DREAM 'SQUARES AND CIRCLES'...April 2, 2011

1. A rectangle frame divided into two square frames like the previous night's dream. On the left are eight gold coins randomly arranged. On the right is an image of one who is called 'The Church Woman.'

Typical Church Window Mandalas

2. I am trying to persuade a woman to go into the Pizza business. She is amused and graciously laughing at me.

3. A square frame divides into four square parts. Each part has a different aerial view of a part of a large city.

4. A loud sharp voice comes from the hall of my present home shouting, 'HIM.' I observe that rhymes with 'Jim.'

REFLECTION: The first three dream images are filled with squares and circles(as coins and pizza). Both of these fit into the 'mandala' category that Jung spoke so much about. He believed that the  world is filled with inner and outer evidence that the bounded circumference of the circle and four sided square are among the most common symbols of the the Self, of God, of wholeness, and of the goal of human individual life he called individuation. (Have you ever wondered why so many church central windows have the design of a circular 'mandala', often divided into equal parts like the spokes of a wheel? And recall Ezekiel's vision of a 'wheel in a wheel.?  There is little in Christian orthodoxy to suggest such things. But the Collective Unconscious brings it up religiously.) Eight gold coins is such a strong symbol. Gold is symbolic of the highest value, of indestructibility, of the highest level of individuation,  the Self and of the Sacred and Human contained in each other. Eight is the first multiple of four and has represented in my dreams for twenty five years the goal of my life. I'm often pictured in dreams as needing to move step by step from an original six to an eight. My address for 36 years has been 608.

Common Squares & Rectangles

I'm pictured as having gained enough ego confidence to think I might have some influence over the 'anima' person and her strong connection to the ultimate Sacred. The woman I try to influence is undoubtedly an 'anima figure.' (In Jungian psychology the 'anima' is a female inner image met in the psyche whose purpose seems to be to help bring Unconscious material into consciousness. As such 'she' is a semi Sacred/goddess figure with special powers and often one who is full of tricks and unexpected humor. It should remembered that all such 'persons' are a natural part of our human psyche, a part of us.) There are numerous O.T. stories where humans sought to give advice and make appeals to Yahweh in behalf of their human comrades. And the stories sometime show God listening and accepting their suggestion. It seems I am wanting her to be more liberal with handing out circles(pizza), that she might be busy helping many humans on the path to wholeness and individuation. She laughs to see me imagining I could , as mere human, be persuading or informing her of something. But by her appreciative laugh I feel she is at least listening to me. I did not feel demeaned but appreciated and included. I can at least get her attention enough to amuse her.

St. Louis

In downtown St. Louis yesterday I was very conscious of how attracted and inspired I am by the city. It presents both the cultural and technological achievement of the human mind and spirit. It presents what only humans collectively and cooperatively can achieve. Yet, more than ever our culture reports experiencing that something is deeply missing. We have failed to help ourselves be spiritually developed from within. The focus has been on the outside. Our outer persona as a collective people is able in some places to project a far stronger and more beautiful picture of ourselves than we have achieved inwardly. Surely if we can make such a good show on the outside can also, by God's grace, produce the genuine thing inwardly.

These symbols of wholeness , wellness and completion are saying that post-modern humanity(note the partial  views of the city) can have a very bright and glorious future. It depends on our returning to the inner resources of our deepest nature, our spiritual connection to the Sacred. For me the dreams say that means seeking to find my own true nature, what it means to be HIM, what it means to be be Jim. I'm thinking of an expression for some of this: 'Him is Her'(suggesting the mutuality of male and female principles) and meaning 'HIM(Having an Inner Manner) is HER(How Eros Returns).' *

A central and crucial result of my inward journey as a man- HIM, my dreams consistently say, is to arrive at a much elevated respect for the eternal feminine principle and the increased potential to personally  relate to woman, to HER. Seemingly, in some  of my dreams, this HER is a real flesh and blood woman. The image here, and  frequently, is referred to as 'The Church Woman." I am very aware 'Her' may also be an anima figure. I have no way of knowing whether it refers to a real woman in outer life or to the always present inner anima. This is a living mystery to me.
* One of many blog posts describing the importance of a renewed awareness of the importance of Eros in Human life.  http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/08/dream-eros-and-wholness-relatedapril-15.html