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Electric Dreams Volume 02 Issue 05
Title: Electric Dreams Volume 2 Number 5
File: Electric Dreams 2(5)
==========================================================
Electric Dreams back issues are available to the public and
listed individually.
For an index of Articles and dreams on Electric Dreams,
See the IIDCC Research Tools area.
================================================================
=========================================
Electric Dreams
Volume 2 Issue #5
30 March 1995
==========================================
--Back issue and the FAQ available via anonymous FTP at
sppc1952.uwsp.edu
-- Also available via America On Line:
Keyword: writers
\writers club library
\writers club ezines
--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 Richard:
<RCWilk@aol.com>
=========================================
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Editors' Notes & Day Residue
Core Group Invitation!
Questions & Answers- by Matthew
Article: "The Meaning of Apocalyptic Dreams" by Henry Reed
Commentary: on "Apocaplyptic Dreams" by Richard Wilkerson
Discussion and Notes on Dreams
Commentary: on "The Valley, the Theatre and the Mistake"
by Cathy
Commentary: on "the two chris's" by Karen
Commentary: on "Genii-Well Prison Cult" by Karen
Comment: on Pricilla's "Hot Date" by BobC
Dream: "Eternal Task Fears" by Richard
Commentary: on "Eternal Task Fears" by jay
Dream: "control and the yellow gun" 3/12/95 by jay
Commentary: on "control and the yellow gun" by Marilyn
Commentary: on "Control & Yellow Gun" by BobC.
Commentary: on Jay's "Control & Yellow Gun" by Karen
Discussion of "control and yellow gun"
Dream: "Snow Blinded Accident" by Pricilla
Commentary: on "Snow Blinded Accident" by Marilyn
Commentary: on "Snow Blinded Accident" by Bob C.
Commentary: on "Snow Blinded Accident" by Gary
Commentary: on "Snow Blinded Accident" by Karen
Dream: "The Potholder T-shirt" 3/17/95 by Jim
Dream: "Crushing Timbers" by John
Commentary: on "Crushing Timbers" by Marilyn
Commentary: on "Crushing Timbers" by Bob C.
Commentary: on "Crushing Timbers" by Richard
Dream: "The Small Cat" by M.
Commentary: on "The Small Cat" by M. by Richard
Dream: "Field of Bombs"---A reoccurring warning dream story
by Shera
Commentary: on "Field of Bombs" by Bob C.
Dream: "The Never-Ending Gift" by Dream Warriorette
Commentary: on "The Never-Ending Gift" by Karen
Commentary: on "The Never-Ending Gift" by Bob
Dream: "The End of the Universe Cafe" by Flare
+additional comments by Flare
Commentary: on "The End of the Universe Cafe" by Bob C.
Commentary: on "End of the Universe Cafe" by Karen
Dream: "The Late Train" by Flare
Commentary: on "The Late Train" by Richard
Review: _Dream Scene Magazine_ by Richard Wilkerson
===============================================
DAY RESIDUE - NOTES FROM THE EDITORS
==============================================
We have a long issue this week and so my comments are going to
be brief. I do want to say to all our contributors that this issue is
really great and thank you for your dreams, comments and articles.
This issue spans from Henry Reed's Apocalypse to dream tips
to dreams of hot lips. - what more can I say?
Get your dreams published! We are providing two new ways to
contribute your dreams this week. See my review of _Dream
Scene_ magazine and the offer by _Monk_ magazine in Dream
Resources.
Opinons please! Do we need better referencing for our dreams?
I favor page numbers. That means the issues will be longer/take
more byte space. Line numbers in the Contents is possible, but
very time consuming and so doesn't appeal to me. Open to ideas.
We are experimenting more with opening up discussions on the
dreams and dream comments. Many thanks to jay for allowing us
to peek so deeply into his inner life and make this possible. I
considered just keeping these comments off as part of our non
public community communications, but they really do allow a peek
at a process not normally viewed and so with jay's encouragement
I'm including some of the discussion. I'd like to ask if there are
other commentators who would be willing to discuss their dream
comments off line, for them to send me a note if you are available
for this kind of forum experiment. You can arrange the degree of
anonymity needed depending on the situation.
Core Group Invitation!
While anyone who wishes may comment on dreams, we do
circulate the dreams before publication among a core group who
simply send their comments in to Cathy sometime before
publication. As we move deeper into this project of multiple
comments on dreams, the need for multiple comments becomes
more important. And so we are extending our invitation again this
month to join our core group. Anyone interested may contact Cathy
or me.
Richard
===============================================
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - by Matthew
================================================
How do YOU Remember Your Dreams? Next issue we will be
exploring some of the current theory on why we do and don't
remember dreams, as well as suggesting popular ways of increasing
recall. But since everyone is different, we also want to get YOUR
favorite and unusual ways of remembering! Send them to
Richard at RCWilk@aol.com
===============================================
The Meaning of Apocalyptic Dreams
By Henry Reed
================================================
Might apocalyptic dreams serve a function for the dreamer similar
to that served by apocalyptic visions for an entire culture? Just as
apocalyptic visions have been common to religions for thousands of
years, so too do such dreams appear in individuals. What do these
dreams mean? Might therapists use these dreams for diagnostic
purposes? Dr. Mortimer Ostow, a New York psychiatrist, believes
so. He recently published a history of apocalyptic visions and
compared them with the dreams of his patients who were suffering
from schizophrenia, borderline personality disorders, manics, and
depressives.
Apocalyptic visions share many common elements. They
view the outcome of life as "a violent struggle between good and
evil forces." This struggle is perceived as the last days of the world
as we know it. Often there is some foreshadowing of catastrophic
earth changes and upheavals. Apocalyptic visions are revelations,
usually given by an omniscient source, to serve as a warning and
show the eventual outcome of the human condition. Any potential
redemption is offered by some messianic figure, angels, or demons.
Finally, there is the promise of a prolonged or eternal peaceful time
where those who have struggled will be rewarded. Out of death and
destruction comes some form of rebirth, the phoenix rising up out
of the ashes.
Dr. Ostow describes correlations with these patterns to
several apocalyptic-type dreams of his patients. These dreams might
be an attempt to regulate the disturbances within the psyche. The
alternating images of de-struction and con-struction correspond to
the process of trying to regulate conscious control within the
dreamer. A patient might be aware of an internal struggle, whose
feelings surface through a dream showing the patient's psyche
struggling with a sense of doom and destruction, followed by a
scenario for recovery, yet oftentimes finishing by giving up, being
swallowed by the catastrophic forces.
A particular case example demonstrates how one patient's
dream relays a scene of complete destruction, followed by a sense
of hope for the future, yet concludes by giving in to the
catastrophe. A suicidally depressed woman dreams that a
tremendous flood sweeps away the entire world. She tries to save
herself by staying on a boat, complete with a kitchen stocked with
food. The end of the dream, however, focuses on all the people
drowning and their various reactions to this plight. Dr. Ostow
determined that this patient was aware of her present depressive
state, attempts to save herself from this "flood" of depression, and
yet suppresses the attempt at recovery and slips back into a suicidal
condition.
Apocalyptic dreams have widespread occurrence, but for a
variety of mental illnesses these dreams have a special function.
From a psychiatric point of view, apocalyptic dreams might be an
important source for doctors to ascertain what types of medication,
if any, might be most appropriate for their patients, as well as
relaying the progress of the psyche in its process of healing.
