Dreams: A Godly Resource During Spiritual Crises A woman who was very ill in a hospital was quite afraid of dying. She had a dream in which she saw a candle burning in her window. The candle burned down, finally sputtered, and went out. It was dark for a moment, but then the candle once again appeared, this time burning brightly outside the window. When the woman awoke, she told the dream to her nurse. A few hours later she died peacefully in her sleep. The dream answered this woman's question about what happens after death. It consoled her concerns by showing that her light would shine again, though not bound by the confines of the room. The imagery in the dream helped her through the transition of death in a most profound and peaceful manner. This story is one example presented by Jungian psychologist, James Hall, in his book, The Unconscious Christian: Images of God in Dreams (Paulist Press), to show how dreams supply important symbols and messages to help us through crises. In everyone's life there comes a time where such questions as "What is the meaning of life?" "Is there a God?", "What happens after death?" become crucial to our greater understanding. Hall demonstrates how the Self provides dream imagery and symbols that reach beyond the limits of the conscious mind, accessing universal myths and religious stories that are appropriate for healing. In another example, a man was paralyzed by an anxiety disorder that confined him to a radius of seven blocks. He had been through different forms of psychological and physical treatment to no avail. On the verge of suicide, he had a profound dream which seemed immediately to cure his unresolved fear. The dream included an image of a large, hippopotamus-like animal with a strangely pointed head who needed to be coaxed out of a canal to allow a boat carrying the dreamer to proceed. Hall researched the image and discovered a correlation to the Egyptian myth about Hunifer. In the myth, the god Anubis judges each dead soul and weighs its heart against truth. If the heart is judged to be false, the soul is thrown into the river and the monster, Hunifer, gobbles up the dead, an action representing the final consummation of the soul: eternal death. Although the dreamer had no waking associations to his dream monster, the mythological image was appropriate to his fears and the dream resolved them. A dreamer with a Christian background had a series of dream images which were based on the Tibetan Buddhist meditation on mandalas. A mandala is generally a fourfold structure representing balance and integration. These particular mandala images helped the dreamer recognize his own unintegrated and disorganized aspects, and provided a powerful image to focus on in his waking life, eventually leading to greater harmony. In these circumstances the dreamers had no conscious knowledge of the figures presented. However, through the discovery of other religious symbols and mythologies, it was found that the stories directly related to the dreamers' lives. Dreams supply important symbols and messages that can address these issues in a way like no other. The dreammaker god or Self works in a way that is spiritually based, yet is neither denominational nor dogmatic. By paying attention to dreams, especially during times of crisis, one can tap into inner wisdom and guidance. Dreams use imagery and symbols that will inspire, cajole, correct, and encourage us along life's path. (Book digest by Rosemary Watts Dreyer, Atlantic University.) |