Image Sixty-Four: 1st June 2004. Photo by Michael Collins
Brush
Feeling The Picture
Your feeling reactions to a dream are keys to its interpretation. These are my feelings. If this were a scene in your dream or life, how would you feel about being there?
I am drawn to the rich purple-red tone of the paving stones, giving a feeling of vibrancy and life in contrast to the dried-up brown of the once-living leaves.
Yet the autumnal leaves give me a feeling of excitement and promise because I associate autumn with new beginnings: autumn, in the northern hemisphere where I grew up, heralded the beginning of new school or university years, the excitement of progress, of moving on, of leaving the past behind.
The Symbols
Symbols in your dreams often relate to your personal memories and associations, so always consider those first. Then let your mind play with other, more general possibilities. They will not all apply! Just open your mind and notice where the symbol seems to fit and make sense of the rest of your dream.
“Of leaving the past behind…” was how I finished my ‘Feeling the Picture’ contemplation. The language of dreams (the language of our unconscious mind) often features word play. Visuals such as leaves may be word play symbols for the act of leaving, for example. In my feeling contemplation I remembered that autumn always heralded vibrant new ground in the shape of new territory (academically and geographically) – in order to move forward one must sometimes leave behind.
These leaves are dead but each is beautiful and uniquely shaped by the life forces it encountered: the way it grew, its position on the tree, its degree of mould infection, insect nibbling or wind erosion, the amount of rain that fell and when. Each leaf records a life’s journey, each ultimately destined to fertilise new ground for new trees, new growth. How do the leaves in this image speak to you?
Autumn leaves in your dream may reflect a natural ending or a natural cycle (like the seasons) of life. Where is the autumn in your life right now and how can you build from this wisdom?
The paving stones may be word play. Are you paving your way in some area of your life? Or is this a courtyard and are you courting something or involved in a legal situation? The paving stones are manmade, or carved by man. What new ground are you building or preparing?
Is this a brush (with the law?), a broom (a witch’s broom?) or something to sweep with (sweep clean, sweep under the carpet?)? This kind of brush is made of broom corn stalks (others may be willow, hemp, flax or cedar), all products of nature and symbols of autumnal death being put to new use. We need to sweep our houses and yards regularly, another symbol of the natural cycles of life and living, of death and leaving, of transformation and progress.
The Questions
Here are some questions the dreamer of such a dream picture might ask to work towards a complete understanding of the dream.
Try these yourself: just give your 'gut reaction' answers to the questions - your answers will surprise you in the insights they deliver. The key thing to remember is, "Don't THINK about your answers - give quick gut reaction replies". Your unconscious will deliver.
If this process can work powerfully for this image, consider how infinitely more powerful the insights are when the image comes from one of your own dreams - direct from your unconscious!
1. Where are you in this picture?
2. Is someone sweeping? If yes, who?
3. Imagine the rest of this place. Describe it.
4. How many leaves did you imagine? A few, many?
5. Is this a big sweeping job, or is it finished?
6. Why are the leaves being swept?
7. Who does the broom belong to?
8. From how far away have the leaves come?
9. What will the cleared ground be used for?
10. Look at your answer to Q7. Write down three words to describe this person’s approach to life.
11. Look at your answer to Q2. Write down three words to describe this person’s approach to life.
12. Look at your answer to Q6. What situation in your life now does this remind you of?
13. Look at your answer to Q8. If you have answered with a number (e.g. 8 metres away), what happened for you when you were that age (e.g. 8 years old) or that number of years or months ago?
14. Look at your answer to Q13. How does what happened back then relate to sweeping and leaving? What can you learn from this?
15. Look at your answer to Q9. What plans in your life now feel like this?
16. Look at your answer to Q3. What kind of person lives in a place like this?
17. Look at your answers to Q10 and Q11. How do these factors relate to your answer to Q15?
18. What are the leaves in your life?
19. What is the brush or broom in your life?
20. Imagine the paving stones are cleared of leaves. What message are the paving stones whispering?
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Quotes from Jane Teresa's book, Dream Alchemy, combined with Michael's photographic images, for you to frame.
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