Member of International Association for the Study of Dreams
and the Friends of Jung Society, San Diego
      I have chosen to create a separate portal for my overflowing collection of thoughts and ideas about DreamWork, Dreaming and Consciousness. I had been posting them on various social media but they end up being a bit of a random strew that you have to wade through, trying to find the continuity. Perhaps posting here may help collect the pieces.

Question about identity in Dreams: Nov. 5, 2011
     For those who don't know me, I have maintained a Dream Journal, for "3+? decades" and have used this dialogue as a growth experience and knowledge training opportunity, seeing patterns in rapid evolution, sifting out the repeated motifs, noting the 'unusual," as I sit here, listening to a video stream on NPR from Robert Louis Stevenson and his encounters with "the little people," who helped him in his writings. The question that was posed included the puzzle, who is the 'creator' of dreams. If I claim them to be of my own creation(?), how do I become surprised, or alarmed and frightened. James Hollis (Depth Psychology author/analyst) shares the thought of a multiplicity of "selves" only a fraction of which we have any volitional relationship. Are we directing our attention to the Self, the Objective Psyche as suggested by Robert Waggoner.
    I have been doing DreamWork with others for more than two decades, and recently had an unusual experience, and I toss it into the stream to see if it floats, and who may pick it up.
     I had a dream the other night, only part of which I will include here.
     "I am in college with similar age related peers, in a lecture hall, engaging in the lecture, seated in rows of seats, 3 or 4 seats in from the walkway in the middle. I feel to be here appropriately, and am not surprised as the lecturer walks up the aisle, turns to look down my row, and directs a question to me 'directly' using a name (Walter), which while reasonably common, is not my name. But in the dream, my dream ego (the point of view of the one who experiences a dream) is immediately solid with the identity, feels like the lecturer is addressing me with an expectation that I should respond."
     Only upon waking do I question the curiosity of being a differently named and identified person, which, from within the dream, seemed correct.
     I have had many dreams in which I have been a women, animals, disembodied points of view within a scene, a third party observer watching myself, but in each of these cases I did not experience myself as personified by a different specifically named entity, but as myself inhabiting another identity. I currently only have two immediate associations to the personal name, which I will pursue for my own edification, but the question is directed to the aspect of identification being so distinctly other.
     I have not "bumped" into similar dream reports by individuals I have worked with, nor in the body of literature I have read, thus the curiosity.

Listening at the door of the dreaming mind: Jan. 10, 2012

. Our mind "dreams" continuously with bursts of notable activity at intervals in the night, only a few of which we notice. Like ignorant children listening at the door to adults talking, we gather little from the conversation, declaring it so much foreign language babble.
     Oh the arrogance of the little "self" who rules the conversation in another language nonsense, reluctant to imagine there is knowledge transpiring to which we are not privy. Yet this activity is ongoing and is best thought to be the mind talking to itself, in commune with still deeper layers and potentially transpersonal components.
     Some of the conversations are modest in scope, sorting through the items of the day that the little self has had to contend, putting them into the larger context of the Mind that has a far more comprehensive scope of future and past, and always in reference to a greater Self that transcends the individual.
     Some conversations are Large, beyond the scope of the individual who experiences the dream, meant to be attended to by a wide audience, most cultures and thinkers reference these as "Big Dreams."
     To imagine that I create my dreams, with my little self, denies reality. Why would I surprise, scare, puzzle and amuse, with images and concepts grandly beyond any that my waking ego self can imagine, if I am the creator of dreams.
     I sit by the door of the greater mind, listening intently, gaining glimmers of insight, occasionally spoken to directly, but always humbled by the marvel that I am witness to, including the modest limits of my understanding. Learning to understand this language is a life's work, always with the assumption that at the end I will remain a child in the reflection of this larger Self.

