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Electric Dreams Volume 01 Issue 19
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Electric Dreams
Volume 1 Issue 19
13 December 1994
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Back issues and the FAQ available via anonymous FTP at
sppc1952.uwsp.edu
For mailing list info, subscriptions, dreams and comments
send to Cathy:
cathy@cassandra.ucr.edu
Send questions about dreams & dreaming to Matthew:
mettw@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au
General comments, articles and ideas to Richar
RCWilk@aol.com
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Editor's Notes & Day Residue
Questions & Answers
Article: Bringing dreams to kids! (Part II) by Jill Gregory
Article: Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
(Part I: Theory) by Matthew
Dream: Broken Figurines by Sierra
Commentary: Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD
on Broken Figurines by Sierra
Dream: Execution Times Three by Martin
Commentary: by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD on
Execution Times Three by Martin
Commentary: by Matthew on Execution Times Three
by Martin
Dream: Passing the Opus by Richard
Commentary: by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD on Passing the Opus by Richard
Commentary: by Matthew on Passing the Opus by Richard
Dream: Black Hole Sun by Matthew Parry
Commentary: by Marilyn Brown on Black Hole Sun by
Matthew
Commentary: by Richard on Black Hole Sun by Matthew
Past Life Regression: By Val:
I. Prelude
II. Early Dreams
III. Epilogue
Commentary: On Val's experiences Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD -
Matthew's Childhood Dream
Disclaimer
************************************************
DAY RESIDUE
************************************************
Welcome to Electric Dreams 19! To all our new subscribers I want to say hello on behalf of
the staff and all our other dreamers. While our focus is on personal dreams and multiple
comments, we also welcome questions, articles on dream related topics as well as creative
projects and experimentation. This issue has a little of each. No matter how we feel or view
Freud, there is no doubt to his, ah, seminal influence on dream interpretation and in this issue
Matthew Parry takes up the theoretical side of Freud's approach and thought. Jill Gregory, one of
the West Coast's most valuable resources and dream teachers continues her story of bringing
dreams to kids in the educational system.
An of course, we have our wonderful dreams and comments, including an unusual piece from Val
, one of the initial Electric Dream contributers. Enjoy!
--Richard.
************************************************
??????????? QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ??????????????
************************************************
-Send your Questions and answers to Matthew at
mettw@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au
Please include a copy of the question when you send in a reply
** In V.1 Iss.18 Richard asked-
Do you have [dream] symbols of vulnerability that occur and re-occur during traumas or life
transitions? ([...] A range of them, from snake attacks, to airplanes crashing, earthquakes...) .
And if so, how does this repetition work for you?
** Question from Matthew-
When I interpret my dreams I basically use a Freudian free
association method to find what lies hidden below. I'd
like to hear what other methods people use on their
dreams and how effective it has been for you. Also, since
dreams contain a lot of non-verbal language and the
philosophy and perception of reality of the dreamer,
how much do you consider the philosophical implications
of your dreams?
***********************************************
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
***********************************************
Bringing dreams to kids! (Part II) by Jill Gregory
[In Part I ( issue 1-18) Jill shared her experience of teaching dreamskills to a fourth grade class in
a public school.]
One of the students, a slim quiet girl named Tracy, had falling dreams once in a while
which frightened her very much. I had introduced the class to the idea that when they were falling
in a dream, they were actually flying but without a sense of power. "Flying is a natural way of
getting from one place to another in the dream world," I explained. "When you are falling in a
dream, try to take charge of that fall and change it--even just a little bit. Your could try to go a
little faster or slower, think about something different while you're falling or change the angle of
you fall--anything to put out you own power." I had also presented lucid dreaming as learnable
and natural.
One day when I was walking to the school office before dream class, a couple of my
students ran up to me and exclaimed,"Wait 'till you hear the great dream Tracy had! She already
told us in sharing but made us promise not to tell you. Oh, you're going to love her dream!" Here
is Tracy's dream:
_I am climbing down a steep cliff like the ones we saw on our field trip. But I slip! And I
start to fall! I am really scared! Then I see Jill Gregory, my dream teacher, sitting on a cloud. Jill
says,"Look, what are you doing? What are you doing?" Now I am not really scared any more
because I know that it's a dream and I can't really get hurt. So I just tell Jill that I am falling. "Help
me!" I yell. Jill says, "Just try to fly." All of a sudden I have wings and I start soaring though the
air. I soar all over the sky. It is so neat!_
Well, Its easy to see why the kids knew that I would love that dream!
Hilary, who has a wonderful sense of humor, often dreamt of aquariums and fish- -partly
because fish were her pets. Hilary shared this dream the day I presented dream dialogue
techniques:
_One of my fish starts talking to me and tells me that my other fish, named Charlie, is mad
at me because he's not kept in the tank with the others.
