A Dream and Parable of the Mustard Seed

Dreams often come to give warnings of the future, and warnings about our health.  In the last month or so I had one dream in which I saw my car, dead stopped in the road where the front tires were turned to the left.  I was looking at the front right tire, and the focus of the attention was on the front axle for the tires which was angled to the left.  It was a definite warning, and as the tire tread was low I had all four tires replaced, hoping to prevent any fulfillment of the dream.

Before this, I had the battery replaced, and little did I know the technician did not wire the car battery properly.  So, despite my precaution, as I was driving the car, the wire to the battery short circuited and melted, and in an instant my car went completely dead while I was on the road.  I could not signal other cars, and the only safe way out was to the left.  I quickly made a hard left - and it was not easy as the power steering had gone out as well.  I was lucky as this was on the side road and not on the freeway.  Just as the dream showed the car in a position of turning left, so I had to make a hard left in order to put the car in relative safety.

A DREAM OF THE MUSTARD SEED

As dreams will sometimes contain warnings of the future, dreams will often tell us something about our health, and give very unique information on the problem.  A friend of mine is involved in dream interpretation, and he has relayed to me many instances where dreams give unique health information.  In this particular dream I had this week, I saw a weed in a yard and I decided to yank it out.  I pull it out, but it has a very long root which leads to another weed which is much larger.  I yank that out, and part of the plant comes out with it, and underneath was revealed very yellow mustard seeds, but in the shape of pumpkin seeds.  The weed is in my hand but very much alive, moving around like a vine.  The mustard seed weed then tries to move itself to a woman I know; it was attracted to her.  The thought then came to me, "She needs to eat mustard seeds."

So later, I told her about the dream, and said she should probably eat mustard seeds for any health issues she may have.  She has two in particular:

1.  She is anemic and has trouble breathing at times, and has had an allergic reaction to iron pill supplements, and,
2.  She has a sinus infection; the cold has been going for months despite antibiotics.

I knew nothing about mustard seeds at the time.  Just as in the dream, mustard plants are a prolific weed and it is very hard to eradicate them.  So what about health benefits?  I looked at Mustard Seed Nutrition Facts, and found the following uses of mustard seeds:

1. The seeds make an excellent remedy for treating congestion of the head or lungs by drawing blood to the lower part of the body; thus relieving.
2. They are extremely beneficial in curing pneumonia, bronchitis, and other respiratory complaints. By making a poultice of ground mustard and applying directly to the chest and throat, this remedy alleviates all respiratory problems.

1. Being great sources of power and bioenergy, mustard seeds boost the immune system and fight against anemia. They also help treat medical conditions, such as anxiety, psychological disorders, effects of stress and depression, bronchitis, sexual dysfunctions and symptoms of menopause.

There are other benefits as well, I just mentioned the ones that are relevant.  This goes to not only show that dreams can be useful to one's health, but also that there are many natural healing properties of plants.  While the west has placed emphasis on pharmaceutical drugs, in more ancient cultures this was not the case.  Moreover scripture confirms that for every illness, God has created a plant to cure it.  This is seen in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation:

Through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev. 22:2)

While that is the meaning in the literal sense, in the spiritual sense the leaves of the tree are the truths of the New Church; the nations are evils from which we suffer; and for each evil there is a truth to fight against its falsehood to have it removed.  Even in the gospels, there is a connection between one's physical illness and one's spiritual sin.  Science has uncovered some of the truth of this, and has labeled these as "psychosomatic" illnesses - for the mind has power over the body.  As we think, so we are.  This is why the only way to be liberated from sin is through Divine truth.

THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED

The mustard seed is mentioned in the gospels in the Parable of the Mustard Seed.  The mustard seed is probably the black mustard seed, which grows to a very large plant in the Middle East.  It is an odd parable which at first does not seem to mean any thing:

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is greater than all the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matt. 13:31-32)

So, what does this mean?  In a general sense, most can point out that a small amount of faith put into practice will grow into a life of eternity in heaven.  However, what many do not know is that every single word in scripture has spiritual significance.  Biblical literalists completely miss this, and skip over the details thinking they are merely "figures of speech."  As with many other scriptural passages, Swedenborg was given the spiritual meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed in the revelations of the New Church:

"The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is less than all seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and make their nests in the branches thereof (Matt. xiii. 31, 32). The grain of mustard seed is the good of man before he becomes spiritual; which is the least of all seeds, because he thinks that he does good from himself. What is from himself is nothing but evil; but, as he is in a state of regeneration, there is something of good, yet the least of all. Afterward as faith is being conjoined to love it becomes greater, and an herb. At last when it is conjoined it becometh a tree; and then the birds of the heavens — which here also are truths, or things of the understanding — make their nests in its branches, which are knowledges." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 55.3-4)

Thus the growth of a tree from a small seed represents the growth and development of each person into a spiritual angelic being.  The seed is the initial truth of faith planted in the mind.  In one's initial state, one thinks that all that one does and thinks is from one's self.  In the revelations of the New Church, it is revealed that what we regard as the "self" or "ego" is nothing but an illusion, and that nothing but evil comes from our own ego.  Rather good and truth come about in us through conjunction with the Lord.  When we start to live by the truth, the seed becomes an herb.  In the next stage, love and truth become inverted where love becomes primary, and truth secondary, and this is represented by a tree bearing fruit.  From love one automatically knows the truth, and this is represented by birds nesting in the branched of the tree.  In the spiritual sense, birds are not birds but rational truths, and one's rational rests upon one's knowledge, represented by the bird's nest.

Thus when the truth is explained to others, each idea of truth becomes a seed planted in the mind, with the potential to grow and change things for the future: