Perry the Dream Guardian
My husband and I enjoy watching cartoons – especially those that are designed for adults to enjoy as well as kids. One of the cartoons that we enjoy is Phineas and Ferb by Disney.
In the cartoon, there’s a character called “Perry.” Perry is a platypus who is a pet that doubles as a secret agent. I’ve got a stuffed Perry on my bed. He’s fierce and kind, understanding and respectful but still gets the job done … and there’s a point to me talking about a cartoon.
In my class on the Process of Magic by Taylor Ellwood, we talk about using thought-forms and other beings to help us. A few weeks ago, I had the idea to leverage all the energy and attention that had been given to Perry to help me with an issue I’ve had sleeping. I took the stuffed Perry toy that I have and talked to it. I asked him to help guard my dreams like he guards the boys in the cartoon. Every night I ask for what kind of dreams I’d like to have that night. It’s usually something like “restful” or “good” or “pleasant” but I have occasionally asked for “none.”
It’s been working decently overall. My dreams have not left me overtired, or waking up frustrated or angry. Dreams that would normally have me end up frustrated have somehow avoided the emotion – like someone was defending me from it (Thanks Perry!). Asking for no dreams didn’t work though .. I still got random dreams, although without the level of frustration that I normally get when stressed so it was an improvement.
Next, I think I might try a sigil and empower my Perry to help out a bit more with deeper sleep and remembering my dreams.
It’s an interesting experiment in pop culture magic.