dream interpretation

Who was Joseph Campbell? What is a myth? What does "Follow Your Bliss" mean? If you are new to the work of Joseph Campbell, this forum is a good place to start.

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Neoplato
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Post by Neoplato »

It was ineresting, but the main point was that a "guru" can only do so much for us and get us to a certain point. The rest is up to us to find the answers within ourselves.

So people may be able to help you, but don't fall into "idol worship". And if I'm not mistaken, the Buddah actually said something similar. :wink:
Infinite moment, grants freedom of winter death, allows life to dawn.

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Clemsy wrote:
I wonder if its just too much being read into a mind just reorganizing its thoughts at nite time?
N8N, the ancient Greeks had a thing about this. They said that there were two gates in Hades through which dreams came to people. The dreams that came through the Ivory Gate were false dreams,and those coming through the Gate of Horn were true dreams. I think it likely that some dreams may be, as Scrooge put it, 'just a bit of bad beef.' Others, however, have something to tell you. I'm very confident, myself , about this.


Forgive if something like this has been said, as I have only read down the thread in part. To the first gentleman's question, I was going to suggest Jung's Man and his Symbol. I believe this was the last book Jung collaborated on before his death. Stripped of technical jargon, it is intended to be read by unprofessionals who wish to know more about their dreams.

One thing that struck me as I read through the above mentioned piece is that analysts seem to take some 'poetic license' with these symbols. Indeed, sometimes it may be a bad beef; otherwise, it seems that a particular sequence of images could mean such a multitude of things as to make certain and coherent rendering impossible. Even though these analysts write in a manner that would leave little room for uncertainty, it seems that we (the dreamers) are best equipped to interpret dreams, in so far as we may be most knowledgeable as to his own emotional state at time of the dreaming.

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Actually, it seems as 'it's all been done.' - or said. Tomorrow, I will fetch out a notebook in which I wrote a dream of my own. I will share it with you guys.

Donna in Arizona
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Post by Donna in Arizona »

That would be wonderful! Thank you.

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Donna in Arizona wrote:That would be wonderful! Thank you.

Promise, I still intend to do so. Do you have some expertise in the field?

Cindy B.
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Post by Cindy B. »

Hello, Donna from Arizona, and welcome!

Same to you, Ty, should I have missed you earlier!

Cindy
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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Post by Clemsy »

Even though these analysts write in a manner that would leave little room for uncertainty, it seems that we (the dreamers) are best equipped to interpret dreams, in so far as we may be most knowledgeable as to his own emotional state at time of the dreaming.
Hi Ty, and welcome to the JCF forums! The above is wisely said, indeed. Others may be able to point in general directions, but only the dreamer can know specific relevance.

Cheers,
Clemsy
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

Donna in Arizona
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Post by Donna in Arizona »

Ty wrote:
Donna in Arizona wrote:That would be wonderful! Thank you.

Promise, I still intend to do so. Do you have some expertise in the field?
Ty, I've kept dream journals at several different times in my life -- and stopped several times obviously :? Fascinating results -- I recently unpacked boxes that had been in storage for 10 years and, reading my dream journal for 1985, was blown away by the revelations!

Wasn't it Jung who said something to the effect that everything in the dream is about the dreamer?

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Yeah, that seems to be his way of looking at it. That, in fact, is the most interesting point to me; that a common way of looking at dreams is to see other people as other, yet the other characters in the dream are supplied by our own psyche.

I had a wonderful experience with a young man several years ago. He had dreampt of a ceremony in which a procession of young men were presenting gifts to a woman in blue dress. Each of the young men were images of himself; and yet, there was one with which he identified more thoroughly.

I do not remember all of the details of this dream. However, I thought it over, and thereafter presented it back to him in terms of an intiation ritual. (He was nineteen years old). He was crossing a threshold. His unconscious mind was telling him where he stood with his own development. I felt very good about it.