Apocalyptic dreams don t have to mean the end of the world, but
may outline the transformation of an unbearable inner condition.
Source: "The interpretation of apocalyptic Dreams," _Dreaming:
The Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams_, Vol. #2,
No. 1, 1992, pp. 1-14.
=========================================
Comments by Richard Wilkerson on "Apocalyptic Dreams"
How might we at Electric Dreams convert these clinical
suggestions to our use? One idea that occurs to me is to
particularize the general notion that apocalypse involves the
disintegration of the whole personality or self structures. That it
may only be a small and quite manageable part of us that is
*feeling* like its all over. How many of us had to extend this kind
of thought to, for example, our teenage daughters when they have
been humiliated at school by a pimple or public embarrassment and
weep about how their life is over? My feeling is that dreams too
can inflate their given situation and for most of us it is more likely
(or more usefully seen as) the disintegration of an old habit,
relationship or value. Given this transition to apocalypse of the
particular, what else might we derive from clinical studies? One
notion I want to pick up on in Henry Reed's article is the
polarization he mentioned that seems to be a thread in these
dreams. If the individual is leaving and old meaning, value or
relationship - it is going to leave a *gap* in the area that used to
mediate the opposites and we can predict from this a clash of the
now unmediated sides. We see the dark self and can no longer live
that way anymore, the old world collapses. The daughter who up to
that time has relied upon her innocence and the goodness of others
has been given a glimpse and that world is now gone. Thank
goodness we have an even more interesting world(s) to offer her!
And so, as Reed has suggested, these dreams may be used as maps
to our traversing unbearable conditions. In this sense the images
hold an contain us through the transition, providing mediation both
in the old value system we might be leaving as well as the new one
we might still be trying to enter.
================================================
DISCUSSION AND NOTES
================================================
Discussion on ED2-5Comments by Richard:
Wow, you are all great! I wish we had more time to examine and
share our approaches and comment on everyone's great work.
Karen, as you contributed so much time I wanted to focus on some
of your comments and share some observations I had. Nothing
critical, and if anything feels critical in what I say, feel free to say
so, because its surely not my intention. I'm just very interested and
nosey about the different processes we all have and so I make
comments in hopes of engaging and finding more out, as well as
hopefully instructing those who are shy and would like to jump in
and comment but aren't sure where to start.
" two chrism's dream" - the driving car as a psychological drive is
fun and useful. I usually take the image of car as vehicle, and this is
good for focusing on the vehicle itself, but can miss the thing being
driven. I tried this also on my "Eternal Task" dream and found
your metaphor helped me see that I often in dreams am trying to
drive some point home. Ho ho. This also works well with my
favored metaphor of car as vehicle and combines to display the
variety of options available in my various cars, trains, and buses.
On "Genii Well "- I too felt that the genii power ring at the well
was presenting itself in the form of emphasis. I liked the direction
question, suggestion of how to use objectivity for right action - and
this broke up a non productive inner drive I've had to blame the
journalist for just looking and not doing anything.
On "Control & Yellow Gun" . Ho Ho. I think its only fair that jay's
struggle is seen as a emotional issue as he see's my dogs as an
emotional issue. :) Interesting comments, I'd like to see them
unfolded a bit. I wasn't clear how you got to the emotional. Not
complaining, just interested in the process. Was this intuition, or
was your sense of going to the emotional realm from the dream's
images of expression or that the woman=feeling? Also not sure
whether you meant that when power is an issue, emotions are
trouble and/or when cognitive thought is present that emotions
cause trouble in general or in this dream imagery.
I liked the control/fear pairing and find this an important issue
personally. But besides my need for control is also a desire for
control that is outside of fear and more related to the pleasures of
creativity and desire to participate in creation as a co-creator. I
want control over my guitar out of fear, but out of a kind of
longing to participate and pleasure in mastery unrelated - I think -
to fear. However, in this dream, fear and control seem , as you
point out, tightly bonded.
Pricilla's "Hot Date" Being snowed? Great image!
BobC. I see you are pursuing the dreams in relationship to reality
and the larger social arena in that special way you have. Also I like
the introspective questions that lead inward, like the missing crazy-
things in "Hot Date"
Gary: "Snow Blinded Accident" I liked the car as life's course
metaphor. I didn't quite get how the window going down led away
from feeling vulnerable to self blame, but it sounds intriguing.
Marilyn: Hey I really liked that Ship coming in image!
===============
From jay to Richard:
in discussing my comments on cathy's nightmare, you say that i
leave gaps. i first look for items that stand out to me as probably
being symbolic of something (missing lots, of course). some of
them evoke associations for me which i suggest, but others don't.
so then i just point them out for the dreamer to think about
associations for.
is that what you were saying, more or less?
most of your stuff, i think i get but sometimes it gets so abstract,
or you use words or concepts that i am not familiar with, and i may
get a little lost and uncertain. like, what does this question of
yours in the same paragraph mean? richard: 'what are the
conditions that you would try to find those representations?'
i like your comment about the dream symbols giving a graspable
representation for unknown fears, a way to maybe discover and/or
work on them, even if i haven't figured them out yet. i also like
your description of neurosis as trying to over represent and control
the world. god knows i spend a lot of effort in trying to understand
and control my world. something that irritates the hell out of the
rest of my family. your description points out to me the possibility
of being more open to mystery and ambiguity and complexity and
trying to adapt a more two way give and take partnership with the
rest of the world. that's an outlook i tend to forget rather quickly.
actually, i would say that in the larger world, i adopt a fairly
passive and powerless, uncontrolling position, while it is in my own
immediate personal world that i am quite controlling, but both of
these attitudes are one way extremes rather the more balanced two
way position.
in regard to your discussion of modulating our dreams with the
work/play we do with them, it seems to me that our work or play
with our dreams can go either way, depending on what we do,
either enlarging or diminishing the energy. my goal is to keep as
much of the energy and meaning as i can handle, though i also enjoy
the pure fun and playing and discovery of it. -Jay
Reply to Jay from Richard:
About your comments on the "Nightmare". You suggested,
concerning bugs and crabs, that the dreamer try and figure out what
these things represented. I was teasing a little (and not very well,
I'm afraid and apologize) when I asked what conditions need to be
present for *you* to give up some of *your* possibilities about
what bugs and crabs represent. Mostly because I was curious what
you and others might come up with. The interesting gaps seemed
to me kind of doorways you were offering by withholding at a
certain point your personal associations, thus creating gaps or
personal spaces for the dreamer to connect with her own material.
A positive gap, so to speak.
"Yellow Gun" and "Playing with Fire:.." An interesting
connection. What happens when we take the dream as a kind of
philosophy for the day?
"Two Chrism's" dream. Yes, good feedback. Thanks. If you get a
chance sometime I'd like to hear about the difference between the
guts of a dream and the abstractions I lay across it. I'd like to do
more of this myself with other's comments too. That way we can
get a better feel for the different stuff we bring to a dream image,
and peek at parts of ourselves not usually visible. I've been talking
with some dreamers whose perspectives are a little different, and
hoping they will join us. Hopefully this will deepen the cross
comment perspective we are developing.
