Transcending the Archetypes
I had previously only posted this dream itself in private to friends, but the events arising from it seem to have a wider application.
In my first dream from the morning of December 11, I remember putting various business gadgets such as a stapler, calculator, laptop computer, hole punch, etc. into the toilet and flushing it down. Everything went down just fine except for the laptop.
A woman came along at that point and with some humour said that she didn't think it would go. I also saw the funny side, but felt I had made the point. I somewhat disappointedly took the laptop out and put it in the garbage. The dream ended.
When I woke the words "transcending the archetypes" stayed with me.
It is clear that the dream director is saying something quite pointedly about the business chores I am involved in both at work and at home. But more fundamentally it is a reflection on my teacher's suggestion at the Friday creativity session that I consider journaling my dreams in writing again. She feels my writing at the computer is becoming almost too fluent, making it harder to remain open to the dream itself - instead a little too readily caught up in the creative flow. I always do my most important writing on paper first, but usually type up my dreams without a paper draft to save on time. It is clear that, not for the first time, the dream director is in concurrence with my teacher.
"Transcending the archetypes" seems to be the lesson of the past few weeks, starting with the sarcastic observation the dream ego made of the "models" or archetypes "parading" through the mall in the "Movie Classic" dream. In a general sense, putting all this business down the toilet may refer to clearing the mind of non-essentials, distractions and busy work.
In the more spiritual sense, it may be that I will be looking at the archetypes in a different way, not limiting them so much to a particular context of expression. In Anodea Judith's book
Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self, she places the Archetypal identity at the Brow chakra. The Universal identity exists at the Crown consciousness, and so may be said that unitive consciousness transcends the Archetypes at their visionary level. In a recent post to the Competition thread, this quote from
Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross said it all (the emphasis is mine):
"The second quality of the sweet night is its darkness. All the faculties of the spirit are bathed in obscurity. The soul cannot see a thing. Nothing apart from God can sway her. She walks directly to him,
free of any forms arising from any natural perception which might otherwise have interfered with her
merging into the formless eternal being of God."
These words are an exegesis of his verse:
That sweet night: a secret.
Nobody saw me;
I did not see a thing.
No other light, no other guide
Than the one burning in my heart.
It is interesting to note where St. John's guide lived also!
After listening to this "transcend the archetypes" mantra for a moment or two I returned to dream space. I was rewarded with a dream which I could use almost directly in my Inner Beloved novel, and when I woke this was followed up with some general plot outlining. Unfortunately I cannot share this dream because I must keep the creative fire contained.
So the further aspect that I learned was that I must always draft my novel in written form first - which in fact in the little bit of work I have done towards the novel I confess that I have not been doing so. The dream director can be extremely persuasive! Do this and I will give you that!
So I bought a new red journal for dream logging, and a somewhat larger format lined notebook with a stiff cover for drafting my novel. I put both to immediate use. I also took my teacher's other advice - "Buy yourself a decent pen!" - it is after all my instrument.
BTW, it was the government laptop that I disposed of! I don't intend to replicate that action in this other reality - the fewer dealings I have with the RCMP - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the "Mounties" in their red jackets - the better. Destruction of Federal property is not treated lightly!