What to do with dreams? (from the blog)

[hilary]

Something I’d like to do this year: learn more about how to work with dreams and Yi, together, as a single fabric of meaning. (Something that’ll be made much more practical by the upcoming journal software.) So I’m casting readings like this one and this one in an attempt to create a context within which it’ll all come together.
The thing is… dreams are strange. Or at least, from the perspective of our culture’s normal view of the world and how to live in it, they’re strange – they don’t fit anywhere. Nor does divination, of course, and since you’re reading this I don’t suppose you share in that ‘normal view of the world’ either – but still, why would anyone need to dream? And what are you supposed to do with the dreams you have?
Actually, even if it’s clear that dreams are important, it’s not obvious what we’re to do with them. At least if you cast a reading, you form your intention before you cast – it’s no bad idea to write down what your reading is for and how things will be different as a result of it, before you cast. But dreams are like synchronicities: they volunteer themselves, come unsolicited, so it’s far from clear what they’re about, let alone how to respond.
Are we meant to ‘respond’ at all – or even to understand? Dreams are an important inner process, true… but so are the workings of the gallbladder, and we don’t try to bring those into conscious awareness; we mind our own business and let it do its work. Maybe dreams are best just left alone. Or maybe we should…

• interpret them, seek to identify their message
• or interact with them in other ways, re-entering them in imagination, turning them into art or fiction
• or share them, make them part of relationships
• or just store them away for review
• or always look for a way to translate them into action in waking life

…?
Question: what would be a good way to respond to dreams? What are we meant to do with them?
Answer: Hexagram 2, Earth, unchanging.
(If you’re familiar with Yi – isn’t that brilliant?)
The first and second hexagrams of the Yijing are the ‘gates’ into its world. The first is made of pure solid lines -

- and represents Creative Force, Heaven. It’s the ceaseless driving creative power that makes acorns grow into oak trees and the stars move in their paths: the principle, the information, whose movement becomes reality. Human experience of this hexagram is usually about trying to find ways to relate to its power – it can show up as inspiration, driving energy, or sometimes as knowing, even as moral certainty.
The second hexagram, the way to respond to dreams, is made of pure open lines -

- and represents Earth, the Receptive. Those open lines are space where everything happens, and the capacity to sustain it all. As often as not, this hexagram’s answering some variation on the question, ‘How can I serve?‘
Isn’t Hexagram 1 – the pure energy, creative spirit without embodiment – a lot like a dream? So doesn’t it make perfect, beautiful sense that our response to that should be Hexagram 2?
Here’s the oracle of Hexagram 2:

‘Earth.
From the source, creating success.
The constancy of a mare bears fruit.
A noble one has a direction to go.
At first: confusion. Later: gains a master.
Fruitful in the southwest, gaining partners.
In the northeast, losing partners.
Peaceful constancy brings good fortune.’
​

This begins just like Hexagram 1, which says simply,

‘Creative Force.
From the source, creating success.
Constancy bears fruit.’
​

But as Earth, responding to the pure energy of the dream, we specifically need the mare’s constancy to participate fully in the creative flow. She’s gentle, swift, strong, and above all alertly responsive, available to be guided.
So… the working of dreams is not like the workings of gallbladders, then; it’s not enough just to forget them and leave them be. It’s better to approach dreams with ears pricked, ready to change course – to do something in response.

‘A noble one has a direction to go.
At first: confusion. Later: gains a master.’
​

The ‘direction to go’ is a lot like the intention that begins a reading: I want to go this way (I just don’t know how/ what it might look like). This line in a reading about dreams reminds me that we always have an intention: we’re always walking round with a question, a deep desire. If we become aware of what that is, then we have a chance to notice how our world is already answering it. Then the master and guide – the Chinese character for ‘master’, wonderfully, shows a lit lamp – emerges from the confusion. (Though it seems it’s necessary to have the confusion first!)

