OVERVIEW INTERPRETATION
Hi Aneo,
As you woke up you “wondered about the adventure and thought you had heard its story a long, long, long time ago”. Indeed you had, not only at the start of your dream, but also because it is your own story.
When we have experienced much change in our lives – almost become different people in some instances - our dreams often set our younger years in ancient context. One man once told me of a dream in which he found an ancient rock that was 570,000,000 years old. He felt his dream revealed the true age of the universe. I said, “Are you 57 years old?” He replied, surprised, ‘How did you know that?” His dream had referred to his own origins and circumstances that were so different to his current life that they seemed to be of an ancient world. Dreams do pump up the drama and adding zeroes to numbers in dreams is also a great way to get the dreamer’s attention!
Your ancient story, Aneo, is told in the metaphor of your dream as a shipwreck. How long, long ago were you shipwrecked, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually? What comes to mind?
A native woman tells you the story. She is your own native self, your natural born wisdom. She mentions the bow of the ship and the red figurine. During your dream you discover the hull of the ship and a red misty blur. The storyteller was drawing your attention to the remnants of that shipwreck.
What colour is anger? Some would say black and some would say red. In dreams, red often expresses anger. Later in your dream you felt anger and I wonder whether the disappeared red figurine represents disappeared anger. Situated on the bow she was the leading edge of the ship. Were you a leader in some way, forging ahead, perhaps assertively, perhaps motivated by anger? When that phase of your life came to an end (was shipwrecked) did your drive disappear? If anger was behind that drive, did it disappear too or did it fester?
The ocean often represents your emotions or your unconscious mind, so sharks can be seen as the fears and dangers lurking below the surface. When you think back to your emotional shipwreck, who or what were the sharks? Who or what seemed to devour you at the time, to cause panic? Who or what did you fear and what fears might have remained below the surface since then?
Next in your dream you feel an invisible presence (a part of yourself that has been pushed away and is now coming back into consciousness) at the same time as you notice the beached shark. Along with the beached shark came feelings of anger, hatred and sadness. Your dream reflects great progress, Aneo. You have brought those feelings, once submerged, to the surface and, in the dream you felt their full force. Beached and expressed they are harmless. Like sharks, our emotions lurk with potential danger when they are repressed, but like beached sharks they lose their power once they’re seen for what they are.
You threw a spade at the shark, not to hurt it, but to express your feelings. What a perfect recipe for handling these same feelings in waking life: to express them safely without directing them at anyone or without hurting them. As every part of a dream refers to the dreamer, that ‘anyone’ includes yourself: the point is to forgive oneself, not to blame.
Now, why a spade? We use spades to dig holes to bury things and we also use them to dig things up, to bring them to the surface. Both would fit here, but I’m wondering if your dream is referring to the cliché, ‘Call a spade a spade’. When you throw the spade in the dream you’re calling anger ‘anger’, hatred ‘hatred’ and sadness ‘sadness’.
Alternatively, in your ancient past, did you tend to lack diplomacy? Did calling a spade a spade cause the shipwreck? Yes, these do appear to be opposites, don’t they, but that’s also the way dreams work. When we are in need of balance a dream will often draw our attention to the opposite extremes. For example, a lack of diplomacy in the past may have caused a breakdown for you after which you may have decided to adopt the opposite approach, to bury your feelings and be too tactful towards yourself – to set yourself in a good light rather than to see both light and shade and to love yourself for both. Ah, life in the middle lane.
And how about that anchor eye? The shape of the hull of a ship with its anchor eye is a bit like looking at the head of a shark with its eye looking at you. That’s where you saw the misty red blur, the remnants of what once was, the origins of your story, the anchor ‘I’ of your life so far. Now, where would you like to take the story next? The choice, once all the sharks have been beached, is yours.
DREAM ALCHEMY PRACTICE
Dialogue:
Your dialogue is between you and the anchor eye of the shipwrecked hull. Start with you saying, “Did you know you look a bit like the eye of a shark?” and see what the anchor eye automatically answers. Keep it going for 20 minutes.
How to do this:
Give yourself no longer than 20 minutes. When you do this exercise do NOT think! Don’t plan ahead. Just let whatever happens happen. Let the two entities speak to each other on paper using whatever words come up. It’s a bit like writing a film script or play – but without the brain being involved.
How does this work?
By not thinking, by keeping the words flowing, you are letting your right brain and unconscious mind do most of the work. They created the original dream so they know what these symbols mean for you. They will reveal. You will be surprised.
More details on Dialogue as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy”, by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 321-4 and 333.
Jane Teresa Anderson
You can consult with Jane Teresa or her Dream Team and receive your interpretation by email within five working days.
|