Being about sexual desires. I guess. But I generally am weak in
this area if you mean literal sexual desire. I prefer ( probably to
avoid the issue) to see sexual desire as an expression of the need to
connect. To return to the "two Chrism's'" dream a moment: If this
were my dream I would explore the sexual abuse of the son issue as
my dream using the son as one of my main projects in life (perhaps
what I feel is one of my greatest contributions, or perhaps an aspect
of my own self-project) and then seeing where that project is being
molested in life and where I can hear this in a motherly way, but
maybe need more fatherly protection added as an additional
ingredient.
Looking back I'm almost sorry I mentioned the therapy thing. It
seems somehow patronizing from the distance I have now. I seem
to be struggling with the incredible oneness and yet publicness of
our forum. While I want to be clear we are not offering one another
any form of psychotherapy, we *are* running around the
boundaries of potentially powerful material.
Will we have to eventually develop a kind of complex non-public
forum that is a kind of shadow to the more public ED? Just the
thought of this seems exciting yet almost too complex to live.
Puer- Senex. Sorry about that Jungian jargon. I mis-used it too.
My friend is more what would be called a Puer-Aeterus, or eternal
youth- the fool card in Tarot. This is the figure that tastes
everything but never settles on anything for long and so travels
lightly through life. There is a secret hidden Senex or old man or
grumpy king/dictator shadow hidden in this character type that they
forever flee and sometime unconsciously act out on others or
themselves. To the degree that we all struggle to gain some middle
ground between these two poles of immediate gratifications and
forever delayed satisfaction is the degree we gain some space of our
own, away or creatively related to the two extremes. For a
fantastic mythopoetic exploration (hold on to your most cherished
values) of this, I like the book _Puer Papers_ (1999) James Hillman
et at, Dallas,TX: Spring Corp. --Richard
================================================
DREAMS AND COMMENTS
================================================
======Comments by Cathy on "The Valley, the Theatre and the
Mistake" by Viking======
The first two dream segments seem related to me in
the sense of you are envisioning various settings and
scripts for the rest of your life. Your first image is of
beauty but this is undercut by the image of the beat up
theater. The theater exposes your role as dreamer--a
director controlling the stage and reminds you of how
dreams can just fill up a life that is beat up like the
theater.
The last segment undercuts the other two even
further. The director is no longer in charge but must try
to defend the actress from the wrong script. The director
knows the actress didn't steal but cannot convey this. The
dream seems to steal more and more power from the dreamer.
I think this could be a dream about insecurity about the
dreamer's power to shape his or her future.
======Comments on Jay's "the two chrism's" by Karen======
*IF these were my dream fragments,* I would think
about working on rifts within self and/or family as they
relate to the past. (symbolized by the repair equipment
placed outside the childhood home) In particular, I would
examine my relationship with Chris, or the Chris within me,
since this is where I have some difficulty in
communication/understanding. My intuitive side seems to
have recognized this through my feelings/emotions
(indicated by wife archetype).
This may involve some spiritual discernment. I
decide what to hold on to amongst all the clutter at the
bar (where "spirits" are served). What I receive (left
hand) also involves some letting go. The unbroken wine
glass directs my focus toward my support/foundation where
there is a truth that may lead me into higher spiritual
evolvement (indicated by the wine).
I seem to have driven some material out of my
consciousness (driven a long way, no one home during the
daytime). Though I think the trip is not necessary there
is some new learning taking place in the subconscious
(kindergarten school downstairs). This new learning is
allowed to take place when I slow down activity (i have
little to do).
When this learning is complete I am able to follow
my individual way with less assistance, and can bring the
subconscious into the front of my mind (leaving the
school, going downstairs to street in front yard). This
last part of the journey may require some hand-holding and
baring of the soul. (hand holds and foot holds in bare
feet).
When I feel tired and discouraged over this time of
rebirth (red calendar, red associated with first chakra)
there is mental comfort found in surrender to spiritual
teachings.
The presence of the older brother indicates that
the upset, confused Chris also has a
previously-established supportive, balanced aspect.
======Comments on Richard's "Genii-Well Prison Cult" by
Karen======
If this were my dream...
The objective observer within me (journalist)
acknowledges some deep unconscious material that desires
to be free. My sense is that there are some
guilt/negative feelings and a desire for improved inner
conditions.
The feeding rituals taking place in a dusty room
indicates to me that there is an old habit of negative
thought that fuels my unsatisfactory situation. These
negative thoughts have dangerous implications beyond the
individual.
Escape is found inwardly, and the spiritual goal is
reached through the right use of will (ascending ladder,
well as inner source of life opened by will, temple -
spiritual).
The genii-demon emphasizes the point that negative
thought is powerful, reflecting back on the self with a
transformative/creative force. The overall theme here
seems to be a struggle between personal and divine will.
It should be noted that the genii-demon embodies
both the positive creative force of the genii and the
negative destructive force of the demon. The objective
observer is necessary for right use of this power.
======Comment on Pricilla's "Hot Date" dream by Bob
C.======
The dreamer believes she is in an apparent dead-end
relationship with the father of her two children, a man who
she states lacks ambition. She dreams of a romantic
relationship with another student in her school, who
evidently has not shown any romantic interest in her, but
the dreamer believes she has precognitive dreams which
often foretell the future. Hence, the inference is that
the dreamer believes the dream about a romantic
relationship with the student S may be a precursor of an
actual relationship. Certainly psychic phenomena are not
to be discarded. There is too much evidence that many
people have psychic abilities. It is also true, however,
that many people who leave relationships have a need to
have a replacement relationship in place, and they also
have a need to believe that the replacement relationship is
or will be far better than the old relationship. These
needs may have been the source of the dream.
If the dreamer disagrees with the above interpretation,
then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Dream: "Eternal Task Fears" by Richard======
My wife, Anna, and I have an unknown apartment on
the second or so floor. We have a dog, a basset hound, and
I'm lying on a bed scratching its ears. The dog wants to go
about and Anna and I plan to take him out.
Later we are at a colleague of Anna's, and I've
offered to do something for her, at Anna's warning not to.
I bring the finished project to her and there is some
unease as she is going to scrutinize the work. We are at
her house and she is upstairs in the attic. We make
ourselves at home, perhaps we are offered some breakfast
food, though we are all planning to go out to lunch. We
discuss psychological theory, perhaps teenagers. I see her
certificate of licensing on a bulletin board. There is
some concern on my part that the project is not going to be
done to her specifications, that I'll be caught in some
kind of eternal web of working for her to perfect it. I get
that "I told you so" look from Anna.
After awhile she finished in the attic and comes
downstairs. Her son comes out of his bedroom and is a
teenager going through his own-thing phase. He says
something about putting on some music and slouches down in
a bean bag chair or at the breakfast table.
We leave (I think in the therapist's car) and drive
along a highway. I see several old trains on display beside
the road and think to myself that we'll have to come back
when my sister Heidi brings her son Luke, who is crazy
about trains. But soon I'm disappointed that there are only
three or four. I do want to remember the spot and look
around. We are on some kind of island near San Francisco,
but its too far north in the Bay to be Treasure Island, to
flat for Tiberon and too close to the city to be the Delta.
=======Comments by jay on Richard's "eternal task fears"
dream=====
i'm stuck in a rut right now. everything looks
like a male/female conflict to me.
this feels to me like it's about demands imposed on
me by a female figure, either internalized, or parental, or
spousal. there's a nice dog in the dream who wants to go
out. is that myself? perhaps the task is that of editing
electric dreams. the colleague's son and my sister and her
son make me think of my own childhood. my dream symbol
book suggests that islands can represent isolation and/or
an overconcern with the sea of unconscious. trains, for me
are a symbol of great self contained power. but there
aren't as many trains as i would like there to be.