‘So, you are soil to be worked, you are a mare. Or, more literally, you are a nobleman who is looking for a job, hoping to be worked by a spirited leader.’
(Freeman Crouch, I Ching: the Chameleon Book)
​

- and this is the best approach to take to dreams.

‘Fruitful in the southwest, gaining partners.
In the northeast, losing partners.
Peaceful constancy brings good fortune.’
​

We had the southwest/northeast axis in my previous dream reading, too, in Hexagram 39. Here as there, I think this says that dreams are something to be worked on together, with partners. At least, there is a balance to be had between going southwest with the dream, to find allies, and then going alone to the northeast, following your own lamp-guide to act on your dream.
Then from the mare’s constancy to ‘peaceful’ constancy – one of my favourite characters, meaning content, still, quiet, at ease, and showing in its ancient form a woman under her roof. Be alert to dreams, respond to them like a mare to guidance, like earth to seeds, share them, act on them – and also settle in quietly and make yourself at home with them. This is where you live.

(If you find the images of ancient characters in this post interesting, please show your appreciation by making a donation at Richard Sears’ Chinese Etymology site!)

 

[moss elk]

This is a conversation I am happy to share in.

What Are we to do with dreams?
One name for Hex 2 is The Receptive.
I say we are to be Receptive to them, in general.

That being said, from my personal experience there are all manner of dreams.
And when we have one we should take the moments necessary to understand them.
And then sort into different categories.

Let me share some examples from my life.

The Stress Dream.
As a child in the summer, I would go fishing with a family friend, an old man.
We would get in the little boat before the sun rose, and stay out fishing on the lake until after sunset.
The waves continually rocked the boat. After a while one gets used to the rocking motion and doesn't even really notice it anymore. After one of these 14 hour days on the boat, that night I would dream of the rocking force of the waves. I would feel the slightly disorienting movements through most of the night, as if struggling for balance and against naseua.
There was no meaning there. I consider this to be a Gall Bladder dream, one you can induce by eating a dagwood sandwich before bed.
A waking parallel would be if you had an upset tummy and could feel better by humming and rubbing it,
assisting the biological process.

Recurring dreams: These are profound with meaning.
Long standing problems in my life have often been solved (insight/answers received) by paying much attention to these.
When I was five years old, my mother moved us into the home of a man she had met.
For the next five years I had the following dream well more than a dozen times. I was in a rocky plot of land. Tumbleweeds were blowing around. Scurrying, stalking, often out of sight was a two foot tall malevolent gnome with a sharp shiney knife. He tried to advance towards me, ran behind the moving tumbleweeds. An airplane was directly overhead in a fixed position in the sky, its engine noise rumbling down.
The final time I had this dream, I remember inhaling a big gulp of air and having wide eyes. I knew what the dream was about. The man my mother moved us in with was a violent alcoholic with a long criminal history, a powerfully muscled man who idolized cowboys. All of the symbols were him. The plane in the sky: a force above and beyond the influence of a child, the tumbleweeds (his reverence for cowboys) the gnome was him as a small child when his derangements were induced from his fathers fists. And the answer I receieved was how to cope with him: keep my eyes open at all time for safety, and accept that the situation was out of my control.

The x dreams: Sometimes some people dream of things that will come to pass. When I was younger I though this was all hogwash. But since I have experienced a few, I pay a great deal of attention to these.
I dreamt of a person I hadn't seen in 18 years. Three nights in a row. The exact same simple dream. The third morning I did an internet search and discovered that her mother was living three blocks from me.
I walked over, knocked on the door and spoke with her mother. She told me that her daughter had moved 1500 miles back in with her, after being away for fifteen years. She also told me that she moved there on the day the dreams started. There was a subtle, almost hidden element of danger to the dreams that I ignored. (To my own detriment) I felt a glowing happiness in my heart, but also a tension in my spine. (Don't ever ignore your spine). The daughter had been diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

The amusement park dreams: or some may say Lucid dreams.
In these, one is aware that they are dreaming and can control the dream.
I'm walking along.. La la la.. Not a care in the world... I see my 5th grade teacher (who was a petty vindictive
man from back in the days when there wasn't much of a screening proccess for teachers)
He starts yapping at my like a viscious chihuahua..I create a tidalwave that washes him away.
I keep waking... La la la ..there is a pretty girl, we kiss...la la la... I fly around the landscape enjoying...many more events. Then I wake with a smile.

