Understanding last night's dream: 14.3 -> 38

[compass]

[a bit of an intro] A few months back I asked the IC whether a poetry publisher would say yes to publishing my MS of poems. I was very anxious/impatient to hear their decision. I got hex 18uc, which I have pondered over ever since.

Yesterday I read a discussion about 18 on this forum from about 10 years ago, which was very insightful and pretty much amounted to putting the ego aside and taking the soul back to the source, perhaps via dreams, untangling the worms, and discovering what new I could take from the source. Just as I drifted off to sleep, I meditated on what lay behind my impatience: "I don't want to die unknown" is what suddenly came to mind.

In my dream, I was waiting with friends in a city to cross the road to an old church on the other side. We were waiting for the green man, but traffic was thick & not moving so car exhaust was making it more and more difficult to breathe. 'To hell with this', I finally said, and ran across the street between two cars (which is something I would do). As I passed between them, it sounded as if they were about to move forward but didn't. I looked back at my friends, with a bit of a smirk, but none of my friends looked impressed, and a couple looked worried. When I woke, I thought that the dream pretty much showed my (reckless?) impatience to get somewhere with my writing.

So I asked the IC today what the dream meant, and got hex 14.3 -> 38, which seems to imply that I do need to not wait for the Green Man, but not out of an ego need for immortality, but because that energy/creativity is there waiting to be expressed. And that line 3 leading to 38 (opposition) is that split in opinion between my friends in the dream & me--or, in other words, my skeptical/doubting side and me. And perhaps the creativity/energy is the source to re-visit but approached differently this time?

What do y'all think? :bows:

 

[iams girl]

So I asked the IC today what the dream meant, and got hex 14.3 -> 38

I'd read it as saying that leaving your friends and running across the street resulted from perceiving things (Fire/Fire upper trigrams) through the lens of joyful idealism (Heaven/Lake lower trigrams). I think 14.3 also affirmed a natural desire to unleash your (already immortal) creative force instead of feeling stifled waiting for the Green Man (maybe a symbol of the publisher and worldly immortality). I'm not sure there's a right or wrong implied here, just, as you mentioned, the observation that there are opposing forces of energy to balance, on the one hand, to express your giftedness freely, and the other, to be recognized within a long-standing cultural tradition.

And perhaps the creativity/energy is the source to re-visit but approached differently this time?

Maybe with less emphasis on end-result ?

Fyi, this would also be a great dream to have posted in the Dreams & Yi folder at the bottom of the Reading Circle tab if you're ever there.

Note: I only learned about the "Green Man" a few years ago in a writing group, so for anyone who hasn't heard of it, per Wikipedia it's "usually referred to in works on architecture as foliate heads or foliate masks, carvings of the Green Man may take many forms, naturalistic or decorative. The simplest depict a man's face peering out of dense foliage. Some may have leaves for hair, perhaps with a leafy beard. Often leaves or leafy shoots are shown growing from his open mouth and sometimes even from the nose and eyes as well...presumably as a symbol of resurrection...he frequently appears, carved in wood or stone, in churches, chapels, abbeys and cathedrals."

 

[Tohpol]

http://www.greenmanenigma.com/index.html

 

[compass]

I'd read it as saying that leaving your friends and running across the street resulted from perceiving things (Fire/Fire upper trigrams) through the lens of joyful idealism (Heaven/Lake lower trigrams). I think 14.3 also affirmed a natural desire to unleash your (already immortal) creative force instead of feeling stifled waiting for the Green Man (maybe a symbol of the publisher and worldly immortality). ...

Thanks, iams girl, I really like your take on the dream. I quite agree with your interpretation.

Fyi, this would also be a great dream to have posted in the Dreams & Yi folder at the bottom of the Reading Circle tab if you're ever there.

Joining the Dreams & Yi group is something I've wanted to do for a good while, but I haven't been able to afford it. Maybe it's time I bite the bullet.

Note: I only learned about the "Green Man" a few years ago in a writing group

I can't believe I missed this! I've been into the Green Man for years, first learning about him 20 years ago when I got into paganism/wicca. For me, Green Man is about fertility and creativity and magic. I think this doubles down on the dream's meaning of allowing the creative expression to flow, to not wait for permission or acknowledgement.

 

[iams girl]

Thanks Compass, it sounds like great way of entering a new year :claps:. Maybe it's also a good opportunity here to spread the word on how Hilary has recently changed things up to make Change Circle more accessible to everyone :

Choose the right price for you

Change Circle, with its range of different components, is going to be worth different amounts to different people. To me, £10/month (about $15.20 or €13.50) feels like a reasonable rate for access to it all: your average astrology or tarot course with this kind of support would cost a fair bit more, but Change Circle is a community as well as courses, so I don't want to price it out of reach. So... pay what you want. If it feels good to you to pay more than the £10/month, then thank you. And if not, then thank you, too, for joining.

Spacious 60 day guarantee

Obviously, you can cancel your Change Circle membership any time. But in addition to that, if you want to leave within the first 60 days of your membership, simply let me know and I'll refund everything you've paid. No questions, no hoops to jump through and no hard feelings.

 

[Tohpol]

I read your dream more fully and I now see it in a different light.

Of course, dreams are very personal so FWIW.