Listening at the door again:: Jan. 17, 2012

    To continue. There as many functions and types of dreams as there are people and commentaries, so any characterization, by me or others, is comparable to the parable of the blind men and the elephant, each only perceiving a small point of view, but fervently arguing it to be the truth. Recent research into the levels of norepinephrine during REM sleep suggest that as the stress hormone (one of it's functions) is decreased during REM, it allows more "relaxed" review of charged content, so as to consolidate and integrate, providing hope to PTSD individuals. Again, only one of many aspects of dreams (remember the blind men) and we are encouraged to adopt the attitude of "this/and" rather than "either/or" leaving the 'and' as an open end for further thought. What else might be going on....
     Most recently, as I watched from the cracked open door at the conversation in the other room, I was struck by the variations of deconstruction and construction motifs in some of the content, albeit only a small portion of the flow, but it caught my attention. Since I know that my Mind is constantly updating, reorganizing and re-prioritizing it's use of the neurons (physical structure for the moment only) then some portion of the conversation that I "hear" at the doorway of consciousness, conceivably, will be my "dream egos" view and translation of this process of consolidating and re-building.
     This is not to dismiss more comprehensive reflections on the content and images, but just a very narrow slice, for the moment. Since I only have the subjective lens of my "little self," to witness the "dream egos" view of this stream and dream content, my perception is limited. How I perceive it, invariably takes on the "garments in my subjective closet," which for me, are often "construction motifs." That I should have a dream one night of a dystopian landscape, and not feel an immediate connection to waking events, and have in a subsequent night, a dream of now cleared out space and buildings, followed by yet another night in which I am witness to "someone" connecting some intricate pipes and wires is a small arc of content, but the progression on this one thematic stream seems plausible.
     There were certainly other aspects of the content that had more subjective "grounding" in my awareness, and the dreams were certainly more detailed and substantial that my brief reference here, but... at least some portion of the endless flow of images and stories that I listen to intently from my perch by the door, could be a reflection of this small, but important aspect of consciousness, as witnessed by my "dream ego." My "self" is to my "dream ego" as it is to my "Mind" and as my "Mind" is to the greater "Self." An order of magnitude of unknown scale between each increment. My little "self" is but a small reflection of my "dream ego" and yet my waking attention perceives it (the small "self") to be the one who directs the flow, oh, the delusions of "self-importance."

     To continue. The wheel rolls on, as daily life unfolds, yet the parade within steps to a different drummer. With a profound reverence for the spiritual gifts and wisdom that can find their way into my mind, I offer the caveat and question. How to weigh the significance of "this dream element," how to make sense of the more quixotic and curious. I trust the premise that "all dreams come in the service of wholeness" first phrased by ancient visionaries, made a central tenet by Carl Jung, and more recently promoted by many within the dream community, Jeremy Taylor, Montague Ullman, et.al. But I hestitate to imagine that they are all of equally profound weight. Why, because we are also offered the knowledge that some dreams and visions are compensatory, some confirming, some future casting, others sifting the days debris. The waking ego mind that then turns these over in the daylight of thought, tends to settle on "one" of these choices, little suspecting that ego function moves to protect itself, (and us) from troubling knowledge and deflating thoughts, and has difficulty contemplating the more rigorous premise that the inner mind is best recognized for "this and... both and... something else yet to be discovered." Is it compensatory?, is it confirming?, is it profound and destined to reverberate for decades, or is it the necessary "grocery list of today," important in the moment but not to be put in the same category as "Big Dreams."
     I trust my intuition and feelings in this arena, but always maintain a watchful eye/ear to the lightning quick parry of deflection that ego function will push into the mix. Usually a few days of reflection are helpful in this regard to sort the kernel from the chaff, as it takes a few days for consciousness to accept the new knowledge and ego function to then parry and thrust, "the next intrusion." and so the dance continues.
     I recently listened to Anne Hill and her presentation about helping children with their dreams, something I have attended to both personally and clinically. She gave a fine discussion and suggestions. It wasn't the forum for a more careful dissection, but one of the cautions to be considered is that the adults my find the content of a child's dream inherently more difficult to assimilate than the child. The child does not have the fund of knowledge and rational process to confound their experience. I recently have been assimilating a book by Carl Jung on "Children's Dreams," from series of lectures he gave. One of the insights that he offered that I found illuminating is that children's dreams often contain more archetypal material than adults. Children don't have the fund of experience and thought to contribute and they are just emerging from the larger unconscious mind. This emergence of archetypal materials can be very unsettling to the adult mind as it is so transpersonal in nature and confounding to contemplate. Where did this come from? why did it arrive? are the usual questions we ask, but here the answers point to deep and mysterious connections far beyond the simple dismissal of "oh, it must be about the meeting I had yesterday...."
     Ah, more puzzled than before. I trust the ambiguity as being closer to the truth than any well baked answer, however comforting it may seem. The great mind resides comfortably amidst all of the possibilities, forever leaving the door open to the next, and the next....