So I saw the tank in half but then all of the other fish start dying. Charlie says to me,
"Don't worry. I'll just live under my bowl." But when he goes under his bowl he gets squished. I
pick him up and look closely. Since he's squished, I can see inside him and to my surprise,
although he's a boy, he's pregnant!_
When she dialogued with Charlie, the fish told her that he wanted her to love him. In
Hilary's visualization, Charlie swims around Hilary to show her his grace and beauty. Hilary feels
more love for Charlie as she appreciates his gifts.
I didn't hear any more about Charlie until the end of the year when the kids filled out their
surveys. Hilary inquired, "When you asked on the survey if we thought that our dreams had
helped us with our life, did you mean things like me taking better care of my fish ever since I had
that dream about Charlie living under the bowl?" "Yes, that is exactly what I meant," I replied
happily.
This change was most clearly illustrated in the initial and final survey reports of one boy in
the class. In his initial survey he reported sometimes recalling and understanding his dreams, but
never experiencing any of the other dream skills listed. In response to the sentence,"Most of my
dreams are about ____" he wrote, "My mom." He listed his mom as the only person with whom
he shared his dreams. On the scale of feelings about dreams the children's feelings ranged from
neutral to dreams are great except for this boy who wrote that he thought that dreams were bad.
Six months later on his final dream survey all dreamskills except understanding increased.
To conclude the sentence "Most of my dreams are about ____" he now wrote, "Happy days!"
Who did he tell his dreams to? His friends.
And what did he think of dreaming? It's great!
Final Class Survey Results
In general the children reported slight increases in recall, incubation and recording and
slight decreases in lucidity and understanding. The ability to alter imagery within the dream
remained the same. Frightening dreams themes were mentioned 50% less. sixty percent indicated
that dreams helped them in their life. Forty percent claimed that dreams helped them understand
their classmates better. Seventy percent stated that they intended to use what they learned about
dreams in the future. And a full 80% wrote that they were glad I came and taught them dreaming
and they would be happy to have me teach them dreaming nest year.
On this final survey I asked what was new in their dream life since the course began.
Dreams seemed more natural. New symbols appeared such as mermaids. Dreams were more
interesting and they realized they had other ways to deal with monsters other than fleeing or
killing.
The teacher, Mrs H. reported the following observations: Before I began my dream class
with her fourth graders, all but a couple of the boys seemed inhibited from participation in front of
the class in various activities. They would sit back and criticize the girls who were the leaders of
the class. As the course progressed she noticed a shift. Many of these boys, because they were
allowed to act out their "macho" side with chase scenes or violent scenes from dreams, began to
participate more. That led to their enthusiastically acting out a wider range of characters by the
end of the class. Mrs. H. saw this as a lessening of stereotyped behavior and inhibitions. The
process was so natural and gradual that the children didn't seem to notice it happening.
On one occasion three boys competed to portray a female character. A couple of boys
actually donned feminine clothing to play female roles in dream dramas. All the children expanded
the types of roles that they felt comfortable reenacting. Initially there was intense competition for
the popular roles and a disinclination to portray less desirable roles. There was a tendency to only
want roles that were a close match to oneself. Nobody wanted to be dead, old, attacked, sick,
ugly or have to do "gross things". By the end of the class the important thing to the students was
to participate in the drama regardless of the role.
Mrs. H. observed, "Through these dream sessions my students became more aware of
their feelings and emotions in their dreams and in the real world. They became better able to
express their feelings appropriately. I noticed also that their language skills and vocabulary skills
increased. For example, their writing and artwork reflected a greater variety and diversity of
subjects and styles than before these sessions. The students looked forward to Jill's visits every
Friday. She had a wonderful rapport with them."
Only a couple of parents commented on the class, both with positive feedback. One of the
parents wrote: "My daughter seemed to take right to the dream symbolism class. Since then her
personality and approach to life has improved so much. I feel kids have an intuitive understanding
of dream symbols and how to use them. I see lucid dreaming as an excellent non-confrontational
tool for the child to use to solve little or big problems that they cannot always express to adults."
Comments From Other Dreamworkers
Bob Trowbridge, a dreamworker from San Rafael with over a decade and a half of
experience and contact with hundreds of children from pre-school &K-12 had this to say: "One of
the most interesting things for me in talking to children about dreams was the "leveling" effect
that this seemed to have. Time after time teachers would tell me how surprised they were to see
certain children share their dreams, children who were normally shy and quiet or disruptive.
Apparently children intuitively recognize that their dreams are as "good" or "interesting" as others'
dreams or that their ability to dream is on the same par as their classmates. The other thing that
stood out was the excitement and eagerness the younger children showed in finding an adult
interested in hearing their dreams."
