110103: Was getting gas in little red cans. Up the highway from the gas station was a fountain. I thought it had been done up nicely. Next, I was in a darkened shrine (felt like a movie theater) when I noticed an ancient but well preserved female warrior return to life. She took up a short sword of brass or copper that had a lacquered handle. I high-tailed it out of there. It was dark where I ran to; she followed me: I could hear her labored breathing. I skedaddled again, and ran through a smaller shrine, or temple. There were a lot of curtained doorways in this dream. A single elder was in attendance at this shrine. I went behind him, pulled aside a curtain that hung on a doorway which led into an inner chamber. I stepped quickly in; did some sort of abbreviated obeisance, and went on. Then the scene was of a simple village. Seven samurai walked down the street; the one in front was somewhat shorter than the others. Villagers and chickens stepped deferentially aside. Each warrior wore a kettle-like helmet with an attached gargoyle mask, dark grayish robes, and samurai swords at their sides.
Hi Daniel, I have a few ideas but nothing really complete. I think the starting point of the dream might have something to do with the train of thought of the rest. Little red cans are an unusual way to get gas. Darkened shrine scene... maybe this place is something (frame of mind) which you arent fully conscious of in daily life. Maybe the ancient warrior is a force inside you which has usually been still but has sprung to life. Some answer might be in why you are running from the warrior, or not. Curtained doorways are an interesting detail, could have to do with a kind of openess, like freedom to explore this place. I kind of feel like the dream has to do with a sacred and sensitive spritual place. In some ways it might be like the shrines and temples are something that you built for yourself, and at the same time the authority figure chasing you around the temple is just as much of your own making. I hope these ideas help you to start thinking about it, best! MK
Daniel - - you are filling gas pans – like in Eliot’s poem “I measure out my lie in coffee spoons” – it is the realm of everyday life and it proceeds and you view the fountain (the symbol of Eternal Life, the Cosmic Village), the soul of the psyche – it is the source of cosmic life and it calls you to the psychic journey ahead – the female warrior is your Anima figure – the part of your psyche that is female – the inner guide – it is She which leads you to your journey (this is characteristic to the dream journey such as this – you recoil – it is a confrontation with the Unconscious – you have been away from the Unconscious and the Psyche (Mind of God) for long time (since you were a child – this is characteristic also) – this is normal reaction – she is ancient warriar – the Earth Consciousness calling you/us andthe world back to itself (elements of this dream are in many dreams today – there are veils – gates to the Unconscious – the Ancient you see is the Self – the essence of the Psyche which lives in space/time. And you begin your journey into the Unconscious. I can tell you something about the Seven warriors – they are an archetype – a pattern of the unconscious which reveals itself to be the same in any dreamer and in literature, movies, art, etc. The Seven is seen in the movies the Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. They represent half the universe (the Seven Sisters represent the other half). The zodiac is made up of 12 signs, half of them are male, half are female. For a man, fullness of the Psyche is seen in dreams by the presence of the Six Males. But there is another (Six plus One) – the 13th – like the number that hovers in space/time over the clock – the number 13 is bad luck and the buildings in New York used to not have a 13th floor – but folk lore had it that the number 13 was good luck to rabbis and shamans – only they may enter the Unconscious – thus the Seventh Knight/Samurai is a different height than the others – a Celestial Knight - , but this is the full deck of consciousness as it brings you on your journey . .. you might take a look at C.G. Jung’s “Man and His Symbols” (get the big one with the pictures) or his autobiography, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” . . . I would say you have a great advantage in this juncture if you grew up in Georgia . . . I’ve some experience there and that region is conductive to the Psyche more than many . . .
Thanks, Flyingsnake. You seem knowledgable and well studied. You see things others fail to suspect, and I appreciate that. However, I am disinclined toward anything from Jung or Frued - been there; wasn't impressed. But, let me tell you what I accidentally discovered about dream symbols some years back. As I searched out a good library book on the topic of ancestry, I found a book about coats of arms and family crests that explained each symbol in length. I discovered that all these years I have been dreaming in historical coat of arms symbols. I invite you to look it up for yourself, if you haven't already, and let me know what you think. Again, thanks.
Likewise,Daniel - I've little use for Freud - enjoyed and learned from Jung but as a gateway - had to leave Jungians behind as they tend to sub-culture - I've found that I dreamed myself in ancestral symbols - my Celtic blood and ancestors - and have met in these experiences with others - generally women - of the same blood and ancestral lines - ancient memory - shared memory - also, dreams of two on a horse ond others which are, I have learned, dreams of Knights Templar - a shared culture of 13th century . . .
