Masked in Metaphor

Philosophy Forums Psychology and Mind
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I had a dream.

It was one of my unusually vivid dreams. It was short and to the point. I have no idea how old I really was, but in the dream I was young. Eventually, I resolved what I believe to be the resolve of the metaphor, which all dreams, good literature, films, and religious texts generally are.

In the dream, I was standing beside a certain house that I used to live in. But in the dream, the grass ended at a sharp cliff that dropped off to a very low valley that stretched out of sight. The valley was nothing a field of dead trees.

On the other side of me was a large barren tree, possibly also dead. Hanging from a limb on the tree was a rope holding up a burlap bag. I noticed that the bag moved a little as though something were alive inside. I reached out and cut the bag open so as to release whatever was within. Instantly, and shockingly, I felt myself falling.

The sensation of falling was strong enough to awaken me while the dream was still fresh on my mind. I wondered for quite a while what that dream could have meant and why it was so profound to me. I eventually figured out what I thought it was revealing. It was something very relevant to me and the world.

Dreams are NOT merely “random thoughts”.
I don’t want to bias your thoughts by my own interpretation.
And not knowing me, trying to guess what it meant could be pretty tough, but what would be your guess concerning such a dream?

{for discussion, not “answers”}

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There is no clue as to what may have been in the bag, so my guess is that you were the one who was inside the bag. Once released, you did not have a solid footing under you (which could explain the falling). I’m thinking it may have something to do with some kind of fear or uncertainty triggered by this release. Perhaps you are still adjusting to something that happened during the period you were living in that particular house. This is my guess, but I’d like to hear your own interpretation.

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Yes, that was my first obvious conclusion as well. And that spawned the mystery, “of what confinement was I releasing myself relating to such dead trees?” Perhaps I should mention that I had never seen a sight anything like that as far as I ever remembered (except for the house and grass). And also that I sensed no fear at all until the falling, which seriously astonished me. The ambiance of the dream was entirely of confidence and freedom prior to the event.

As far as my later realization, think in terms of world events, of which I was merely beginning to see anything at all about.

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One of the things that intrigued me about this dream that helped lead me into the field of psychology later was the notion that my mind was complex enough of a device that it could, while “asleep”, construct a scenario in which I played 3 sensory separated roles. My consciousness was an observer watching a body that was recognizably me doing something to a me that was inside a bag distinct from the body that I could see. And all of that while it was “asleep”.

Later, after quite a bit of psychology study, I likened it to the House in Congress pulling a gag on the Senate and making them think that a whole scenario was taking place in the nation during congressional recess that never really took place, but involved the Senate in the scenario and being so realistic as to cause them to call a special Senate meeting (waking up) merely to discover that it was just a gag. That would take not only some serious planning, but also some serious communication control.

Who within you is so awake as to be able to construct such complex scenarios and control the sensations/communications while you are consciously asleep (“half turned off”)? :open_mouth:

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To me ,James, your dream is even more profound. It may even said to be “existential”. The metaphor it’s masked in is really, as profound as one Jung describes, and I do not exactly remember it, but when he (jung) was very young, while sitting on a rock in his garden, for a second lost his normal “consciousness” and. The thought occurred to him, that he was not sitting on a rock, but he was the rock being sat on. This type of dream, de-differentiates the distinction between Your self, and the surrounding context. It may be a kind of regression to a past unity, no longer available to most. You become one, in a sense, with the life itself.

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I’m curious why you think that. Most people would accept that such dreams are not really very relevant, “profound”. What about that dream scenario gave you the impression that it was “profound”?

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Maybe it means you should be careful in your search for knowledge as curiosity can lead to a falling of sorts. Be weary of the lone curiosity in the place barren of knowledge perhaps (trees=knowledge representation)

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Actually, that is pretty close to what I had eventually surmised, but I got a little more specific.

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 The dream seems to be both: a subjective search (what's inside the bag) and an objective one, you are the one that's inside the bag you are searching for. This type of experience happened to Jung, but on a conscious level. In addition a fall is both existential (camus) and religious (original sin). So the extra profundity from all these different points of view. However it may be also a sign of a fear of some sort: heights, of falling, ending of a relationship, loss of some kind.
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What about the trees?

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The trees may have a more involved meaning, too. The tree itself, may mean something akin to the tree of life, a religious motif, or, can refer to genealogical roots. The bag, I assume was hanging from a limb. Shirley Maclaine wrote a book aptly named “out on a limb” and although it has been a while since I read it, I think it has to do with metaphysical/buddhist notions, for which she has taken quite a backlash.

If you would like my thoughts on your dream, I think your ontological, and religious views, have a relationship issue intertwined or sandwiched in between, and may indicate a feeling of inadequacy on your part in coming to terms with someone, or some thing. It may be that you are afraid that this inadequacy may in some way interfere with a kind of self realisation, which may be a necessary ingredient in having the ability to sustain this relation. I fear Your dream may indicate an impending loss, or fall, from an idea you may have, and consequently cause a loss of the relationship. You may be afraid of not the actual loss itself, but merely the idea of the loss.
This is why, perhaps, you are trying to "find yourself, not only through trying to figure out Your own motives, but also, to see Yourself more objectively think you are pretty upset about this whole thing, and you may have come to inadequate options as far as being able to do anything to avoid it.