So again, I say in general be receptive to the dreams and pay attention! (Follow, follow)
Then sort them out.

What should I do today with my free time? ...la la la...

 

[anemos]

the similarities between the two readings are amazing !!!

 

[jaheen100]

Dream should be fullfil. Or Man should try to fullfill their dreams.

 

[Trojina]

great new post on hex 2

http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?17963-Thoughts-on-hexagram-2-The-Receptive

 

[hilary]

I was rearranging the furniture today, taking down Christmas ornaments, clearing out clutter and had an Ah-ha Moment when I paused and surveyed the newly blank walls and empty space. I had originally assumed the corner would look bare and boring when I took out the tree but instead it became a focal point of interest, like the calm in the eye of the storm or a zen rock garden. This lead me to think about the meaning of hexagram 2 as the mate to The Creative, hexagram 1. In the past I've thought of 2 as being similar to an audience who passively sits and watches, or a male chauvinists idea of the perfect woman - some unimaginative type who meekly follows another. Today I got a sense of how compelling the 2 can be - like if hexagram 1 is the desire to expand and explore then 2 is The Great Unknown that pulls the light to it, the emptiness causing, inspiring new thoughts. Just as my empty living room caused me to stop and consider alternative possibilities - Why bring the chairs back in around the coffee table? Why not create an exercise room or set up my sewing machine and do crafts? - hexagram 2 can be a seen as describing not just a neutral space but a call to consider that anything is possible.

Ah. So what to do with dreams - incubate them?

 

[Trojina]

There are so many different kinds of dreams one can't have an overall approach to all dreams.

There is no point in incubating a lot of dreams they are just brain flotsam and jetsom I would not incubate a dream about forgetting to buy the cat food.

But I so liked Rosada's description of 2 uc....not sure how to apply it to dreams but I do think one important function of many dreams is actually 'space clearing' just as if one's mind is that room Rosada described. This isn't true of all dreams. Some dreams have a persistent message, some are lucid, some are about wish fulfilment and so on. But some are actually functioning as space clearing/file management. Hence if you have a tricky problem , you 'sleep on it' and when you wake things seem to fall into place. What's happened ? It isn't just that you are less tired, it's that the clutter has been sorted, dispatched,like Rosada's Christmas decorations and you wake up with a clear head.

Sure some dreams are around the guidance apsects of 2 but don't forget the sacred purpose of 'housework'. When a space is cleared all potentials are once again invited in for a new day.

ETA I especially noted this

Just as my empty living room caused me to stop and consider alternative possibilities - Why bring the chairs back in around the coffee table? Why not create an exercise room or set up my sewing machine and do crafts? - hexagram 2 can be a seen as describing not just a neutral space but a call to consider that anything is possible.

the space even awakens and inspires creativity...invites hex 1 in. There were chairs, always there, but once cleared she's thinking of sewing and crafts.

 

[anemos]

- and represents Earth, the Receptive. Those open lines are space where everything happens, and the capacity to sustain it all.

there are thoughts I would like to share but can't yet, not that i don't want but they still are in a form that I doubt if writing then will make any sense. There es an interesting sync ; that reading , rosada's thoughts and my visceral experiences of 2 those last weeks. If I could put a working title on those thoughts of mine then would be " The Capacity to Accept". Even the woman's anatomy and what happens during the union with H1 depicts quite accurate that capacity.

