Two Dreams in Need of Interpretation

[egregor]

I really like sleep. That brief moment of haziness right before everything fades to black, observing the magnificent thoughts of your subconscious, occasionally becoming aware of your condition of dreaming within the dream, and my personal favorite, sleep paralysis (yes, that is an enjoyable expierence for me). I really, really like sleep, and for some time now I have been keeping a journal next to my bed for when I wake up and am able to remember a dream clearly, so that I may record it, but rarely are they as... Poignant as this one which I had recently. I cannot for the life of me make sense of it- and I rarely try to do that with my own dreams. I am not objective enough to analyze my own dreams, or pick out certain meanings, also, I like to let them fade away ephemeral and beautiful, rather than shed light on them, and ruin the mystery... However, this recent one, well... It was different, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I know that there is a dream interpretation thread specifically for this (I posted a friends lucid dream in there), but I felt this was serious enough to warrant it's own thread... Perhaps you'll agree after you read it.

I really would appreciate it if someone far more knowledgeable than I on such topics would help me to shed light onto this. I know that the beauty of it will disappear, but... I require clarity on this one. Also, it is quite lengthy, so much so that it exceeds the 10k character rule, so I will have to post it in two parts.

First and foremost, I would like to thank whoever takes the time to read this, whether you aid me or not, you have my thanks for at least giving it notice.

Spoiler!

It began with my standing atop a ledge. Before me, there was a staircase, which lead down to a beautiful white sand beach. The water was clear as crystal and and the sun had just set, painting the horizon a myriad of purple and orange hues. I ascended the staircase and felt the warm sand beneath my feet. Making my way to the ocean's edge, I noticed my clothing- a pair of white pants, with a skin-tight shirt tucked into them. The shirt itself was sleeveless, and had a pattern on it that I could not make out. I was wearing a belt, I think it was white leather. To my right their was a holster for a book, which was indeed holstered to my side. To my left was the holster for a sword, which too, was holstered to my side. I was wearing a hooded cloak... No footwear, as I clearly remember the feel of the sand beneath my feet. As I came to the ocean's edge, I walked into it. I stood their for a short time, observing the canvas that was the horizon. I then knelt down to cup some water into my hand. I know that ocean water is not safe to drink, due to the salt content, but this water did not taste of salt. It... It did not feel like water. It was like... Glass, or crystal. In hexagonal shapes, but so small that they pooled together and had the same look and feel as water. I drank of it, and it did not give me any taste, but after drinking from it I knew I was full. I noticed the bottom of my cloak was beginning to get wet, so I walked back on shore, where the water fell off of my cloak and was washed back into the ocean... My cloak was left dry, not a stain or anything.

I looked around, to the right of the staircase was a white washed building, with no windows and door to the right side of it. I felt no urge to enter it, so I did not, looking farther to my right, I saw that the ledge, beach, and ocean continued on for as far as I could see. Looking to my left, I noticed the ledge began to extend a bit a ways down, so I walked down to the left. I soon found myself standing before a gate. It's door's were white like and reminded me of ivory. In the center, their was a circle, and in that, a hole. To my knowledge, I was not in possession of a key, but I saw that the ocean was still to my right, and the ledge to my left. So, stepping into the ocean, I figured I could just walk past the gate. Yet, as I looked past the gate, I saw that the ledge seemed to extend outward, beginning again at the exact nanometer where the gate ended, and stretching for as long as I could see. I walked back around to the front of the gate, and stood their, pondering how to open it. Then, I remembered the sword that was holstered to my left side. The handle was black, and it had a gold guard around the handle, like an officer's sword. Pulling it from it's scabbard, I saw that the sword itself was no sword at all, but a very long, very, very intricate key. I checked the edges, and they were not at all sharp. I inserted it into the keyhole at the center of the door, and as I pulled it out, the "blade" beyond the hilt was gone. Inside the keyhole shone a brilliant green light, and the ivory doors slowly opened, revealing a cave. Before entering, I took another look at the handle of my sword, and I swung it to my side. As I did so, an actual sword blade emerged. This time, it was no key, but a real sword, and I could tell just by looking that it was sharp. Now, entering the cave, I noticed that looked different from what you would expect the inside of a cave to look like, as it was full of greenery. The walls were covered in vines, which were adorned with flowers of various shapes, sized, and colors. The "floor" was blanked with a thick grass that felt soft to the touch, and the "cealing" was were the vines seemed to join, or perhaps it was were they begun. Looking back, I noticed that the gate was gone, and where I had entered was instead a dead end. A rocky wall, with no greenery growing on it. I did not feel the need to investigate it, so I continued my assent into the lush cavern.

