Dreams Part One

Dreams have been an inspiration to many people throughout the ages. Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley, Graham Greene and Stephen King used their dreams to provide the characters and plots for their fictional books. Barbara Cartland dreamed the story-lines to her novels - in fact, she believed God gave them to her in this way! Many artists have been inspired by dream images, especially Salvador Dali and those of the Surrealist Movement. The composer, Guiseppe Tartini dreamed the entire ‘Devil’s Sonata’, following a dream Edward Elgar wrote the first theme of his Cello Concerto and Igor Stravinski composed an entire octet whilst asleep. The music for Paul McCartney’s favourite and most successful record, ‘Yesterday’, was heard first in a dream.  

Everyone has many dreams each night. Sometimes, as we awake, a dream is remembered and our curiosity is triggered. We think, “That was extra-ordinary! I wonder what it could mean?” People from all over the world contact me to seek explanations for their dreams. In the dream realm, elderly ladies can win Olympics medals and people in wheelchairs can climb Mount Everest. Once a man told me he had dreamt he had a baby  - everything is possible in dreamland! I keep a diary of my own dreams and when I am bored I remind myself of the many things I experience throughout the night. I have been ballroom-dancing with Brad Pitt and Meatloaf, I will not say which I preferred! One night, I dreamt I was dragging heavy furniture around in an old house and when I awoke I was told I slept through a terrible thunderstorm. In another dream I met an old woman in a cave who told me extraordinary secrets about her life in a tribal village. Dreams are a great source of fascination and make a great talking point. One of my favourite pastimes is to sit with friends while we tell each other about our nightly dreams. Even strangers suddenly become friends when we disclose our personal dream world. By sharing, we are offering something special about ourselves that we do not often have the time for during a busy day. Our dreams, however, are a great source of creativity and, where possible, should inspire and inform us.

Dear Wendy

I recently had this dream: There is a grey mist. I see it from a side view. All around it is blackness. It becomes the side view of dog. I then go in through the mouth and come out through the top of its head. Looking straight at me is the face of a black wolf. I don’t feel any fear. Then, I'm running through a forest and this is the end of the dream. EP

Dear EP

Dogs, like their older, wilder cousins, the wolves, have a complex social structure. It is hierarchical and the strongest care for the weak, elderly and young ones of their pack. The blackness is the unknown, the grey mist, dawning realisation. Even though the dream shows you might be in quite a disconcerting situation, you have the courage to enter through the most dangerous place, the mouth of the dog, and to access its place of intellect, the head. The wolf thst presents itself to you is the wilder aspect of yourself, but does not frighten you. The running through the forest shows you are fit and able to look after yourself in any environment, even a hostile one.     

Summing up, be prepared for something, almost out of awareness, to suddenly confront you. It is natural and you should not be concerned about it. The matter was there in the background of your mind but lacked clarity. The situation pertains to a social matter that you could have avoided, but ‘took the bull by the horns’ as they say, and with caring, courage, loyalty and intelligence, dealt with the situation. Use the affirmation: I am stronger than I think.