Oh, the questions of a puzzled mind: Aug. 21, 2012 
    While I have valued the insight that "dreams come in the service of wholeness," as a general principle, I have a certain leeriness about "general principles" or absolutes as the nature of MIND includes contradictions, paradoxes, resting side by side with ease. One of the areas of caution, is to assume that the "child at the door" can ever fully comprehend the nature of some of the discussions overheard. Put more simply, can the isolate "self/ego mind" really have any point of objectivity on the larger scope of Self/Great Mind.
    Where this question comes to it's sharpest point, is in regard to autonomous complex elements and the nature of evil, markedly big questions to be sure. Having served in the front lines of inpatient child/adolescent/adult psychiatric programs for twenty-five(25) years, I have been confronted and confounded by some of the more troubling disruptions of consciousness possible. I think it a bit too "easy" to make assumptions about "wholeness" and the nature of what can be encountered while exploring transpersonal space.
    By it's very nature, it's "transpersonal" and to make assumptions that it is all to the good, denies the very real aspect of evil in the world, and it's necessary inclusion in any discussion of "Mind/God." There is material that is truly "Other" however that is understood, and I find it incautious to assume that it has my best interests in mind.
    Autonomous complexes, need I say, are autonomous. Notice the persistence of the "Predator" archetype in mythic and folk literature. Not all characters have a happy ending. This is an alarming notion to hold and contemplate, as it sets the very ground of being a quiver.
    I have been blessed by birth, with a fairly solid ego/center temperament, which has served me well in professional work and interpersonal contemplation and introspection. I feel a kinship to Carl Jung in this regard (no inflation intended) and have encountered elements that moved beyond explanation and safe understanding. Some of explorations by Dr. Rick Strassman (and others..) recognize the fragile nature of our ego/island, but also the consistency of encountering very "other" entities. Very challenging information to integrate into any understanding of mind. Dreams can engage these elements as readily as any other "content" and to place these in the category of archetypal material remains a bit too "neat," for my open ended paradoxical child mind, and to attribute my "wholeness" as the intent of these encounters seems naive at best, and potentially dangerous inflation of my own capacity to understand.
    So, I proceed cautiously, allowing the "general principle" to guide my work, but always leave the door open to that which is truly beyond my understanding, and I am but a child at the door, listening with my limited understanding, to the discussion that I hear...

The wonder and persistence of place: Sep. 26, 2012 
    After a particularly stunning dream the other day, I was again struck by two inter-related questions. I have ideas about both, but I am more inclined to pose the questions that challenge any comfortable assumption of what dreams are, rather than speculate on what they "mean" on a personal level or as dream theory.
    The  first question is a direct outgrowth of the "stunning" dream I had recently. I found myself in an extensive and elaborate "set piece," of a small, closely related, community , which included characters, families, community members, rituals, activities, history, and core beliefs. It included furniture handed down from previous generations. The entire scene was colorful, elaborate, finely detailed, coherent within itself, not full of confabulation or "odd" dream components, and perhaps most important for this discussion, unrecognizable or accountable to waking conscious ego function. It did not include any known people or waking references. My "dream ego" did not seem to be synonymous with my "waking ego function," but I am fully participant and related to the dream people.
    In other words, I awoke without any sense that this had been seen before consciously, in the recent or remote past, nor could I notice any books or other waking references that might have contributed. Yet the entire sequence was "movie ready," "high production value" content. I can create discussion within myself that can attribute meaning and value to the content for myself‚ and while this is personally important, it is not the point of this discussion. I am more than impressed (if that can be the word used??) by the incalculable depth and scope of the dream creator, to provide such a visual and emotional feast. Some would argue that it is a parallel or past life dream, which could be made plausible, but brings up it's own set of questions without really sitting with the wonder. Why this dream, why now, why should it be parsed out to this dreamer? It seems so "over the top" and richly adorned, how lucky am I??
    A somewhat related but different questions emerges from a set of periodic dreams that I have had, which again, are an occasion for marvel and puzzlement.
    In these dreams, I am in a setting which feels familiar, including the sense within the dream that I am in a neighborhood, and nearby streets or places are expected to be there, even if this particular dream doesn't make use of them. When I wake up there is the sense that this is a consistent place that I have been to before. Once again, it doesn't correspond to any waking environment or objective reference that I can bring to mind, is not "identical" time after time, but persistent in that recognizable sense of "I have been here before," in previous dreams.
    The astute student of dreamwork in me can make the leap to meaningful content and connection. This is a "place" in my life that I have been to before. I am "returning" to further investigate and understand a context that I need to "visit" once again. I don't deny the value of this aspect of the process, and try to give it living presence in my life, to strengthen my connection to that aspect, so I may grow in my understanding.
    What I find most engaging and puzzling, is the creativity and wonder (there's that word again) of a consistant, and persistant "place," which is never identical, nor objectively referenced, yet returns in an oddly reassuring manner. In the dream I will have the sense that "here I am again," or "I know this place," yet wake up to the determined sensibility that it was "created" on the fly, as it where, for the purposes of this dream/dreamer. Oh the wonder? Because as this is happening to me, it is also happening in myriad variations, 5-7 times a night, to each and every person on this known world without even proposing other place it might be going on. The "poor" ego function quite willingly sits down in a funk while the little "self" sits in wonder. It is like the aurora borealis, stunning in it's display and implications.
     I am off to sit and wonder... won't you join me??