Walking along, I noticed something odd- there was no source of light. There was no source of light, and yet the cavern was as bright as day. It stretched down far, once again, as far as I could see. There was no "light at the end of the tunnel", it just seemed to stretch on with the same level of inexplicable brightness that surrounded me. After walking a fair amount, I noticed another gate, to my left, on the wall of the cave. It looked like the gate to a garden- solid white, constructed of bars protruding upwards, which formed spikes at their ends, and horizontal bars along them. There was a chain around the gate, but no lock. I unsheathed my sword, and ran it through the middle of the gate, and the chain fell to the ground. Re-sheathing my sword, I entered the gate, and immediately I heard a voice. "What are you doing in my garden?", it asked me. Sure enough, it was a garden. In front of me was a spring of water, amazingly clear, and beautiful There was a stone bridge leading over it, which lead to another bridge, this one leading to a small island in the middle of a large pond. I still stood just past the entrance. Taking this all in, I looked up, and saw that there was a skyline, where the cave just seemed to fade away into sky. It was a clear, blue sky, the kind you would be lucky to see on a summer's day. Completely different from the dusk-like atmosphere I encountered outside of the cave. Just standing there, I could tell that this sub-cavern was massive, and I had the feeling that there were more farther down the path, but I had stopped at this one. Taking my first steps, I heard a sharp sound of metal clanging together I turned around, and saw that the gate was closed... Or, that it was altered. The gate that I entered into was clearly a gate- with two sides, and a center, designed to be opened. What stood behind me was a single wall of the same white material the gate was made of, but it was not constructed of two parts, and had no center. The gate had become a fence. A gate was for entering and, to my knowledge, exiting, yet what was behind me was not a gate or a door, but a wall. Simple as that. I was not necessarily alarmed, I just found it curious. As I took another step, once again I heard the voice, "I ask of you again, boy, what are you doing in my garden?". The voice held no malice, but I could sense impatience. Before I could give it an answer, I was struck by a realization- to my right and to my left, as if separating the stream of water, their were two more gates. These made of iron. Behind the right one stood a girl, behind the left, a boy. The gates seemed to rise up from the ground, and the spring water continued to flow past them, so naturally, the two children were standing in the water. Inside the gates seemed to be small caverns. It dawned on me that they were cell's of sort, and that the two were locked in there. But, I did not feel that they were at all displeased with their current situation. Maybe what I interpreted to be a cell's were just rooms. I mean, they did not feel at all like prisoner, and I had the feeling that they could come and go as they pleased... Moving on, their appearance Both looked very similar. Dark, purple skin, shoulder-length silver hair, red eyes... They both had horns, on their head. Or, rather, nubs. It looked as though they were places where horns would grow, but they had been cur off, so all that protruded was the nubs of what once was, or what could have been horns. They both had tails as well. No wings, that I could see at least. Both were leaning against their gate's in a... Provocative way, each stared at me, their mouth's creased into playful grins, their eyes shining with lust. I felt drawn to them, but the presence that had spoken to me urged me to come forward to the center of the garden. Telling myself that I would come back to them later, I stepped over the bridge of the spring, and entered into a larger room, the giggling of the two behind me.

[Gardenia]

Re: Two Dreams in Need of Interpretation

(Ignore this, posting to help with post size limits?)

[egregor]

Spoiler!

The center room was perfectly round, and it housed a pristine pond. Before me was a bridge, which led to a small island in the center of the pond. I noticed that, on the other sides of the island, their were other bridges, leading to entrances like the one I had just come through, but they were darkened, and I could not make out what lie past them. I took a step onto the stone bridge, and immediately felt my consciousness leave me. Not in the sense that I projected or anything- I was just unconscious pure and simple. It was as though my senses had been cut off from my body. Then, in no time, I woke up, and saw that I was sitting at a table, on the island at the center of the pond. Before me was a cup of tea. This was when the voice spoke again, saying "Well, you are already here. Might as well welcome you appropriately.", then, taking a small pause, "I do not appreciate what you did to my door, though." The voice was clear, it sounded as though it were right behind me, so I quickly turned my head. And saw... Nothing. I asked aloud "Who are you?", to which the voice responded "You know who I am". I sat their for a moment, in that position, then closed my eyes, and turned back to face forward sitting upright. I said aloud, to the voice "If I were to open my eyes, I would see you, sitting before me." It was part question, part statement. The voice responded, "of course. So, why do you close your eyes?", to which I responded "I am scared. Scared that you will not look like what I desire. Scared that I will not find your appearance to be beautiful." The voice asked me "what is it that you find to be beautiful?". I then smiled to myself, and began picturing things in my head. After a long pause, I answered the voice, "Things that are rare, strange, uncommon, ephemeral..." I rattled off a few other things, then I opened my eyes. Sure enough, sitting in the chair before me, sipping his tea, sat a man, the owner of the voice.


