Hello Dream Weavers,

This is my first time posting on this forum however I have posted dreams on another Forum. That forum is that of Brugh Joy, MD. He past away in late December 2009 and since then I have not posted any dreams on that forum.

On February 11, 2010 I had this dream.

I was sitting in the back seat of a car that was driven by my sponsor's husband(Len) and she (Bonnie) was sitting in the passenger seat. As we were driving along I began to experience an itching sensation all over my head. It continued to morf into a feeling of things squirming and squiggling. It wouldn't stop. I began to scratch, pick and pull at the roots of my hair and got no relief. When we arrived at our destination, It was their home, I exited the car and told Bonnie,"some thing is in my hair and I don't know what's happening". It felt like worms/snakes moving uncontrollably all over my head.

At first she said she couldn't see anything and suggested we enter the building where I could then lower myself onto the 12x12 stone tile floor so she can get a better look at my head. We entered the building which was the lobby to their condo and I knelt down on all fours so she could inspect my head. As I kneel there, the itching and squirming persists when suddenly she discovers snakes growing under my hair. She isn't freaked out about it but she says that I can't come up to their home until I get all the snakes out of my hair. Frantically, I begin shaking my hair with my fingers and out drops one small green snake. It's a beautiful emerald brilliant green but I know there a countless more. How will I get rid of them? They seem to be multiplying and attaching themselves to my head. While this is going on Bonnie and Len enter the elevator which takes them up to the third floor where their condo is.(In my conscious life Bonnie and Len are like my parents. I love them so deeply).

I see the elevator door close and feel as though this is my problem and there isn't anything anyone can do to help. I also feel somewhat abandoned. I continue pulling, shaking, scraping my hair and scalp hoping to make some progress in ridding myself of these creatures but to no avail. I find myself staring down at the stone tile floor looking for droppings when I realize this is not going to improve. Suddenly, the word MEDUSA comes to me. Who is she? What's her story? Am I Medusa? I must find out so I can get the answer required to end this infestation. The dream ends...

Please feel free to ask any questions necessary to give you additional insight about me.

With Appreciation, Suzanne

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 46 Laguna Beach California

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Suzanne,
I will tackle your dream in the morning. I did Google Brugh Joy and see he was a student/teacher of Self Discovery and the 'Shadow'. It would not surprise me if he were very familiar with Jungian psyche, as we are here at the Dream Forum. The term 'Shadow' is a Jungian term when it comes to psyche matters. And of course Jung is all about Self Discovery. With those common associations you should feel right at home.

As for the subject of hair in your dream you may want to view this dream {second dream} posted today having to do with hair. Perhaps there are commom themes in both dreams.
two dreams I had recently

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 59 Murfreesboro, Tn

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Hi Jerry,

I have been working on Shadow material for 6 years. And yes Brugh was brilliant with Jungian/Shadow material. His ability to interpret dreams was truly a gift. We will be holding a Memorial Tribute Weekend in Honor of Brugh at the end of the month. Many in attendance are Jungian practitioners throughout the world. I have worked with James Hillman, Marion Woodman and have spent many of hours at the Joseph Campbell Library.
As it relates to my dream I am clear that is speaks to disowned pieces of anima. (The Athena Medusa Shadow) and the Matriarchal sovereignty verses the Patriarchal. I look forward to working the dream with you
Suzanne

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Suzanne,
Before I take a deeper look at your dream I wish to comment on your response.
I too have worked with James Hillman, Marion Woodman and of course my spiritual mentor Joseph Campbell. Not in person mind you but in my studies of the psyche and my own self discovery. Campbell and Woodman especially. I am not inclined to the academics attributed to these great minds, I discovered too late their existence and to be honest it is not what I am about. My attraction is intuitive, a natural connection to the song of the soul, an understanding that fits with who I am. Even the difficult language of Jung is a spirited hymnal that touches my soul. From being lost in the wilderness to discovering my greatest assets, I am 180 degrees opposite who I was before that faithful day in 1992 when I first met Campbell {on PBS in his video series The Power of Myth}. After just one hour of watching this master of articulating the soul I was 'caught' and have been on that path ever since. I am a self taught 'Jungian' as well as self taught in web design {Myths-Dreams-Symbols being my second child}. It only goes to show how an ordinary mind {my own} has the ability to reach deep into the psyche and discover treasures never thought possible. And as in the myth of the hero the task is to pass on what I have learned in my journey to wholeness. That is what I do here at the Dream Forum and in the many pages I have designed over the past 12 years at
Myths-Dreams-Symbols.