I agree with most of what has been said here about the space. I felt it in my guts and the capacity as depicted in the hex - the space - imo is key element of H2. She is submissive ; while this word has negative connotations , imo, its a very apt word.

H2 came when uninvited information, like dreams, came. Was so overwhelming that literally I needed to shut down the "receptors" . Not sure how to read 2 yet , in that case, but the visual of that space was powerful.

 

[Trojina]

I wouldn't say the room was submissive.....it has to stand firm, being what it is, to be of any use at all, it isn't dissolving away. The earth itself is not submissive is it ?

 

[Trojina]

So… the working of dreams is not like the workings of gallbladders, then; it’s not enough just to forget them and leave them be. It’s better to approach dreams with ears pricked, ready to change course – to do something in response

Oh I think the answer of hex 2 absolutely allows for leaving them be sometimes.

As I said before there are many different kinds of dreams

dreams arising from physical states....ie dreaming you want the loo when you do actually want the loo
dreams arising from unfulfilled wishes
dreams that rehearse something one is learning
dreams that are trying to make sense of things, that process emotions
dreams that are simply brain discharge and some certainly are IMO
lucid dreams
precognitive dreams


I think it's important we allow them just to be whenever we want to. If we didn't we'd spend most of waking life dissecting them or writing them down.

hence I do think hex 2 as an answer leaves it wide open for us to do as we want with them which includes forgetting them or ignoring them if we want to.

 

[hilary]

Hm, perhaps so. I agree that dream-journalling can expand to fill the waking hours available, and then some. I rather like this, from Robert Moss:

Always run a reality check by asking: Is it remotely possible the events in this dream could be played out in waking life? I have never seen more time wasted in dream analysis — and more life-supporting messages lost — than when we fail to recognize that our dreams are constantly rehearsing us for challenges that lie around the corner. In our dreams, we are all psychic.

- especially the part about 'time wasted in dream analysis'.

His final point (of 7):

Always do something with the dream! We need to do far more than interpret dreams; we need to bring their energy and insight into manifestation in waking life.

That was something I got from the hexagram 2 - theearth doesn't interpret the seed (nor the mare interpret the rider, etc) - it responds to it, does something with it. Interpreting & understanding might not be all that important.

 

[blue_angel]

This is a very interesting thread. Thank you for starting it Hilary! I feel in the middle on this at this point. I feel I resonate with each post so far. I use to be very involved in my dreams, writing them down, researching to see what they might mean for me. Of course not all dreams, but the ones that made me feel uneasy, so much that I would awaken remembering vividly the dream, and actually feeling as though it could be a message or a warning. There are few dreams I remember for years and years to come. Those dreams were when the dream actually ended up happening in the future. 3 of them that I can remember. I was dreaming of events that would happen in the future. So when the events happened, I would remember the dream, and it startled me a bit. That's when I began my research on dreams. At the time I had the dreams, I remember awakening, thinking "wow that was a weird dream! Or oh man that was scary! Hope it doesn't mean anything." The dreams had startled me enough, that although I couldn't seem to erase them from my mind, I still was choosing to let them go, because I had no idea what they meant, or how to work them out. They were dreams that didn't have much to do with my present, little do I know exactly how much my future would change. They were years ago. During that time I was not as in touch with my spiritual nature or the Iching. Now that I am, there are few times I have and will sit up and take notice, and ask the Iching what did that dream mean for me? (If anything) my answers so far have been mostly good and reassuring. Looking back, on those dreams an now having lived through the actual events, I see no way I could've changed any of those events that happened. At heart I feel even though the dreams may have been a warning, the warning was like "hang on tight! You're getting ready to go through some Drastic changes"! But I feel the events no matter how bad they were, ended up being necessary for growth, bringing me closer to where I should be. Enabled me to learn so much, be more open to all possibilities. Anyway, they were hard hard times but in the end its seems it all works out for the best. Even if the best is not at all what I had in mind. When researching dream meanings, one thing I found interesting, is the dreams I thought meant bad luck or some scary, unfortunate event was about to happen. Those dreams were actually good omens. Go figure. Who would've thought. So I mostly agree with Trojan, although I am still curious and open by nature. Sometimes I feel, yes we have choices in life, we can make the path smoother and less bumpy, or we can learn the hard way but ultimately either path we take is going to lead to the same destination. Other times I'm not so sure. A friend told me that's what makes life such a great adventure, the not knowing. I do feel as well, majority of the time our dreams are a clearing up of clutter, opening space. Sorry for my rambling, not sure if I had a point to my post or made the point I was intending on making in the first place. Deep thoughts...