Another dreamworker who has many years' experience in this area is Valerie Melusky of
New Jersey. In a phone conversation with me she stated that she always found students eager to
share their dreams; curious, excited and paying rapt attention to the presentation. "What I enjoy
the most," she said, "is helping the students discover that they do not have to remain powerless in
their dreams."
(Next issue Jill will be giving tips for parents, teachers and dreamworkers on using dreams in the
classroom. Also in the future we will have a bibliography of materials available. Jill Gregory may
be contacted at The Novato Center for Dreams, PO Box 5879, Novato, CA 94948 )- editor
*********************************************
=========================================
FREUD AND THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS
=========================================
By Matthew mettw@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au
PART I - THEORY
---------------
Freud's theory of dreams is based on a number of premises, the first of which is that dreams
are essentially a method of protecting sleep. Sleep, he reasoned, was a necessary physical rest
period that we need to function properly and therefore the mind needs to react to stimuli in such a
way as to protect sleep rather than waking us to find the source of the stimulus.
Freud cites as an example the work of Maury who had various stimuli given to him while he
was sleeping;
He was given some eau-de-cologne to smell in his sleep.
He dreamt he was in Cairo, in Johann Maria Farina's
shop, and some further absurd adventures followed. Or,
he was pinched lightly on the neck; he dreamt of a
mustard plaster being applied to him and of a doctor
who had treated him as a child. Or again, a drop of
water was dropped on his forehead; he dreamt he was in
Italy, was sweating violently and was drinking white
Orvieto wine.
The way external stimuli are incorporated into dreams is
an experience common to everyone (usually involving alarm clocks). The important point is that
the dream is the mind's reaction to the external stimulus. Freud then reasoned from this that other
dreams where there is no external stimulus are the mind's reaction to internal stimuli. A dream is
a reaction to those thoughts, desires, wishes, problems or fears which might otherwise disturb our
sleep.
Now the representation of the stimuli by the mind comes in a very different form to that which
it actually is, as can be
seen from external stimuli. Freud then made a distinction
between the dream as we experience it, which he called the
`manifest dream contents', and the stimuli which acted together to produce the dream, the`latent
dream thoughts'. The process by which the latent thoughts are transformed in to the manifest
dream content is known as the `dream work'. The role of interpretation is then to take the
manifest dream and unravel the dream work enacted to produce it to reveal the latent thoughts.
From his experiences with patients Freud found that there were four dream work processes.
(1) Condensation.
This is the process by which two or more associations to
the latent dream thought are compressed into one image. To take
an example from one of my own dreams;
We [My father and I] stopped on a beach surrounded by
cliffs on all sides, even in the water a cliff rose up.
I waded into the water and picked up some milk [in a
bottle, not a carton] from the side of the cliff. We
disagreed on where to sit and dad decided we should dig
a hole to sit in.
On interpreting this I found that there were four memories compressed into this scene. First,
the cliffs surrounding us on all sides is a memory of a water hole near a campsite my family often
went to when I was a child. Second, the beach reminded me of one by a creek where my father
and I went hiking once. Third, the milk bottle is a reference to our habit of putting milk and butter
in the creek while camping to keep it cold (it is also a phallic symbol, but I'll come to that in part
II). Finally the hole we dig in the beach to sit in is a memory of a holiday I had with my father on
the Gold Coast here in Australia where I dug a contour into the sand on one of the beaches to
make myself more comfortable.
The link between each of these associations is obviously
that they are each memories of times when I was close to my
father. Putting this together with the first section of the
dream I deduced that the latent dream thoughts were a concern that I don't see my father much
since I moved to Sydney and a desire to go camping with my father and be close to him
more often.
(2) Displacement.
Freud saw this as a process of censorship, that is, we don't want to admit to the real object of
the latent thought and so the desire is displaced onto another object which alludes to it. Freud
saw this process also working in the waking life of neurotics with perversions who displace their
object of sexual desire onto something else that alludes to it, such as cross-dressing or ejaculating
while kissing; These sort of displacements can also occur in dreams. Freud illustrated the point
with an anecdote;
There was a blacksmith in a village who had committed
a capital offense. The Court decided that the crime
must be punished; but as the blacksmith was the only
one in the village and was indispensable, and as on
the other hand there were three tailors living
there, one of them was hanged instead.
(3) Symbols.
This occurs when complex or abstract thoughts are converted into an image. Freud cites the
examples of the concept of `possession' (in German `besitzen') being represented by sitting
(`sitzen') on the object, or of the concept of `adultery' (`ehenbruch') being represented by a broken
leg (`beinbruch').
