repeated dreams

[tom]

hi all,
this seems the best place here for this - have you had dreams you know you've had before?

what i'm thinking of is not during awake time, when you see things from your dreams, whether some deft manifestation or deja vu, etc., but a nocturnal dream you know you've dreamed before...and in which you know you've dreamed it before.

this morning i had one that was altered from the last time; updated with a current theme. but i was aware during the dream that i'd had it before, and also aware that it was modified. to be clear, i participated as though i didn't know, but i had an overarching awareness of the whole scenario, the similarities & differences.
what was modified was the content of what two people were discussing at a key juncture of it, which discussion affected my emotional reality (in the dream) because of that content. the first time i had this dream i actually wasn't able to overhear them when i tried. so, this second time it was full & a lot felt to be going on, while in retrospect the first time i had it was more an outline, or a skeleton of what has turned out to be an interesting story.

i'm curious if this sort of thing is common - any experiences to share?

[primamateria]

Hi Tom, yes I have recurring dream images and scenes... I often dream of a childhood home - the same home but with variations - for example. I also have an 'underworld' type dream-theme with 'mob' characters all or part of which can show up in unexpected dream scenarios...there are plenty of recurring characters as well - The Taxi Driver, The Black Man, My Beloved, The Fat Lady...

Do you write your dreams?
Are you familiar with the technique 'active imagination'? It can be helpful if you want to explore a dream archetype further.

peace, pm

[tom]

heya pm -- yes, i do write my dreams, but am not familiar with those techniques...though have been doing guided meditation the last couple of months.

recurring characters that come in different sorts of dreams? your own dream cast?! that's interesting. do they correlate to issues in your life, or maybe personify various parts of you you of which you have conscious awareness?

[primamateria]

Tom,

Robert Johnson wrote a book entitled 'Inner Work' which outlines the entire process of 'active imagination' (which was Jung's technique for soul work). If you're familiar with meditation then it shouldn't be too far a stretch towards interacting with your dream figures.

As for my dream cast and crew - yes they must be parts of my dream-self. I've been analysing my dreams since childhood (mostly due to having terrible nightmares most nights) and became interested in dream symbols and with symbology in general (which is why I took semiotics and other cultural studies/critical theories at university). In the past couple of years though I've been in love with James Hillman's work - its so very in line with alchemy as a spiritual disipline - which advocates not interpreting dreams at all. The idea is to allow the dream to remain 'lunar' and not try to apply solar rationality to them - which is what 'interpreting' attempts to do. So I write them, and allow understanding to develop from within. I've done 'active imaginations' from time to time but mostly I just sit with my dream images and enjoy them for what they are - images of soul. They are not always 'messages' from the unconscious, but do seem to me to be another way of living...

have you noticed this change in your dream-life since you began with guided meditation? Is it a transcendental meditation technique or body work? Are you finding your dream images to be more vivid, easier to remember and often resurfacing during your day?

pm