Dream Iconography

Rudolph the mug deer (Photo credit: Renato Pequito)

         The imagery of dreams is frequently considered in terms of symbolism.  However it may be that certain recurring images symbolize different things from dream to dream depending on the context of the dream story or the circumstances in which the dreamer finds themself.   Could certain flexible images be considered iconography that covers a broad spectrum of meanings?

          My dreams will often feature certain people who appear in various dreams playing a variety of roles that influence my thinking in different ways.   Some primary dream figures that I think of in this context would be my old friend Fred who passed away in 1995, my father who passed away in 1990, and my former employer and his son both whom I would consider to have been my bosses when I worked for them and both still living.

         These iconic characters reappear in different dreams that are often very dissimilar in content.  Their appearances can evoke a variety of emotions and thoughts in my mind.   While the characters themselves don't appear to symbolize anything in particular their presences may be symbolic in accordance to the circumstances of the dreams in which they appear.

          To use another example, let's say I frequently dreamed about a favorite coffee mug.   In one dream I am enjoying a beverage from the mug, in another the mug gets broken, in another I see someone else drinking from the mug, and in another I am looking for the mug because it has been misplaced.   Each dream might cause me to have different reactions and emotions.   Maybe the mug symbolizes something or maybe it is a dream icon that becomes an inherent part of my emotional being and my personal history.

        Perhaps the iconic people or things are merely actors and props necessary to tell the dream story.  They do not mean anything symbolically in and of themselves, but they are important to give the dream story meaning and to evoke emotion from me the dreamer.

          The concept of dream iconography is not clearly established in my mind and may be too involved to discuss in a short blog post, but it's an idea that had crossed my mind after a recent dream.  I thought it might be worth airing in a post.

            Do you have repetitive images--people or things--that seem to have different meanings and roles in different dreams?    What do think would be good examples of dream iconography if there were such a thing?    How many dream characters appear repeatedly in your dreams and who are they?


         

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The Wake Up Code

Coat of arms of Serbia (Photo credit: thivierr)

        In my previous post I described a dreaming incident during which I awoke from a dream and then returned to sleep to continue the same dream scenario.  During this dream situation I was having what was not a particularly unpleasant dream in a setting that brought me a good feeling.  According to my observation of the hours on my alarm clock, the second dream segment lasted about 27 minutes.

        I woke up about a minute prior to when the alarm would be going off.   Interestingly something odd happened in the dream that was almost like a prompt for me to wake up.  Within the dream I heard some words spoken that seemed to be my wake up call.   Let me describe the latter moments of the dream and the words I heard spoken.

       Towards the end of my dream I am in the same theater where I have been throughout the dream sessions.    I go looking around the theater environment to find myself to be in what seems to be a sort of shopping mall.   From the backstage area I look out into this mall-like place to see food establishments and various other businesses that are not necessarily stores, but more like professional offices and service businesses.   There are some people milling about and sitting on benches, but the place is not very crowded.  In fact the place does not look busy at all.
   
     As my eyes scan the scene before me I see uncertain places that somewhat confuse me as to where I am.  I look behind me to see that the theater is still there.   I am apprehensive about venturing out into the alien environment outside of the theater.  I look for a bathroom.  I look for some of my fellow cast members and people I had been with previously.  I look into dressing rooms and other rooms that are in the backstage area.

        Either from someone around me or within my mind I hear a voice say "Hospitality was always the source of the finest days of Serbia."

      Upon hearing this I immediately wake up to see that the alarm is about to go off.  I puzzle over the final declaration I heard in my dream.  What did it mean?   Was is a code designating that it was time for me to wake up?

       Do we have prompts that cue us that it is time to leave a dream and awaken from sleep?   Have you ever received a strange or nonsensical statement in a dream that left you puzzled after you awakened?   Do you think these types of messages are cryptic codes that are saying something to us?   What do you think the message I received meant?  

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Dynamic Flow: The Dream

Art by Ada Z

         On one particular morning I woke up with a complete clarity of mind resulting from an elucidation delivered through a dream message.  A consummate comprehension of money and the workings of wealth had been explained to me.  My confidence concerning my personal economic status swelled as I realized that money would no longer be something that I would have to worry about.

         The concept that was given to me in the dream I intuitively recognized as "Dynamic Flow".  I cannot say if the meaning of this term was verbally explained to me, demonstrated in some way, or something that I just knew.  But I did know the meaning.   Dynamic Flow is the theory that states:  Outward movement of money will result in an incoming flow of money.

          My mental state soared as I believed that an age old secret of wealth had been bestowed upon me.  It was early morning as is the usual case in this stage of my life when I wake up.  Per my custom my first action of the morning was to check the computer.  But before checking through my emails or blog, I immediately opened up a new post window and entered the title "Dynamic Flow".   I then went to the text box and entered:  Dynamic Flow is the theory that states, "Outward movement of money will result in an incoming flow of money."

