Friday, August 17, 2007

Tread Softly Because You Tread on my Dreams

http://hubpages.com/hub/On-Dreams


Nothing happens unless first we dream.” Carl Sandburg.


My son is named Joseph.

The day after he was born I came to the hospital to see him and his mum. He was fast asleep and dreaming. There he was, this little frail pink body in a cot, his eyes rolling around in his sockets as if there was a war going on in his head. Maybe there was a war going on, who knows?

It was clearly something stupendous.

His tiny hands were clenching and unclenching as if he was climbing a ladder to the stars.

At the time I was reading a book by Laurens van der Post which referred to the biblical figure of Joseph, the perennial dreamer whose dreams came true. I knew immediately that this was my son’s name.













2 comments:

Aquila ka Hecate said...

...then again,, there are those dreams which don't quite fit that mould.

I've been taking an active interest in my dreams these last couple of years, and have been keeping a dream journal.

Last year, ten days before I fell sick for the very first time with bronchitis and keeping in mind that no one else around me was sick, I dreamed very vividly and-well-insistently of a plant I was unfamiliar with. The plant 'told me its name' in the dream.It was Coltsfoot, sovereign remedy against bronchitis.

Love,
Terri in Joburg

doctorexistentialist said...

Flying with an erection would make perfect sense to Herr Doctor Freud - because he was of the opinion that a dream about flying was actually about sexual release!!

I agree that Freud's theories had to much emphasis on sex, but as for wish fulfilment, Aristotle would concur, as he too believed this was the main 'purpose' of dreams.

I don't know about a purpose or meaning but I tend to go along with the theory of Francis Crick who said that during the dreaming state our brains are clearing through all our memories and trying to get some order in our minds.

I had a similar experience to Terri, above. Years ago I dreamed that I had a leech on my forehead. It grew and grew until it had completely covered my face, it was frightening and I woke up sweating.

I'd had a small mark on my forehead since I lived in Aden as a small child, it's a very hot country and the sun beats down relentlessly - sun block was not really around then so we were all running around in the sun unprotected. Just lately this mark had been itching, and once or twice I rubbed it, and it bled.

After this dream it hit me that I should see the doctor about the mark that was itching and bleeding. Turns out it was a form of skin cancer and I was admitted to hospital within days to have it removed.

I've always thought that as humans we 'know' everything - somewhere, deep in our DNA - we store memories and knowledge which we can't always tap into, our waking brain would be overloaded if we were constantly aware of thousands of years of information!! So during the sleep time, when we are fully relaxed, our brains can sift through all that stuff and triggered by current events in our lives, help us to focus on what is important but overlooked in our waking time.