==================================
Discussion on "Eternal Task Fear's" dream
==================================
Richard' s reply to jay:
Speak about troubles with the feminine! I keep ruminating about
why this figure is female. Is it because I secretly desire what she
represents (Cold, efficient, attractive, worldly, empowered,
productive, socially invested) ? Is she female because I harbor the
fantasy of having these qualities not by working for them (then she
would have been a he?) but getting them by sleeping with them, a
magical sexual having, a possibility of mating with these opposites?
Well, I like this interpretation and will try it out. I am trying to
bring her, in the dream, back to my home in San Francisco from her
(as you mentioned) isolated island. However, the isolated place has
trains (my 3 year old nephew's passion) and I mark the place
mentally so I can return with him. Cool. This woman won't kill me,
but I do have to be careful about her assignment of tasks. I just
want a business affair with her, not marry her, and to make sure of
this, my wife is with me keeping an eye on the situation. Hmmm.
======Dream: jay's "control and the yellow gun"
3/12/95======
a (i wrote 'i' instead of 'a' by mistake when i was
recording this dream) woman has a yellow gun. she is
stalking others. i am trying to figure out what she did
with it. it is a contest between us. the contest is about
who has, or thinks they have, control of the situation.
she is tricking me into thinking i have control when she
actually does. that is how she will be able to shoot me or
others. she is very sick-o.
earlier, just before she starts the stalking, she
observes, but can't actually see me, because of the angle
of view, as i proudly pee into a sort of big peeing
box/room, sort of like the shooting galleries at a
carnival. end of dream
i already have some ideas of what this is about,
but would like, as usual, to see what meanings others see
in this dream. thanks.
======Marilyn's comments on jay's "control and the yellow
gun"=====
Sounds to me as if Jay is attributing penis envy to
someone ... but he gives the woman with the yellow gun the
"real" power so maybe the dreamer has yellow gun envy.
The carnival atmosphere may be right.
======Bob C.'s Comments on Jay's "Control & Yellow Gun"
Dream=====
The color yellow has many connotations in dreams:
e.g. cowardice, sunshine, Oriental, gold, etc. In the
dream a woman has a yellow gun (phallic power?) but
pretends the dreamer is in control. The dreamer feels that
she is attempting to manipulate him, and if she succeeds he
will be shot. It would appear that the dreamer may feel
that a woman is attempting to emotionally castrate him
(i.e. the "gun" should be in the possession of a man, not a
woman) in a covert manner.
If the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation, that it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Karen's Comments on Jay's "Control & Yellow Gun"
Dream=====
If this were my dream ... I would ask the question,
"Do I have control of my emotions, or do they control me?"
My sense is that I have been carefree in expressing
my emotions and am proud of my ability to do so. However,
I may have mistaken the uninhibited expression of emotion
for emotional control.
Some other possibilities -- (Only the dreamer knows for
sure.)
Emotions are able to "shoot me down", draw me into
conflict, or gain control at the point when my desire for
personal power is foremost in my thoughts.
If I allow cognitive thought to dominate, then
emotions will begin to stalk me.
Additional Comments: Another idea about this dream just
struck me this morning ... When I feel like I am in control
of my fear (represented be the yellow gun) it is actually
fear that is controlling me ... because the need for
control is an expression of fear.
Thanks to the dreamer for sharing this one. I've
gotten a lot out of working with it.
===========================================
Discussion of jays "yellow gun" dream
===========================================
From jay:
>>>>
some initial thoughts on jay's 'yellow gun' dream
(richard suggests imagining the gun in other colors.)
is there another color gun you feel would be particularly fruitful?
i imagine yellow links it back to the peeing somehow. yellow seems
pale and sickly and sneaky and tricky, you can see through it, it's
unsubstantial, hard to get a hold of. other colors don't fit to me,
except perhaps a pale envious evil green. other colors seem too
bright and substantial and cheery and normal real world.
my first reading of this dream is that it is another male/female
persona conflict, as i thought cathy's 'nightmare' dream was. only
here, the feminine is the enemy. i feel this is about how the
feminine, which is the persona i have favored in many respects for
much of my life, is fighting to retain control of me. she doesn't
want me to know that she has taken me over, she wants me to think
that i (the male persona?) am in control even though it is really
she. she wants to kill my male persona.
notice how i start out proud of my maleness and that is when the
feminine aspect starts trying to take over. i think this goes back
to my childhood and my accepting my mother's views over those of
my
father to a large degree.
my conscious self still sees much of the feminine that i value and am
not currently willing to give up, yet i can see this may be causing
injury to myself in denying so much of my maleness. ideally, i
would
like to retain the best of both. but perhaps that is simply refusing
to decide and therefore still cutting off much of the good in my
masculinity.
to honor this dream, i made a card board cut out yellow gun. i am
unsure about what, if anything, i want to shoot with it.
<<<<<<
Reply by Richard:
OK, let me see if I'm following your take on this dream: There is an
essential question as to the right balance between masculine and
feminine, and even a question that holds the possibility that this is
not something that can be balanced but might create a parting of the
paths.
Yes, she stalks not just you, but a particular you/aspect of you. As
you say, its a part that she can get only when she has fooled you
into believing you are in control. That's the part she gets off on. For
some reason that is the only part she stalks, though unknown others
are mentioned. What was that pop song, Buttercup Baby? "Why do
you set me up, Buttercup baby, just to let me down..." The
feminine sets you up and then takes you out. The feminine? The
stalker is gender-wise a female, but its not clear here what the
feminine represents to you, except as an opposition to the
masculine. Hmmm, maybe this is the dynamic that sets up the
opposition. Not just for you, but for all of us. To the degree that
feminine is a kind of unknown defined in terms of its opposite,
which itself is somewhat unknown (these days), then there is always
going to be a struggle. But I doubt re-definition is going to change
the habits of this dream stalker. I'm curious about just what it is she
gets off on. Is her pleasure in knowing she has the upper hand
without the victim knowing it, or in killing itself? That is, does she
want to kill the male persona, or torture it?
Its also not clear to me who the dream ego is, except a gender-
male. What mask is the dream ego wearing here? Later, there is the
pride around peeing (why at a carnival and not a public toilet?), but
I missed the male pride at the beginning of the dream you
mentioned. Was that a feeling on the part of the dream ego at the
beginning? I'm assuming its the control (via guns) that you are
defining as masculine, and she is contending this?
And yes, isn't that childhood connection to mom's persona
interesting.