          As I continued through my morning--eating breakfast, doing morning chores, checking through emails--the essence of the dynamic flow concept stayed with me, but my enthusiasm waned as I no longer understood all that had seemed so clear to me when I first woke up.  And now I have a vague idea about the dream definition of dynamic flow, but it no longer seems so amazing and life changing as it did right after having dreamed it.

         I have had dreams like this on occasion.  I will dream of a concept that seems revelatory and profound, leaving me with a belief or delusion of great life-changing discovery.  Then as my mind becomes distanced from the dream I begin to face reality?  Lose the truth revealed in the dream?  Realize the lie that had been presented to me?  I'm not sure what the answer is, and I suppose it could be any of these depending on the dream.

         The messages of dreams are not always clear nor are they necessarily overtly true.   If dreams are messages from the subconscious mind then the truths may be disclosed by lies of symbolization of dream images that are tangible and intangible representations of things that we know in waking life or they could possibly be misinterpretations that we have made about things in waking life as we have seen or experienced them.   Or are they lies that come from some place or being outside of us?  This would be the most frightening thought.

          Have you ever awoken with thoughts of apparent genius until you thought them through and realized they made no sense?    Have you ever awoken with a brilliant idea that did make sense and you were able to apply in some useful way?   Have you ever had dreams that you believe could have been planted in your mind by some outside evil force?

Multi-Level Dreaming?

Image via Wikipedia       I am on a road tour with a show and arriving at a new motel.    A man attempts to abduct my wife and I, but sometime during that event I kill him and hide his body.


       After parking the man's car in the motel lot I realize that there are some things I have left in it, but I can't go back to it since it is now evidence for a crime.  Yet somehow I am able to retrieve a metal cash box in which I see many coins.  Later I am putting  the box in my van when some other people from the show start questioning me.


         Then, we are driving.  Our caravan of vehicles must cross a large bridge where we are required to have a police escort.  I balance a large stack of broken down cardboard boxes on the cab of a truck that I am driving.  I precariously perch myself on top of these boxes and somehow manage to start driving the truck without being in the cab.  The boxes begin to shift and slide from under me falling off the truck.   As I get off the truck cab to gather the boxes, I see a large semi truck approaching rapidly from behind me.   It manages to avoid collision and passes.  There are now many vehicles driving by and my stopped truck has become a hazard.  My police escort starts becoming impatient and I quickly toss the boxes in the back of the truck.

Image via Wikipedia
         I begin driving again but now I'm in an older model car.  We are passing through an area where there seem to be many businesses.  I am surprised that my car radio is picking up KFI, a Los Angeles station that I often listen to, even though I'm over a thousand miles from L.A..  I decide it must be online radio.  They are playing beautiful classical music and I am surprised since it is normally a talk station.   I wonder why they don't play this music on the air in L.A.

        The above account does not even begin to include everything that happened in this dream, but this is as much as I can remember in any specific detail.  The events of this dream happen in a motel room, in a warehouse type environment, in a performance venue, on the highway, and other places involving many different people from my past and others whom I don't recognize.

        Upon awakening I begin pondering my dream and wonder how exactly the dream was constructed.  Was it a very long dream with many components?  I look at the clock and notice that during the dream I had only dozed for a few minutes since the last time I had been awake. Still the dream seemed to have lasted hours and over a period of more than one day.

         Then a thought comes to me.  Perhaps I was having many dreams occurring at once?  If this were the case I wonder how does our dream mind process the information?  Is it coming all at once on different mental levels?  Or is the dream actually as long as it seems, but sped up with rapidly assimilated information bombarding our brains and remembered as though having occurred in real time?

         Our dream perception may come in the same way as when we are awake.  During consciousness we experience our environment on many levels of sensation based on all of our senses as well as the layers of memory and recall which involve literal and symbolic interpretation.

          Think about this for a moment.  During any period of time you are thinking and sensing many different things at once.  All of the five senses (or the senses you are capable of receiving) are at work and you are aware of all of them, either consciously or subconsciously.  You are cognizant of conversations and events happening around you and still may be daydreaming or thinking of something unrelated to your present surroundings at the same time the rest of this is occurring.  If every single bit of information received by the brain at any one second were separated into single sensory moments, each second could conceivably have the equivalency of an hour or more worth of data if compiled in linear time.

          This could be the reason that there are moments when "our life passes before our eyes".  All memory is piled up at once and the mind reads and organizes the entire bank of data.  The mind interprets the compilation of stacked up memories into a timeline which is easier for us to understand.

           Perhaps this is the way dreams work.  In a few minutes or seconds of dream time we sense many things at once, but the mind subdivides the dream events and sensations into a time perception that seems more reasonable to us upon recall.

           Have you had what seemed to be long complex dreams in a very short span of real time?   Have you ever stopped to concentrate on your thoughts and senses to see how many things you were aware of and performing at one time?   Isn't the human brain an amazing instrument?

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