Jerry

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Suzanne,
There is an aspect of your life that is driven by the relationship with your sponsor and her husband. Or some aspect related to that relationship. It involves the 'thinking' process, something perhaps to do with the root of your own 'thinking'. You have yet to discover the complete answers to this inner aspect. It may involve instances of uncontrollable emotions.

You are having problems identifying and/or dealing with these issues. There is a need to better isolate the condition so to get to the foundations that cause them. The symbolism of the snakes is a question that needs defining. It may relate to inner fears of some aspect of your life. And/or it could relate to the transformations of consciousness required of you to be able to confront the emotional negatives in your life. You are consciously working to discover these inner psychological aspects. But again there may be times that the emotions take control. By examining these foundations of your psyche you are beginning the process of discovery, and with these discoveries you are finding new and valuable self worth. But there are so many other defining negative aspects it is hard to realize your full potential. The job of examining them all is requiring you to expand into areas you may not wish to visit. But you are progressing, at least in the 'thinking' aspect of this inner search. As for confronting those inner fears/demons there may be an element of repression involved that has yet to loosen its grip.

There is a limit to the help others can offer you. You have yet to identify, or confront, those negatives that are at the root of your psychological imbalance. You continue to search for remnants that may provide the answers. Your condition may be associated with psychological patterns found in the myth of Medusa. This pronouncement in your dream may be important since it does define possibilities to your own psychological behavior. You may want to better explore this myth and identify characteristics that fit with your life.

End of interpretation

If we look to the Freudian school of thought we come up with associations in the child's mind that deal with the discovery of maternal sexuality and its denial. But that is Freud.

A Jungian approach would be more in line with this possibility {as an example}.

Medusa was a beautiful woman and the hope of many suitors, and that the most beautiful in her was her magnificent hair. However, fair Medusa was ravished in the temple of Athena by Poseidon, and in order to punish this deed, Athena changed the beautiful locks of Medusa into repugnant snakes.

I do suggest you examine this myth in detail and determine the psychological patterns that may fit with your life. Jung attributed the ending of a dream as the stage {see How Dreams Are Structured in my page A Simple Guide to Dreams} of 'denouement', the series of events that follow the climax of a drama or narrative and may offer insights to psychological behavior or emotions.

I'll await your response and with that perhaps we will be better able to isolate the possibilities.

Jerry

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Good Morning Jerry,

Thank you for your response. I too am one to independently explore Jung's psychoanalytical works and those of the Mystery Schools. I work intuitively and psychically but have sought many of the teachers of our times. I find that integrating their input really supports my journey. Brugh Joy worked in a way of bringing forward the disowned pieces of the unconscious so that I could begin to take a look at what was and wasn't serving me any longer. The integration of SHADOW.

Your hit on my dream is truly a gift.
Below is a piece I found while working with this dream yesterday. Please check it out. It's spot on and in alignment with your hit on my dream.
Throughout my life I have struggled with the feminine within. I am recognized as a very attractive and highly intelligent woman but have used it as a defense against the masculine. My inner conflict has existed for as long as I can remember.
As a kid, I was a tomboy who played on the boys sports teams and then off to dance class. I felt females were limited in our Patriarchal society and so set out to do everything I could to change my feminine place in the world. Today my psyche is calling for the shift. This I am sure.
This dream was precipitated by a 3 hour acting workshop. Some 20 years ago I left my career in the entertainment industry and recently have begun the process of a come back so to speak. My work that evening tapped my root Chakra and has not dissipated the energy since. The dream speaks to my anima/animus and so does my creative work. On the Divine level I am being initiated through this dream and through the return of my professional acting career. Please note that when I left my acting career I was working in the circles with many who society knows as household names today. Needless to say my entire PR Team was shocked by my departure. I feared the power of the Divine feminine and the anima so much so the time has come for the dream to come forward.
In Gratitude, Suzanne



BELOW: MEDUSA ARCHETYPE (red text speaks to me)

From a Jungian perspective the myth of the hero symbolizes the archetypal stages in the development of consciousness. Initially the ego, which is defined in the West as the organized faculty of the masculine psyche, is born out of the soul, which is the feminine uroboric unity of the Great Goddess, that is, the young god as the son/lover of the Great Mother. The development of consciousness involves the ego’s growth in learning the qualities of reason, intellect, and logic with which to first recognize and discriminate itself as a distinct individual entity, and then to separate itself from the mother. “The stronger the masculine ego consciousness become, the more it is aware of the emasculating, bewitching, deadly and stupefying nature of the Great Goddess.”