So in trying to interpret a rather vague concept into an
image the mind can often use a linguistically similar word
that is more concrete and readily converted into images
as a symbol for the desired concept.
In my own opinion using symbols is also a quite normal
way for the mind to function, as is testified to by the fact
that we can communicate using language and writing. Or, on the more abstract level of dreams,
poetry often uses symbolic allusions which are readily understood. A classic example of this are
the quite obvious sexual references in `The song of Solomon' in the Bible.
Another way to make the use of displacement and symbols seem more intuitively reasonable is
through an experience that I am sure that all of us have had; You dream that you are at a certain
place that you know, but when you wake up you realize that the dream scene had little
resemblance to the actual place in reality. It doesn't matter that the dream scene looked little like
the actual place because your mind had labeled it as that place and so it was that place. Its
appearance doesn't really matter, its the meaning that your mind attaches to it that counts.
Likewise it doesn't matter that it looks like you are watering a rabbit or dressing a mannequin
because your mind has labeled them as (probably) having a child and having sex respectively.
(4) Reversal.
Freud held that the mind often treats opposites as the
same thing and will often replace one for the other in a
dream, for example `weakness' can become `strength' or `small' `large' in dreams. To support this
belief he uses examples of this occurring in language. In ancient Egyptian for example `ken' meant
both `strong' and `weak'. The two meanings were only differentiated by inflection in speech and in
writing by the addition of a pictograph of a man either standing or squatting.
It was only later that the two distinct words `ken' (`strong')
and `kan' (`weak') were developed. Or, to take an example from English, the word `with' once had
meanings of both `combining' and `separating' which can still be seen in words such as `withdraw'
and `withhold'. The mind then has no problem with using interchangeably opposites such as
`strong-weak', `light-dark' or `big-small'.
In part II I'll explain Freud's method for interpreting
dreams through free association and give some examples of
symbols that Freud found again and again to have the same or similar meaning for his patients,
such as the infamous phallic symbol.
***********************************************
DREAMS AND COMMENTARY
***********************************************
=====Broken Figurines by Sierra=====
My friends and I go to visit an artist who has a
curio shop. Rebecca is one of my oldest and closest friends.
The other woman is mentally challenged, perhaps with
Down's Syndrome. We enter the artist's shop, its in a
houseboat off a dock. The artist is an Asian woman in her
mid fifties. On shelves all around the houseboat are little
figurines of Arctic native women in a sort of terra-cotta. I'm
reminded of the American SouthWestern art of Native women in their robes. These have a little
more of a figure to them.
The artist encourages us to see the quality of the figurines
and gives us rubber hammers like the kind doctors use to
test reflexes. We tap the figurines. I break off a piece of
one or two of them. The artist is upset and says we have
to pay for them, about $1,200 or $1,300. I argue that they
aren't worth that. My retarded friend gets mad and takes
another figurine and throws it on the ground. I think she is
trying to side with me and help, but of course this just makes matters worse. We leave the
houseboat. I'm the last to leave, still arguing with the artist.
----------------
Sierra's notes: I'm not the most creative person I know, and my friend thinks this is about my
wounded creativity. But my anger at the artist is not for her competence or incompetence, but
around the issue of worth and responsibility.
------------------
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD on Broken Figurines by
Sierra======
I would think that this dream, like most of those wherein the dreamer takes an active role, is
about the self. The theme of a houseboat (houses usually representing the dreamer) just seems to
reinforce this idea (at least for me).
The close friend you have with you is perhaps your "protecting" self, then there is you, then there
is the other participant with Down's Syndrome who is there to be "protected". The artist is that
part of you that tests you, calls on you to make decisions etc. I'm not sure about the significance
of the dolls, but perhaps as they are all
women, you have a sense of yourself emerging to being a woman (sorry, but have no idea of the
age of the dreamer). Perhaps you see being a woman, becoming an older woman etc as being a
test...a testing time happening in your life at the moment perhaps?
When you do test the dolls, and then break them, the test is "failed" in some way. The
artist/tester part of you berates you for this. The "protected" part of you revolts at what is sees as
injustice. Perhaps you are eager to begin an emerging part of your life, but this
"younger/protected" part of you keeps getting in the way, "making matters worse."
I know all of this sounds a bit like id/ego/super-ego, and there is part of that there, but perhaps it's
not that complicated?
======Execution Times Three by Martin======
I am being held prisoner in a fairly nondescript
room. I am to be executed, not once but *three* times.
I can't say I'm happy about this, but I neither am I
terrified. I believe the executions are to be carried out
with lethal injections. There is a tailor in my prison room
who measures me for a very nice suit which I am to wear
during my execution.
