– dreaming the dream onward – the golden thread – part three

Several times each night the unconscious part of our psyche is portrayed in our dreams. We are given the golden opportunity to bring our conscious mind to view those contents, by using our imagination in an attitude different to our usual modus operandi.  It helps us view our current, past and future life situation in a way which complements the mode usually used.

It seems that the more attention we pay to our dreams, the more they yield, even though the material may not be immediately understandable. Like mother’s milk, the more the infant is fed, the more milk is made. It is a two-way street. Our soul seems to be fed in some way, and it seems to get extra energy and insight when we diligently and creatively record and investigate our storehouse of dreams.

We begin to discern the value that this journey of dreaming holds for us. If we know who we are, or becoming, we can be who we are.

The dream speaks in a language of images and symbols which is quite different to our ordinary everyday language. It speaks in a language which initially seems vague and strange to us.

The language of dreams takes time to learn. This language of dreams is the language of the arts, poetry, metaphor, myth, symbol and image, in contrast to the language of logic and reason that we usually use. We all have our blind spots; there are possibilities and perceptions we choose not to entertain because we don’t want to admit them. We may not have the vocabulary to begin to trace its meaning/s and this is one of the reasons why dreams are often very difficult to understand and why we choose to ignore them. Its language is often indirect but not always. At times it is blatantly obvious what it is trying to convey. For example, you believe yourself to be a kind person and the dream portrays you – or someone else in the dream – as cruel. It is showing you that you are not enough aware of your capacity for cruelty and is conveying an element of you (portrayed by another person in the dream) that need to be recognised.

As part of this of this onging dialectical process, we become increasingly aware of the outside influences of the world on our own inner world and vice versa. We begin to look at things, events, circumstances, happenings, feelings, thoughts a little more closely, like a scientist with a microscope who concentrates and magnifies the scope more clearly; or like a Sherlock Holmes on the scent of something, which initially seems mysterious, strange, difficult and indefinable, yet in which we sense a valuable clue is being presented.

We wonder whether dreams hold the clue to unravelling the knots in our stressful lives. Could there be a link with the image or drama in the dream with ongoing e.g. physical symptoms, psychological dramas, unsuccessful relationships and unresolved inner complexes which never seem lessened or resolved?

Yes.

500 words.