According to this point of view, Medusa, as a devouring female monster, represents the dread of the irrational and fear of annihilation by unconscious forces. While the masculine may desire to sink back and dissolve into the pleasure of the womb, this is seen as a regressive trend to the development of the male ego. The hero needs to slay the monster in order to prevent his return to the feminine uroboric unity to free himself from the power of the mother in the unconscious. The violence to the feminine is a reaction to the pull of the mother. The hero’s path of individuation necessitates a movement away from the soul, represented by the dark instinctual feminine. He is aided in this quest by the impetus of the spirit embodied by the light, rational masculine, or the Great Father archetype.

Men who have not made peace with Medusa in themselves will see feminine sexuality as something that fascinates them, but also the source of their self-undoing. As they try to protect themselves against its frightening power by destroying the monster, they will unconsciously incite the Medusa woman in their lives to retaliate by castrating them physically and psychologically. For many of us, direct confrontation with this aspect of our being, often unknown and unnamed as it hides in the dark caverns of our psyche, can overwhelm and immobilize us with its raw intensity.

And yet a man who desire a positive relationship to women’s dark moon sexuality must make the descent into his unconscious, listen to the wailing agony of his decapitated Medusa, reach out in sympathy to her pain, heal the wounds of her rejection, and return whole-within-himself to the upper world. After the hero has proved his separation from his mother, he must reestablish a loving relationship to his inner dark feminine. Until he can do that he will remain trapped in the web of destructive sexual relationships.

((((Let us now look at the psychology of the feminine who wears the Gorgon’s Head over the center of her breastplate. In what ways have women been conditioned through patriarchal culture to deny and reject the power of the serpent-haired queen within them, and how has this affected their relationship to themselves and others?

Medusa, in her association with the serpent and with the menstrual blood that could heal and destroy, embodies the dark moon mysteries of the Goddess. In her red-faced Gorgon mask surmounted by a crown of snakes, Medusa in women signifies a source of feminine wisdom that is connected to their sexuality. She points to the source of women’s powers of divination, creation, destruction and regeneration.

Buffie Johnson explains that hair stands for energy and fertility. On the head hair signifies higher spiritual forces, and below the waist it indicates the fertilizing forces. When snakes replace the hair as they replace the Gorgon’s tresses, they represent the higher forces of creation.

The serpent symbolizes the kundalini force coiled like a snake at the base of the spine that stand behind our sexual procreative energy. When kundalini is activated, it rises up through the central spinal column, activating each charka in turn, and eventually comes out of the top of the head as cosmic enlightenment. When Medusa’s hair is transformed into snakes, this symbolizes the rising of the kundalini and our ability to utilize this force for regenerative healing, mental creativity, oracular wisdom, and spiritual power.

To the extent that we have culturally repressed and feared the powers of this Dark Goddess and have accepted the patriarchal view of her as a monster to be destroyed, we have cut ourselves off from our ability to access our sexual power to create, regenerate, and know the truth from within ourselves. In face we have been taught to shirk from and reject the kind of menstrual, ecstatic, and nonreproductive sexuality that activates these powers. Medusa in us carries the patriarchy’s projection of women’s dark sexuality as evil.

The pure form of Medusa symbolizes the source of our instinctual bodily wisdom and power. However, in our fear and denial of her, she has come to represent the ways in which we feel the most ignorant and incapable. She signifies a place of deep insecurity in us; and when we are challenged in her domain we become stiff with terror and immobilized from taking action. We are rendered powerless, and our inner Medusa remains vulnerable and unprotected.

In our fear we erect a defense to hold back the forces of those who might take advantage of our weakness and violate us. By donning the Gorgon’s maskewe create a hideous face that we hope will frighten and repel others. It is a portrait of feminine anger and hatred, and her effect upon anyone who looks at her is paralysis. Medusa’s mask is ugly, yet underneath her hard and unattractive exterior is soft, beautiful, and sensitive. And she usually has been deeply wounded by a man at some point in her life.

Jean Bolen comments on the woman who is wearing Athena’s armor with Medusa’s aegis on her breastplate. If the Athena side of the archetype is more active, her well-armored (usually intellectual) defenses are up and her authority and critical gaze keep others at an emotional distance. Lederer, commenting on Athena’s stance, says, “As she displays the genitalia of the Mother (i.e., the Gorgon’s Head), she proclaims herself as a castrated woman, and her terrible sight cannot fail to repel all enemies. She becomes the Unapproachble, who fends off all sexual lust, numbs her enemies with terror, and repels desire.”