The Jungians are big on people being able to separate mom and
anima, otherwise the anima who should lead us into the unknown
just leads us into regressive states of too much nurturance,
indulgence, stagnation. This dream stalker seems to have little
connection with nurturance, and as you mentioned, seems to be
setting up a masculine/feminine conflict that may serve as a creative
doorway to unknown territory, a more carnival like place to direct
the release of tension. Just some reflections. -Richard
Reply by jay:
richard asks what feminine and masculine represent to me. despite
the fact that the feminine figure appears to be evil in this dream,
feminine usually is mostly a positive constellation for me, with
positive qualities such as soft, caring, loving, sensitive,
non-competitive, open, understanding. doing stuff like dream work
seems feminine to me. possible negative qualities might include
restricting, manipulating, sneakiness.
for me, masculine has many negative qualities, such as, dominating,
hurting/subjugating, selfish, insensitive, uncaring, destructive,
bullshit, pecking orders, business world, military. hmm, this sounds
like quite a onesided outlook. positive masculinity, for me, would
be strength used in the cause of good and for others. so you can
see why i say that i value and identify with a lot of stuff which i
think of as feminine.
this makes me sound kind of brain washed, just like the
psychological contest for control in the dream. have i become a
pawn of the females in my life? not so much in terms of which
values i consider good or bad, but rather, perhaps, in assigning all
the good ones to the feminine and all the bad ones to the masculine.
richard asks what is the dream woman's goal. i feel it is simply to
dominate or be in control of me. that may imply killing the male
psyche, if necessary.
richard asks about the feeling of pride at the beginning of the
dream. i think was just a natural unfettered feeling of self worth,
a feeling of ok-ness with myself, the way i am, prior to the
time of domination by the feminine disapproval of masculine.
after my initial comments and before i received richards comments,
i did some further thinking about this dream which i wanted to
relate.
for one thing, it occurred to me that the contest between the
woman and myself could also be looked at as a contest between my
unconscious feeling self and my conscious thinking part, in which
case, it becomes less clear to me who the good and bad guys are, if
either is.
it also came to me that it seemed as though, while the woman had
control of the gun, it seemed like quite a masculine symbol, being a
gun, and being urine colored, linking it back to my peeing.
in working with what i wanted to do with the gun, i first decided
that i didn't want to shoot anything with it. i thought about
throwing it away or destroying it, but didn't want to do that either.
i wanted to put it to a good use. i thought of swords into
plowshares and liked that as a symbol of male power put to good
use. finally, since i said i wanted to retain the best of both the
masculine and the feminine, i thought of a carnival merry go round,
as a symbol of the masculine and the feminine circling and
intertwining and playing in tension with each other as takes place in
life. so i drew pictures of a plow and a merry go round on my gun.
--jay
======Dream: "Snow Blinded Accident" by Pricilla======
This dream has been bothering me and making me feel
very cautious and paranoid.
The dream was me driving in the night, there was a
lot of snow on the ground, I was just cruising around with
my friends, I remember next to me was M. and we were just
joking about crazy things. Then all of a sudden she
rolled down the window and a lot of the snow came in and
landed on my face making it hard for me to see the road
and of course I crashed. I felt the windshield glass all
over my face and the pain with it.
What is this all about?
======Comments on Pricilla's "Snow Blinded Accident" by
Marilyn======
If this were my own dream, I would take one
possibility to be that "M" could be the potential source
of a breakthrough for me, that it might be cold and
cutting and painful but that it was important. More
important than cruising around, which suggests maybe going
nowhere. Not joking at all, which means it is about more
serious concerns. Rolling down the window not only lets
things in; it also allows you to see more clearly, even
though snow came in to obscure your vision.
Perhaps "M" is a link, symbolically or literally,
with something you need to see better in yourself.
======Comments on Pricilla's "Snow Blinded Accident" by Bob
C.======
The dreamer is driving around in the dark. A friend
makes her vulnerable by removing her protection (i.e.
opening the window). That in turn leads to the dreamer
being blinded by snow (is the dreamer in an emotionally
cold environment?) and she crashes. The dream may be
making a statement about the dreamer's relationship with
M., with friends, or about her present emotional
environment. One major key to the dream is missing; i.e.
what were "crazy things" that the dreamer and her friends
were joking about. It is often the "nonsense" in a dream
that is most important.
If the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation, then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Comments on Pricilla's "Snow Blinded Accident" by
Gary======
The car is a symbolic meaning, showing the course
in life, you wish to take. When you are Joking means, that
you like to take life fast, and fun.. The window going
down, means that you are afraid to be like this in front of
some one/friend, because you feel that if something
happens, you will blame your self...
======Comments on Pricilla's "Snow Blinded Accident" by
Karen=====
If this were my dream...
I would want to examine my relationship with M.
(This includes the part of myself that is like M.) There
seems to be some underlying cool feelings that are
currently unknown to me, and are painful to face. Am I
"being snowed" somehow and going off course?
======Dream: "The Potholder T-shirt" by Jim======
Date: 1995 March 17 5 am, the only dream I recorded on that
date.
I was looking at some items in a computer. I was in
a moderately-sized house with plain looking furniture, and
the computer was sitting on the kitchen counter. I was
sitting at the computer facing the cabinets and the oven
and burners. I was looking up something with a keyword
search. This was because a woman was in there. I don't
remember her image that well, but she looked like a
moderately tall light-haired woman about my age, fifty
years or so. She was asking about something that would
protect her from heat and would be suitable to wear. I
hunted on the computer for it, looking all over the place,
but don't remember the words she used.
I was looking up various combinations of words for
text in the computer. All at once she came out and showed
me this item that looked like a T-shirt but was as thick as
a sweater. It was not complete and had some unusual
features. It was made of potholder material, and was in the
shape of a T- shirt with a wide collar. she put it on and
said it would be great for the kitchen because it would
protect one from spattering food. I did see that it looked
a little small for her, especially in the bust area. It
seemed to be incomplete at the top where it made a v
neckline. I told her I would like to wear such a thing on
a cold winter day, because it was warm, although I thought
it would also be scratchy. But I would feel awfully hot
with it on a hot summer day. She was showing this to me
because she wanted to please me.
When she entered, I hurriedly got the information
off the computer screen. The computer had some personal
things on her, maybe something involving the number 400. So
when she entered, I quickly iconified the screen.
=====Commentary on "The Potholder T-shirt" by Richard =====
If this were my dream I would be interested in who this woman was
to me and how I might be able to use my computer (real or
metaphorical) to help find her some suitable wear for the task she
seems about to undertake. Since there are so many cooking images
here I'm going to use an alchemical map. If you are not familiar
with this, I see alchemy as the art of turning base material into finer
substances via experimental processes. One of the finer substances
we cook up is ourselves. In alchemy, the person preforming these
transmutations needed an opposite gender assistant, called the
soror, or sister. The substances cooked were dangerous and
involved a lot of heat. Here, in this dream, the pair searches for the
appropriate clothing. Its a tricky symbol, clothing, because it serves
not only to protect, but also to display and thus both reveals and
conceals. Here the emphasis is on protection, though comfort and
fit and fashion also enter in. What about this bust issue? If this
were my dream I would feel a conflict between what is available in
clothes and the woman that has to fit in them. A conflict of
constriction around the breast. Another complex symbol, ranging
from early issues of just about everything; nurturance, hunger,
anger at not getting, love image, power, depression, self concepts,
on and on to more adult issues of attraction of others and
performance as mother, pleasures of sharing, even nuisance and
threats. Its nice that in this dream the bust area is only a slight issue.
(Also, the bust area is the chest in general, the heart, the heart
chakra, the lungs, the upper body...). Anyway, she is either a little
generous there or the clothes are a little stingy with her.
But who is she? If we take her as the soror, the cook's helper, she
offers herself as a kind of helper that knows how clothes can be
used. What happens if we see clothes as persona, as the way we
present ourselves to the world? This allows her to both represent
me as the way I present myself and also to be the one to give good
advice on how to present myself.
When the computer comes in, the boundaries become confused.