The man looked very effeminate but I could tell that he was a male. He had shoulder length blonde hair, that was beautiful as silk, and I'd imagine it would have felt soft to the touch. His eyes were a deep green, and looked like finely crafted glass. He had a pale complexion, and wore robe-like clothing. Setting his teacup down, he urged me to try mine, which I did. It tasted like the finest black tea my sensory memory could imagine. Perfect temperature, perfectly grown leaves... It was perfect. Savoring the divine taste and smell, I set my cup down, and looked again at the man before me. "Ok, so. Who are you?" I asked again. But he did not answer my question, instead, "I believe I asked the question first- who are YOU, and why did you do that to my gate?", taking a pause, he continued "Well, we both know that I know who you are, Matthew, but seriously, why the gate?", he asked, and seemed genuinely upset about it too. I responded with "I used my key to open the gate to this cave... Tunnel thing. I did not have another key, so I used what I did have." The man put his palm to his face, shaking it from side to side in irritation, "Do you not have a book?", he asked. I remembered the tome strapped to my right side, and reached to unbuckle the holster attaching it to the pouch on the belt, when he raised his hand to stop me, saying "That is unnecessary, you do not need to use your hands. Just bring the book to you." I was confused at his request, but tried thinking of the book, and sure enough, it rose from it's pouch, and was soon guided before me, where it opened up, the pages turning as if blown by a strong wind, eventually stopping on a page around the middle of the book. I looked at the writing in the book, and saw that it was not something I could understand. It's style was reminiscent of Cuneiform that I had seen when researching information on Babylonia, but I could not make it out. I told this to the man, as I looked away from the book. Looking at him again, I was taken by surprise He still had the same facial features. Same hair, same eyes, same complexion... But, along with those, he too had horns. Only, these were not nubs, but fully developed horns, which seemed to start at the front of his skull, inches above his eyes, and extend backwards, ending in fiendishly sharp points. Behind him, waved a tail. One similar in appearance to the two I had met at the gate. "Well, if you cannot read it, it cannot be helped.", he said, as though nothing were wrong. "What happened?", I asked him. He looked confused for a moment, and asked that I elaborate. I asked him about the horns and tail, to which he raised an eyebrow, and asked "what about them?", I told him they were not on him when I first saw him, but he assured me that they were. Perhaps I did not notice them... But I didn't care about that. I was still curious, what was he? What was his name? Where was this place? I asked him all of these things, to which he responded with a hearty laugh, before finishing the rest of his tea, and answering "You may think of me as your own personal Philemon, if you will. Or Aiwass, or Faust... Really, the list goes on and on. But those examples should clear it up for you- as I am well aware of your area's of interest, and I know that none of these names are alien to you. As for my name, you may call me... Let's see... "Perinoli", I suppose, will do for now. Now, our location... Is something that you will find out at a later time."


And then I opened my eyes, fully awake. And then I rushed to my computer, and opened the wordpad (journaling would have been inconvenient as it was so long), and wrote down the events that had happened as best as I could imagine them.

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I suppose a better title would have been "a two-part dream in need of interpretation"...

[gwynwas]

Re: Two Dreams in Need of Interpretation

I really like sleep.

"Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a viking!" -Ralph Wiggum

(sorry, couldn't help myself)

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and my personal favorite, sleep paralysis (yes, that is an enjoyable expierence for me).

Um, yes, you are weird. Sleep paralysis was the most disturbing experience for me. But then, I didn't know what it was at the time.

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Okay but seriously, in regard to your dreaming. Be aware that lucid dreaming does water down meaning. I am Jungian in perspective on the id. No one can fully interpret a dream without some dialogue because so many associations are personal rather than universal. But, that being said, a few things seem evident from your dream.

1) I don't know how old you are, but I am guessing young adult.
2) You are or want to be a writer.
3) There are obvious freudosexual symbols in there I won't bother to discuss but could have personal implications.
4) An ocean that is water but not water tells us you are dreaming about something subconscious.
5) The hidden garden in a cave that is not a normal cave tells us the same thing.
6) The warning voice in the cave (male or female?) tells us this dream is important for you.
7) The fact that you remember the dream in vivid detail and keep thinking about it tells us the same thing.
8) The warning voice also tells us that what you find in the cavern is hidden and protected from your conscious mind (or was until now).
9) Obviously, the two "children" are the key.
9a) horns indicate chthonic or subconscious nature
9b) chained in cells--they have been kept secret until the appointed time in your life for them to be revealed.
9c) what do they represent -- parts of youself, in potential, not yet discovered and developed but are now presenting themselves. They will now grow and be a part of your life if you so choose it.

A new stage in your development is at hand. You will find new strengths, insights or impulses you were not fully conscious of before.

What are they exactly? Don't know for sure, but from a Jungian perspective it is most likely anima and shadow. The female and repressed parts of self respectively.

There is a chance that you will reject and repress them, and they will (symbolically) remain chained in their cells.

There is also the chance you will discover and grow them into your conscious life in which case, over time you will no long encounter them (or other versions) in your dreams (over time).

My three cents anyway.

and maybe try shorter posts in future

[gwynwas]

Re: Two Dreams in Need of Interpretation

Oh and the garden is likely a manifestation of Self (capital S). If ego is the self you know, Self is the larger you including the parts you don't know or understand or accept.

It is a Jungian truism, that you cannot know the Self until you first come to terms with anima (or animus) and shadow.