What dreams may come...

Dreams are really incredible aren't they?  They can scare, make us wonder, confuse us, shake us up, excite us.  Utimately dreams inform us about our conscious lives in our subconscious state, which is sleep.  Dreams are telling us what is really going on in our waking life, but they often arrive in strange, bizarre and beautiful packages.

In this edition of Homeopathy Seattle I will take a look at dreams and how a homeopath may work with them, and how to find a dream analyst in the Seattle area.

Happy reading!

Captain Ahab

I recently had a dream. A dream that so intrigued me. This dream was the kind that was so powerful that you can’t forget it, as opposed to the ones that fade as soon as you wake. But this one was strong and I knew it telling me something important:

I was with Captain Ahab (of Moby Dick) but he was shrunk down to the size of an action figure. I was in an older Victorian house. And in this room was Moby Dick, but the size of a couch. Captain Ahab was standing on my hand and told me that he needed to get inside of Moby Dick, and it was very important. I opened Moby’s mouth and in went Captain Ahab. A few moments later out came Ahab with a woman in an 1800’s Victorian dress. And it seemed as if she had just fainted, and was coming to. She was waxen and pale.

This dream was full of symbolism, not only from Moby Dick but also from Jonah and the Whale. I researched Moby Dick, whales, Jonah and it was all fascinating, but I wasn’t getting any answers. I decided to consult a Jungian dream analyst. I’ve heard about their work for years and I wanted to go and find out first hand. And I have to say it has been the most enlightening experience to work this person. I feel like I have this new connection with this amazingly rich inner world that was quite confusing before. Now there is more direction and more clarity to both my outer and inner realms. And it’s exciting to see them coming together.

So, what are dreams?

We spend a good 1/3 of our life asleep. If someone lives till the age of 75, that would be 25 years of sleeping! It’s a crazy notion but true. What do we do there? Certainly from a physiological perspective our body needs to rest, repair and rejuvenate. But mentally and emotionally where do we go? Do we leave our body? We aren’t living in our conscious mind in sleep time. Every night the conscious mind gets turned off for hours. In our waking life we have to abide by society rules and laws, and we have to deal with and process the stress of daily life – work, relationships, problems and issues. And for most people in our daily waking life there is some form of compensation. We can’t yell back at the nasty boss. What we really want to do is pushed down, and our old patterns of behavior produce a compensatory response. So it can get bottled up. All this stuff has to go somewhere.

The subconscious is the realm of dream time. Much of our life gets played out here – 1/3 of it for sure. There is little compensation in the world of dreams. We can act out and be violent. We can do what is socially unacceptable. We can fly. But it is all a response to what is happening in the conscious world. Our subconscious isn’t quite a blank slate, it responds to what is happening already. It is a message and confirmation of true feelings and emotions. Our truth comes out in our dreams. But it comes out in a fantastical and bizarre world where symbols and archetypes rule. Interpreting this realm is often difficult as objectivity is tantamount. Being clear is vital. That is why having an analyst is valuable. You get to work through the dream world with a guide. For me it has been a deepening of understanding myself as a human being and also as a homeopath.

A client dreams

Recently a client came to my office with a long history of obsessive compulsive behavior which drove them to drug use, and now suicidal ideation over a failing business. The client has recurring dreams of living in ramshackle house. After the two hour consult where the physical, emotional and mental aspects were all weighed out it was clear that this person needed the homeopathic remedy, Mercurius. I asked this client to be aware of their dreams in the coming weeks. At the follow up they reported much improvement with discontinued drug use and a sense of wellbeing in mind and body. Many wonderful things were changing for this person. But the dreams were just as interesting and confirmed that, indeed, a vital change was taking place. For three straight nights the client dreamt of doing drugs with their spouse, who was normally not interested or happy about it. On the fourth night the client dreamt of being in the same run down house but it was on the water on a dock and a big fish jumped up out of water lay on the dock and started to talk and chirp like Flipper the dolphin. I knew that this was an important shift in the subconscious, where new life had come in and was starting to communicate to him. The fish is a symbol for the Great Mother, prosperity and Christ. This was an extra confirmation and an important one. To see both the conscious and subconscious moving in the direction of healing was very good to see, as it informed me that the remedy selected was correct.

To sleep, perchance to dream!

Do you dream? Are you interested in finding out what the subconscious is saying to you? I would highly suggest visiting a dream analyst in your area for a consultation. And it’s also valuable to be working with a homeopath as well. The two together can be a substantial boost to the deepening of your mind and body.

Here are some references to start your dream work:

John Goldhammer – www.goldhammer.com 
Jungian groups – www.Jungseattle.org

 Here;s a good book on the intersection of dreams and Homeopathy:

Dreams, Symbols, & Homeopathy – Archetypal Dimensions of Healing
Jane Cicchetti
North Atlantic Books
2003

Buy it at www.minimum.com or www.wholehealthnow.com.

Comments / Feedback

I would love to hear from you! If you have any comments or feedback regarding this newsletter, please feel free to email me. I look forward to reading your responses. Thank you!