“A life that is being truly lived is constantly burning away the veils of illusion, gradually revealing the essence of who we are.” ~Marion Woodman
“The key is to stay awake, to listen to what comes into consciousness and to open to it.” ~Monika Wikman
“Whether we grow or wither in this encounter depends on whether we cling to our ego’s rigid standpoint, or whether we choose to trust the Self and leap into the unknown.” ~Monika Wikman
These quotes summarize what I think two recent dreams want me to know. In this and the next post I’ll share them and tell you what I’m learning.
Dream #4400: X Wants Me to Meet a Man Who Speaks About Consciousness
I’m pleased to see my friend, X, at a gathering. She looks lovely in a black and white patterned dress. She tells me about a man who speaks about consciousness. She wants me to hear him so we go to his presentation. Afterwards I introduce myself and tell him I’m thrilled to meet someone else who addresses this important topic.
Associations: X is a waking-life friend who represents my light shadow. I admire her self-confidence, down-to-earth good sense, communication and mothering skills, creative abilities, poise and naturalness. She’s attractive, yet doesn’t define herself by her looks. She’s sociable enough to attend functions when necessary, but at heart she’s a homebody who’d usually rather be doing her own thing.
I suspect her appearance in this dream was triggered in part by my recent post about the light shadow. After 24 years of dreamwork I’m pretty good at accepting my dark shadow, although I tend to dwell on it too much. I suppose that’s my ego’s way of punishing itself for its pride, the dark shadow of forced humility. Ouch! So being honest about what I like about X feels good. Knowing and enjoying our strengths is not vain, proud, self-congratulatory or self-indulgent. And accepting our weaknesses doesn’t make us weak or unduly flawed.
Do you see how this works? I’m burning away some illusions. I’ve learned I’m not perfect but I’m not awful either. I’m comfortable wearing black and white at the same time, and this makes me more open to what enters my consciousness.
But the black and white dress also highlights a basic difference between X and me. Whereas I’m an Intuitive, she’s a Sensation Type who focuses on basic information about everyday life. As far as I know, she’s never been very interested in inner life matters like interpreting information, finding meaning, or becoming more conscious. So why would she know about a man who speaks about consciousness? And why would she take me to meet him?
This oddity is a clue to the dream’s meaning. Jung said the ego has to go through the shadow to meet our contra-sexual opposite (anima or animus) who is, in turn, the gatekeeper to the Self. My light shadow wanted to connect me with an animus image. Why? Because his very vocation is a message for me from the Self. This man physically goes out into the world to teach about consciousness, and I think this is a suggestion for me to consider doing more of this myself!
Here’s the big question this dream poses for me: Will I wither by clinging to my ego’s preference to work from home or will I trust the Self and leap into the sensate world I prefer to avoid? More next time.
My newest book, Healing the Sacred Divide can be found at this Amazon link or at Larson Publications, Inc.
Cartoon used with permission of Ryan North at www.qwantz.com.
0 Responses
Jeannie,
Every time I read your work I feel that you are “out in the world teaching me about consciousness.” Why, you are right here with me. So, go easy on yourself!
That’s wonderful advice, Cindy. Thank you. I do have a tendency to push myself too much. I’ll think about this! Jeanie
Jeanie, With over 2,600 followers, you surely are “out in the world” by publishing this blog. Still, there are 7+ billion other folks, who could use an understanding of your message. It’s a fine balance. You’ll never get to all of them, but getting to a few others would certainly be a contribution to humanity. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have a disciple or two, to carry the banner into future generations. There’s nothing riding on this but the future of the species. I wish I could set an easier task, but alas … Best regards, Skip
Hi, Skip. Your comment leaves me smiling: “nothing riding on this but the future of the species.” Disciples! Hmmm. I actually do have a couple of outstanding mentees from my days of teaching and leading dream groups at the local Jung Center. I’m thrilled to have added fuel to their inner fires, excited that they’re “out there” in more physical ways than I, and enormously proud of them. One’s an Episcopal priest, the other’s at Pacifica working on a Master’s!! Cindy’s right. I should probably go easier on myself…but sometimes it’s hard to know the difference between being true to my inner guidance and rationalizing my shadow’s flaws! The ego can be a sneaky devil! 🙂 Best regards back to you, Jeanie
Well, the good news is that you recognize the Shadow when you see it! The bad news is that few of us are such adepts; and sadly, we don’t even know it. If one man, Adolph Hitler, can mesmerize an entire nation of people, who thought they were upstanding and moral, and lead them into the abyss, then one woman and a few of her friends can wake up the sheeple before it is too late. I’ve had a minor role in a play recently; I’m the Greek Chorus in a Turkish play (go figure!). MiMinor is set in the fictitious country of Pinima, a dystopian society if ever their was one. The audience becomes the People of Pinima, and it’s been amazing to the cast to see how easily people, who have never visited a place, will immediately start waving a strange flag and cheering for The President when martial music is played. As the play progresses, The President’s nemesis, a simple street pianist creates a global revolution (in this fictitious place) by broadcasting what’s happening to the world (for the 2 hour performance). This past Sunday things started to get out of hand, as the live audience members started to project their frustrations on the actors in this fictitious country. It’s an amazing psychological intervention to watch, because there clearly is some wakeup going on; the question after 15 performances is how to control the Shadow that emerges. Theatre will never be the same, of course, with the local audience actually participating in the action, the events broadcast to the world on ustream live and in real time, and an interactive global twitter feed (that’s where I come in) being projected on the wall of the theatre in real time. The next performance is Wednesday, February 6th at 2pm EST. http://pinterest.com/skipconover/mi-minor/ I never thought of you doing interventions like this, but whatever you do has significant impact. Pace yourself, but keep going … (;-)
Here’s what I mean by flag waving; this is an actual audience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrekeyULiH4
Thanks, Skip. I’ve seen some of the performances and find them fascinating. Thanks for providing the link. This is an amazingly creative and effective way of raising consciousness and I highly recommend it. And I congratulate you for being a part of it. Learning about the shadow is usually much less entertaining and infinitely more painful and destructive! Jeanie