Thanks,

Blue_Angel

 

[anemos]

I wouldn't say the room was submissive.....it has to stand firm, being what it is, to be of any use at all, it isn't dissolving away. The earth itself is not submissive is it ?

I try to find a word that has those qualities but not a negative connotation; yielding, flexible ? To me submissive doesn't lack power or importance. as a mater of fact , sometimes, its what the situation asks.

Submissively is how the paper responds when I do my origami thing. Sometimes you fold and fold and fold and after that you unfold it and starts folding it again in another way. The feelings is that the paper "obeys" and the craft its like taking the form it actually is... i mean what the pre-greasing has determine. it doesn't resist , it just becomes...Not sure if I can transfer the feeling into words .

what you said bring in mind those decoration magazines , where they present a specific room ( space) and offer many alternatives ways of decorating or use. Like Rosada's ideas . one room , many ideas. Its Rosada that will "create" the room, and the room has to yield to Rosada's wish.


I agree also that not every dream has a deep meaning to offer. So either 2 could be about THE dreams , the ones you need to be receptive and let them guide you, or a more general answers, like maybe what you said, accept each dream the way it is.

I was talking with a friend the other day and we were laughing about some common dream , which was working on Excel Spreading all night long. We both recall that the images were so clear that we could read and actually work. Like him, i too had to spend sometime working on spreadsheets for 12 + hours per day. the Brain had not time to relax and clear up... nothing profound in that dream. well, it bears a message that we overdoing it but there were those periods of closing books so not much to do about it.

 

[anemos]

At heart I feel even though the dreams may have been a warning, the warning was like "hang on tight! You're getting ready to go through some Drastic changes"!

can relate to those dreams. Some time ago I had a series of them. What was interesting was sharing it with some people , while to me felt kind of future events, those people , knowings some details found that some parts of it was what was happening now. So, to me, seemed like the dream was there to highlight some important aspects of a bigger story.

 

[Trojina]

Submissively is how the paper responds when I do my origami thing. Sometimes you fold and fold and fold and after that you unfold it and starts folding it again in another way. The feelings is that the paper "obeys" and the craft its like taking the form it actually is... i mean what the pre-greasing has determine. it doesn't resist , it just becomes...Not sure if I can transfer the feeling into words

Well another way to look at this is that the paper infact dictates what you do with it. You can fold paper but actually what you do with the paper has to conform to what paper as a substance can do, what its properties are, what it's capable of. So I can see this another way around...you submitting to the nature of the paper.

Same with any arts tool...paint, brushes....we use them but we must submit to their qualities must we not ?

 

[Trojina]

Clay is a great example. Does the sculptor submit to the clay or the clay to the sculptor ?


Hehe that's deep for me !

 

[anemos]

Same with any arts tool...paint, brushes....we use them but we must submit to their qualities must we not ?

yup, was thinking about it and came back to talk about brushes and paints. Can't persuade my acrylics not to dry

 

[anemos]

Clay is a great example. Does the sculptor submit to the clay or the clay to the sculptor ?


Hehe that's deep for me !

hahaha,

great example of the h 1 -2 interplay, imo .

