Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Guest Dreamer: Sticky Ball Returns


Each of us has our own set of personal symbols, and the work of understanding your dreams lies in  carefully excavating them.

The Dream: I am walking up narrow wooden steps in a house. Low ceilings, pitch black except for small amount of light illuminating from either a flashlight I have in my hand or perhaps someone walking behind me with some light. It feels like one of those old homes you might find back east - narrow, dark stairs, tiny rooms. Then I'm in a bed. My right hand is in front of me and a rubber-like sphere is attached to my hand like it's sticky and stuck on me. It is still dark except for some reflected light on the ball (coming from a waning moon outside I think) so it looks navy bluish and the size of a baseball. I keep trying to disengage the ball from my hand by pushing it away but the harder I push the faster it comes back and sticks to my hand (as if attached by an invisible string). I am getting annoyed and frustrated.

Carla's thoughts:
I don't know Maria, or anything about her life: I hope she will work through her dream, looking at its symbols in terms of what's going on in waking life. To get her started, and to suggest a way of going about the process, I'll write about her dream as if it were my own. Dreams have many possible meanings, so whatever someone else says about your dream is only accurate if it rings true for you.

For me, the narrow wooden steps stand for something in my life that is unbending, perhaps lacking feeling (wooden); something that constricts or limits me (narrow); and something that will take some effort to surmount (like a flight of steps). The low ceiling, the darkness, and the tiny rooms reinforce the idea that something is oppressing me. A home, being the place where I live, stands for me, and the characteristics of my dream home tell me that I'm not in a good place at the moment. The light is an encouraging symbol, however, telling me that I am capable of shining some light on what's bothering me and that the answer might come to me quickly, intuitively, in a flash.That the light might be held by someone else, walking behind me,  hints that there may be a helpful person I've overlooked.

The bed, being a place where intimacy occurs, symbolizes something that I'm very close to, for example, a relationship or my work. I'm in a sticky situation that's making me blue (sad), like the sticky ball in my hand. The moon is waning; romance (or the excitement of the job) has diminished, but isn't completely gone. My situation has strings attached; these might be the source of my frustration. My dream is telling me to shine some light (rationally evaluate) what's going on and then figure out what to do about the sticky situation.

4 comments:


  1. The art work is spot on . . . such an accurate look at my dream. It took me a bit to realize the one detail that was off which led to an "aha". I wrote "waning moon" but realized it was the crescent of a full moon. I am entering a new phase. . . at 65 going into the "age of the wisdom crone" and a deep desire for creative expression. The sphere in my right hand feels like the luminous self. I push the urge for art away to make room for the details of life. When I play the dream forward I realize that simply putting my arm down on the bed and resting brought about a sense of relief and peace. Going up the narrow dark steps feels heavy and constricting (as do my old patterns of thinking such as all things require struggle). The message for me is to rest with this creative need and wait for the dawn to see it in new light. My four year struggle with adrenal fatigue in waking life has led me to revisit the "stories" I've been telling myself and rest is an important part of the healing. To rest and wait. Those stories keep me "in the dark" climbing up narrow places. The "sticky situation" to me may be the space I'm trying to create for art and my work (I am a dream work facilitator - through Jeremy Taylor's program) and a 43 year marriage where both of us are finding new appreciation and thankfulness and creating a new dance around life. . . there's so much more to this dream but will need to sit with it for awhile. As I look at the art, the ball looks like the full moon in my right hand. . . thank you. I'm sure more will be revealed and I loved seeing this dream in art form.

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  2. Thank you, Maria, for telling us more about the dream and how it fits into your life. Congratulations on beginning to follow your dream!

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  3. In view of what Maria has told us about her dream, it occurs to me that the ball being in her hand has yet another shade of meaning. Art is created with the hand. A ball echoes the shape of the world. Here I project that I am becoming frustrated by being stuck to things that previously defined my world, and these attached strings have limited the work of my hand (art). On the other hand, the dream points out that if I stick to my new vision of the world, no matter how frustrating that is at times, I will be rewarded with the illumination that comes from intuition (the moon). This light will enable me to go forward.

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  4. I am taken with the moon being a feminine symbol, and the ball a perfect circle of wholeness. I climb the stairs to higher consciousness, where I can rest. This dream reminds me of a dream I worked on in one of Jeremy Taylor's groups: I am on the second floor of a building with my pastor. He leaves, and out of nowhere comes a golden ball. It rings softly when it bounces on the floor. I reach out to catch it, but I can't. It disappears. This dream seems the antithesis of mine - whereby I am unable to catch the ball, this ball is not going to part from the dreamer. I find that such a positive sign. I love how dreamer describes the ball as "luminous self". What an aha! Also, dreamer may want to check out Bob Hoss' color chart for feelings associated with the color blue: check out http://dreamgate.com/dream/hoss/index.htm#Dream%20Color%20Chart Thanks, Maria, for having Carla post your dream! Emily

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