no caste

Hi Gregor,

I haven't posted before. Well, once before the big Avalon forum restructuring early on. I check in to read from time to time. Tonight I read your 'Cracking the Code' thread which was very interesting.

But back to the topic here. These are my techniques: I organize the information chronologically. You say there are details missing so I'll make do.
- huge fight with Christian fundamentalist friend, resolution
- the house #1, two friends, bunch of guys who break in, purple warlock healing you (for whatever reason), uncle ukele who curiously doesn't notice the drama plays phenom 3d music
- wake up
- the house #2, almost summoned vortex, the last of the bunch are girl & guy who stab you
- wake up
- [subconscious thought earlier: may not be invincible]

Then I look for patterns, e.g. words & themes, and distill: friends, enemies, powers, music, house break-ins, death. (That last one is why dreams are disturbing, I know!)

Separately, there's usually a kernel of a feeling, the issue. For instance, and I'm making this up for you as an example, it's OK that people broke in, that I fought, that a purple guy appeared, but what really gets me is that... [I thought I got them but they healed, or ...]

The fact that you looped into the dream again right afterwards - all on your own this time (no protectors or healers) - is significant, but it's not clear to me in what way.

It's part deconstruction of words and symbols. A lot of symbolism is personal or group specific depending on the land you inhabit (e.g. 'snow' is different for me in Alberta because it's arid so it's light and fluffy), culture, personal experience, zeitgeist, collective unconscious to be Jungian, or alternate reality to be whatever-is-out-there-about-time-we-don't-know-ian.

As for the kernel of feeling, what bugs you most about the dream. I take practical steps in waking life to take care of it, symbolically. If it's the intrusion, check locks. If it's the friends, call and say hi. If it's a power that's bigger than me, say a little Namaste and leave it alone. If it's self-healing malevolent entities, light a candle or another physical thing that's a life affirming ritual. I mean, you are defending something in your looping dream. Say it out loud, or something. No big deal to just say No.

Those are my ideas. Listen to your own ideas about how to respond to the kernel. Just make it really practical and simple.

With conscious physicality, sometimes it resolves itself on an unconscious level. If the feeling hangs on, there's probably more to mine. I've had dreams that came around again 20 years later. The disturbing ones always seem to have a big hangover period.

I had a thought I while first reading your post. I wondered if you'd read Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, or seen the movie. My son was irritated by the sheriff character, the 'wuss'. Everyone who stood up to the assassin was killed though. The sheriff was the only survivor and a decent man. So I thought the sheriff was wiser. There's feisty and there's dumb.

Also, my sister says that all characters in a dream are aspects of ourselves. If that's the case, I like the virtuoso ukele player in you. It's like the power of innocence or music makes it all fade. However, my sister and I often disagree on this, because I have a lot of premonitory dreams about other people. Wherever uncle ukele is from, he is very cool.

By the way, one of my sister's techniques is to brainstorm and word associate on themes, e.g. purple guy. She sheds light on the knots that way. Patterns do occur in those words, even though it's a conscious activity. For me, it can get a bit navel-gazey, though it has worked very well occasionally - the super and infrequent ping.