A few of you commented on my previous blog on dreams and their value thereof, which I always appreciate. Others responded via e-mail and it is these few comments that I want to share with you inter alia in 501 words.

Gwynn in the US said her dreams were like watching a re-run of a movie; Carol in Canada said her dreams were like watching a movie, in which she gets to play the main part!

Sonja here in Johannesburg, South Africa, said “I think of it as an infinite story factory .. an endless library of books meant for ME”.

These are insightful and useful metaphors! I hadn’t thought of them that way before! They gave me permission to use them in this blog.

Dr. Deon van Zyl, who facilitated a dream seminar a few weekends back which I attended, responded via email suggesting that the dream be given a title, a genre and a central one-line theme.

Among other valuable tips I learned at this dream seminar is the tactic of underlining the VERBS in the dream.

The following is a completely made up dream by me:- I am employing the ‘tactic’ of underlining the verbs.

I am walking on the road, enjoying the sunshine and view, minding my own business, thinking about things when a person suddenly appears out of nowhere and rushes up to me swinging a stick. I turn away and start running. I am wondering what to do and how to escape. I spied a bridge up ahead and think that if I get to the other side, I will be ok. I trip and fall, get up and continue running. I cannot see who it is.

Walking, enjoying, minding, thinking, appears, rushes, swinging, turn, running, wondering, escape, spied, think, get, be, trip, fall, get, running, see …

I (usually) write verbs out on the opposite page of my written down dream. I like to check out the energy of it and wonder about that.

In the beginning of this made-up dream, all seems quite peaceful but the whole tenor of it changes suddenly and dramatically.

I look at any repetition of verbs (the above made-up dream has one or two). My dream in the morning is enormously enlarged by this simple device. If I have 2 or more dreams in the same night I look to see if there is any connection and if not (sometimes they seem completely disparate), I wonder about that. Occasionally, all I have is an image – nothing more.

If I gave the above dream a title, I would call it something like “Walk interrupted”. Genre? “Threat” or something like that. A central one-line theme: something like “Unknown Attacker” or “Running Away” or “The Bridge Ahead” or … who knows what …

Listening with a keen ear to the message/s of the dream/s takes courage and commitment and a hearty dose of introspection and Self-reflection.

Will we listen and hear the messages from our ‘other’ world? As real and as different as our conscious world?

501 words.

 

 

19 Comments on – dreaming the dream onwards – part two

  1. Hi,
    I know I am late getting in on this but my dreams are for me signposts pointing directions, warnings or dreams that prepare me for change. Often I have had a dream and it has taken year for it to come into being. In other words, I have actually had situations to happen to me, where I knew in my heart that I have been through this situation and it was in a dream. That is why I found it so important to write my dreams down in my journal.
    I enjoyed reading the article and thinking about what you wrote.
    Ciao,
    Patricia

    • Thank you Patricia – you highlight the value of writing the dream down as well as knowing that it may be a long time before the actuality comes into being. It is always interesting isn’t it to go back to dreams written down a long time back and to see the thread.
      Thank you,
      Susan

  2. As a dreamer(in the Daniel way) I appreciate your ‘dreaming the dream’ posts. Because I am an encourager and motivator, I immediately saw in your made up dream and it’s verbs:1. A dream given 2. The dream pursuing you: chasing. and 3. Accomplishing the dream requires action: walking, running, etc; you must do what the dream requires you to do. Perhaps a call on one’s life but for some reason they won’t pursue the dream though frequently they think about it. My interpretation goes to prove that, as in the examples you gave (Einstein…), some dreams are driven or given according to your passion.

    • Thank you for your comment Single Focus … much appreciated. I like what you say about the verbs.The ‘given’ dream; ‘pursuing’; ‘action’. I am not sure that I agree that dreams are driven according to one’s passion though – I will think about that one! I would say that they might uncover one’s passion – or stuckness – if one took the time and trouble to decipher them and see where they are leading? They are labyrinthine in their routes and full of surprises.
      Thank you again! I am encouraged by your comments.

