Often when one has dreamed it seems like you can't remember the ones that seemed most important. It is that way with me this morning. But I would assume, if one is sincere, that what is actually most important is what is remembered.....just as I wrote about the second dream the first dream came back to clear conscious remembrance. It is all a matter of giving sincere attention to the dream.
1. I was in New York City trying to make my way in traffic. I was very frustrated and felt I could not find my way out of this. I was off on some side street underneath rail tracks. Suddenly I was being guided by a black woman. She told me to turn up a street that seemed like a dead end to me. She said, 'Ill get you through this and will take you right up to the Empire State Building.'
She told me to drive a white utility van.I was behind some other cars and stopped. She had told me to ask 'the man' to let me turn right. I did and at first he waved other cars past me. I could see the same anima figure at a distance down the narrow road. She kept nodding and assuring me to keep asking. Finally the man let me through and she joined me in the trip toward the Empire State Building.
2. I had a vehicle in a garage that belonged to a friend and former Clearlake Church of Christ elder. (I will call him Carl) I was doing some of the work myself. Another strange vehicle was in front of mine. It belonged to one of Carl's employees. I noticed is was an older mustang. The paint had been removed. I complemented the car saying, " This is all galvanized steel isn't it? I bet you are glad to have one that is made out of such durable material?' He acknowledged that was true and that he could now paint it and it would be like new. He loaned me some of his tools. Later I realized that the mustang was literally joined to a large Ford pick up truck. It as a rather amazing vehicle. We were done with my vehicle and took it outside. The worker with the mustang was going to charge me for transporting it to a destination. Carl said he would remove the charge. Carl said his worker was very frugal and that he admired that about him. It saved the business money without cheating anyone. I separated some tools that belonged to me from the ones belonging to the shop. The end.
REFLECTION: Both dreams are in a very mechanical environment. I have always been willing to take on mechanical jobs with home and car but I know I am not good at it. I often get in over my head and sometimes make things worse. Both dreams display vehicles and thus the need to travel. Both situations are rather 'greasy and dirty'. There is no beauty of nature here. But this represents work that has to be done. I am in both situations pictured as correctly 'following' those who know more and better than I do. The anima, this time black, is the only strong touch of nature. Black was likely the color of the most ancient people. I sense a depth of psychic experience when in the presence of black people. I feel like the 'newly arrived' and the less filled with life experience. In the dream I was pleased that my guide was a black woman. I felt she knew what she was doing. 'the man' is an expression that refers to 'the boss' whether he be kind or cruel. It likely is referring to God , the sacred. Everyone must deal with 'the man'. The anima is able to tell me what to say to 'the man'. There was a sense that she 'knew the code words' that were needed to make this navigation. 'The man' did not acknowledge me at first but by continuing to say the right thing he finally let me through. This tells me to remember that it is from the realm of the 'unconscious' that a human learns many of the codes of life. In my experience of the anima I have been privileged to have guidance from the unconscious realm this past 25 years.
New York represents the heart of the human community , both nationally and world wide. Two years ago Brent and I entered underneath New York via a dirty train from industrial New Jersey. When we suddenly walked into the bright light of downtown Manhattan I felt the rush of that feeling that one is at the center of the world and one is overwhelmed by the staggering results of the the human mind over matter all happening the last 300 years. I think the dream would have me recapture that feeling.
The anima is seeking to connect me to my fellows in the most complete and real way possible by placing me in New York City. The Empire State building is a living symbol. It represents the rational accomplishments of the modern era of Western civilization. It is a strong phallic symbol demonstrating the masculine, penetrating power and physical transformation of the industrial revolution era and later of our 'high tech' world of progress. It is a reminder that all of this advancement has been through the male, rational, intellectual part of the human psyche. But the dream shows the downside. The city is quite dirty and greasy in its side streets. The metal is loud and hard. It is is very masculine in the ways the West defines masculine. But the female voice of the anima is what is needed to guide one through all this and back to its central spot. The Empire State building. The phallic symbol with all of its felt harshness, hardness and determination to penetrate and force is also one of the most sensitive and tender members of the male human body. The phallus has often been a symbol of hate and rape against the feminine but it can also be the symbol of love, joy, soft strength and genuine connection with the feminine. Through this symbol a man can come to be in touch with and highly value his tender, open feminine side. The anima is not at all opposed to the phallus but knows that it needs to 'wake up' and seek its natural harmony with the feminine. Maleness is not bad but when it runs life by itself it becomes harsh and destructive and loses contact with the Spirit and Soul. But when it is nurtured by and is considerate and nurturing toward the feminine the phallus becomes a symbol, not of just outer transformation of the environment but also of inner transformation of the Soul. So the anima is determined to get me back to the phallus and to the key it holds to transform the 'age of reason alone' into a new 'age of reason and heart' of 'mind and spirit' of 'body and soul'. The dream hearkens back to the words of Jesus warning that 'the way to life is narrow and few find it'. The dream implies that the anima's task is to help the human navigate this 'narrow' way to its goal. The 'white van' represents goodness and hope in the midst of and part of this harsh hard environment. The anima is on the side of helping to develop that which is good in humanity and helping it serve its correct purpose and to reach its intended destination.
Carl was a very good friend of mine from Clearlake COC days. He had been an elder there and he and I remained in close touch after I left Clear Lake. Mostly we visited at his auto-body shop through the years. He asked me to give a eulogy at his funeral two years ago. The dream reflects to me the value of genuine 'conservatism'. I'm getting help but also doing some of the work myself. The strange vehicle next to mine is an effort to 'conserve' and 'recycle' used things and not just throw them into the junk yard.
The old mustang body was valued as being better than 'new stuff' . In such conservatism the idea is not just to keep things like they were(though in preserving nature this is the essential goal) but to use what was to create something that is new, like this combination vehicle of mustang and Ford truck. Both of these vehicles are 'Ford'. The word ford means to cross over often troubled waters. The dream is suggesting that to successfully 'ford' life's difficult waters guidance from the unconscious realm is sorely and essentially needed. Many are now experiencing that as individuals, communities, our nation and the world we are presently faced with dangerous waters that we must 'ford'. The dreams suggest that the anima figure from the unconscious and also a kind of conservatism are important things to follow during such times. Carl's explanation of his worker sounds like a restatement of the Jesus stories about clever workers who knew how to get the most distance out of money by being 'conservative'. But Carl's actions also show how the conservative mindset can freeze one into an uncaring stinginess if s/he is always welded to it. Carl generously waived the transportation fee that his valued worker had usually charged. I separated my few tools from those of the shop. I was in unfamiliar territory here but I needed to learn enough and to have some simple tools to be able to 'help myself' when it was possible, another very conservatism trait the dream establishes as good. Jim Hibbett
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