Useful are, Invented Dreams: Sep 26, 2013
    The careening arrow of time, relentlessly moves on, and I, the surprised passenger, catapult along, happy to be.
    While sitting in converse with another, I gave a fancifully brief, "invented" dream to make a point about the non-temporal overview that seems to manifest in dreams and creative activities. It (the invented dream) was "made up" on the spot, but it reminded me that this is an ever present process, this upwelling from the unconscious and realms beyond, which we (I) tend to quantify in "dreams" parsed out in the night. Yet it is always present, spilling out in associations, turns of phrase, intuitions, transient thoughts. The more I thought about this "invention of the moment," I noted it's strong compliance to the qualities of dreams, even tho it emerged mid-thought while fully(?) awake in conversation with another person. It included a reference to an imaginary person, (I gave him a name with ease, tho I have no immediate association to the name chosen??), presient knowledge, confabulated actions and dramatic exaggerations, all with emotive tension and surprise.
    [The actual "dream" as I told it in the moment was, "I am traveling, by myself, and come to an intersection, and have the strong impression that I should turn left immediately, which I do, only to see two actions simultaneously. I note a long lost friend on the right sidewalk (Alfred?) and watch in the rear-view mirror, as a massive/horrific collision of vehicles occurs in the intersection, I had just allowed myself to be diverted from, by the intuition to "turn left."]
    While I have personally and clinically had multiple version of "this dream," this particular one was "created" and told in the moment as a useful invention. Upon secondary reflection, after the fact, I noted strong pun elements in the directionality of the action, always to be looked for in any unpacking of dream content. "Going straight, or turning right, invited disaster, only following my intuition, turning left, avoided the calamitous potential, and produced the charmed encounter." Our literal waking ego mind, hears only the implied directionality in it's concrete form, but the "inner" ear notes that I should not insist on "right," as in being right, nor straight, as in inflexible, but left, as in "the path left chosen." I then encounter "Alfred" of which I have no personal association, but my first "hit" in a search brings me to a long posting about the "Mentor" archetype in which Alfred is noted as the mentor of Batman, an association that I fine useful. He is on the right, as in "correct" and his smile confirms the connection. The rearview mirror is that which reflects backwards upon the path not chosen.
    For a momentary concoction, in the midst of a rapidly flowing conversation, "this imaginary dream," ends up having more to it, beyond the making of a point, about the non-temporal nature of dreams and creative activities. It is an important reminder that dreaming is the primary condition of mind, and the epiphenomena of my thoughts, skittering upon the surface, like drops of water on a heated skillet, here for the moment, vanishing evanescently. I am not the source of the energy, that bubbles up, like magical springs, nourishing the attentive visitor, and creating life forms in it's wake. Grateful I am, to acknowledge the source, however unknowable. Tis' the fool who claims any presumption of authorship, as I am but a conduit for a grand designer. The spontaneous noun/verb inversion just used, invokes Yoda, another Mentor figure, which tends to confirm that I might be "on to something."

Off I go, to search for the source of that spring....