-------------
Martin's notes: Though I am at the age when one might
prudently be preparing oneself for death, I still feel quite
vigorous. I'm quite happy and fulfilled in my life accomplishments of teaching and writing
philosophy and my retirement seems to offer limitless and delightful possibilities. If there were
one area of lack, it would be sexual and intimate relationships.
-------------
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD on Execution Times
Three by Martin======
The room I see as representing the dreamer. Your approaching death doesn't worry you, as you
are happy with most of your situation at the moment (happy with retirement, giving you time to
explore new/old
things etc). However, the room is sealed off, and although you're not terribly upset by what's
happening, the lack of social contact you mention is being expressed. The death (lack of physical
contact) doesn't particularly worry you, but part of you may still feel that it is an isolating factor
in your life.
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Matthew on Execution Times Three by Martin======
A very Freudian dream, which is confirmed by your comment at the end. Freud stressed the
almost universal link between the number three in dreams and male genitals. In this case the
execution of the genitals would represent castration. That is, as you said yourself, your sex life is
not up to scratch and this has produced some feelings of being `sexually castrated.'
======Passing the Opus by Richard======
I'm with a group of people on some stairs and we are
standing around as an artist, probably a graduate student,
explains his piece of art. We listen to him as he describes,
poorly, the piece. Its a large collage lying on the floor, maybe 4x6 feet. The artist is a Jim
Morrison type and I'm jealous of the attention he is getting, especially one woman with very clear
eyes. I ask him if he has a psychoanalytic interpretation. He says he does, and points out the work
sex in a larger word, maybe sexton. I say "Well, more what I had in mind was the issue of layers,
notice how everything is done in layer and covers?" I begin to really get into my interpretation and
go on unfolding the layers and covers theme. He leaves, which throws me a bit, disappoints me
and irritates me. But I have the attention of the group and go on. I bring the layer theme to a
more heated volume in uncovering the shadowy inner layer that lies under the folded layers of his
work, and bring attention to the seething underneath-ness of it all.
I'm interrupted again by a woman asking for directions.
She is a dark haired woman (Western movie woman from
Kostner's Wyatt Erp film) and not feeling well, I direct her
upstairs to the bedrooms. (a different set of stairs). I begin
to close my interpretation in an ecstatic manner, going through the layering again, tying the
seething shadows
together and then mentioning that the work was entitled
"Volcano". Right before I climax the speech a man comes
into the room and abruptly leaves.
I go upstairs and see the sick woman is feeling better
and is in bed. I'm happy to see her in my bed, feeling
somehow accepted, and think that I might later sexually
pursue her. I go back downstairs and find the man that
interrupted the last part of my interpretation. He is a
Christian and sitting at a table with his family and others
playing a board game or putting together a dinosaur jig-saw
puzzle. I am telling him about the interpretation, and he says
"Yes, I heard about it." I ask Oh, what did you hear? He just mentioned that the word got
around, but to me sounded like this was not so good. I defend myself and say that this is just what
Jung warned us about, if we don't have more experiences like this we will fall prey to substance
abuse, and that this is a cultural problem having to do with lack of direct experience of the Spirit.
-------------
Richard's Notes on Passing the Opus:
I took this as a kind of mid-life dream and the interplay of
the two ways I used to get attention, by the "just being"
(Morrison guy) of my youth and the "doing" (The teacher
guy) which is now more prominent. The work of art is being
passed from one to the other. The lost woman (lost soul?)
works, as usual, by not working, by causing a break in the
dominate narrative. My lost soul works by breaking down and not fitting in. There still seems to
be a problem with the Fathers, archaic holders of community opinion who are still trying to piece
the whole puzzle together rather than have any kind of direct experience. Still, giving them a
lecture using Jungian schlock seems a dubious way to enlighten them or restore myself to that
community.
-----------------
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD on Passing the Opus by
Richard=======
I see this dream as representing some aspect of your life (perhaps sexual) that is being interrupted
by outside (or at least what you perceive to be outside) forces. You dominate the first part of the
dream, feeling secure in the fact that you are more in control of a certain part of life (someone
else's life perhaps than they are).
You build yourself up, but are interrupted by others. This may show that you feel you are not
reaching a certain high potential because of the lack of enthusiasm from others. A sexual theme
seems to run through the dream, but there are still those interruptions.
When you do embark on telling someone about what you have done/accomplished, they are
apathetic about the whole thing. Perhaps you see some figure of authority (which perhaps you
are unwilling to face) as not listening to you, but you are still wanting that respect on some other
level/layer?
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Matthew on Passing the Opus by Richard
===========================
-------------------
"The strange thing about western culture is
not that it has cast sex into the shadows,
but that it talks about it ad infinitum."
