Dream A Little Dream Of Me: How Dreams Reflect, And Guide Our Waking Lives

Dreams are a world of surreality, where anything can, and does, happen.

In our dreams, pigs can fly, cats bark, and trees can speak. But more importantly than the seeming peculiarities such as talking telephone poles, or growing houses, is the symbolism of the objects in the dreams. One thing stands for another.

In our dreams, snakes might not necessarily represent the animal, but may represent deception, or danger. Conversely, depending upon the context of the dream, snakes may represent sexuality, or even money. It is the combination of the context of the elements in the dream, their setting, and actions, in conjunction with the events of our waking lives, that may provide useful information, even unique insight, into our waking lives.

Dreams can be thought of a type of guide to our waking lives, because they often reflect what is occurring, sometimes even with imperceptible events occurring behind the scenes, of which we are naturally unaware.

And, our dreams may also forewarn us of events. For example, in the Scriptural account in the Gospel of Matthew, the Magi, popularly called the “Three Wise Men” (though no translation of the story specifies how many there were) who had come to visit the exiled Holy Couple – Joseph, Mary, and the newborn Jesus, who had similarly been warned in a dream to flee their homeland before the child’s birth – returned to their homeland after their visit, because they were warned in a dream to do so. In chapter 2, verse 12 it states that, “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (NIV)

The narrative doesn’t say what they dreamed, or the elements those dreams contained, it merely states that they used perceptive insight (were cognizant of significance) given to them while (presumably) in a state of unconsciousness – sleep. In other words, their dreams, as they interpreted, provided useful information to give them, giving meaning (and safety) to their lives at a time of unknown peril.

Cover of the First Edition of the book which introduced the Buck Rogers character by author Philip Francis Nowlan.

Knowing what we do about dreams, about how they present themselves to us as symbolic elements, its doubtful that the Magi’s dreams were as blatant as seeing someone standing up in their dream and saying something like “DANGER, Will Robinson… DANGER!”

Again, there are numerous examples of dreams not only in the Bible, but in many other books as well, whether religious, or not. One only need give a cursory overview to the works of science fiction authors to see that ideas and writings once thought as extravagant flights of fancy are now reality.

Consider the Buck Rogers spaceman character created by author Philip Francis Nowlan as but one example, which was first published in the November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories as a novella entitled “Armageddon – 2419 A.D.,” and has since become an enterprise unto itself. The character is frequently depicted as floating free, untethered, in space. That dream, that fantasy, is now reality.

Dreams interpretations – that is, determining the significance they hold, if any – has long been the subject of thought of humanity, and within that area, there have developed “schools of thought” concerning their significance, and how dreams should be viewed.

NASA Astronaut Bruce McCandless, July 28, 2011 – Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, STS 41-B mission specialist, participates in a historical spacewalk. He is pictured a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. This spacewalk represented the first use of a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allows for much greater mobility than that afforded previous space walkers who had to use restrictive tethers.

Two renown psychiatrists – Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), and Carl Jung (1875-1961) (pronounced “young”) – were both contemporaries of each other, yet both had distinctly different, unique, and therefore divergent, ideas not only about the practice of psychiatry, but about the very role of human thought and behavior, and its influence upon our lives, and the lives of others.

Freud’s almost-concrete thoughts were that dreams were unconscious expressions of desire, as a type of fulfillment of one’s wishes, and his ideas about them formed the basis of his theories on repression about which he wrote in his 1899 book “The Interpretation of Dreams.”

Jung, on the other hand, began to imagine that dreams and their elements were symbolic, or representative, and upon the suggestion of his doctoral advisor, wrote a critique of Freud’s book which in part gave rise to their briefly flourishing collaborative professional relationship.

Later, Jung came to think that Freud conceived the unconscious exclusively as a repository of repressed emotions and desires. Increasingly, he began to disagree with Freud’s perspective that, while they were important factors of consideration, libido and religion were not the solitary influencers of human behavior, did not form the core of one’s personality, that sexuality alone did not influence personal development, and began to explore the greater depths of the unconscious mind.

Carl Jung seated at his desk in his study, at his residence in Knusnacht, Switzerland, date unknown, but perhaps mid-to-late 1940’s

After Jung’s book “Psychology of the Unconscious” was published in 1912, he broke with Freud after Freud refused to even consider Jung’s ideas. Some were critical of Jung’s professional efforts, which as he later wrote in his posthumously published autobiography “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” in 1962, was “an attempt, only partially successful, to create a wider setting for medical psychology and to bring the whole of the psychic phenomena within its purview.” As he continued developing his psychoanalytic ideas, Jung pursued an even greater understanding of human thought and behavior and incorporated a phenomenally broad view of human historical behaviors, including mysticism, sociology, physics (quantum mechanics), vitalism, Eastern and Western philosophy, occultism, alchemy, folk psychology, astrology, spirituality, including literature and the arts (art therapy and dance therapy) as an aid to guide his understanding, which all which gave rise to his principle theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, and the process of individuation.

Today, much of Freud’s work is viewed as being very narrow-minded in scope, and limited in understanding and applicability insofar as he considered only the matters of one’s sexuality as being formative upon personhood, whereas Jung enjoys wider acceptance for his ideas about human behavior, and thought.

With all that in mind, I’d like to share my dream with you, one which I had this morning.

But before I continue, I think it’s important also to know that, in our study of our existence, and health, the term REM (which stands for Rapid Eye Movement), is descriptive of the time during our rest/sleep in which we dream. And, if you carefully watch your pets, or others animals, you can see that they too, dream, a evidenced by REM. Furthermore, we also know that deprivation of that phase of sleep – the REM phase – will, and does lead to psychiatric and emotional instability. Dreams are important to our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Now, having also shared that tid-bit, without further ado, here is my dream.

I dreamt that I was seated at a long dining table which ran laterally in a large casual dining hall, the type of which one might see in a camp, or at a retreat of some kind.

Seated to my left, and across the table from me sat Prince Harry, and to his right a few seats over, sat an attractive lady whom I knew, but cannot now recollect her identity. I do not now recall if she was a relative, or close friend, though I think it was the latter.

It was morning, we three were all eating breakfast, there were no others in the dining room, or nearby kitchen, the door to which was only slightly further behind the woman, and to her right. The table where we were seated was situated nearest the wall, and there were no other tables between our and the wall or kitchen.

I began to speak with Prince Harry, and asked him if he’d like to taste my sausage, which was the patty kind, and of a brand which I enjoy eating on occasion. He affirmed that he would, and I forked a piece and handed it to him, which he ate, and once he bit down upon it, I withdrew the fork, and he, having bit off a portion, fumbled the remaining greater-sized piece, which remained on the fork, which was also an almost awkward moment. I kept the piece from falling, returned it to my plate, and as he was chewing, told him that it was made in Simpsonville, KY, was the very best sausage I’d ever had, was most flavorful, very finely ground, well-mixed, not fatty, nor coarse in texture.

Prince Harry said that it tasted smoky, to which I replied that it was that company’s regular sausage, and that they made a delicious smoked sausage, as well as a variety of other sausages, all which were of the most excellent quality.

At that point, I seem to recall that he began to get up, having been paged, or called away from breakfast, had mostly finished eating his breakfast, and took his plate, utensils and cup with him, as he turned toward his right and proceeded toward the kitchen.

I watched him depart, seem to have spoken briefly to the woman, though don’t recall my words, and thereupon, my dream ended.