I view this dream as warning. There is this impetuousness and "recklessness," as you say, in wanting to cross the road (River) in order to get to the creativity/spiritual nourishment you need as represented by the old Church. While it seems yes, you have the power to do this and avoid the obstacles of this gross material world with all its toxic influences; exhaust fumes; cars bumper to bumper whilst leaving friends/peer group behind, the result is not as you would have hoped. You look back anticipating a positive reaction, kinda like: Heh. Look at me. But you discover no one was impressed. In fact, they were worried for you. Is the dream saying yes, run across the road and don't worry! Perhaps. But how did you feel upon waking?

This is a mild warning in my view to cool your horses since genuine talent and impetuosity very often leads to spiritual accidents since it is the ego hijacking such energy. Waiting for the Green Man (if indeed it was the archetypal green man we have been describing) is essential because s/he is the personification of inner transformation in keeping with the seasons. We can see then, that it's all about timing. The Green man is nature, cycles and seasons. Respecting these cycles is essential if we are to move forward.

The question is, what is the impetus behind our drive to "create"? Is it an end in itself; an unconscious wish for praise and attention? What are the consequences for us if we jump the gun? These are some of the questions that come to mind and can also be reflected in 14.3>38 which is why it seems such a perfect illustration of the dream imagery.

I have found this line to be cautionary in giving ourselves airs and graces and often related to creativity and health. In line 3 it says yes, you have the creative energy but have you thought about the lodestar to which you are offering that energy? Is it toward your highest ideal or it towards self-aggrandizement? It can be devilishly subtle too, hence the added warning that you can be a Prince/Princess with offers to heaven, where "Small people are in no way capable of this'" (Wikiwing) or "An inferior man would be unequal to such a duty." (Legge).

So, I see this dream and 14.3 showing you an image of a choice: offering your creativity to a higher ideal or the much-travelled, run-of-the-mill road of the individual artist which is largely self-serving. Which are you? Can you integrate both? I've personally never had this line indicate something easily obtained despite the "assets" within being available. You might also need more assistance to extricate yourself from the background hex of 38.

In summary, a sacrifice is called for and it's not the kind of sacrifice that the ego/personality necessarily appreciates in the short-term. Only you can determine exactly what that may be - perhaps it is merely to cultivate patience to allow your talents to mature? But if you can do it, then the rewards will be great and what's more, the timing will be just right.

(This would also align to your previous reading regarding the publisher - H.18 Work on what has been spoiled i.e. there's still inner "repairs" to undergo.)

Good luck.

 

[iams girl]

Thanks for highlighting the cautionary aspect and also the natural timing of things, Topal. I'm looking forward, Compass, to your finding a creative, renewing, yet appropriate, outlet for all that bounding energy while waiting patiently for things to unfold in due season in the future .

 

[compass]

What a great reading! Thanks, Topal! I think you're dead on. When I woke from the dream, I felt very happy that I had been shown what I had asked for upon going to bed, allowing me to understand a deeper part of myself, but also down because I knew it was a truth I don't like to admit--the need for my writing to be acknowledged/praised, etc. But then I did the IC reading and felt better, that yes there is hope, that actually I should look at and be reminded where that impetuosity comes from.

I've been writing since I was a child--the desire to write has been there that long--not for fame, but to tell stories, write poems. I've always loved doing it. It wasn't until I was an adult that I saw this desire to create & write as the continuous flowing river of the Universe moving through me: like any artist or writer, I'm a conduit, a fountain. I'm sorry if it sounds a bit over the top, but it's how I see how creativity works in us: pulling inspiration & imagination from a greater intangible source and manifesting it on the earthly plane. It has always been a very joyful feeling (Ok, and a bit frustrating at times when trying to get it just right ). So ever since I was young, I've dreamed of being a writer, and of making my living as a writer. It was a long time before I understood that I didn't need the financial means to acknowledge that I'm a writer and a poet (as well as the fact that very few writers make their living from writing).

I also follow Taoism, which has shown me that the flow of my life takes its time. Small things I can manifest easily, but all of the big dreams have taken years to manifest. It hasn't always been easy to accept, but I know that's its flow. It wasn't until I was 40 that I started to get poems published on a regular basis. My first pamphlet of poems came out when I was nearly 49. So I'm eager to go the next step and get a full collection published. Patience, no surprise, is a life issue for me, something I continually struggle with.

So for me this situation is a combination of that innate desire to create and the impatience to see that creativity published and acknowledged now(!), particularly when the same publishers/magazines who have accepted the work of other poets (some who are friends of mine) have rejected mine. But deep down, I know it will happen, as you say, when the timing is right. I recently asked the IC about a publisher who was considering my work and I got 23.6 -> 2, which very much matched the sound advice I got only 2 days ago from a friend whom I edit a magazine with: put the manuscript aside, focus on new poems, and then when I have enough new poems, put together a new manuscript with some of the better poems of the older manuscript. ('A ripe fruit not eaten. Noble one gets a cart.')

Thank you for your good advice. I really appreciate it.:bows:

 

[compass]

Thanks for highlighting the cautionary aspect and also the natural timing of things, Topal. I'm looking forward, Compass, to your finding a creative, renewing, yet appropriate, outlet for all that bounding energy while waiting patiently for things to unfold in due season in the future .

Thank you. Me too!

 

[Tohpol]

You're very welcome. I'm quite sure you'll find your way and share your writing with the world Compass. Yes, sometimes it takes time (I can vouch for that) but that's all part of the process. I think you have a great attitude. All the best with it and keep us all up-to-date.