Michel Foucault.
-------------------
Well this is the first dream I've seen where Freud's theories themselves have been used as
sexual symbols, I particularly like how your speech closes "...in an ecstatic manner...," you
"...climax the speech..." and the painting is called "Volcano."
The man at the start is an obvious sexual jealousy symbol
and you are thrown when he leaves and you are unable to show how much better you are than he.
There are some other signs that you are unsure about your sexual life such as the way you are
interrupted. First by a woman who is feeling ill (Perhaps the opposite of ecstasy is illness and
hence you are worrying about your ability to satisfy her) who you send up the stairway (a
common vaginal symbol) to your bedroom, where she is cured of her illness. I have a feeling that
the line "...feeling somehow accepted..." has an important relation to your life.
The second interruption comes from a Christian man who you later find assembling a jig-saw
puzzle of a dinosaur. The most obvious interpretation of this that I can see is that it is an
examination of your Christian upbringing and the sexual puzzle it has left in your life. You seem
to be very critical of it, first describing it as a dinosaur and then warning that it is the sort of thing
that leads to substance abuse.
I think a close examination of this dream would reveal much about your life; where you've
come from, where you are and where you both want to and are frightened that you might go.
======Black Hole Sun by Matthew Parry
(mettw@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au)======
---------------
'What we do
in dreams we also do when we are awake: we
invent and fabricate the person with whom we
associate - and immediately forget we have done so.'
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Beyond good and evil
-----------------
A black hole passed too close to the sun and sling-shot
it out of the solar system, leaving the planets orbiting
around the black hole. Everyone left the Earth because it wasn't habitable any more and since it
was in danger of falling into the black hole we moved it into orbit around another star.
I decided to go down onto the now humanless Earth and take care of it. I wandered around
and using some sort of mystical psychic force cured the planet by getting rid of all the carparks
and cities and replacing them with natural forrest.
I was taking some people around and showing them what I had managed to achieve. There
was a tree on top of a hill which had a `cattle trail' going down the northern side to the water's
edge. We went down the west side of the hill which was very steep and finished at the edge of a
large pond. On the northern side of the hill there were some reeds which you could go between to
get to the water's edge where there were some ducks and black swans.
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Marilyn Brown on Black Hole Sun by Matthew======
I see this dream as a statement that you are wanting to go deep within and re-make yourself in a
fundamental way and that you are capable of doing a beautiful job of it-- one in keeping with your
true nature.
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Richard on Black Hole Sun by Matthew======
If this were my dream I would be interested in how this dream might continue its dark unfolding,
on the poetics of celestial and planetary ecological darkness.
A summary to myself:
Transformations via dark star usurpery:
The black hole transforms ... the whole world,
into a dangerous, unihabitable for human place.
The only human place is now uninhabitable.
People have the power to change the new world's orbit, but there is a sense of abandonment by all
except the dreamer.
Mystical psychic forces terra-form civilizations residue and damage. All that was constructed, all
of civilization's hopes and aspirations and intricate attempts to build connections have been
displaced to another world.
Now there is a cure occurring, something natural. It is interesting that the dreamer mis-spells
"forrest". The slip draws my attention to the double rr and the wish to separate the word into
"for-rest" , for-peace, for-cure.
The prior human inhabitants are given a tour, exposed to the natural, for-rest achievements. The
dreamer is cautious and careful with the direction of things here, perhaps in the same way that the
humans being given the tour are also being given some directions to the care of their planet. If it
is rest that the planet needs and that the people need to experience, they couldn't come to a better
place than the pond.
Dark water fowl are revealed to the prior inhabitants and I can't help but dwelling for a moment
at the water's edge. My heart remains with the dark idyllic dream, but my mind wanders. It is
interesting that reeds can be made into a flute. Wasn't it Apollo who gave Pan his reed-flute in
exchange for the return of his cattle? Anyway, the swan was dedicated to Apollo, as the god of
music because the swan was said to sing its best just before dying. Perhaps I'm also going too far
in mentioning Apollo's sun designation, but I can't escape the black-sun, black-swan connection.
Some even say that while it was the horse that pulled Apollos Chariot by day, it was the swan
which pulled him through the night. Whether we are dealing with the ecology of the planet or the
ecology of a single dreamer's mind, there are few places that might match the rest found at the
bottom of the hill in the stillness of the pond .
Note: A couple nights ago I was having dinner with a man who works in California to reclaim,
save and generally help the water condition in the state and world. I asked if there was any hope
for escaping the consequences of our polluting behavior. He didn't think so and I sank into a kind
of depression during dinner that was saved only by the image in this dream that returned to me of
sitting by the pond watching the dark birds. I keep wondering if, in lieu of salvation, I am going to
be content with just staving off the inevitable in a kind of social- ecological tantric dance? Or is
this just a down cycle, like Apollo's dark swan journey though the underworld?
