08 August 2007

A Dream Retrospective

I do think dreams are important. I think they all have a purpose and meaning. Not just simple analytical meanings - but meanings that go beyond what we know.
Dream interpretation is interesting in the way that all types of symbology (symbology should be a word if it isn't already) is interesting.
Loosing teeth - a dream one of my friends often has - apparently means a fear of being financially insecure. Though, through a psychological perspective, we can say that loosing teeth in a dream is a manifestation of hoe frustrated we feel at not being able to communicate something properly.
Strange as it may seem, for the past 3 or so years, Jesus and God have somehow managed to wheedle their way into my dreams on occasion... in as far as dream continuity goes for me, that's pretty serious.
My dreams - the ones I remember least ways - are always kind of remarkable and noteworthy. I'll write them down and say to myself "Hey, what a great thing to make a story out of". Sometimes the ream is, itself, a full story with a beginning middle and end. Though none of these featured any of the same people, and only a few of the same places (a high cliff, and a beach, surrounded by sheer cliff sides with only a way in that, if a person is stranded their at high tide, is deadly).
So, when I have a dream where some element other than location has repeated itself, I have to take notice of that dream over the one where I'm a rebel breaking into a castle to save the captive prince, only to be stabbed by a guard and barely live to tell about it.
For the past 3 years that element has been God... or Jesus.
It first started with a simple dream, where I had to protect Jesus from hell-spawn demons. He turned himself into a rabbit and, rabbit-like instincts taking over, ran away from me. I had to catch him.
3 dreams last year in rapid success included me walking with Jesus with some of the Apostles and one of them strays behind while we go to cross a bridge. The bridge is like this gateway between this really cold Siberia-esque snowy place and this golden field of like, eternal spring (or something... it was very... Elysian-y.) . Jesus goes back to the slow apostle and says "No one gets left back" or something very Jesus-like.
In another there was something about a cross.
One featured me trying to kill the false Christ.
And another featured Jesus, riding into town on his donkey, with all of the citizens (myself included) waving palm fronds like it was "Hosannah Heysannah" from Jesus Christ Super Star... except we were singing "What's the word, tell me what's a-happening"
My latest dream didn't feature either God or Jesus in a direct sense, but rather an indirect one.
It was the end of the world, and only I was saved, and I had to recreate creation.
So, I was God.
What was neat about this dream was that I went through all the things that needed to be created, but then I got to humans, and didn't know if I should make them or not - because I knew what would happen if I did. On the other hand I was really very lonely and wanted my friends with me.
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I've thought of different ways to interpret those dreams, all having to do with my religious views and what I believe, but I wonder what else they can mean you know?
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On the other hand, type in "A Neil-Gaiman looking Death chops off my hand" when looking for interpretations, and I get nothing. How is that even remotely fair?! In this world there are people who have regular "teeth-falling-out-of-my-mouth" dreams, and "I'm-falling" dreams, and "I'm-naked-in-school" dreams, and "I'm-taking-a-test-for-a-class-I-didn't-go-to-all-semester" dreams. I've had them too, I'm sure. These are the dreams that have websites devoted to them.
Dreams like "My-house-is-full-of-troll-dolls" and "I-talked-with-Death-who-was-actually-very-nice-and-looked-an-awful-lot-
like-Neil-Gaiman-and-he-chopped-my-hand-off" dreams, and "I-was-riding-a-dinosaur-into-Macy*s" dreams, and the "I-was-a-woman-who-lost-my-family-but-my-evil-sister-who-worships-an-
evil-sea-god-stole-my-family-and-is-teaching-them-to-serve-the-god-and-
is-making-them-live-under-sea-in-a-sunken-ship-under-a-spell-and-I-have-
to-destroy-the-god"dreams, and "Nazi-Penguin" dreams seemed to be, at best, glossed over. "You have to break down the individual elements" they'll say.
Which is utter bull-hockey, because I'm sure everyone else's mundane "I-Keep-waking-up-in-my-dream-only-to-find-myself-in-another-dream" has much more context than just "waking up", yet people feel confidant enough to interpret just the one aspect of waking up.
It's not fair I tell you.

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