Cubbyholes

Last night I had a dream in which I was in some sort of ancient temple site (think Machu Picchu, etc.) Along one rock wall was a row of tiny empty cubbyholes. About half had tiny stone-carved figures in them, the other half were empty. An old Peruvian/Incan looking man approached me and gave me a handful of figures. Some were full skeletons in a sitting position, some were just skulls. All were crudely carved in a dark grey to black stone that was porous with holes like lava rock or pumous stone is pourous with many holes. He told me these were for me to place in the empty cubbyholes.

The old man stayed right by my side as I moved down the row of cubbyholes placing a figure in each one. With each cubbyhole I placed a figure in he smiled and nodded as if he was giving me some sort of approval. With each figure I placed his smile grew bigger and his eyes has a deeper “Have you realized yet?” kind of coaxing to them. When I placed the a figure in the final cubbyhole at the end of the row and end of the wall he took my hand and walked me around the wall into a large plaza or courtyard that had long been overgrown with forest/jungle greenery.

Dreams Within Dreams

Last night, as is typical, I had multiple dreams. Three of those dreams I can distinctly remember. The final one was something I've not experienced before. In it I was in a log cabin by a mountain lake with several other people. We were sitting in a room discussing two movies we'd just watched. The two movies we were discussing were the other two dreams I was able to recall!

I've had dreams within dreams before, such as waking from a dream only to discover I'm still in another dream. Never before have dreams been a part of another dream in this way. Dreams within dreams fascinate me. I think the secondary dream is myself reaching a deeper layer of my unconscious mind. 

Dreams within dreams. Layers upon layers. It's all fascinating to ponder and explore.

This entry's image was AI-generated.  

On the Seaside Cliff

In a recent flash of an image dream (what I call a "snippet dream," one that isn't a full dream, but a quick image) during a short nap I was standing on a seaside cliff. I had a full head of blonde hair, my beard was fuller, and I was wearing a white cable-knit sweater. The breeze was cool and salty and the grass beneath my feet was reedy. I stood and looked across the bay to a small island. My sense was that I was somewhere in the British Isles, Ireland perhaps. The sense of things was an overwhelming calm and centerdness. 

This entry's image was AI-generated. 

Dunes, Broken Spheres, and Golden Woodcuts

From Monday; 9 January 2023

I was standing in the desert on a tall dune. It wasn't nighttime, and yet it wasn't daytime either. Just a strange illumination somewhere in between. The sand was a very light, yet rich, tan color. I could see the mountains in the distance and they were a dark chocolate color, extremely craggy and sharp. Above me were thin, wispy, bleach white cirrus clouds. The blue sky seemed to be like a low-hanging ceiling, and was so vast and expansive and I could easily see its curvature.

A woman appeared beside me and the sky began to rotate overhead. She pointed to one area coming over the horizon and it was a round, craggy break in the sky as if someone took a hammer and shattered a hole in it. Through that craggy opening I could see what was beyond the boundary of the sky-ceiling. It was an even deeper blue sky, almost cerulean. My impression was that this was a sphere outside the sphere I was in and it was rotating independently of mine. In it (on it?) were painted stars, planets, moons, and other celestial bodies. The style was that of vintage woodcuts or illustrations, much like the kind in the image above. The heavenly bodies were shimmering as if they were drawn or painted with gold. As that rotated by, other craggy holes rotated past in my sky-ceiling with similar things to see through them, all in that shimmering gold in the same deep, cerulean blue sky.

The woman never said anything but pointed to each opening as it rolled past. My sense was that she was showing me the "more" of the situation or place and my awe and wonder was overwhelming. She was making me see there was more to what is going on. More than what we can perceive or that we allow ourselves to be aware of. If we just look a bit beyond our range we can see and understand so much more.

This entry's image was AI-generated. 

Mayan Alphabet

From Monday; 31 July 2023

Last night I dreamed that I was out in nature away from all light pollution and the sky was bursting with stars. Some started to swirl and create a formation. They turned out not to be stars but weren't alien spacecraft either. I don't know how I knew it, but I just "felt" it. I quickly pulled out my phone and got excellent video of them. As I filmed they started taking a different shape. They had taken a shape similar to a complex Mayan alphabet shape such as the ones I've attached below.

The High School Janitor and The Lost Keys

Last night I had a dream that I was in high school and me and several other boys hid the keys of the mean janitor at the school. As he was coming down the hall yelling and looking for us all the other boys were scatttering for various places to hide (empty rooms, lockers, broom closets, etc) I somehow managed to become invisible. I watched the janitor walk by me and begin checking various locations to find the others. He tried doors that were locked. Of course he couldn't open those locked doors because he didn't have his keys. He used his broom to raise the hanging ceiling tiles to see if anyone was hiding above. As he raised one tile I could see up into the ceiling and it was like an attic with boxes of various sizes. The boxes all had labels but I couldn't make out what they said. He eventually started looking in a very dark and dusty unused storage room that felt like an abandoned basement. At one end was a gigantic ramp that led to two doors that swung open in opposite direction to reveal a large entryway that the ramp went right up to. He opened the doors and the view was of a large, sunny, very green football field. 

I slid down the ramp and ran for my classroom, knocking on all the hiding places telling the others to come out. Back in our classroom our teacher came in. He was dressed as a scout troop leader would be dressed; green shirt and shorts, a large forest ranger's hat, yellow socks, and hiking boots. He wore round-framed glasses and seemed to be a kind and happy person. Sitting down in my seat I became visible again. About that time the janitor burst in yelling at the teacher that he knew "these boys have something to do with my missing keys!" We all faked surprise and the teacher smiled at the janitor telling him we'd been here in class the entire time, so it couldn't possibly be us. The janitor stared at us for a moment then turned and huffed out of the room. The teacher gave us a knowing grin and continued on with the day's lesson. 