There is personal stuff on the computer that she is not allowed to
see. But its *her* personal stuff. Who is it for? The 400 might
indicate that it is 4 hundred, for hun dred. Hmmm. Can't quite get
to that. It is interesting that there seems to be a need to have the
boundary here. She is not allowed to see (her own personal stuff)
what is on the screen and it is iconified. I would be interested in
knowing what would change if she did see this information, i.e.
would she be mad, depressed, shocked?
Also, since I'm looking at this as a kind of "what's cookin'?"
metaphor, perhaps the 400 makes a nice closing question. What is
cooking? What is it 4? It seems to be a partnership approach to
presenting oneself to ...the great meal!
======"Crushing Timbers" dream by John======
Last night I had the following dream. I think it is
significant because it was very vivid.
My wife and I were settling into a new apartment
which over looked a shipping harbour and wharves. While my
wife was doing something else I looked out the window and
saw a ship coming in that was clearly going to crash into
the wharf. I called my wife as I watched the ship plough
into the wharf. I vividly remember the timbers cracking and
breaking as the momentum of the ship pushed it into the
wharf.
I have never had a dream quite like this. The
apartment was not like any apartment we have lived in, and
I have never had a dream featuring a ship or a wharf, or
this type of accident before. I would appreciate any
comments on helping me understand this new dream.
======Comments by Marilyn on "Crushing Timbers" by
John======
Some possibilities:
1.You may be anticipating your "ship coming in" but not in
any positive sense; you may be apprehensive about some
future event.
2. You may just be wondering what's coming next.
======Comments by Bob C. on "Crushing Timbers" by
John======
The dream could be a metaphor. When (the
dreamer's?) ship comes in the dreamer fears it could
destroy the "home" or wharf where it should be the most
secure. The fact that the dreamer is seeing the ship crash
into the wharf from a new apartment, may indicate that the
dreamer faces a potential or actual change in some area of
his life in the near future which is of concern to him.
If the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation, then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Comments by Richard on "Crushing Timbers" =====
I like the comments already offered on this dream about one's ship
coming in. If this were my dream I would take this image and write
a small essay/story exaggerating the ship crashing in. I would write
about what would happen if all my ships began crashing in, all my
desires began to unfold too quickly and threaten my wharf. Cool
dream. Thanks.
======Dream: "The Small Cat" by M.======
Day: weeks ago....
The dream... The small cat...
I was a magician in my dream and I was flying
around in a room above my city. The whole city could fit in
the room. It was like a model. In reality, it should have
been much bigger. I had crazy eyes and I had a kind of
panicked feeling as well. I did not feel this but the eyes
of the magician suggested that. Then I reach the ground. I
see I stand in front of the house. Two wolves ran towards
me to attack me. A man next to me killed both of them. I
could not see this but the remnants of them. First wolf was
converted into a chicken meal in a container. The second's
bones appeared lying on the ground. I concentrated heavily
as if to use my willpower to produce a miracle. As a
result, both remnants were converted into two little small
cats. I felt good. I gave one cat to the woman who lived in
the next house and I kept the other one.
Comment: In the same night, my mother dreamt that she blew
her nose and what came out finally became a small tiny cat.
She was surprised and did not dare to touch it...
Associations:
Crazy magician: came up in earlier dream, I thought it
represented the inability to live more fully. That is why
it was flying. The view that everything can be
accomplished with sheer willpower.
My city: I visited it in other dreams. But this time it was
very small... I feel emptiness in the city. It was a little
bit dark.
Cat: I was very young when I patted a cat. I have not done
it for a long time. Very positive feelings. Innocent cat.
In front of the house: It reminded me of a story where a
bandit came and raped the owner's wife in front of him.
The owner suffered because he did not dare to intervene.
====Comments by Richard on "The Small Cat" by M.====
A small cat, but a big dream. If this were my dream I would be
interested in the transformations taking place and consider
experimenting with how this both *is* occurring and *might*
occur.
Transformation 1: condensation and representation: My whole city
into my room. How do I take in the world in ways that allow me to
fly around it by will? In what ways do I represent the world (fantasy
self world or material world or spiritual abstract world) that make
me crazy but give me control and vision without feeling? Here is an
important issue to me. If I am going to be occult- be involved in
the world of power - I need to be in close contact with my desires.
If the magic I'm interested in is illusion and slight of hand, then I
need to be in contact with the desire of others. In this dream, I feel
at this point able to find ground, but must test reality in a distant
way.
Perhaps this sets up the attack. The hungry(?) wolf, often an
image of hunger and desire rebounds in double dose. How do I
feel? Its unclear, but the man next to me kills both of them. I like
that metaphor, The Man Next To Me. Here he performs a task, but
the motive is not clear. Does he repress the attacking wolves, or is
he the one that can deal with them in a higher sense?
Transformation 2: Raising of the dead. Wolf remnant to tiny cat.
Do we have any Santorini or Zombie experts looking in? What is
the religious significance of reviving the sacrifice? Anyway, we
move from hostile canine to domestic feline via willpower and
miracle. One is fowl food, (ho, ho) and the other skeletal remains.
And cats are the mother's breath, if we follow the associations
given.
There is an incredible self confidence in this act. I would take it if
this were my dream to be an indication of either a high degree of
self awareness(that some part is aware this is a dream state of being
in which this is possible), that there is a great connection between
desire and manifestation or that I was highly grandiose. I'm
assuming a middle ground for myself - and that the final
transformation is somehow involved in turning destructive wolf
energy into something that can be both shared and kept to oneself. I
might wonder if this was just my fantasy of a process of life as I
see it, or is it also the way I want it to be? Both paths look
interesting. If this were my dream commentary, I would realize it
just touched the surface of a very complex dream. Thanks for
letting me wander around.
======"Field of Bombs"--A re-occurring warning dream story
by Sera======
Note: Shera has noticed having re occurring warning dreams
over the year, this is one of the latest. Two days after
the dreams, there is an unexpected event.
On Sunday, Feb 26, 1995, I dreamed the following:
Several people are on a green grassy field, which
is comprised of gently rolling hills. My sense is that the
gently rolling hills have been eroded by weathering over
the eons, making the soil rich and fertile -- ideal for
growing crops. The green is a true green, which to me is
lighter than fully mature grass, but darker than spring
growth.
The people are not farmers; they are not dressed to
be on the field and so their appearance there is out of
place.
An airplane approaches from the left side of my field
of vision, but it is not all that important because what is
happening is that the airplane has dropped bombs on the
field. I watch the bombs explode on impact, from a hilltop
where I am protected by a structure with a roof on it.
The people look in the direction of the explosion
and begin to run away from the area where the bomb hit. At
least one person (a man of middle age) runs under the
shelter with me. Another bomb is dropped and it explodes,
causing people to run even faster for shelter.
I have dreamed of bombing runs for about 17 years.
Over the years I have come to recognize that this dream
means that in two days I will experience events that will
cause me to eventually explode (releasing angry feelings)
or to be overwhelmed by another emotion. Try as I may, I
have never been able to alleviate the emotion beforehand
because the event that triggers me ALWAYS -- and this is
the odd part to me -- comes as a surprise and is
overwhelming. I am cool, calm, and collected until day two
when either THE event occurs, or events start occurring in
a snowball effect and a period of emotional upheaval
ensues.