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An impressive analysis.

Just guessing on my own, if I look at what “trees” came to mean to me, I suspect that gives a clue as to what they had subconsciously previously meant as well, assuming that no one directly infected me with their ideas. And in the case of trees, I know that I didn’t get the idea from anyone else (or at least not directly).

To me, a tree is exemplified by what DOS programming used to be, a categorization of information (what used to be called “an index tree”). Or when dealing with living things, more of a rising and branching out of a life of some type. I discovered the same metaphor in scriptures; “trees of Life”, “trees of Knowledge”.

So to me, the field of tress, implies a field of something that used to be alive and growing that has recently died. But more disturbing was that the tree from which I was apparently being suspended had also died.

Ooooo…

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Exactly. Except I was wrong in that this was something coming up in the future. Since things have died, of course in the referentially metaphoric sense, the loss, is viewed more in terms of why did it happen,rather than what may happen. The happening itself too, may be cloaked metaphorically as an idea, rather then an event. In programming, perhaps, too, this may be problematic, but I have a feeling that it’s the brain’s own programming that is at issue here.

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Home was familiarity and comfort. It is the starting point which one believes in.

The trees are a representation of the products / achievements /understandings / creations you’ve made, which stem from your home.

The cliff is a seperation between your home and ‘work’. You can get to your work from home, but can you come back at the end of the day?

The lone tree is a product you let in close. Something you didn’t create distance with, it could be said, you welcomed it to your home. All other trees are dead, but this one you’re not sure. It gives the signs of being dead, but still there’s doubt…

The bag and rope illustrate intent to restrict the contents of the bag. Everything you experience to this point is dying or dead, and now there’s clear signs of life.

Without thought or justification, acting on instinct, you release what is trapped. Instantly you’re falling, meaning perhaps it was not the contents of the bag that affected you, but your instinct itself.

However, it could be said that by exploring the bag, which is connected to the tree (your work), you’ve adjusted the line (cliff) between work and home, and that’s why you’re falling. Where previously was solid ground, is now a deep valley in an instant.

Also, you said all the other trees were dead, perhaps the death means that they were static - completed, because if a tree is alive, it grows and changes. You haven’t disregarded the dead trees, because they’re still in sight. Therefore, the tree close to you is still trying to change, but it’s growth is being restricted in a bag.

Where’d the bag come from?

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My “instinct” to assist someone struggling and trapped. But which “me”?

When I was first asked that question;
“You are walking in the desert and find a turtle laying on its back in the hot Sun.
You don’t help him. Why not?”

My response was;
“Because that is your fantasy, not mine.”

Another interesting aspect of many of my vivid dreams is that in some as the script is being played out, sometimes obviously a contrived script, something will not turn out exactly right, “the way it was supposed to” and the director will call for a retake. The scene starts over. And now and then, as the cast expertly portrays their roles, I suddenly say or do something so totally unexpected and off script that the entire cast is stunned into puzzled silence. The director calls “Cut!”. I awake.

Who is this director who can manage such plays and direct such roles so as to exercise influence and communication control and yet doesn’t truly know me enough to predict such responses? Is he rooting for the team that is the whole of “me”, or is he a very clever demon with ulterior motives?

When awake, I can resolve the “unresolvable” issues in every field of study; physics, engineering, psychology, sociology, religion, philosophy… even that illusive “purpose of life”. Yet within me it seems, there is one not totally aware but so much more clever, yet directing influences upon and within me. What rumors is he spreading? What perhaps false hopes is he instilling? What perhaps fundamental truths is he revealing? Is he wise, or just another God-wannbe taking advantage of my state of sleep?

As the US Senate adjourned for the season in i913, after their opponents left the building, a waiting faction quickly took a vote and instilled the unconstitutional FED into the US government, while their opponents and the Senate as a whole were “falling asleep”(an act of hypnosis upon the nation). The USA was forevermore cursed with a worship of money.

And in 1981, the US media became an organized singular entity proposing their obligation to direct the scripts of impressions, perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs to the half-asleep American population. And the question of the day became, just who are “they”?

Just what part of me did this director of my half asleep thoughts trick me into releasing? And from what… into what? Did he even know himself? Just who is this third person plural entity between me and my visions? So clever and hidden in the shadows of my sleep mediating my passions and thoughts.

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Dream content is random, dream content has a message to be discovered… Is it really such a binary situation?

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The situation is that it is being directed.
…but by whom and with what intent?

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viewtopic.php?f=46&t=181156

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Hi James,

I missed this thread since the begning. Perhaps the reason was that i was too busy in last two weeks, otherwise it is one of my favorite subjects.

James, although we may call it a dream but it is more than that.

Here is something from other thread-

James, look at the underlined portions. Sufisim called it Nazir what you named as-Masked in metafor, with precisely same meaning and intention.

Something more-

James, I have been since long with all this and quite sure that i can explain what your dream means.

But, that will take ome time.

with love,
sanjay