Your Messenger message:

"Good evening, Sir Tony.

"I remember how you told me about how I should try to explore the meaning of the ocean in my dreams since it has always been ever present in it. I still do not know exactly what it means but lately, I am very much gravitated towards the ocean. It, sometimes, feels like it is calling me. When I think of it, I could feel, smell, and even hear the sea breeze just by thinking of it.

"That is when I remembered that there were two occasions that I could partially recall from my childhood memory: the first one, I could remember myself looking through a hole from our stilt house when I was three years old. When I asked my parents about it, they told me that that was the first incident that I fell into the sea (which my parents were puzzled about since the hole was too narrow for my body to fit into).

"A neighbor nearby saw me and asked for help. (It was a huge river that is connected to the open sea.) They were confused since I was found just floating in the sea with no signs of drowning. Just merely floating but conscious. My father recalled that I told him that an old woman saved me that day. He further explained that there was no old woman on that particular day who could have saved me. That incident still confuses him to this day.

"A year after that, the last incident was when my cousin and brother were told to buy something from a sari-sari store. I was upset because I wanted to tag along but they had to run so fast that I couldn't catch up with them. In attempting to do so, I slipped by the makeshift bridge.

"This one is still fresh in my memory, I could still feel how I battled to have my head stay up in the air since I did not know how to swim. Fortunately, I wore my new slippers that day, a pair that I really adore and would have hated to lose.

"Since I was in the sea, the slippers were slowly carried away by the small waves. I remember struggling to want to get a strong grip on it. By wanting to save those slippers, a passerby saw me drowning and hurriedly reached out a stick for me to hold on to. I still feel grateful for having those slippers and, ultimately, for the kind people who saved my life twice in a row.

"(I still suffer from panic attacks, every now and then, when I am out in the deep ocean. I couldn't breathe even just by staying afloat. I still love swimming, nonetheless. My love for the ocean is greater than the fear.)

I was born in that stilt house until I was 4. Because of what happened, my father worked hard for us to finally have a house away from possible drowning again.

"Perhaps these are the reasons that I keep dreaming about it. I still am not sure about the specifics but my intuition tells me it is related to those two events.

"Thank you for taking the time to read my message. God bless you and your family always."

My reply:

Hello _____!

The goddess of the sea is your mother and continues to be your strongest spirit guide. Always keep symbols of the sea around you: shells, South Sea pearls, coral, a bowl of sand, part of a fishing net draped at the back of your house that you can hang decorative items from, sea agates, even pictures of the sea.

More importantly, do this once a year: Buy two watermelons and slice them in half so that you have four pieces. Hire a small boat to take you far out into the sea and drop the pieces into the water as an offering. Your panic attacks will cease, for your psyche will finally tell you that the sea is life rather than death, and that you must give it this yearly ritual as a gesture of gratitude.

You will continue to dream of the ocean whenever you feel that the world is oppressive. Know that many women have such dreams, for the world is still chauvinist and will often not give women their due. Seek help from the goddess whenever you have such feelings.