 

[anemos]

remain open is another way to read h2 in this context. Am sayings that because sometimes we create meaning based on our experiences. Like illusions; we don't see only with eyes and we don't hear only with ears. other cognitive function interfere. I have listen to dream interpretations that if anything else , the dreamer project its bias while others around see something different. also, like Yi reading, sometimes dreams can be brutal, and we see not that nice aspects of ourselves. Like what they say in meditation- observe without judge- that kind of openness enhance the flow of information.

maybe, it worth noting, since Hilary brought h1 into this reading , that in h1 we can see that " a man begets" while in H2 a woman bears.

 

[knotxx]

"At first confusion" is great. Yi is so hilarious sometimes.

My first thought at that 2uc response to "how should we respond to dreams" is "be impregnated by them."

 

[Trojina]

Hilary quoted Robert Moss

His final point (of 7):


Always do something with the dream! We need to do far more than interpret dreams; we need to bring their energy and insight into manifestation in waking life.

Good grief Robert Moss attempts to carry the work ethic into sleep and dreaming !

When are we meant to relax !?

ETA I find the impulse to rebel at this statement. I don't always want to 'do' something with the dream.

 

[poised]

Meeting my "superior man"

A noble one has a direction to go.
At first: confusion. Later: gains a master.
Fruitful in the southwest, gaining partners.
In the northeast, losing partners.

I have done a lot of gestalt dreamwork, in which everything in the dream IS the dreamer. This seems to align with this quote from your H2. In dreams, we discover and learn to understand discarded (confusing) parts (partners) of ourselves, deeper levels of self.

I was going to post a thread about a dream today, but it fits here, I think. Yesterday, I slept very late after staying up late reading both the Hillary and the RL Wing books, just reading, not tossing coins. I awoke from this dream:

I am hurriedly walking up and down halls in what seems to be a hotel, everything painted pristine white. I am accompanied by two (apparently) preteen girls with dark hair and a tall man with dark hair dressed in a nice black overcoat. He is leading us along as we look for something. Finally we enter a very nice room, also white, that looks rather messy; the louvered closet doors are open, only empty hangers inside. The girls and I sit close to one another on the bed, giggling a little, attentive to what he says:

"He's totally gone. You both did the best you could and it didn't work out." His tone of voice was low, kind, comforting. He looked at me with such compassion, I almost melted.

His words flooded me with relief and calm confidence. I woke up, so grateful to have the message, "You both did the best you could." Really, it had never occurred to me. My quick and obvious dream interpretation: it is a direct answer to my still-lingering pain, guilt, unhappiness about recent breakup of two-year relationship. Later, I came to see the two teenage girls as my inner Gemini twins (inner child), who still miss their daddy-daughter parts of the relationship.

The next day, thinking about that man, I asked the Yi, "who is he?" I thought perhaps some angel in street clothes like Nicholas Cage in City of Angels (but better looking).

40 unchanging.

The Superior Man says, you can now release and let go. Forgive yourself and him. The superior man is part of me, and now I know what he looks like. It's just wonderful to have this image…a really attractive, in-charge, reliable, serious, authority figure, entirely on my side, very kind and understanding. A contemporary. Wow.

Hex 2: "Gaining partners."

Perhaps the "lost twin" I always wanted. My internal twin. (But not necessarily, a partner is enough.) This dream was so healing, so profound, and the addition of Hex 40's internal superior man brought it into the category of life-changing.

So this is my very California-in-the-70s take on this dream and dreams in general Hope it adds to this discussion.
:bows:

 

[Trojina]

Lovely dream, especially those twins...then 40uc. 40uc seems like the giftwrap confirmation on the dream.

Do you often ask Yi about your dreams ?

 

[anemos]

"You both did the best you could."

very 40 !!! Maybe you just can relax more now ...

touching and lovely dream !

