Two
companions and I have killed a rich man for a large sum of money. Disposing the bodies proves to be a bit of a
problem but we eventually bury him in two small trenches in a public garden
but no one notices. As we walk down a
hill happily discussing our crime and enjoying the prospect of spending the
money one of my companions threatens to blackmail us unless we give him an
extra share. When we get to the bottom
of the hill we encounter much noisy traffic and we see a young boy who is
concealing something and arguing amicably with an old man about his
payment. I notice that I’m in possession
of a newspaper in which some of the remains of one of the victims is wrapped.
As we
wait for a train a girl is loudly lamenting the death of her brother. I find this amusing because I’m standing
right beside her and part of his body is wrapped up under my arm. I’m very nonchalant and don’t let on what I
know. I sit with a group of people who eventually become interested in the packt which is next to me. Somebody reaches for it but I snatch it so he cannot get it and then put it down again. It proceeds to
drip blood fouling the dirt and sand beside the victim's sister. I casually mess up the dirt to make it look
natural, then pick up packet and walk up the hill.
In a
small foreign village a group of women start following me. They seem to know that I have something to
hide but don't know what or where it is and proceed to pursue me but I manage
to stay one step ahead of them.
Eventually I'm cornered. I enter
an open field and am confronted with a large chain-link fence blocking my
way. I suddenly ascend straight up in
the air like a rocket. I dissolve into
the nothingness of space and completely evade my pursuers.
This dream presents a solution to the problem of
guilt. A crime has been committed,
perhaps I have ‘killed’ and ‘buried’ some part of myself. It is always a problem when we neglect or
deny a part of ourselves. The dream
suggests that it was a valuable part, a ‘rich man.’ Perhaps it was a spiritual impulse. Loving feelings? Neglecting a valuable part
of oneself brings guilt, which in turn
creates a negative chain of karmic events (going down hill) that lead to
unhealthy states of mind (the noisy traffic at the bottom of the hill). By presenting the symbol of the young boy at
the bottom (the Unconscious) of the hill the dream seems to be saying that this
guilt and the tendency to cover it up comes from a
long time ago. Childhood, being a state
of ignorance, can reasonably represent spiritual ignorance in adulthood. Any angry, violent person is spiritually
ignorant. When we don’t know who we
truly are we try to avoid the consequences of our actions. We deny and conceal them. But private sins are always in danger of
becoming publicly known. This, I
believe, is the meaning of the newspaper in which the body part is
wrapped. It is one thing to know your
sins, it is quite another when the world knows.
Some part of the Self (the young girl) laments
the death. She is a symbol of the
Unconscious. Karma has not only a
visible effect but an invisible effect.
Even though on the conscious level one suffers no apparent consequences
from violent actions (the crime is not discovered) one suffers internally,
subconsciously. In the second scene the guilt causes the conscious mind to try
and conceal the crime once again. Other parts of the Self, represented by the
group of people, want to know. It is
important that one’s sins be acknowledged.
In the third stage the Self takes an active
role. It becomes a group of women who
pursue the dream ego, the conscious mind, and ‘corner’ it. There is no way out. This means that you cannot escape the
knowledge of your sins and that the guilt will eventually stop you completely.
But wait!
There is a solution. You can
‘dissolve into the nothingness of space.’
One interpretation might be that you disassociate when you are
confronted with your sins. This is a
likely psychological interpretation but it solves no problems. Yes, you might argue that the dream is
pointing to another big problem, the tendency to dissasociate. But
dreams, at least my dreams, tend to almost always have positive messages. And because this dream fits into long series
of dreams whose positive spiritual messages were unambiguous I will interpret
this flight into the beyond in another way.
There is another way to deal with sin and guilt…realize
who you are. If you realize that you are
whole and complete, the question of guilt becomes a non-issue. This knowing is symbolized by the dream ego
ascending and dissolving into space. Space is a universal symbol of the Self
owing to the fact that is pervades everything but nothing pervades it. Therefore guilt and the consequences of one’s
actions can never touch it.