Making the Case for Multiple Aspects of self in Dreams.: Jul 16, 2015 ~
    Curious dreams as of late. Last night, in particular, highlighted the question, which is the title of this section of my musings. An overly extended dream with a spiraling development of increasingly strange elements, that seems to take a strong case for multiple aspects of self interacting in dreams.
    The parts that are relevant to this discussion, start relatively early in the dream when I am going on a skiing adventure with several others, some of whom I know. It is now late in the evening and I decide that I really should send a note, or communicate with my wife B. about my plans since I clearly won't be home anytime soon, and I had left no notice of this adventure.
    I pulled out some kind of cell phone device, which I immediately find frustrating. Now the important aspect of this is, that this tends to be a fairly reliable 'dream sign' for me and others, in that mechanical and electronic device don't behave properly, or as expected in dream states. The hope is that this would trigger an awareness of the dream state. In this particular dream, the efforts to try to use a device persists as do my frustrations, while attempting with multiple versions of the the device, including help from others and offers to use alternate devices, all of which I find frustrating. Almost as if the persistence of the motif, with variations, would provoke a response?
    For the point of this discussion I am deliberately choosing to not discuss the content as meaning, though I recognize that there is meaning implied in the flow of images and situations. What is more intriguing in this particular dream is the presentation of this motif of, 'trying to communicate with a device unsuccessfully' as a very effective dream sign. Now, who is presenting this motif, to what purpose, why the persistence in maintaining the motif, with variations, almost as if there is a part of the self that is attempting to communicate with 'me' the dream ego, to take notice and 'wake up' to the reality of the dreaming condition.
    The dream continues with a series of frustrations, mostly laughably self constructed, that seem to spiral towards a more deteriorated condition of mind, with many of the principal dream characters attempting to intervene in some manner to assist me (dream ego). Again, disregarding for the moment, the meaning component, of the content, I choose to focus more on the 'meta-agenda' of multiple aspects of the self, as depicted as dream characters attempting to assist me (dream ego) to a more stable condition as the dream seems to unravel. I move along, and consider that 'all I need now, is something scary' and of course, by intention and expectation, there is just such an apparition around the corner, which in it's expected predictability causes my dream ego to smile, as if to say, “really.” I try some 'tests' of my state, like looking at my hands, pushing one finger into the palm of the other to see if it goes through, repeating a stabilizing mantra, but these seem to not have the desired effect, as I remain entrenched in the flow of content, unable to wrestle my focus free. There is a subtle sense that I am dreaming but I am unable to sufficiently respond to lift myself into a more lucid state.
    In an attempt to communicate my condition to somebody (Who?? My unaware self??), I attempt to write on a piece of paper with a pencil, and characteristically find this very difficult, another extremely good dream sign, as written words are noticeable fragile and fugitive. And, sure enough the pencil doesn't seem to write at all well but with persistence I am able to write the letters, “DREAM” on the wrinkled paper. You would think that this would be sufficient to prompt my awareness to my condition and I truly wonder at the ingenuity of the dreaming self to have me try to write this word so that my witnessing dream ego might be provoked into awareness. Sadly, this was not meant to be, as the deteriorating condition in the dream and the sense of urgency propelled me to wake up, very shaken by the experience, with a lingering residue that remained for the rest of the morning.
    Who was attempting to assist me (dream ego) in becoming lucid in my dream. What part was persisting in the presentation of dream signs and motifs trying to bring me into awareness. This kind of dream scenario and series of motifs make a strong suggestion for alternate aspects of self contributing to the process. My discussion does not even attempt to address the “elephant” sitting in the middle of the discussion, who, again, created this entire scenario, as I, me (dream ego), finds it very frustrating, while in the dream and certainly upon waking. If, big if, I am proposed to be the constructor of my dreams, why would I come up with such a deteriorating scenario, unless it was just an effort by some part (who) to propel my waking self to notice age related limitations of the mind my waking self would rather choose to ignore.
    As Jeremy Taylor has stated along with others in the field, 'the dream' does not come to tell me something I already know.,This statement suggests that there is an implied 'other' that seeks to inform me (waking ego) as to the condition of the psyche, whether through compensation or affirmation. Carl Jung makes a repeated distinction about some of the more autonomous aspects of Psyche, some of whom he engaged during Active Imagination. He makes no mention as to the specifics of my discussion, but does attribute the dream creation to be a function of unconscious, a kind of mystic 'black-box' about which we can only make inferences, which are inherently subjective in nature, after the fact, and obfuscated by waking ego function, in it's ever vigilant efforts to shield itself from too traumatic an encounter.
    I remain puzzled throughout the remainder of the day, and eventually feel provoked into writing about the event and my thoughts, always a valuable tool for generating some objective distance to the remarkably subjective and intriguing content that has been presented. Without any expectations of resolve or clarity, I wrestle with the questions. Who do I dance with to this inner melody?