Et Catuli Leonis

I was standing in a field of waving gold ... wheat stalks in South Dakota? African plain? I had no idea. all I knew was that it was gold as far as I could see. If I was facing twelve on the clock, there was a small, gnarled tree at ten o'clock and another, slightly larger one at one o'clock. Other than that, there was not a single thing in sight except for 360 degrees of swaying gold and the blue sky above, dropping to hem the horizon at some unreachable point.

I was aware of movement directly in front of me, about fifty yards away, coming towards me at a fast rate. From the single path in the separations in the golden grass, broke off three more paths, two to my right and one to my left. My heart was racing and I stopped walking. Looked left. Looked right. Looked back to front and realized they were stalking lionesses. Rapidly low crawling through the bristly ground cover to not only flank me, but take up position directly behind me. 

I was frozen with fear. No place to run. No place to hide. The small trees I could see off in the distance were an impossible to reach goal, and I am not sure what good it would have done for me anyway. Even if I could outrun four stalking lionesses (I can't outrun anything!), and made it up a tree, I had nothing with which I could hold them off. They could come right up the tree after me, or lay around on the ground and just wait for their meal to fall off the branch from exhaustion or dehydration. Hopefully, I would be dead before I hit the ground and the feast began.

Standing and trembling, I remained in the center of their focus as they slowed down their pursuit. They didn't stop at all. They were still closing in at a steady pace from the four points of the compass. I continued to watch the progress of the one in front of me, as she somehow seemed to be the leader. We were staring into each other's eyes. Twenty yards. Ten yards. Sower, slower ... until she was only five yards away, and still she kept coming. I could hear that the other three were doing the same thing, but I did not turn to look at them.

I could see the bundled muscles under her beautiful coat. Kinetic energy, just waiting to devour me. As she kept moving toward me, I did what any terrified human would do right before being hit by a car, or a train, or even a wall of water from a tsunami. I held my hands, palms down and out in front of me, as if that could stop the mega-tonnage of force that was about to take your life from you. And I closed my eyes, turned my head slightly away, tucking my chin into my left shoulder, and prayed fervently. I heard the grass snapping and breaking on all four sides of me as I remained frozen. I wondered if all four would attack at once or if the other three would allow the leader in front of me to have the first bite.

As I heard a moan of fear escape from my throat, I couldn't stand the suspense and cracked open my right eye just the tiniest bit and saw ... the lioness sniffing the fingertips on my right hand. Making sure the appetizer is fresh? Wondering what vintage year I was from? She was still crouched into a bundle of tensed muscles when she did the most amazing thing ... she nudged her face up into the palm of my hand, just like a big domestic feline. Both of my eyes opened now and I started scratching her between her own eyes and up onto her forehead. She relaxed and came closer so I could run my hand down her back. I looked at the other three and they were just laying in the sunny grass, looking relaxed and completely sated. Maybe they had all just eaten and were going to save me for later? I was good with that call. More than good with that call. It was then that I realized that they did not come to destroy me, they came to shield me and care for me. They were my protectresses: women who guard or defend someone or something.

I woke up with a start and a racing heart. I started thinking about the lionesses in my life. I am so blessed to have a list that far exceeds four. I can't begin to enumerate and thank each and every one of you, but you know you are in my heart. 

Oh, and yeah, I also know I have some pretty serious lions out there as well, and again, far more than four. Perhaps you will show up in a different dream. I love you all.

(By the way, "et catuli leonis" is Latin for "lion and lioness".)