======PAST LIFE REGRESSION BY VAL======
Val's Prelude-------
This is the first dream I remember having. But first, some
background...
As a child, I was a troubled sleeper. I had this habit of always falling asleep during the day and
staying up at night. No matter what my mother did to get me to go to sleep during the night, I
would stay up. While up at night, I worried my mother by talking to my imaginary friends and
singing to myself. Sometimes I would wander outside and she'd find me asleep the next morning
in our backyard. This worried my mother even more. What would've happened if I had wandered
into someone else's yard? Or disappeared?
My mother turned to our family doctor for help.
I remember the doctor asking me about my dreams. I told him everything I could recall.
Everything about me was pretty normal, except that I believed that my dreams were reality--I had
no clear distinctions between waking and
dreaming realities, to me they were one and the same. The doctor told my mother I just had a
vivid imagination. But I still had problems sleeping. Soon I no longer fell asleep during the day
_or_ night. I would cry and fight with my mother whenever she would try to get me to sleep.
She took me to the doctor again. This time he prescribed "sleeping syrup" (to this day I don't
know what the medicine was actually called; I believe it was some sort of mild drug to make me
drowsy).
After the prescription, I was finally sleeping at the right time and my mother could get to sleep,
too. But, that's when my "nightmares" started...
----------
The Dream: PAST LIFE REGRESSION
(my first dreams) age: 4 yrs old, 1974
I remember being very afraid. I was running from a mob of people who were chasing me. I knew
that these people were going to kill me and I had to get away. I was in a woodland area during
autumn. The ground was slightly moist and I fell. Someone grabbed me by the legs. That's
when I noticed I was in an adult body and was dressed in heavy skirts and my chest felt sore, as
if my dress was on too tight. The person who grabbed my legs was a rough-looking man who
stank of beer and had rotten teeth. He, too, was dressed "weird." He had a red felt cap on his
head and his clothes were dirty.
He yelled out something in a language I didn't readily understand, but somehow I knew what he
was saying. He was crying out something like "I got her! She'll pay for her crimes now! Boys, I
got her!"
The mob caught up with us. These people were dirty and smelly, some of them were
malnourished, all of them were angry, yet somehow I knew it really wasn't me they were angry at.
They all wore masks that distorted their faces and they had on some sort of uniform--a muted red,
blue, and white. Some had pitch forks and other makeshift weapons I have never seen before.
Once they had me, they put heavy iron bracelets (shackles) on me. One woman cut off my hair.
My hair had been tied up and was a pretty reddish blond color. This woman took my hair and
tried to pretend it was her hair, to humiliate me. Later, the mob
took me into the city. I heard the name "Versailles" whore
(Versailles) and I had the terrifying feeling that I was going to die soon.
Once in the city, my fear grew even greater. I was taken to a grey building. The first floor had
beaten down straw for a floor! I was barefoot now (someone stole my shoes) and I was cold
(someone took my hooded coat). Soon I
was brought before an old man dressed completely in black. He had a stack of several books in
front of him and was writing with a black feather pen. When I was brought before him, he said
something like "oh, another one..." and he looked down at me. I begged him to make the people
let me go, but he didn't listen.
Next I was taken to another building, this time underground, and was locked in a cell with other
people like me. To my horror, there was a corpse there,
too, and I could hear the rats gnawing on bones. The other prisoners huddled together and said
nothing to me. I felt a dreadful loneliness. I missed my family and friends--but I didn't know
who they were anymore. I was very
confused.
Soon I was taken out of the cell and thought I was going to be released, but I was sadly
mistaken. I was lead down deeper into a dungeon-like place and was beaten with a whip. Then I
was taken back up to the surface to face the
man in black again. Again, I begged. He did not listen. He said something like "you are to die
for your crimes against the state" and "your death will ensure the future of our republic." I didn't
understand what he was saying. I asked him to explain to me what was going on, why I was going
to be killed, and what were these "crimes" I supposedly did? He gave me no explanations.
The moment I was led back out into the street, I knew I would be dead. First I was led by
soldiers who were to take me back to my cell. But then a huge mob came and overtook the
soldiers. The soldiers did nothing to help
me. They stood by and watched as the people came at me. They ripped at my clothes and threw
garbage at me. One man shoved horse manure down my throat and I
choked. Then I felt a rip in my chest and my heart was stolen. I saw blood shoot out of me and I
fell down, sputtering and choking.
Then there was darkness.
