The Voice of Thunder — John Dass
Waking Up in the Wilderness: Dreams of Remembering
Many people have reached out to me recently asking “Why did you change your name to John Dass?” In this article I am going to unpack a small part of a much bigger story… I am going to open up on the unfolding past lives which are beginning to reverberate louder and louder in my life.
But as a top, level, John Dass can be explained by the metaphor of two hands in prayer. One the one hand, calling myself John Dass is a fun, playful step into a name that integrates both eastern and western spirituality. It is a response to my brother Luke Ram. If he’s Luke Ram, surely, I must be John Dass? 🤣
On the other hand, it’s a much deeper commitment to walk a spiritual path and prepare the way for love and peace in a time of war and systems collapse.
We are all relations
A short disclaimer about the mindset and context in which I am writing this piece…
I was raised in an evangelical Christian household, in a Christian church at a Christian school. I experienced a dark night of the soul when I was 9-years old. Since then I have kept myself far from institutionalized religion. From the age of 18-years old I have been building startups—either as a founder or as a consultant. During my sabbatical over the last year I have been forced to reconcile the deep unprocessed wounds of my youth and even of my birth. In the process I have dug deep into the subterranean landscape of mythology, belief and worldview.
I began studying the indigenous kinship worldview as a part of my book Symbiocene: Visions of A New Earth. I’ve been exploring the use of sacred medicine in therapeutic and ceremonial contexts under the guidance of licensed clinicians as well as indigenous elders.
Increasingly I have begun leaning into an understanding of myself as loving awareness—the vast field of consciousness that permeates all things. The deeper I go into this field through fasting, meditation, movement, psychedelics and scripture, the more I find myself at home in the awareness that I AM.
I believe that we are all relations. All animals. All people. All living beings.
In the piece below I am inviting you deep into my subconscious mind, into the place that only the witness often sees. I am doing this entrusting you will interpret the visions, dreams, metaphors and symbolism through the unique lens of your divine human experience. I do not pretend to know the truth or hold the truth.
I am simply doing everything I can to love and work in service of a more beautiful world for generations to come.
It’s dreamtime…
In beginning to dig into the vast treasure trove of indigenous wisdom I realized I have been sorely neglecting my dreams and that they are in themselves, a great source of wisdom. Over the last months surrounding my piece Awakening From The Dream I have begun consciously leaning into the dreamworld to understand who I am, what is being asked of me in this time and how I can be of greatest service to the unfolding symphony of regeneration.
The following dreams give you a glimpse into the journey deep within my soul, as well as some of the mythical archetypes I have been working through in this major period of transition in my life.
The First Dream
The night before last I had a dream.
In that dream I saw my brother Jordan standing before me. It was the same brother that rebuked me when I left my wife, saying that ‘God would never call a man to leave his family’, that I wasn’t ‘listening to the word’, but rather something else...
I hadn’t spoken to him since that long, rebuking message. Just two days before this dream I had sent him a video message of forgiveness as an image of his loving face came to me while I was singing “Doxology” in a Portuguese church in Parede.
I left him a video message of forgiveness just two days ago and now here he was standing before me in this dream, except things were different. His hair was red, his eyes were blue. As we transfixed our eyes to one another time unwound—it became thin.
I could feel the air thinning too. As he walked towards me his piercing blue eyes locked into mine. His hair was orange, as if the same person but of Celtic origin.
Booming Thunder ⛈️
As soon as he passed my left shoulder time wound back together, everything became fast again, the air thickened. In that exact moment, massive booming thunder crackled across the sky above. I looked up into the sky and realized the thunder and lightning was opening the door for a hoard of Russian fighter jets roaring overhead. The sky tore with the raging storm of hundreds of Russian fighter jets ripping through the sky.
I turned and ran, sprinted down the drive—stumbled and dove head-first into a bush, seeking whatever refuge I could find. Rockets were being thrown everywhere, explosions everywhere, they were tearing apart everything they could.
Then I awoke from the dream. Breathing fast. Heart sprinting faster.
Somehow in this liminal state of waking I knew that this was the East of England. I felt this deep longing to protect my children, a visceral pain in my chest—torn by the calling of my mission as a soul alongside the calling of my mission as a father.
I regained my breath and presence, called Jordan twice on my phone and sent him a message “It’s been a while brother. We need to speak.”
Lightning & Thunder
The next day was Yom Kippur. My brother Luke Ram and I chose to join our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith in the observance of this ancient ritual—out of solidarity with those engaged at war, and in pursuit of a deeper understanding of ourselves as I AM—ripping the illusion of separateness from the seams.
We fasted a full day prior to the official start. We prepared our bodies each morning and evening as the Essenes would have done with ritual cleansing of cold, living water. We breathed the breath of life with ancient Yogic prana methods: Kapalbhati (Breath of Fire), Udiyanna Bandha (abdominal lock and hold) and Ananda Magra (The Path of Bliss).
