[jamesn.]

Hello Shaheda and Stephen; after looking over what both of you have written I don’t think I could offer anything you haven’t already covered except 2 things occurred to me that refer back to what Shaheda and I talked about in another conversation.

One is if some kind of similar motif presents itself; (especially with Joseph in it; but not necessarily him but a Senex/Crone figure of some sort) which I know sounds contradictory; then I would think something’s going on under the surface trying to get your attention. Especially if a strong emotion of some sort is involved as I mentioned before in that earlier conversation.

Two; I’ve always been told that many of the dream messages often appear in a series of some kind; (usually 2 or 3 events but I don’t think that is necessarily a set rule); but the point being my understanding has been that the psyche is always in a process of becoming; and as you and Stephen were discussing Dreams reflect what’s going on: “under the hood”; so to speak in a language of symbols and Images that refer to this inner dialogue that’s taking place where the psyche is processing all the time because it doesn’t really stop while you are sleeping. In other words even though you are not fully conscious or awake your subconscious is still in play.

Joseph said something which to me is truly profound; “we are standing on a whale fishing for minnows”; which symbolizes this deep fathomless ocean we are riding on all the time concerning the inner depths of our being. This powerful deep inner mystery that is informing us all the time in this language we are constantly struggling to understand. In one metaphor he used: “it’s like a captain on the bridge of a little ship steering it across a vast ocean with all kinds of things swimming around under it that goes way down deep into the abyss of our inner being: “where the dark jewels glow”; and like this deep darkness or cave where our Shadow may be that may come in the forms of dragons or sea creatures we must deal with what represent these powerful forces. These may also represent our inner child that has pain or has been wounded in some way and is trying to get our attention; but Joseph also states; or at least in the way I understand it; that these forces must be interpreted or assimilated and they often come to us in the form of our dream life.

Now Stephen may have a different interpretation of this as he has been keeping dream journals for many years and is much more informed about this process than I am; but what I’m saying is that there may something from your past by way of an experience or a message from a dream that is seeking to be understood (or expressed) by the Self.

Now you may already be interpreting your dream from an entirely different perspective and I am not you nor do I mean to suggest my thoughts are necessarily relative to your particular experiences; but every now and then something will grab my attention in my dreams; (I’ll try and scribble something down upon waking); and often think about how it relates to my past experiences or something in the present I may be dealing with that my interior is concerned with in some way; which may be either positive or negative depending on the particular context surrounding it; (if that makes sense).

One last thought occurred to me is (age) may also play a part in this dream-like presentation we experience every night to where one is located within the course of their life. By that I mean in the early stages of life as Joseph mentions; the individual is concerned with achievement of life; (which is referring to having or achieving a career, raising a family, establishing a sense of self-identity, and taking care of the responsibilities that all these things require. But in the later stages of life the mental and emotional focus of the individual begins to shift towards the realization of the later stages which include acceptance and decline and loss of power of that life you have achieved. In other words it may have to do with retirement or legacy concerns or any number of other issues that later life presents that may inter this dream world as well. (In Jungian terms metaphorically speaking; he has often referred to this as the: “Grand Egress or Exit”.)

But without drifting too far away from your particular Dream concerning an encounter with Joseph and what it may symbolize for your future; (which you mentioned earlier); these are just some random thoughts that occurred to me that may have some sort of relevance later in the future; because I’m looking at this from an entirely different window and can only guess or speculate their meaning to a larger context you are contemplating. I hope this is not “clear as mud” as the saying goes; but these were my impressions considering what little I know about this huge subject which I am only beginning to understand myself. That’s about as far as I can offer at the moment.

Hopefully others will join in on this very important topic and will have something more insightful to offer on this than I have.

Namaste

_____________________________________________________________________________

(Addendum):

Although this clip of Joseph and Bill Moyers from: “The Power of Myth”; may not directly address Dreams specifically it does address the aspect to which Dreams are related concerning the life processes I was referring to that inform the consciousness surrounding it. Hopefully this will better explain the point that I was attempting to illustrate here.