Science tells us that we all dream, even if we don’t remember them. We spend such a large part of our lives in the dreamworld. It takes up a solid residency. One could easily imagine that our dreaming lives are every bit as tangible as our waking lives. We live in a duality of experience. One is porous, fluid, and disembodied. The other is rigid, sequential and limited by our physical bodies.
There’s something deeply intriguing about dreams…the phenomenon of waking up knowing you have participated in a storyline, and sometimes remembering only snippets or nothing at all just the vague feeling it leaves you. I always think it’s like some inner sage who is tap tap tapping on the door of my mind trying to tell me some important things. And I feel like I most often miss their memo. There’s confusing elements to dreams also. Confusing how they pay no heed to linear timeframes and socially acceptable conventions. It’s like emblazoned on the dream threshold is the statement: “You are entering into a symbolic space. There are no rules and absolutely nothing will fit neatly in your cognitive boxes”
We would like otherworldly visitations to come as distinct voices with clear instructions, but they may only give small signs in dreams, or as sudden hunches and insights that cannot be denied. They feel more as if they emerge from inside and steer you from within like an inner guardian angel. . . . And, most amazing, it has never forgotten you, although you may have spent most of your life ignoring it. -James Hillman-
Working with dream images
James Hillman has an interesting way of working with dreams. He asks us as dreamers to ‘stay with the image’ and resist analysing it, because in the analysis we reduce it down to a label and void it of it’s transformative power. By viewing the images as sacred in this sense, we are taking our ego, or ‘what it means to us’ out of the equation and just regarding the image in an open-handed, curious way. Rather than a black cat pouncing meaning opposition or manipulation, for instance; we ask how does it feel to have a black cat try to pounce on you? And does the dream image like what you are saying about it? He uses the analogy of going to an art gallery. A painting we are looking at does not want to be compared to another artists work, but rather it wants the viewer to see it in it’s own right. Essentially I think Hillman sees the dream as inhabiting the realm of the soul, the inner person or the depths of who a person is. The parts of ourselves that are so much larger than the ‘facts about us’, the soul is the God-breathed connected self in contrast to the ego self which is covered in these labels, and entered on tasks and one dimensional definitions.
I’m working on a project at the moment where I am recording my dreams as much as possible, and then attempting to draw and paint significant images from them. So far this exercise is adding clarity and depth to my experience within the dream and the possible meaning I am bringing into my awareness. Images automatically carry metaphor and also bring multiple interpretations to the table. These have truly been a wellspring for my creativity, giving me a sense of direction and purpose in my art.
Dreams respond to our intention. The more we pay heed to them, the more they seem to enter into our waking world bringing their treasures to us, showing us that there is much much more to life than what we perceive in our everyday lives.
“Don’t ignore your dreams, in them your soul is awake and you are your true self.”
― Bangambiki Habyarimana
Perhaps in dreams we are our true wise and more larger selves, playing in a landscape that pays no heed to the rules and conventions of the world. We take our place as droplets in the oceanic heart of God, and like weavers we patch up our anxieties and angst and hidden fears, allowing God to wipe our brows and prepare us for the next day.
Alyssa's Art Garden 