The image is my teacher.
Often though the consequences of the lessons gleaned by any individual may not be the one intended by the artist. Let’s take the extended violence currently pouring across movie screens with the new GI Joe film. The same barrage of imagery can result in a variety of responses from anxiety to disgust, from suspicion to a release of adrenaline. Even hilarity as I witnessed in some teens earlier today. And as these images continue to replay around the globe to different audiences, for some they will provide confirmation to a certain stereotype of how the American psyche needs to be approached and handled.
The same can be said of how we engage the imagery the unconscious serves up in our dreams. The analysis of the meaning of any given dream image can be pursued removed from the context of the specific dreamer, and the results will be fascinating. And to the extent that the dream has collective value, such endeavors move beyond fascinating and become useful. Collective value or not, each dream is tied to a specific life engaged with a unique set of challenges.
The “art of the art” in my experience has been to live with an eye orientated toward these images. This involves living in relationship to them much as we do in any correspondence. It’s when we answer the dream, value it enough to respond as you might by commenting on a blog, or answering an e-mail, or even just a reply on twitter, that the potential that the dream holds for us opens up to a new level. It’s not really about figuring them out, but listening and responding.
When following one’s dreams quickly the reality sinks in that the whole show has a director beyond our conscious control. The image of entering into the forest or the dark wood, as in Dante, is a fitting analogy. Surprises await at every turn.
While much of the attention in popular culture given to dream analysis gets focused on the individual images and symbols, it very useful to consider the rhythm of the dream series. How does each dream follow upon the previous one? And even more interesting, how does the next dream “correct” the ego’s interpretation of the previous dream? Much of the dynamic that emerges is what Jung defines as the compensatory aspect of the unconscious.
For those wishing to explore further, one of the most interesting texts concerning the interpretation of the dream series is the Seminar on Dream Analysis by Carl Jung. What is truly fascinating in this book is witnessing Jung’s skill at translating the language of the unconscious and how his decades of experience analyzing dream series’ gives him insights that can anticipate the next dream that will occur.
Dream: A fire raging on the ground floor of a skyscraper and I’m in the fire department and rushing in with my unit. As we enter a balcony comes crashing down and it seems like some men were under there. We back out of the building quickly. Then watching four men perform a dance marking out a square with their patterns.
Amplification:
Strong affect destroying the ground floor, the effects lethal to some, the building compromised. This frightening image gives way to the geometric dance of the four men, each moving over and over to a different corner in patterns simultaneously replicated by each. Their energy level intense, almost furious. Years ago, I saw an avant garde performance of a piece by Samuel Beckett that had a similar dance in it. Here the idea that comes through: the dance pattern defines a new square for the next building or field of action. I’m reminded of Jung’s quote: “No psychic value can disappear without being replaced by another of equivalent intensity.”
Dream: In practice for a soccer team and the coach is reviewing the reasons for a recent defeat, breaking down on the black board why the offense broke down. He then lays out four variations on a single play to implement in the next game. He then asks the team if anyone feels the need to defend the last performance. I almost raise my hand without thinking but catch myself. Three players do raise their hands and they are told they can go home, they will not be needed any longer.
Amplification:
The coach’s analysis was accurate and his plan should improve the team’s competitiveness. The gut reaction to raise my hand was that we ran up against an opponent much better than us and we were simply out skilled. In competitive sports it’s not a viable excuse. The image laid out here is one of solutions, not excuses.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=a7cf3e39-b217-4ee1-9051-7934c084326a)
The Pollyanna Principles
Lifestream Digest for January 6th
Answer me this...
A Bill of Goods...