Forest Ritual Dream - Vietnam
Along my travels in Southeast Asia, I met a lovely Vietnamese woman. Upon my return to the States, I received a text stating that she was startled by one of her dreams. She was seeking help understanding its meaning. She didn’t know what to make of it and more than anything, she was quite concerned. I prayed about it and waited on the Lord for insight. What’s so amazing about this is that by her contacting me, the Lord reminded me of the words of a prophet spoken over me in 2019. I began to see how his words prayed over me so long ago, words that seemed so impossible, continue to unfold in my life today. We can never imagine what the Lord is doing in our lives and what a gift they are when you see how only God can connect two sisters-in-the-Lord, from different countries. continents, and cultures, and reveal mysteries that only he can reveal. The Lord is good. I hope you can glean wisdom from her willingness to share her dream.
Please note I kept most of her dream in its original text. English is her second language and I didn’t want to change things specific to her cultural surroundings.
Forest Ritual Dream
I saw that I was in a forest village that was gray and a bit dark, though I felt safe. I knew it was a holiday and it was as though I was on vacation. I was standing on the wood balcony and looking out. There was a crowd not far from where I was standing and as I walked toward the crowd, I saw an animal badly hurt, with purple injuries moving strangely, scared (zombie-like). I continued to approach toward the crowd.
There were elders and one old man asked people to put the big cradles on the river. (The cradles are made of bamboo and had big holes in them. They were individual cradles for one person with the shape of a little boat.) Some women began to bleed. It was like a bite with four holes (purple or black blood). When the women were in the cradles and water got on the cradles, the women began to sink. I shouted, “She would be death by doing that,” and the old man said, “They would die if they don’t go on this kind of ritual.” They believed it was some kind of devil work and they were doing this ritual to overcome that.
I was afraid those people were dying and doing evil work and I knew it would not save them, but in the dream, they thought they could save themselves. The animal in the dream got the injury as those women I sensed like the animal bit them and spread the same injury and infection. I had inner thoughts in the dream that only Jesus saves and I saw myself saying those women would die and knew they were very superstitious. End of dream.
Interpretation of the dream:
As I stated above, this dream disturbed her and that’s what triggered her to reach out to me. When I have dreams of this nature, I like to turn them upside down and see them through the eyes of the Lord, not the fear of the enemy. I don’t want to give the enemy any more focus than necessary and I want to rebuke him as soon as I sense the enemies’ attacks.
It is good to recognize feelings and emotions in dreams and she did just that. Though the dream is dark and scary, and appears evil, she was not afraid. She was full of faith in the dream and the dream confirms who she is in real life. She is a woman of great faith.
As a woman of God, she is one who is walking faithfully with the Lord. Many times God uses dreams to guide us on how to pray and intercede. In this dream, I see how the Lord is building up her faith and perhaps it is a way to strengthen her confidence on how to step out and be more bold for him. I say perhaps, because I am sharing what I feel the dream is about and now it is a time for her to pray it through and seek the Lord about next steps.
Forest: a forest is often a place where dark, idolatry and religious practices take place. This is often more commonplace in her part of the world where dark Hindu and Buddhist practices take place. She started out in the dream on a balcony, which represents where she is standing in her faith, her calling (higher ground, higher calling, perhaps a prophetic calling). I think she should pray specifically about this but the key is she is coming from a place in the spiritual realm where she is walking with Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:4-6).
Zombie crowd: this symbolically represents people who are walking around spiritually dead; those who need Christ.
Purple: purple is often symbolic of royalty so I think this confirms it is a religious ceremony of some type taking place in the forest. Also confirming, dark spiritual spiritual practices.
Four: four often represents the creation of rule and dominion, the earth, flesh. This setting is not a place where Christ is being lifted up.
Cradles/boats: Cradle boats are made of bamboo and used for fishing and specific to their culture. In general, we typically dream from our own cultural experiences and perspectives. Many times a boat in a dream represents ministry and in this case, I think it highlights how large of a religious group in the forest they were. Their dark practices don’t stay within the woods, they set off and their “ministry,” dark works, reach far and wide. Thus, we are to be fishers of men for Jesus. Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10
The dream ended before she spoke any words. However, in the dream, she was afraid those people were dying and doing evil work, yet they thought they could save themselves by the practices they were performing. Her inner thoughts were that only Jesus could save them and she found herself thinking those women would die because they were very superstitious. She had discernment in the dream and what they were practicing would not save them, physically or spiritually.
In real life, my new friend stated that she has desired to do more evangelizing and coaching of women, but is unsure how to go about it. The dream focuses on women; therefore, this dream is a good reminder that she should pray and ask the Lord how she could minister more to women daily. Are there people in her community, such as this?
She has a passion for seeing people healed and to help bring others to know God more. She currently works for a center, but there are regulations and she is limited in sharing her faith. There is a place and time for everything and the Lord will make things clear to her at the proper time. Ecclesiastes 3:1
From what the dream highlights, she stood strong in her faith and did not do what others were doing. I would use this dream as a way to reflect on how she is in real life. We all want to have the kind of faith and boldness when confronted by those who are practicing dark spiritual rituals.
FIVE WAYS TO USE THIS DREAM TO INTERCEDE:
Pray for discernment. Psalm 119:125; Romans 12:2; Hebrews 5:14; I Kings 3:11
Pray that your spiritual senses remain awakened.
Pray for boldness to stand up when you see false religious practices taking place. “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence…” Acts 28:31 “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31; 2 Corinthians 3:12
Pray to love people through God’s eyes: People’s lives are at stake, physically and spiritually. Matthew 12:11-12
Ask the Lord to remain strong and unashamed of the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16; Philippians 1:20; 2 Timothy 1:12
Pray that the Lord will open doors of opportunity within and beyond the church walls for ministry to women. “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison…” Colossians 4:3; “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Isaiah 22:22