Dreams of My Mother

It's extremely rare that my dreams contain anyone I know. Most times the people in my dreams are people I don't know. People made up by my unconscious? People my brain noticed on the street and cataloged away? Who knows. 

That said for the past week I've been having dreams that my mother is in. In each there's always some conflict. It's usually me disobeying some request or rule of hers. In each she's always disappointed in me for my disobedience or I've hurt her in some way as a person. Each dream always resolves itself with me apologizing and my apology being accepted. Each one always brings me to a deeper understanding and empathy for her. In May of next year my mother will have been gone for eight years. I can't help but believe that my Mother Dreams are in part me working out my unresolved issues with her. In the past few years I've said I wish I knew then about my mother what I know now. I wish I could've had the empathy skills I have now so I could've helped her. I believe these dreams are my unconsciousness's way of helping me find resolution and doing just that. 

This entry is also posted on my other blog. Click on the link below to visit.

In The House of Mindfulness  

Dystopia

From Thursday; 2 October 2023

Several dreams last night with crumbling society and disaster on our heels.

In one, several street blocks were blocked off by abandoned vehicles; buses, cars, trucks, etc. There was just enough room in between to get through, thinking the street was passable. Once trapped inside the block gangs of dystopia marauders (think: Mad Max) attacked the car and tried to get me out and steal all my stuff.

In another I was walking down a very foreboding and dangerous alley. To get to the safer main sidewalk I had to walk a dirt path between two houses. Each yard though had large snarling dogs drooling with huge fang-like teeth.

That last one I had to calm myself down from when I woke up, telling myself it was just a dream.

Princess Diana, the Shopping Mall Palace, and Old Ladies Handbags

I was driving in a car somewhere outside London (steering wheel on our side of the car, oddly enough.) I was tasked with getting Princess Diana to a dinner at Buckingham Palace, so I disguised my voice as a Baron, Duke or some such thing to help convince her to attend. After a lengthy conversation with her in which she declines the offer I arrived at the palace. As I was waiting for the elevator to take me up to the dinner I realized I only had street clothes and no formal “royal” dress clothes so I made my way to leave. The main entrance had been converted into a small shopping mall and all the escalators to the exit were moving to fast to get on. I opted for the stairs and outside in a small park every empty bench was taken up by some old British lady’s large handbag which none refused to move so I could sit.

The Lost Dog at the Parade

From Tuesday; October 24, 2023

I dreamed last night that I lost my dog at a parade. In it I was walking to my car and he was following me. When I got to the car the dog following me wasn’t him. I panicked. I searched and searched the parade and never could find him. I was posting signs with his picture all over town when I woke up. It was one of those where you tell yourself it was just a dream and you’re in your bed safe with nothing to worry about. I did check to make sure he was in his bed though.

The Island and the Crater Lake

From Saturday; 28 October 2023

I was on an island that felt more like one in the Aleutians. It felt “earthy.” I got on the wrong vehicle (a bus maybe?) that was going to return me to my living space. It turned out to be a bus touring the island giving an historical and ecological tour. The guide, a sort of pudgy, warm native-like woman was pointing out architecture of living spaces along the way. Everything from primitive huts to something she called “sequash frames,” basically tiny, brick, salt box-like farm houses. I remember each one vividly, even after waking. Part of the ecological tour was along the rim of a crater lake at the top of a massive hill/small mountain. This time, as in the others it’s always near sunset and the far side of the crater is bathed in deep reds and oranges.

The whole dream made me feel connected, as if this is a place I belong, have been to many times, etc. It felt calming being lost in the history and landscape. Bucolic? Maybe. But the sense was more earthy. This may sound super weird, but that earthy feeling I got was the same way a fresh mushroom tastes. Somewhat dirt-like in a rich, loamy way.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Islands that are in cooler, not tropical climates, and the crater lake such as in this dream are recurring themes and locations in my dreams. It's not always the same island, but the crater lake is always the same geographically.

The Feral Cat

From Wednesday; 1 November 2023

I dreamed that my dad had found a feral cat in his yard. It was soaking wet, as if it had been caught in the rain. It was emaciated and its eyes were sunken and sullen. My dad stuck a metal ruler into its chest. "Why did you do that?!" I shrieked in horror!

"Because he's suffering," my dad said plainly. 

I cradled the cat as his life slipped away from him. I could feel that in his final moments he felt a love that he'd never had the chance to feel before. And I felt the return of that love and knew he had died happy. 

H2O2, Disney, the Cardinal, and the Dog

I had multiple dreams last night

Dream #1
My dad had six tanks full of hydrogen peroxide in his garage that I ignited and blew up his neighborhood. Afterward I was afraid to call home knowing I’d be in HUGE trouble. I woke from this dream relieved that it was only a dream. I was safe in my bed and none of the dream's events had actually happened. 

Dream #2
I was at a Disney sort of Board of Directors meeting where they were discussing their new business plan. The CEO held a contest to guess the cost of producing the new plan, which was $10 billion. I guessed correctly and won, but was then concerned that I’d compromised my position at my own company.

Dream #3
I was in a massive cathedral, the kind you'd imagine; tons of frescos, murals, and everything layered in obscene amounts of gold. I was waiting in a long line to be seated for a funeral for a Cardinal. It was too crowded to enter the nave so I stayed outside in the cathedral's narthex. Sitting there was a whimpering Golden Retriever. So I sat down and petted and calmed the dog instead.