--------
Epilogue by Val:
I'd wake up in my mother's arms, screaming. I remember telling her not to let me fall asleep
again, then she'd rock me, humming. These dreams persisted for about two weeks. When I got
older, my mother told me that I would
literally be running around the house still asleep and screaming, clawing at the walls, with my
eyes wide open. My mother, being the good Christian that she is, thought I was demon
possessed.
She took me to church several times
to "get the demons exorcised." When that didn't work, she took me back to the doctor. This
time the doctor had no explanation, except that "she's got an over-active imagination." But then
when I was put under to talk about what was going on in my dreams, the doctor was surprised to
hear all the details. The doctor thought I was being abused. I had bruises on me, but those were
"all caused
by your running around awake," my mother told me. There wasn't any other evidence of my
being abused. My mother, the doctors, and the preachers were all stumped. I was one weird kid.
The last time I had this dream, my mother couldn't take it anymore. To keep me from running
around screaming in my sleep, she grabbed me and shook me repeating "IN THE NAME OF
JESUS, COME OUT OF HER!" over and over again.
Eventually I calmed down and haven't walked or hurt myself while asleep ever again. For years I
heard my mother tell this story to me and it has been only recently that I was hypnotically
regressed to re-experience the nightmare. I
consider it a Past Life Regression because I remembered so much detail--and no one was planting
this information into my head! Also, now that I'm older and have studied some history, I
recognize the style of the soldiers' uniforms
and the people's attire--dated around 1789-90.
Pretty freaky, huh?
======DREAM COMMENTARY by Peter Pans' magic flight on LSD======
(ayvar@ragnorok.megalink.com.au)
-------------------
...Apprentice: "Excuse me sir but, theoretically, what would happen if someone summoned,
oohhh, lets say, a major demon from the 376th level of the Abyss ?"
/> I can't make you do it...
/< but I can make you wish you had
[\\\\\\(O))))================================== ==-
\< I never claimed to be a Hero
\> and I never said I was a Saint
-----------------------
I think this dream sounds more like the very intense imagination that can be generated by
children.
Don't get me wrong, I somewhat believe in reincarnation. However, this dream has a lot of
reality parallels.
The mob you described can be those people that are out to stop your dreams. I would say that
the man in black would be the doctor you were taken to see (you were taken to see him twice,
and you were taken before the black man twice?). You were locked in a cell where you thought
you were alone and didn't know who friends/family were. As a child, our world can be very
easily rocked. When you mother was stopping you from talking to your "dream friends", she was
effectively cutting off that part of
your childhood world.
I'm not saying she was a terrible mother or anything remotely like that, just how these things may
have been perceived by a four year old mind.
Taking out your heart could also be a reflection of this loss of your world. These
dreams/places/people that you talked to were a very real part of you. As you said, you had
difficulty separating the two. When those type of dreams were stopped, it would have been a
terrible shock to
your reality.
The death I see happening here is one more of a four year old's world changing, and her being at a
total loss of how to stop it from happening.
======Matthew's Childhood Dream======
I had a nightmare when I was a small child that reminds me of Val's series of nightmares. The
dream is as follows
------
I was walking along a bush track that opened out into a grassy clearing which was surrounded
by a low treated pine fence. Beyond that was a beach. There was a crowd of people by the fence
and a Lion's Club van next to them selling cakes and drinks. I went into the van where my mother
was helping out and had something to eat.
When I went outside I started making my way to the front of the crowd to see what was
happening. When I got to there I saw that there were some soldiers who were pulling people out
of the crowd and stringing them up from poles on the beach and using them for target practice.
They would fire one bullet into the person, killing them, and then took them down and pulled
someone else out of the crowd and killed them.
I was really frightened that they might pick me so I turned around and ran back into the
forrest.
------
Matthew's Comments
Now this was just some childhood nightmare and so it fell into the back of my memory and I
didn't think about it much after that.
Three and a half years ago I was reading the newspaper and found an article about a
revolution happening in the tiny African country of Liberia. For some reason I became very
interested in the story and each day I would look for the two or three paragraphs that would be
written on the story.
After about a week of this they printed a small historical note about the country at the end of one
of the articles. It said that ten or eleven years previously the country had had another revolution
and after the rebels had succeeded they shot the leaders of the old government and tied their
bodies to poles on the main beach of the capitol. Suddenly that dream popped into my head from
nowhere and I realized where it had come from. I had obviously seen it on the news and then
had a nightmare about it that night. The experience was really quite strange, sort of a mixture
of deja vous and an inspiration like feeling.
************************************************
If you have access to the World Wide Web you man want to check out this URL:
http://sppc1952.edu/.
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Electric Dreams is an independent electronic publication
not affiliated with any other organization. The views of
our commentators are personal views and not intended as professional advise or psychotherapy.
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