My dreams , the series one had to do with children too. Children in danger and I was there almost helpless . there were 2-3 , then an awful dream that when i wake up shut down everything so I couldn't recall and then a more beautiful dream, were two people i love most apart family were there. The one man gave birth to me and the other was taking pics of me to show me my beauty and in the background children playing happily and safe.


Don't know what happened to the "missing" dream , but in real life was a bit of hell as had to deal with flashbacks of older scary moments . Had to paint them and cried a lot, felt like i was feeling about those children in my dream, scared for their life. Like yours, life changing dreams !

my feelings is that dreams come from the very primitive brain of us our older brain, the one we share with other animals. In a few years will link you my paper

 

[poised]

Occasionally I ask Yi about dreams, but this was the most direct, clear answer. Usually, Yi brings up points to ponder.

 

[poised]

Dream children

my feelings is that dreams come from the very primitive brain of us our older brain, the one we share with other animals. In a few years will link you my paper

I look forward to your paper. Or book?

You do have many complex dreams about children, anemos. Have you read much about the "inner child?" I like John Bradshaw"s Homecoming:Reclaiming and Healing Your Inner Child, such a big bestseller, it's probably available in many languages. And also, for you especially, The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self, by Alice Miller. Dreams plus knowledge plus a view from Yijing help sort out the feelings.

 

[anemos]

I look forward to your paper. Or book?

You do have many complex dreams about children, anemos. Have you read much about the "inner child?" I like John Bradshaw"s Homecoming:Reclaiming and Healing Your Inner Child, such a big bestseller, it's probably available in many languages. And also, for you especially, The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self, by Alice Miller. Dreams plus knowledge plus a view from Yijing help sort out the feelings.

book is half finished i.e. have a title and some bullet points .. will take awhile. besides those dream I don't really recall any other dream with children.

have read Alice Miller years ago- liked her a lot. John Bradshaw is new to me. thanks. My current interest is interpersonal neurobiology - Siegel coined the term and his main focus is to combine knowledge from different disciplines, find common patterns and investigate in a more holistic way . "Parenting from the inside out" is one of the books I read now. Highly recommended for parents and those who want to parent their inner child.

 

[hilary]

"At first confusion" is great. Yi is so hilarious sometimes.

My first thought at that 2uc response to "how should we respond to dreams" is "be impregnated by them."

Yes!

Good grief Robert Moss attempts to carry the work ethic into sleep and dreaming !

When are we meant to relax !?

ETA I find the impulse to rebel at this statement. I don't always want to 'do' something with the dream.

Oh, I like it because it seems the opposite of work. Doing something in response to the dream just seems like conversation; setting out to develop a comprehensive interpretation and understanding of the dream seems like work. I'm taking it as resistance to the supremacy of interpretation.

...
The next day, thinking about that man, I asked the Yi, "who is he?" I thought perhaps some angel in street clothes like Nicholas Cage in City of Angels (but better looking).

40 unchanging. ...

Release, forgiveness, spontaneity, incarnate. Nice answer!

I like the flexibility of just asking about a single outstanding element of the dream. The other week I had a very long, detailed dream about venturing into an empty house to retrieve a tape that was playing there. Just about every detail of the dream was clearly symbolic with its basic meaning shining through quite clearly; the only really puzzling part was the tape itself: why did this need to be retrieved, and what was it anyway? So my question to Yi was 'What is the tape?'

Also looking forward to Maria's paper/book, by the way. I hope it will have pictures.

 

[poised]

My current interest is interpersonal neurobiology - Siegel coined the term and his main focus is to combine knowledge from different disciplines, find common patterns and investigate in a more holistic way .

Thanks, anemos. I hadn't heard of him, ordered a book and a tape of Siegel's from my library. His works sounds interesting.

 

[poised]

trojan, I forgot about this dream…Had I read and accepted Bradford's 12 when I first read it in May, I would have saved myself months of heartache.

http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/frie...ing-then-52-1-2-3-6-to-19&p=179473#post179473