Super-long dream coming up. I already posted this on another board but figured someone here might also find it interesting. This was a VERY strange dream for me, not because it was one of those weird fever-dreams that don't make sense, but because it's a subject that I don't think about, consciously or not. I am not a very "woo, girl power" type of person, and I am non-religious/non-spiritual. Normally if someone told me a story like this, I would roll my eyes and think they were too melodramatic for their own good, so the fact that it stuck with me for a few days before I wrote it down is definitely odd. Actually, the fact that it was NOT a weird fever-dream is odd in and of itself. Usually my dreams are pretty disjointed, but this played out like a movie. Very linear and very clear.
A word of warning - it deals with "girl stuff" so if you're squeamish about blood, don't read.
The first thing I remember is that I'm walking along a path in a medieval setting - people are wearing garb, there's a large castle nearby, and there are knights on horses coming up the path behind me - maybe 15 or 20 of them. I notice almost all of the knights are women, but there are several men too. All are wearing leather armor and carrying swords, daggers, or bows and arrows. They command my full attention and I feel a sense of majesty about them - they are to be trusted, not feared, and would do anything to protect this kingdom and the people in it. I get a distinct feeling that they would do anything I ask of them, but I also know that I would never ask them to do anything that would go against their nature - not necessarily because I am a good person, but because they are, and it would not be right for me to do so. I also feel that they are very powerful warriors, and that they would win any battle because it's part of their nature - that they are somehow the universe's way of balancing out any evil in the world.
In the front of this line of knights on horses is a man on foot, portly and gruff, about 50 years old, who appears to be commanding the knights, but somehow I know that he answers to them, not the other way around - almost like he is protecting their identities. I can tell that even though he is surly, he is not heartless. He can also be trusted completely, but he doesn't carry the same nobility as the knights. He tells me to move off the path so they can get through and I clumsily oblige, apologizing. He sourly tells me not to apologize and I feel embarrassed, like I've offended him somehow. This apparently frustrates him even more and he mutters under his breath at me as he walks past.
As the group of knights passes by, I hear a commotion up ahead of them. Everything is suddenly chaotic as they charge by, ready to fight. The gruff man steps off the path to let them through and is shouting orders at them. I notice that as they go past, beaded bracelets are falling off their arms and landing on the ground, breaking and throwing glass and clay beads everywhere. As the last horse charges past, I run to the path to pick up these beads in order to give them back, feeling that they are very important in some way. As I'm putting the beads in my basket, the man starts yelling at me. I hurriedly try to explain that I'm not stealing them, I'm going to give them back, and he yells that I need to get to the castle immediately. I'm flustered at this point and worried that I'm being punished for stealing, and he becomes more angry. "Just drop the basket and get to the castle, we need you NOW!" This statement confuses me, and I drop everything and run as fast as I can. They need me? Who? Why?
I make it to the castle and there is utter bedlam. People are shouting and running everywhere, and I can't figure out where to go. As I'm standing there in a panic, I feel a trickle going down my leg; I look down and realize that my period has started. Blood is now gushing out of me and I have no way to stop it or clean it up. I'm deeply embarrassed but can't figure out where I can go to hide or clean up. A woman grabs my arm and says, "This way," and sends me running down a corridor. There are no other people down here, and I didn't even know this alley existed until now. As we're running, she yells to me, "How serious are you about this?" I have no idea what she's talking about and stumble on my words, unable to make a sound. "How serious are you?! We need to know! Will you fight?" she screams. I feel that I'm about to make the most important decision of my life and that there is no going back no matter which way I answer. Somehow I feel that answering "no" would be the biggest mistake I could make. "Yes, I'll fight, but what are you talking about?" I say, frightened. The woman pushes me into an opening in the wall that's just big enough for me to crouch through, and says, "Go." I look ahead and see that there is water gushing through this tiny passageway - so much that it fills it to the top. I suddenly wonder if she's trying to kill me. If I go in there and there's no way out...
"If you're going to do this, you need to go now! There's no more time! You're needed!" she yells. I realize that she's not going to let me back out anyway, so I take a deep breath and jump into the rushing water. I slide down the inclined passageway with no control, wondering how far it will go and whether I'll be able to take another breath. I can tell that she's sliding down right behind me and that makes me feel slightly better, but it doesn't answer my questions either. We get to a spot where the passageway isn't inclined anymore, and somehow I hear her say, "You have a choice; you can open your mouth and breathe the water and continue forward, or you can turn your head and turn away." I realize that if I breathe in the water I will most likely die, but it's the path I have to take and I will be alright. If I turn my head, it will burst my eardrums but I wouldn't die; I'd be free to live my life as it was before, but I would regret the decision forever. My blood is now mixing with the water, making it even harder to see, and I realize time is running out. I'm scared to death to do so, but I move forward and breathe in the water... but I realize I'm breathing air instead. The water level starts going down and is not filling the corridor anymore. I'm sliding downward again. As I slide, my clothes are falling off and I can't do anything to hold onto them.
I finally burst out into the open outside the castle, completely naked by now, and continue down what is now an open water flume. The woman is not behind me anymore; her work is done. I see that there is a round pool at the bottom of the flume, in the middle of a huge field of rolling hills. There is forest and a dirt path surrounding the field in the distance. I realize it's the same forest I was in before, but I hadn't known this field or the pool existed, even though I must have walked past it before. Even though it was daytime when I was at the castle, it's now nighttime here. The full moon is out, and I can see everything perfectly. I splash down into the pool and swim to the surface. Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I look around at smiling faces - there are 6 or 7 women, and one man, treading water along the edges of the pool, and all are grinning at me, almost giggling, but I can tell that they're kindhearted and are only amused at how bewildered I look. I suddenly feel ashamed that I have dirtied this pool with my blood, but I then see that the water is perfectly clear. I realize that I'm still menstruating, but the blood becomes part of the water and that's what makes the water pure. It's so clear that it is like crystal and reflects the moonlight all the way to the bottom of the pool, easily 20 feet - the water almost glows, like every atom of it is reflecting the light, not just the surface.
I suddenly realize that all of them went through the same ritual that I just did, and that we are all knights now. Men can become these knights also, but only a very few are chosen and they must be entirely pure of heart. Only those men that have always had the utmost respect for the women around them would be allowed to join. They would not, however, have the same power that the women do, because our power comes from the fact that we menstruate - a sort of blood magic. As I am contemplating this, I hear commotion in the distance and see horses coming through the forest and charging up the path toward the castle, and know that we have to go defend our people. I think back to the gruff man and realize that he was not frustrated that I was in the way - he was frustrated because I was so timid and underestimated myself terribly, when really I held a great amount of power. I smile and wake up.