(art by Scott Claughton – http://www.redbubble.com/people/scootarts)
Lucid Dreaming From An African Lens
While surviving the challenges of the new land the messages from the dreamers in the community were crucial as the slaves used dreams to connect to enlightened ancestors for guidance, healing, and solace. The African slaves were far away from their sacred family shrines in which they gathered ancestral wisdom.
Therefore, they believed that ancestors came through dreams to touch the spirit of descendants when in trouble. Dreamers were initiated after their first prophetic dream and sequestered for many years in order to interpret the dreams for messages to give the community (not individuals) as a divination. For the slave to recall, recollect, ancient teachings through a dream was in itself an act of liberation.
In western thought many may see the Cards as a psychological tool for analysis of individual personalities. Some may see it as a psychic tool for personal investigation or answers to questions of daily living. In my view the Black Angel Cards are more related to unseen aspects of our lives. They are a way of recollecting the wisdom within us to heal the disconnection from the earth; and heal the social disturbances within community and ourselves. In this vain the Cards are medicine that is indigenous to the earth.