Dreams as personal myth

[Bindi]

Mythologies are in fact the public dreams that move and shape societies; and conversely, one’s own dreams are the little myths of the private gods, antigods, and guardian powers that are moving and shaping oneself: revelations of the actual fears, desires, aims, and values by which one’s life is subliminally ordered. On the level, therefore, of Dream Consciousness one is at the quick, the immediate initiating creative now, of one’s life, experiencing those activating forces that in due time will bring to pass unpredicted events on the plane of Waking Consciousness and be there observed and experienced as “facts.”

 

Joseph Campbell

Edited August 11, 2015 by Bindi

[Bindi]

The Raven (Dreamt by a young German friend of mine)

Hannah was walking with her friend on a wide green grass plain where a few trees grew. There was nothing else there and they were walking along happily when suddenly a raven appeared sitting in a tree.
Raven said “Watch your step” and Hannah’s friend laughed and said “Why should I watch my step? It’s just a grassy plain here, and nothing else but trees”
So they walked on further, when suddenly her friend stepped on a snail. Hannah started crying because the snail was crushed, but her friend just laughed, saying “Silly you, you don’t have to cry, it’s just a snail.”
They walked further on when Raven suddenly appeared again in a tree beside them and said “Watch your step”. Her friend laughed and said “Why should I watch my step? It’s just a grassy green plain here, and nothing else but trees and a couple of snails.”
So they walked further on, when suddenly her friend stepped on the head of a big white snake, and Hannah cried because the snake’s head was squashed. Her friend laughed, saying “Silly you, it’s just a snake, and they are dangerous anyway.”
So they walked further on, when raven appeared again in a tree and said “Watch your step” to her friend. Her friend laughed and said “why should I watch my step. It’s just a grassy green plain here, and nothing else but trees, a couple of snails, and a few snakes.
So they walked further on, when suddenly, her friend stepped on a black cat’s tail. The cat ran away but with her tail mangled she lost her balance and couldn’t run fast enough, and a dog came and ate her. Hannah cried, and her friend laughed, saying “Silly you, it’s just a cat.”
So they walked on, when Raven suddenly appeared in a tree, saying “Watch your step.” Her friend laughed and said “Why should I watch my step? It’s just a grassy green plain here, and nothing else but trees, a couple of snails, a few snakes, and some cats.”
They kept walking, when suddenly her friend stepped on a brown dog’s paws, and the dog couldn’t walk properly. A hunter came along, and thought that the dog was very sick, and that a sick dog was dangerous to other animals, so he shot it to put it out of its misery. Hannah cried, and her friend laughed, saying “Silly you, it’s just a dog.”
They walked on, when suddenly raven appeared in a tree, saying “I’ll tell you for the last time, watch your step and I won’t say it anymore.” Her friend said “Why should I watch my step? It’s just a grassy green plain here with nothing but a few trees, a couple of snails, a few snakes, and some cats and dogs.
So they walked on further when suddenly her friend stepped on the belly of a black and white Friesian cow, hurting the cow so that she couldn’t turn over anymore, she just lay there with her four legs up in the air, unable to get up and eat grass, and so she died. Hannah cried and her friend laughed, saying “Silly you, it’s just a cow.”
They walked further on, when Raven appeared and said “Watch your step Hannah,” and Hannah said “I will.” Then Hannah saw a white seal in front of her. She jumped aside and just missed stepping on it, but her friend didn’t jump aside and did step on it, and the seal got badly hurt. This time, Hannah laughed because she was so happy that she hadn’t stepped on the seal, and her friend cried because he was so sad at what he had done.
They walked further on when raven appeared saying to her friend “I really shouldn’t appear anymore and tell you to watch your step, but I will, just for you. So please, watch your step” and the Raven sounded very urgent.
They walked further on when suddenly her friend disappeared, and Hannah looked around searching for him. She finally saw him lying down in a ditch, with his bones broken, and he was dying. Hannah sat down by the ditch feeling sad, and waited for her friend to die, and then walked away still feeling sad.
She came to a cottage, went inside, and found a fire burning in the fireplace. She sat down and warmed herself up, and it began to feel like home. Suddenly all the animals – the snail, the snake, the cat, the dog, the cow, and the seal, all came inside and Hannah fed them all. Raven appeared and sat on Hannah’s hand eating corn. Raven said “Until your friend watches his step, and begins to realise, it will happen again, and again, and again.”

Edited September 28, 2015 by Bindi