In one of my advanced circles last night a woman recounted a dream in which she was menaced by men who were ringing doorbells on her street peddling something. She watched their activity through a glass door, and becamse very sure that what they were offering was bogus. When one of the men - who reminded her of a "hippie" - came to her door, she refused to open it. The lock wasn't properly secured. He came through the door and forced her into her living room. When he unzipped his pants, she realized he intended to rape her. She saw the face of the second hustler, with short, stubbly hair, behind him. She mobilized her will and her craft. She pulled on the zipper of her jeans yelling, "Just try it! I've been raped before and I have AIDS!" This was a lie, but it had the desired effect. Her attackers backed off in a hurry and fled the house. She proceeded to call the police with their descriptions.
She woke from this dream feeling completely detached. She described her mood as "nonchalant". She was puzzled as to how she could have so little affect after a dream involving so much danger.
As we discussed the dream, it became clear that nothing in the dream locale belonged to her regular life. The house with the glass door was nothing like her own house. The street and the neighborhood were completely unfamiliar, as were the men.
We asked, "Were you your present self?" She thought that she was, in terms of the way her mind worked. But she was unsure whether she was in her ordinary body.
I was struck by the dreamer's emotional detachment on surfacing from an experience charged with drama and danger. No racing pulse, not even a sense of relief or satisfaction over having outwitted the assailants.
When I find myself detached in this way, after a dream drama, I begin to suspect that the dream action does not involve my life situation, but may concern that of someone else.
My thoughts flew to this idea: Was it possible that the dreamer picked up a psychic distress signal from a woman under threat, in the house with the glass door? Could the dreamer have joined that joined that person, mentally, to help her deal with her attackers?
I believe such things are entirely possible, in the web of dreaming.
She woke from this dream feeling completely detached. She described her mood as "nonchalant". She was puzzled as to how she could have so little affect after a dream involving so much danger.
As we discussed the dream, it became clear that nothing in the dream locale belonged to her regular life. The house with the glass door was nothing like her own house. The street and the neighborhood were completely unfamiliar, as were the men.
We asked, "Were you your present self?" She thought that she was, in terms of the way her mind worked. But she was unsure whether she was in her ordinary body.
I was struck by the dreamer's emotional detachment on surfacing from an experience charged with drama and danger. No racing pulse, not even a sense of relief or satisfaction over having outwitted the assailants.
When I find myself detached in this way, after a dream drama, I begin to suspect that the dream action does not involve my life situation, but may concern that of someone else.
My thoughts flew to this idea: Was it possible that the dreamer picked up a psychic distress signal from a woman under threat, in the house with the glass door? Could the dreamer have joined that joined that person, mentally, to help her deal with her attackers?
I believe such things are entirely possible, in the web of dreaming.
5 comments:
Recently had two similar dream experiences myself in which I didn't reconginze the people or environment but was there, involving violence, and awoke strangely detached from each. I arrived at the same conclusion - that these weren't about me but that I had entered someone else's space. The permeability of a multi-dimensional universe would provide many opportunities to help others in trouble. Great the way the dreamer you described was able to think on her feet! Raises lots of questions including what draws specific opportunities to us or us to them.
Thanks for this confirmation, Diane. I have heard many similar experiences over the years, and I am now thinking of bringing these reports together in a focused study of this aspect of interactive dreaming. What excites me in the "woman at the glass door" episode is the possibility that we can give help - and even mount rescue missions - through the transfer of consciousness.
Yes, rescue missions. That would be a worthy endeavor.
I know that at times in my life in times of trouble, I have had help come in the form of dream guides. Some of them animals.
I have always wondered about a white dog that lead me to the top of a mountain, helping me carry a heavy pack through a snow storm and once reaching the top of the mountain, I could proclaim that I accepted myself, love me for who I am. It was life changing, I was in my early 20's.
Robert, do you think these animal guides are disguises of human guides?
Naomi, I wouldn't say that in general animal guardians are aspects of human guides. However, shamanic types are able to project energy doubles in animal forms that can do the job. I give examples of this in "Dreamways of the Iroquois". Then again, beings-other-than-human (angels, demigods etc) are also attributed the power to manifest in animal forms.
While this is an interesting topic, it strays a bit from the theme of mental connection and influence which I was flagging in my original post - our possible ability to good by entering the mindset of a person in distress and helping them cope with a problem in what may be, for them, an entirely physical reality.
Many years ago I became acquainted with a woman who was fun, witty, and much too free with her energy when she was alone and drinking in bars. She sometimes found herself waking up in strangers' bedrooms.
I dreamed one night that she had one of these experiences with a man named Joe and consequently found herself with him in a dangerous situation in a car. He had a weapon and his intention was rape and possibly murder. I re-entered my dream and changed the sequence of events so that my friend did not leave the bar with this person. Then I shared the dream with my friend. Weeks later she told me she had chosen not to leave a bar with a man whose name she believed to be Joe because she had remembered my dream.
I thought about my dream and my friend's action - my friend obviously did not leave the bar with the man because I shared the dream. We can all share dreams and hope that a different action changes the outcome of a dangerous dream situation. However, I also wondered - since I had changed the ending of the dream in re-entry - if my friend would have made a change in her behaviour even if I had not shared the dream simply because I had already changed the ending within the dreamspace. I will never know the answer to that, but the thought process is worth consideration. I have found myself - even in dreams of strangers - stopping myself mid-dream, waking up just enough to know that the ending is not going to be a good one, and then going back in and changing the ending.
And then I wonder - did the waking reality ending really change in someone's life? Did I make a difference, like the dream of "Saving the woman at the glass door," and change a dangerous outcome into a benign one? I like to think that we can do that.
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