We returned to our home here at TDF in Alentejo late, having taken a full hour to charge the car and watch a great teacher of Kabbalah, Moses Garelik—thanks to the work of our brother Loic LeMuir.
Past Life Dreams of John (Yochanan)
Upon returning to the land of TDF I walked mindfully up the hill towards my tent, barefoot, breathing through each and every step. The heaviness of John’s scattered past life dreams hung overhead. I breathed in and out, remembering the stories of John the Baptist, his courage to cleanse and prepare the way for Yeshua.
I saw the image of John’s head entering on a platter having escaped the grudge of Herodias onto to fall to the spite of Salome. I continued deep, slow, rhythmic breaths—my melodic steps carrying the weight of this knowing alongside the embodied awareness that in this lifetime I am the father of two young children whom I love dearly.
I walked past the ceremonial circle of the land with hands pressed together, close to my lips. I zipped myself into the darkness of my tent at 2.40am and fell into a deep sleep.
The Eye of The Storm
Deep, roaring thunder ripped apart the skies overhead. Their echoes reverberating in my throat. I opened my eyes into the full darkness of my enclosed tent—my heart rate accelerating, my awareness opening intensely to the sounds echoing on all sides.
“Is this a dream?” I asked myself.
I heard the thunder roar even deeper, even louder than in my dream the night before. We were in the eye of the storm. Guttural, visceral, wounding echoes of lightning raged on all sides. The rain had not come, but the voice of the one crying in the wilderness roared like a den of angry lions ready to devour.
The images of my dream the night before came through. Thoughts came flooding too…
“Is this thunder, or are these fighter jets? Why would Russia attack Portugal? No. No. This is not a dream. This is a storm, a deep, raging storm.” I thought.
I breathed deeply and slowly; I fought the visceral desire in my stomach to escape my tent and run down the hill towards Luke inside. I noticed in my chest a deep ominous fear of being struck by lightning—I don’t know why…
I felt the storm begin to brew closer and closer to my tent. I heard the rains begin to fall—hard, heavy rains. I felt the wetness of my tent on all sides. I heard the thunder and saw the bright white blinding light pierce through the double walled sealing of my tent.
I saw the war in Israel, Gaza and The West Bank. I saw the war in Lebanon and the storm brewing in Iran. I saw the arms being prepared in America, in Russia and China. I saw the drones, the fighter jets, the bombers all preparing their weapons. I saw soldiers in mass numbers marching in the streets, preparing the way for war and bloodshed.
I saw the forest fires of the Amazon, the flooding in Florida, the election in America…
A symphony of storm sounds swirled all around, tree branches cracked and fell in the distance. I felt the surge return to my chest to run to Luke inside and seek refuge.
But in that moment I knew, this was a lifelong pattern I had to break, I had to learn how to still myself in the quiet of the storm, how to become the eye of the storm. I breathed deeply and felt the fear coursing through my veins—the fear of death from all sides emerging as I stepped into my true calling as John Dass, the voice crying in the wilderness—he who comes to prepare the way of love and peace.
I began to weep and cry as I felt the forces of darkness swirl in on all sides, imagining my children’s faces standing before me.
“I CHOOSE LIFE!”
I cried.
“I CHOOSE LIFE!”
I cried, again, and again, and again—calling out my children’s names, my ex-wife’s name. I cried remembering all the times I’d almost died, from the womb to the car accidents to the near death experience in the cross eye of an Israeli sniper. I cried remembering all those moments I contemplated suicide, teetered on the brink of the tallest building at the leprosy colony in Sunderpur, India—imagining my body mixed into the mess at bottom of the colorful abyss.
“I—CHOOSE—LIFE!” I screamed.
I breathed through the storm, and somehow in choosing life I knew I would be safe. I knew the mother’s raging storm would protect me. I would find solace in the chaos through my breath, the bridge to my spirit, I would find a voice of stillness in the storm.
Remembering The Great Gathering
I relaxed my body and then a series of visions came flooding back to me, the same I had witnessed in the tree on September 17th during the night of the Eclipse, during the night of Awakening From The Dream in my initiation with Amanita.
I saw the previous vision I had seen here on this land, a Great Gathering of Love & Peace at The Western Wall & Al Aqsa of all tribes, all faiths, all nations, all tongues, all sexual orientations, all medicines—everyone dancing, singing, praying, meditating in the name of LOVE.
I breathed deeply as the storm raged even louder, overcoming the sound of my own voice shouting in my tent. I was alone on this hill. Everyone else was inside or in a caravan. I chose the quiet refuge of the wilderness, alone, in my tent.