The events that followed the dream described here were:
Day two, Tuesday: My office did not get my timesheet fax
from the previous Friday, so I had no paycheck waiting for
me; (because I had the dream, I worked through my feelings
of frustration to a satisfactory resolution and did not
explode in anger, as I would have many years ago)
Wednesday: Ticket for non-moving violation;
Thursday: Ticket for non-moving violation;
Friday: Immune system suppressed from the stress -- sinus
infection;
Saturday: In a funk (feeling blah);
Sunday: Just ok;
Monday 3/6:Took messages off our computer phone line. One
message was from the (A mid west) Police Dept. (I live on
the West Coast) and another from the **** County Medical
Examiner's Office, informing me that my 51 year old brother
died on Friday, 3/24 TWO DAYS before my dream -- in his
sleep. His psychiatrist informed me that he had a heart
condition and his heart stopped; neither my sister nor I
were aware he had a heart condition, meaning that his death
took us totally by surprise.
======Comments by Bob C. on "Field of Bombs"--A reoccurring
warning dream story by Shera======
The dream begins with a very peaceful pastoral
scene in a field, but there are people who don't belong
there. The people are attacked from the air (bombed). The
dreamer stands at a distance from the bombing and is merely
an observer. The dreamer then notes that this type of
dream seems to be an omen of frustrating or tragic events
that will occur in the near future. The dreamer gives as
examples the fact that after this particular dream she did
not receive a paycheck because a faxed timesheet did not
arrive at its destination, she received two traffic
tickets, and her brother died unexpectedly from a heart
condition. It is possible that the dream and similar dreams
are prophetic.
If a dream is prophetic, then that is its
interpretation. An alternate interpretation is that the
dreamer, like the people in the field, feels she doesn't
belong in or is entitled to a serene environment. In the
dream the dreamer detaches herself from the tragedy around
her. She is distant and protected. In her conscious life,
however, the dreamer has troubles. Most of the troubles
the dreamer notes, however, were either due to the
dreamer's actions, or to her failure to act. People who
send faxes know or should know that faxes are not always
successfully received. With important documents such as a
timesheet, it might have been prudent for the dreamer to
call to ensure that the timesheet arrived. Although no
information is given regarding the traffic violations, they
are often avoidable. Many deaths are sudden. Sometimes,
however, the subconscious receives the subtle signs of
illness (e.g. a change in breathing patterns, skin color or
posture) that the conscious resists.
In the dream a middle-aged man seeks the protection
of the dreamer's shelter. This dream event may be
connected to the death of the dreamer's brother, i.e., at
the subconscious level the dreamer realized her brother
needed help. Thus, what may have occurred is that a
particular emotional state creates a dream that is composed
of bits of repressed knowledge, and the dreamer later
manifests in her behavior aspects of her dream. In effect,
the dreamer's post-dream behavior makes the dream
"prophetic."
If the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation, then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Dream : "The Never-Ending Gift" by Dream
Warriorette======
I was walking home from class late one afternoon on
a bright, sunny day. I was carrying a large gift bag in my
left hand and had no backpack( kind of strange for
returning from class). The large gift bag was from my
Spanish 301 instructor( a woman). I saw my friend Sally
coming up to me and I asked her to open the bag with me.
We sat down on the grass in a patch of sunlight and opened
the bag. There was a lot of tissue paper inside. It was
lavender and the outside of the bag was Christmas-colored.
Underneath the tissue papers were tons of clothes! All of
them were spring fashions and were brand new( all my size,
too). There were no shoes in the bag, but I found a neat
pair of sunglasses inside( I had just lost both pairs that
I owned over Spring Break and I bought a pair just like the
ones I saw in the bag the next day, although I didn't
really think of that until just now).
We kept on pulling clothes out of the bag. There
was no end to the clothes inside. They just kept on coming
out and coming out. I started asking my friend Sally which
ones she wanted to keep. When the dream ended( and I woke
up), we were still trying to find the bottom of the bag.
======Comments by Karen on "The Never-Ending Gift" by
Dream Warriorette======
I wonder what associations the dreamer has with the
Spanish teacher. If it were my dream I would think about
what part of myself is like her since she is capable of
bestowing large gifts.
The dream has many positive images. There is a
feeling of awareness and integration. I am not burdened by
the past or carrying any extra baggage. I am bringing
spiritual gifts into the open.
My sense is that I am excited by the endless
possibilities, and at the same time recognize my need to
protect myself from becoming overwhelmed. These ideas
are new to me (spring clothes), and because I lack a
spiritual foundation/ understanding (no shoes) I need to
filter the light to make it manageable (sunglasses). I
can call on the qualities embodied by Sally to assist me in
deciding what to keep -- what to develop.
Bravo to the dreamer for the waking life purchase
of the dream sunglasses! It is important to honor our
dreams in waking life (even if we didn't realize it). And,
of course, bravo to the dream for such successful
communication.
======Comments by Bob on "The Never-Ending Gift" by Dream
Warriorette======
In the dream the dreamer received a gift bag from a
female Spanish instructor which she is carrying in her left
hand. The symbolism may be connected to a woman in the
dreamer's life who is not well-known or at least not known
as a social friend, (Spanish being a "foreign" language)
who is an authority figure (i.e. teacher). The "gift"
appears to be a message from the dream mind about the
dreamer's vulnerability. Clothing is protection, and the
stranger has given the dreamer so much protection the
dreamer cannot get to the "bottom of the bag," i.e. cannot
get to the "bottom of things" or to the reason she was
given so many items of clothing. In some way the dream is
telling the dreamer she has to change, or at least change
her outside appearance.
There are no shoes in the bag, so even if the
dreamer changes her outer appearance she still has to find
her own means of covering (protecting) her feet
(foundation) which will also giver her the means to stand
up or stand on her own two feet and to walk in whatever
direction she wants.
As always, if the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======"The End of the Universe Cafe" by Flare=====
it's late afternoon and i am going to meet with my
friend, george marin. he's a really good friend and we're
getting together to meet and discuss some plans of ours.
he tells me that we are supposed to meet at the End of the
Universe Cafe. i get to the cafe and go inside to look for
him.
when i enter the cafe, i notice that it is pitch-
black inside. all i can see are some very dim lamps that
are globe shaped and sitting on each table inside the
restaurant/cafe setting. george is not here yet, so i
decide to grab a drink and wait for him. i can hear
voices and once in a while can see faces when the people
lean in towards the center of the tables. a waiter comes
up to me and asks, "can i get anything for you?" i order a
diet coke.
the waiter, who is wearing black pants and a white
shirt and is carrying a black waiter's book in his hands
looks at me and says, "you don't belong here, do you?
you're still alive." i get nervous, but i tell him that
i'm waiting for my friend, george, to show up and that
we're getting together to plan some events. the waiter
flips through the pages of his little black book and tells
me, "we're not expecting a george marin tonight." he
offers to get me the drink and then warns me that i should
leave before the owner of the restaurant returns. "if he
catches you here, he'll be really mad!" he leaves to get
me the diet coke.
he returns with the diet coke and i begin to drink
it slowly. a few minutes later, i can hear a low, rumbling
noise coming from beneath me( i'm on the 2nd floor). the
waiter comes running back to my table and says, "run! the
owner's back and if he sees you, he'll kill you!" i leave
the table and start running down a long, dark hallway
that
is lined with the same globe shaped lamps, but this time,
they are on long, black lampstands. the thing beneath me
(the owner of the cafe) is coming along behind me and is
chasing me down the hall. i was still running when i woke
up.
