What’s the Point of the Three Kings?
December 24, 2024
24 Comments
Those of us raised as Christians know this holiday is about a lot more than rushing about, partying and shopping, and many of us enjoy warm memories and nostalgic feelings this time of year. But why are the moments of love, joy and peace so difficult to find during the holiday season? Where do the feelings of exhaustion, anxiety, disappointment and depression come from? Why do we keep missing the point of Christmas? How can we recapture it?
0 Responses
WOW, Jean. Thank you for sharing these dreams and thoughts. They are such great prompts for those of us wrestling with animus understandings and insights. Birthday blessings come from afar 🙂
Thank you, Catherine. I love it when my dreams have the power not only to teach me, but others as well! You’ve made my ego and animus feel quite content this morning!!
Thank you so much Jeanie. I went to my dream journal a moment ago on reading your post – recorded 2 dreams at end Jan this year, and also sketched them. The first was about a table of ‘zillions of keys laid out on table’ – I couldn’t find my own, searched everywhere. There was more to that dream, but the second one was of ‘a man holding me …. he holding me in a tight and warm embrace. He said something, a sob escaped me and I woke up’. I know this is not the place/forum to note my dream but I have to say that your post today about the animus has made a light go on. And for which I thank you, deeply.
You are most welcome, my sister Dreamer! I have found that my Soul does not know the difference between receiving gifts of support, warm acceptance and love from my animus in my dreams and in waking life. For Her (my Soul), there is no difference: the feelings of joy and gratitude engendered by the inner partnership are real, and they make a difference in my life. The knowledge that I have the support of my animus lessens my need for outer affirmations and frees my loved ones from my projections of him. If I know he’s “in here,” I don’t need to expect people “out there” to fulfill my needs in ways only he can.
Thank you Jean! We’re having black outs in S.A right now ie electricity cuts so am using phone so will be brief. I used the Talmud quote in my post today!
Another lovely synchronicity, Susan. I’m enjoying your dream series posts very much, especially the beautiful imagery you create with your words.
Jean, this is fascinating!Thank you so much! I have just begun to write down my dreams—although I did write down a couple of rally bizarre one’s a few years ago. I hope when I get up to the four thousands as you have, I will be half as adept at finding meaning in them.
Stephen
Thank you, Rabbi Stephen. You’re very welcome. I began dreamwork as you have: by first writing down a few scattered ones that impacted me deeply, until an especially powerful one finally motivated me to make a regular practice of dreamwork. As I look back on those earliest dreams, I can see how they dramatized my personal issues and helped me find the meaning and purpose of my life.
As a result, I consider my dreamwork to be a spiritual practice. In this regard, I highly recommend Episcopal Priest John A. Sanford’s book “Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language,” to anyone wishing to investigate further. To quote the Talmud: “A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read.”
Wishing you an abundance of meaningful letters,
Jeanie
“A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read.” What a beautiful sentence. Thank you for that quote and this post. I’m curious about the dreams you had the night before writing this post.
My dream psyche grapples with the animus as I move out into the world but try to maintain my nurturing primary relationship with the Feminine. In one recent dream, a sinister threatening man follows me and gets uncomfortably close. In the next dream that night, a respectful man hugs me carefully with a light touch and not much skin contact. Then he honors me as Grandmother. We’ll see what happens next!
Hi Elaine, I love that particular quote too. The animus can be a tricky fellow.One minute he’s my best friend, next he’s reserved or absent. I’ll be sharing the previous night’s dreams in my next post. Oddly, he doesn’t appear in either one, but I know he’s there because I know what energy he represents in me, and my dream ego feels it very strongly. I’m looking forward to his next actual appearance. I need to look back through my previous dreams to see how he showed up before the two that triggered this post.
What an interesting evolution! What else is shifting / changing that might require the re-consideration of the relationship? In what areas of life is there a faint mistrust?
Just playing the dream-guessing game… 🙂
Funny that there is an audience – I have been thinking of you so much in the context of audience lately. That IASD conference coming up… their art show accepted one of my pieces, but it turns out I am participating in another art show here in town that same weekend, so I can’t get down there (and unfortunately, can’t get my art there either as they can’t accept packages at the hotel). Oh, I tried so hard to figure out if I could just stop in quickly and fly home Friday night after your lecture, and make it home Saturday morning for the show here, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s workable, alas.
But back to your recent dream and the theme of presenting to an audience – U wonder if you don’t trust him to be there for you when on stage?
Eureka! Katalina, you are a treasure! Do I “wonder if [I] don’t trust him to be there for [me] when on stage?” That’s it! I knew there was a link between these four-year-old dreams of my animus and the two disturbing ones I had last week, and you’ve found it! Thank you for taking the time to help me with this. I’ll be writing tomorrow’s follow-up post this afternoon and will cite you as the inspiration for this break-through insight into my relationship with my animus. I can’t thank you enough. I’m sorry you can’t attend the IASD conference. I would have loved to have met you in person and given you a big hug! Sending my best wishes for a successful art show! Jeanie
Oh YAY!!! So happy there was resonance. 🙂