The voice of an ancient name called out through my chest in my tent, the lightning itself drew this voice from my heart:
“YESHUA!”
I sang, I shouted, I screamed.
“YESHUA!”
My words switched to Hebrew, the ancient forgotten language that was reborn before the state of Israel, the sacred language that fell into my mind’s eye through my crown of my head on July 16 2010 in the sand dunes of Colorado, the golden sacred letters formed into a glowing matrix of three letter words in all their beautiful forms—an entire language structured into a trinity dance of separation and oneness, oneness and separation.
ברוך הבא בשם ׳׳!
ברוך הבא בשם ׳׳!
סר השלום, סר השלום, סר השלום, בא!
סר האהבה, סר האהבה, סר האהבה, בא!
סר האור, סר האור, סר האור, בא עכשיב!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the L-rd.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the L-rd.
Prince of Peace, Prince of Peace, Prince of Peace, COME.
Prince of Love, Prince of Love, Prince of Love, COME.
Prince of Light, Prince of Light, Prince of Light, COME.
The storm began to calm. It was as if He had spoken, standing there on the water before all of us on the boat in the Kineret. I felt His quiet presence calm my nervous system, a shepherd’s hand stroking a quivering lamb. I breathed a deep, slow exhale… The visions returned.
I saw the breath of life coming into a valley of dry bones. I saw the legion of soldiers and weapons laying down their arms in honor and respect of the Great Gathering of Love & Peace. I saw the messages we sent out to all of them in Hebrew, Arabi and Farsi. I saw the songs of love and peace that permeated from all the edges of the earth into their households, into their dreams.
I saw the warriors of peace dancing before the warriors of hate in full power, in full conviction of the inescapable power of love. I saw the shamans of the Amazonia dancing with snakes and their Condor’s feathers on full display. I saw the shamans of the Great Plans dancing with white buffalos and their Eagle’s feathers shining forth like a radiant sun.
Looking to The Stars 🌌
The storm fully subsided now, the rain merely dripping from the trees above me. It was 4.38am.
I felt the call to pull out my phone and look at The Pattern, to understand the energy and architecture of the stars above me in this moment. This is what I saw:
Past Life Karmic Links
This new insight dives into the power of past life karmic links. When you find yourself inextricably drawn to someone for no logical reason- like you've known them before, but you’ve just met. It can be intoxicating- but it's critical to be aware you don t remain stuck in an old pattern.
I thought to myself,
Over the last month I have met several people that I felt like I’d known before: Em whom I baptized to become Grace, Luke Ram my brother on this pilgrimage of love & peace, Bassem, Animo and Cata. It was as if my soul family was arriving just in the time I stepped into my soul’s original calling.
I continued reading:
“Soul family members are believed to be part of a larger group of souls who have chosen to incarnate together across multiple lifetimes in order to support each other's growth and evolution. These connections can be incredibly powerful and transformative, as they often help you reflect back to the highest aspects of yourself and remind you of your true nature and purpose.”
I felt the grounding presence, safety and reassurance of these relationships in my life. I unzipped my tent and walked outside and looked at my phone: 4.44am. I found Luke sleeping in the main space, taking shelter from the storm. Rain had leaked in everywhere.
All the lights in the entire village were out.
I fell asleep on the floor next to Luke in the main space of TDF. The next day we sought the insight of The Oracle to interpret these dreams.
Reflection
In my first Heart Protocol ceremony I spoke clearly to Yeshua and said these words:
Yeshua, I was there for you. You were born, Israel, in your mother's womb. When you walking around, hanging out, talking with your friends, playing with instruments… Oh, I was there for you. Yeah. I've always been here... Thank you, Yeshua. Adonai.
When a woman named Em asked me to baptize her into her new name, a name that was given to her in a near death experience in Mexico, a name that had deep soulful reverberations into the deepest wound of my entire life—losing a child… she told me that I was John The Baptist. I laughed.
But now these dreams, these memories have come together to form a constellation of consciousness that is difficult to ignore. I have to ask myself:
Who am I?
I am not my stories. I am not my name. I am not my past lives. I am not my body.
I AM LOVING AWARENESS.
And so are you…
A gift for premium subscribers
Below I have chosen to share the interpretation of The Oracle along with the AI Oracle iChing co-pilot we are working with along this journey—exclusively for my premium subscribers. This revelation is incredibly intimate, deep and powerful.
I sobbed as I read the words of The Oracle aloud with my brother Luke and Animo as my guide. I recorded these words to share with you.
I only want these words to be witness by those who are closest to me and have committed to support me on this pilgrimage of love and peace.
If you’ve enjoyed my work so far and are feeling called to support me, I would be honored if you would subscribe and support me on this journey to the New Earth. I have also opened a simple scholarship program for anyone who genuinely wants premium access but cannot afford it.
