside it, connected by a thin, nearly invisible thread. I wrote its name and its story.

I thought that I had created this dream catcher and its story, and I was very pleased with my creations. Two years later I discovered that thousands of years ago Native American people from the Southwest told the story almost exactly the same way – the Marriage of the Sun and Moon. I realized that I was not creating these stories by myself. I had a lot of help. I was tuned to a dream catcher “channel,” receiving designs and stories intuitively from beyond the world of time and space. Three years later I learned about the Ojibwe tradition of manidoog', receiving spiritual guidance directly from spirit. This is how all spiritual teachings begin. They will be told and retold from generation to generation in stories, kept alive by cultural memory and tradition. But they first came manidoog'.

When I was about 10 years old I experienced a total eclipse of the sun. For the duration of the eclipse I saw flames dancing around the sun and moon, in the trees, and on the buildings of the farmyard. It still lives in my memory and I described this a few years ago:

Red, this living morning light,
hours after dawn.
The sun has crossed the magic line
that gathers close the night
to meet the moon and share the sky
by merging into one.
The dimming of the day affords
the brilliant flash of starry sport
as all around me flames cavort
and dance the rhythms of the stars.
My soul and body tuned
with a dark and blazing moon,
I AM one in the loving Cosmic Heart
My dream awake
the Breath of Sleep
to stir my being as I make
my Pilgrimage
through sunlit Deep
until I find my home aright
in star-bright heavens
 of the night.

allen aslan heart

Nearly two years later I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico on a cross-country marketing and teaching journey when my friend Linda suggested that I look at a video with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell. They were discussing myths and their power. Joseph Campbell began to tell of the Sun and Moon Calendar in a cave of Chaco Canyon. The intimate connection of the Sun and Moon was not a new idea that I had discovered but a very old one.