  5. I excerpted this from a note that Deon sent me. It speaks volumes.

    JUNG – CW 16 para 351: “The evolutionary stratification of the psyche is more clearly discernible in the dream than in the conscious mind. In the dream the psyche speaks in images, and gives expression to instincts that derive from the primitive levels of nature. Therefore, through the assimilation of unconscious contents, the momentary life of consciousness can once more be brought into harmony with the law of nature…and the person can be led back to the natural law of his own being” –

    The question is always, what is the essential nature of the so-called “primitive” (Deon)

    JUNG CW 17 para 189: “Dreams do not deceive, they do not lie, they do not distort or disguise, but naively announce what they mean…they are invariably seeking to express something that the ego does not know and does not understand”

    • …an interesting note… Four people near and dear to me have what has been labeled learning disabilities, all of them a ADD two dyslexia as well. The “dyslexics” think in images, not words, which of course makes the standard form of linear word based education very difficult. They all four have the most amazing minds, understanding on a spatial level, artists, and the ability to absorb very complex situations innately. After reading the above quotes, I wonder if they are not MORE in touch with their psyches. Do they have disabilities, or do they in fact posses abilities far greater than most, only called disabilities because the linear mind exists in greater numbers?

      • That is so interesting Stacy thank you and you articulate so well an essential difference between someone who thinks linearly and another who doesn’t. I had not thought about that the dyslexic person has the ‘bonus’ of thinking spatially and of course it explains very well why such a person finds normal schooling difficult. I am certain that there are many brilliant dyslexics alive and dead who may have had a rough time while being formally educated (unless parents educators etc encouraged him/her in her ability of spatial awareness). Was Churchill maybe? If I could check this out right now I would, as I am intrigued, but I know that many brilliant people have not seen their dyslexia as a handicap, at least in their later years when they were creating. Would be good if we ALL could both right and left brain heimisphere – together – at the same time or whatever. But certainly for the spatial awareness of the dyslexic to be encouraged. And an overly linear type person would no doubt benefit from e.g. meditation, painting, noting his or her dreams etc …

        I also think that a ‘balanced’ person (wtm) may well have the ability of both linear and spatial awareness and as you say re: the dyslexic ‘…and the ability to absorb very complex situations innately’. I think that an individual may be blessed with both linear and spatial awareness that is innate. And would possibly employ both functions in a complex situation.

        Could write much more on this .. but thank you again!

  6. Dreams are special and we all have our own ways of honoring them. The point is that we do just that and become consistent with tapping into the inner world. It gives us back as much as we give to it.

    • Thank you Susan … we all have our own ways of honouring them. Some paint or sketch, some do what they do .. all wondrous ways of honouring the dream. As long as it is honoured as being a part of the dreamer.

  7. I’m chuckling a tad bit as part of me is afraid to analyze my dreams too closely for fear I’ll discover I’m NUTS! But, I can see that analyzing my few dreams would give me a clearer picture of my psyche. This ultimately could be very beneficial. However, I do wonder as I still remember parts of what I assume was my first dream and as a small child what do these stories really tell about us?.

    • Thanks Gwynn for your comment. You will see Susan’s reply below – she is an American as you are – you’ll notice that we have different ways of spelling ‘honouring’. Here in South Africa we include the ‘u’ – ‘you’ if you like! Have you ever written down your childhood dream? Do you ‘honor’ it in some way? What is it saying to you? In what way do you ‘honor’ it? For it seems as if you do as you still recall it …

      • Susan, I have never written down my childhood dream and I only remember teeny segments. I remember being on a big boat and an enormous whale came along side. i thought the whate would devour the entire boat. For some reason I relate this whale to death… but I remember too little. But it is a curiosity that I would dream this when I was so small. I don’t think I had ever even seen a whale – but I don’t remember. But the dream bordered being a nightmare.

        • Hi Gwynn, I won’t try to analyse your dream but a few verbs stand out … ‘remember’ x 3 times; ‘being’ (x 2); ‘came’; ‘thought’; ‘devour’; ‘relate’; ‘was’; ‘being’ ….
          A whale is a significant symbol .. leviathan of the deep – I think of Moby Dick; a boat on which you were not the driver so to speak and being on water … a significant symbol on many levels.

Comments are closed.