======Comments by Flare======
I think that this dream has a lot of really weird
images. I'm not quite sure what they mean, but here
goes...
I'm assuming that the end of the universe cafe is a
place where people go when they die. I was waiting for my
friend george marin there and was quite relieved when I
found out that they were not expecting him. I think that
the "owner" is something real for me and I know that it is
something I am afraid of.
Being a journalist, I'm afraid of censorship,
afraid of not getting a job after graduation, many things.
On a spiritual level, I'm afraid of the possibility that
there really might be a hell and that the devil is
definitely someone that I do not want to meet. I'm not too
sure about the waiter and what he has to do with the
dream. I know that he exists in the dream to warn me
about the owner and when he will return. He's a very nice
guy in the dream, so I counted him on my side. The other
people that were in there weren't unfriendly either,
although they did ignore me.
:>FLARE
======Comments by Bob C. on "The End of the Universe Cafe"
by Flare=====
The dreamer is in the dark amongst strangers she
sees only dimly. She is waiting for someone nice and
familiar to arrive. The waiter tells her not only is that
no going to happen, but if she keeps waiting she will be in
mortal danger. She keeps waiting and ultimately she winds
up in mortal danger. It appears that the dream mind is
telling the dreamer that she has to stop being passive and
take some action, or some part of her life (e.g. a
relationship, a career goal) will "die."
If the dreamer disagrees with the above
interpretation, then it is wrong. Only the dreamer knows.
======Comments by Karen on "End of the Universe Cafe" dream
by Flare======
If this were my dream I would look at it from a
spiritual perspective, i.e., dealing with spiritual
issues.
If this were my dream... My relationship with
George Marin has introduced me to new spiritual ideas that
could mean a global change in my thinking. My current
world view, somewhat restricted to black and white terms,
is being challenged to expand.
I am beginning to feel rumblings from my
unconscious (perhaps from repressed or inappropriately
expressed anger). I am beginning to hear my inner voice
and have vague awareness of previously unknown aspects of
self. However, my psyche is currently not prepared to
deal with the complete revelation of information that
resides there, and my guardian (waiter) helps protect me
from a premature and potentially destructive encounter.
I escape the risk and my visit to this realm has
been productive. I retain some useful knowledge as
symbolized by the global light that accompanies me in my
transition (hallway).
======Dream: "The Late Train" by Flare======
It was late at night and I was boarding a train at
the train station in downtown Albuquerque, NM. It was
very dark outside because there was no moon out. I was
wearing a long, dark trench coat( which I don't really
have) and a dark hat. I get on the train and find a seat
in the middle of the train. I sat closer to the front
than to the back. There is no one else on the train.
A few minutes into the train ride, I receive a page
on my beeper. It's a 9-1-1 page(very important). I use
my cellular phone to call the number back ( I don't have a
phone either). When I call, the operator answers and says
the number has been disconnected. I become sure that my
friend Jason is trying to call me. It begins to rain
outside and there's a lot of wind and lightening. I wait,
and my beeper goes off again. It's another 9-1-1 page
from Jason at the same number. I call and again, the
operator says the phone has been disconnected. I began to
worry. The rain was harder than ever and it was very loud
against the window pane. The wind by now is howling. The
beeper rings four more times with the same number, and the
operator keeps telling me that the phone is disconnected.
The operator, by the way, is human and not a recording.
The train stops and the doors open. I am thinking
of getting off and going to find Jason, when he steps onto
the train. He looks at me once and goes to sit down on
the opposite side of the car from me. He refuses to look
at me. I call his name a few times. Each time he looks up
at me and looks back down into the textbook he's studying.
He's also wearing a black trench coat like mine and a
black hat. Kind of strange dress for him. Finally he
moves over to me and says my name when the dream ends.
====Comments by Richard on "The Late Train" by Flare====
If this were my dream I would be interested in using it to contain
and examine a particular and unknown desire and my relationship
with that desire. The tension in the dream is amplified by the
weather and the trench coat fashions, but it is produced by the
implied unknown emergency. If we assume, for a moment, that the
fulfillment of desire is the end of fantasy ( a questionable position if
taken too strongly, but generally an interesting dynamic), then the
revealing of Jason's problem will cause the dream to end. But being
a dream lover, I don't see the ending of dreams as the best part and
assume the same is true for the dream-maker. Thus we would be
distracted by examining the textbook and Jason's final arrival for
clues about the dream. What we are presented with in this dream is
the delay itself, the tension itself, the chance to project a multitude
of problems that Jason might present and our reaction to them. If
this were my dream I would take a felt meaning approach, trying to
keep and articulate my own connection to the mysterious train ride
that Jason's emergency has provided.
===============================================
DREAM RESOURCES
===============================================
Review: _Dream Scene Magazine_ by Richard Wilkerson
I was first struck by the simplicity of the magazine. Black&white
graphics, dream titles, dreams. That's it. There is a particular
attention I need to access my dreams which I like to describe as
attention on how things are occurring in me, as opposed to
attention on how I'm effecting things. In this silence I sometimes
experience a fullness I can't get from consuming. Dream Scene
offers this fullness in generous portions. As one reviewer from
Editor's Choice said, "The dreams are completely anonymous while
your thoughts are locked up in you head, so any analysis remains
unspoken in the virtual space." Its as if both the pictures and
dreams begin to reference themselves. Rather than pointing beyond
themselves, they evoke and draw the beyond to themselves. And as
with all dreams, within the limitations of text and imagination, there
are no boundaries. The transcendent quickly becomes trespass and
violation. Mutilation bounces back and forth between metaphors of
self to literalizations of paranoia. Psyche at her best and worse;
exaggerating, mythologizing, lying, bending and twisting old forms
into new stories that all seem oddly familiar yet never before heard.
Its the sound of one dream clapping.
The editor and creative wizard, Dan Holzner, will send you a
free copy if you submit a dream that is accepted. You can send
dreams to his email address listed below, but you will have to snail
him *three unused stamps- not stuck to an envelope* to cover
mailing.
Subscriptions otherwise:
Dream Scene Magazine costs $3.00/issue
Four consecutive issues cost $11.00
Checks payable to Dream Scene Magazine
"Feel free to include personal analysis and interpretation as part of
your test. Drawings, diagrams and collages also accepted. Surreal
dreams and bizarre nightmares always welcome, especially if they're
really transcendent phosphorescent zingers." - Dan Holzner
Dan said he would also accept graphics or text on pc/3.5 disks (text
= ASCII, graphics in .PCX) or just snail him the hard copy and he
will scan it in himself. --Richard
Dan Holzner
DAN@APPRES.COM
Dream Scene Magazine
38 Rossi Avenue, Suite Number One
San Francisco, CA 94118-4218
LAS VEGAS DREAMTIME!
The Dashboard publishing phenomena _Monk_ magazine is doing
an issue entirely about Las Vegas and is interested in related
dreams. If you are interested in publishing in a forum with serious
media exposure, send your dreams to:
Monk Magazine
Las Vegas Dreamtime
175 5th Ave STE 2322
New York, NY 10010
If you have something to post or run across addresses or events
related to dreaming on the net, Please send to my address
and we will share the information with everyone else.
Richard <RCWilk@aol.com>
================================================
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.
================================================
