help understanding a bad dream

[alev]

I had a dream last night about a situation that i've been asking the iching about a lot lately mainly cause I don't understand what's going on, what's going to happen and feel completely lost about it. I confess I may be obsessing a lot about it but i can't help it.
anyway, went to bed and had an awful, very vivid and detailed dream in which someone told me exactly what is going on in this situation and it is absolutely the worst possible news I could have ever received. I woke immediately after and was devastated.
I asked the iching
is this dream the truth? and got 9.4-->1

is it just a meaningless dream? 49.3.5-->51

why did I have this dream? 57.2-->53

I would appreciate any views on what others see in these readings?
My panic is leading me to think the worst and I want to make sure that I am reading it right and not just assuming the worst cause of my emotions...

 

[hooo]

fwiw - and not to discount the Yi, only to say sometimes when we bring volatile emotions into a question it can skew things (like Clarity) somewhat - i might suggest taking some time to settle into how the dream FELT (what made it "awful," for example, the information you received that didn't fit your desire/wish/hope or the way in which it was presented?), sitting with it, taking it apart into its myriad pieces.

we are too quick sometimes to attempt to chase away valuable information because it doesn't fit with our desired outcome and/or because it stirs up unwieldy - or frightening - emotions that may in fact serve a purpose.

whether or not a dream is "The Truth" or "meaningless" is to climb a slipp'ry slope; there are many shades of grey. I would never tell you what your own dream meant but would suggest we can project our fears into our dreams - and face them (sometimes for good if sticky reasons) - and we can also (even at the same time) be given "truthful" information.

i am hesitant to proceed further as i don't wish to seem to dismiss what may indeed be a very heavy dynamic. and i am sorry i cannot offer much where the hexagrams are concerned(nor would i, i think, without greater insight into specifics); but i do hope you find the uncomfortable feelings may be lightened a bit by taking the dream apart somewhat, breaking it down into pieces; and most importantly staring your fears in the face.

that you include the possibility of a "meaningless dream" is indicative that you're aware that things do bubble up sometimes that may not be so much a matter of receiving accurate - factually truthful - information - as they may be "just" bubbles.

take a breath. perhaps take a step back from the willingness to give your power away. seems you're in a storm; let the clouds pass, you'll get more sun on the subject. the dust is still settling from the impact; give it some time to settle.

i don't mean to be disrepectful here and apologize if i have been.

fwiw, i have learned the helpfulness of this approach from my own experience. our fears themselves CAN be lights into our own darker, shadowy nooks and crannies; sometimes it is the only way we get our own attention. a little (or monstrous) "snap-to" that may be a catalyst toward new/creative thought regarding the matter.

your dream, your power.

as for worry about "what's going to happen," that may be a significant amount of misspent energy toward something that to a large degree is well out of your control.

having said that, i'm sure someone else more learned can offer helpful assistance re the hexagrams.

 

[alev]

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate you taking the time to write
yes the dream made me feel awful because the situation it showed me was the worst possible situation for me and my worst fear about it.
I have used the iching a lot over the years in regards to dreams as I do feel some dreams are meant to clarify or enlighten you about things. On the flip side I know that a lot of dreams can be meaningless images conjured up by thoughts and fears going on in our heads, not true representation of what the reality of a situation is.
My take on my readings seems to confirm my worst fear that this is the truth of my prediciment and it is as bad as feared. However there is a small voice saying well line 4 of hex 9 says fear vanishes...
so I am really hoping to get some opinions on the readings

 

[canislulu]

Alev,

Hexagram 57 certainly seems to be a fitting answer to a question about "why" one has had a certain dream. In Hilary's commentary on the sequence of Hexagram 56 to 57 she says "the traveler must come home: there is a time for acceptance, and the interpenetration of inner and outer worlds" Dreaming certainly is a kind of "traveling". When we wake up and remember a dream it is like something 'Sublty Penetratingfrom our inner world to our outer world. I like Hooo's reference to things that "bubble up". A dream is like bubbles penetrating up through the waters of our inner world to our waking consciousness.

The particular changing line that you received also seems so fitting for the question. H 57 Line 2 : "Sublty penetrating under the bed, Using historians and diviners of many kinds. Good fortune, no mistake" So you've had this dream "bubble up"/ sublty penetrate. And now there can be good fortune for inner and outer "historians and diviners" to gradually advance to an understanding of it.

Also note Hilary's translation of the image of Hexagram 57, i.e., "Wind follows wind: Sublty Penetrating. A noble one conveys mandates and carries out the work" What is the mandate? What is the dream calling you to do about the situation? The fact that you have been asking a lot of questions about it indicates that you have significant concern that may at its heart be a lot of fear. Perhaps the dream is simply calling you to face the fear and overcome it.

And being called to face and overcome your fears doesn't necessarily mean that the "worst possible news" will come true. Some people say that "intuition" doesn't have a lot of emotion to it. For example, I know a woman who woke up one night and she simply "knew" that her husband was having an affair --- and this was in fact true. But that moment of knowing didn't come with a lot of emotion. Certainly she eventually did go through some pain as the events unfolded. But the initial "knowing" wasn't full of fear and despair. I am thinking that a dream that is prescient would not have been "awful" leaving the dreamer "devastated." I wouldn't want to allow dfear to create a self fulfilling prophecy; I would want to transform the fear.

Consider Hilary's translation of 9.4 -- "There is truth and confidence. Blood departs, fear goes away. No mistake". The part of her commentary which may be most relevant to your question ..."Here is the answer; be true, be confident." I don't think that Yi is telling you that the dream is true. I think that Yi is telling you to be true and confident and overcome the fear you have around this situation.

I read somewhere that "Truth" always makes us happy. I believe this because I see a difference between the "truth" and the "facts" of a situation. In the example I just gave, the "fact" was that the woman's husband was having an affair. The "truth" was that she was a strong woman who was able to weather the storm. Knowledge of the "facts" led to action to create a happier situation.

You don't mention whether your "situation" involves work or love or health .....Even if the "worst case scenario" were to come true in any of these arenas it may be a blessing in disguise. There may be a mandate that you must carry out. LiSe calls hexagram 57 "The Seal" , (see http://yijing.nl/i_ching/index.html ) She speaks of it as "the blueprint one carries" that decides all what one is or does. Sometimes when things seemingly "go wrong" it may be to better align us with our "blueprints."

Anyway, I think it is highly likely the situation is NOT as bad as feared and that you are being called to overcome the fear so that it doesn't become a self-full filling prophecy. OR if it is as bad, the good news is that something better than you've imagined can come from it.

 

[meng]

Rather than look to dreams as a foretelling medium, it can be helpful to regard them in the way of Yi readings: not necessarily predicting a future, but showing the potential outcomes of our own reactions to it. This can help us decide what it is we really want and don't want, which as strange as it may sound, are questions we forget to ask.

I admire people who know what they want and go for it, despite those along the way who would discourage and encourage them... to know what you want is paramount to wellness, if you choose the duality path. Otherwise it's easier to just be what you want, and screw the rest.

Fearsome dreams are ones I pay attention to most, because they require more emotional investment than do most dreams; sex/love/romance notwithstanding. 51 dreams lead to 49 changes. My fear tells me I'm getting near to something important, and that often predicts a breakthrough of some sort, in my everyday waking life, as well as within myself. It puts me in sync with the time.