Until that time, all he had understood is that he was fascinated by the 'woman in the blue dress.' In fact, he had begun a painting of her. Of course, he already understood the woman was his mother.

Ty

Donna in Arizona
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Post by Donna in Arizona »

I immediately thought of Renoir's painting of the Lady in a Blue Dress... I wonder if Renoir had a similar dream and painted it? Which would make your "coming of age" theory spot on. Nice work!

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Post by Cindy B. »

Hey, Donna.

This woman? This blue dress? Most definitely an anima figure for Renoir. He portrayed this young woman several times.

Image

Renoir--my second artistic love. The first was Van Gogh. :)

Cindy
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

Donna in Arizona
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Post by Donna in Arizona »

That would be the one! I hear there's a play coming out by the same title but I have no idea if it's about Renoir's model or something else entirely. I'm a long way from broadway here 8)

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Ah, broadway. Wish I'd ever seen the day!

I have recently been plowing through a book of Van Gogh. Beside each painting is a letter from he to his brother. It is incredible. The man wanted so badly to provide from himself and to not be a burden on his brother (Theo) - yet he was hardly anything but a burden. I believe that is largely why he did for himself. And the colors! The brilliance! I should surely say of him as I do of Mark Twain, there will never be another like him!

Donna in Arizona
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Post by Donna in Arizona »

Ha! I have some friends who bought a ranch called the "Lop Ear" ranch (in reference to a type of cattle ear mark). As a house warming present, their mother bought them a van Gogh! It took my friend about 10 minutes to get it...

The book sounds fascinating. Who's the author?

Ty
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Post by Ty »

Donna in Arizona wrote:Ha! I have some friends who bought a ranch called the "Lop Ear" ranch (in reference to a type of cattle ear mark). As a house warming present, their mother bought them a van Gogh! It took my friend about 10 minutes to get it...

The book sounds fascinating. Who's the author?
Sorry so long to respond. I do not have internet at home. I think the editor is Anna Suh.

Here is the dream I was threatening you with. Hope you enjoy!

I am on a boat out on the ocean. My Father is going to scuba dive, and he goes out of the door and is submerged and I can hear his breathing - so that even though I am filled with worry, I know he is alive down there.

Suddenly, the skipper and I find ourselves sailing off Cape Horn. Where it had formerly been raining, it is now sunny - beautiful. Beside the mainland is a smaller island. I am worried over the whereabouits of my Father, and though it is very pleasant here, we cannot stay.

Next, we are steaming through a labyrinth of waterways. Back and forth they wind. We are no longer at the point of my father's deparure, but then I am no longer worried for his well being.

In the next scenario, we are on the road. My Father is again with us. The skipper has turned into an old man of questionable moral character. But he seems to have already taken this journey, so that we listen to what he advises.

Our mission is to steal some golf clubs. The old man seems to have been talking about having also stolen golf clubs as a young man, hence his moral inferiority.

We arrive at a picnic area where people camped in both R.V.s and tents. There we sited the golf clubs.

It is at this point that I realize that my Father is a much thinner man, rather the way he would have looked as a young man.

The old man seems to have gone to sleep at this point. While I wait, my father slips away to steal the golf clubs. Meanwhile, I am filled with anxiety, expecting his capture at any moment by one of the passing campers.

Before he can return, I am in another place. Before me is a caged bird. Underneath the bird is another bird under a lump of ice. As I looked on, the little bird knocked off the ice, and he dropped from the cage to the ground.

I felt very sorry for the bird and tried to help it. But it is very weak and unable to fly or walk. Presently, the bird grows stronger and leaps from the floor onto the pant leg. This startles me and I knock it back to the floor.

But it does not long remain there. It has morphed into another form! It has a long beak, which I liken to a mosquito, and I believe it wants to suck my blood. It's only other distinguishable characteristic is that it is almost invisible.

As the dream ends, I am swatting at the bird with a bat.

The end.


If anyone has ideas, please feel free...

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