But for those of us who are severed form Medusa’s serpent power and cannot access our wisdom and strength, we continue to experience failure and humiliation in her sphere. As our fear of inadequacy increases, so do the protective barriers of our defenses. Our frustration and rage serve to crystallize the grimacing mask of frozen rage upon our face. While we are powerless behind the mask, others feel intimidated. We give looks that will turn a person to stone. The mask, now inseparable from our true face, acts to keep others away. Often we do not fully realize the effect of our glare, and so we experience and increasing sense of being ostracized, rejected, and hated by others. These negative and destructive attitudes reflect back upon ourselves, and we become bitter, blaming, and judgmental. If the mask turns inward, we are repulsed by our impotence, which grows into a pervasive self-hatred; and this self-rejection is added to our other problems.

In order to transform the mask, we must first recognize and acknowledge the wrathful face that we present to others. Our next task is to recall Medusa from her banishment and once again reclaim the serpent-haired queen by honoring the dark moon wisdom that arises from our sexuality. Medusa is the source of our deep, regenerative healing power. The menstrual blood of the Serpent Goddess that could heal, kill, and even raise the dead is reflected in the twin serpents of Life and Death twining about the winged staff that is today the emblem of the medical profession. Her blood was given by Athena to the God of Healing,Asklepius, whose daughter Hygeia, Goddess of Health was in classical times the guardian of the sacred serpents in the healing temples.

In order to claim the spiritual power of the ancient Libyan Serpent Goddess of Wisdom, we must develop our talents and inner resources that will give us a new sense of our value and self-worth. We will then see her blessings in our lives as our increasing confidence in our ability to be creative and assertive in all our life endeavors. We will remember how to use her ancient wisdom in recognizing truth, healing and regenerating ourselves and others. And we will recover the magic of our dark sexuality.

Remembering that intelligence, strength, and creativity were once rooted in the feminine tradition, we can call upon the lineage of the Triple GoddessNeith/Anatha. From Athena we can receive valor, strength and courage; from Metis the intuitive wisdom of wise counsel and creative self-expression; and from Medusa our psychic sexual abilities to heal and regenerate. The power that comes from the core of our being, which is grounded in the stability of our inner wisdom and strength, is what can truly ward off the threat of violation. We no longer need the frightening mask as a weapon of defense to conceal our insecurity.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 46 Laguna Beach California

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Suzanne,
Let me respond to your comments first and later to the MEDUSA ARCHETYPE.

You do have a great story to tell. I look forward to learning more about your journey and those who have have been a part of it. It is wonderful that you are open to sharing your adventure. Being open to sharing life's experiences in my mind is a virtue.

The time line of the beginning of your journey sounds much like my own. I was at the end of my third marriage and just happened to turn my television to PBS one Sunday afternoon to find Joseph Campbell being interviewed by Bill Moyers {Moyers I knew but not Campbell}. After that first hour of listening to Campbell I was caught by his words, and the power of myth. I read and watched everything that was available by Campbell. Eventually it led to Jung which in turn led me to dreams. In 1998 I became interested in web design and learned the basics. Later that year I placed my first page of Myths-Dreams-Symbols on line. I learn more about web basics and soon MDS was evolving into what it is today. I have more than a 100 pages dedicated to Jungian psyche and Campbell, and those related subjects as well as other interests that fit my 'liberal' leaning mind. The designing of MDS and my dream work have become a passion, my bliss. I will be 62 in 2012 and although I am far from being financially independent I plan to retire early and devote all my energies to these two loves of my life.

What has elevated my life besides my stated passions is Jung's Individuation Process {I often use links to related pages for those who visit can understand what is being discussed}. Having been married to 3 wonderful women I needed to discover why I had this void in my life. I have always had an interest in psychology but because of my stunted personal growth as a child, and the unconscious motivations that I used as a substitute in filling my void {sex} I never followed through with those interests. That is until I met Campbell at the age of 42. Jung's self psychology of Individuation has brought me from those depths of despair and having discovered the foundations of that void {father issues as well as growing up feeling inadequate due to poverty conditions of my early life} I no longer have those demons controlling my life. I have been single {other than my several cats and one dog} since my last divorce in 1993. Relationships have not been important for me, I have a mistress in my passions.

One other aspect of my life that has sustained throughout those years of blindly following a dead end path has been physical fitness. It began in 1978 and has been the one constant I have retained throughout all these years. Whereas most my age look, feel and act their age, I enjoy the virtues of good health daily. I have become very proficient in shooting basketball {an intuitive thing I believe has connections to my intuitive mind in dream interpretation} and use the cardio part of it to stay in shape. I tell my grandchildren {I have 4} they will always stand out in a crowd, if they are skinny.

As for patriarchy and the feminine aspects, I agree with you 100%. If left to me patriarchy would hold the status of a minor god and the feminine power would be elevated to its rightful place. No wonder Western religions fear the feminine. They know its power and left on its own there would be goddesses instead of gods being worshiped. My own ability to read dreams is rooted in a keen intuitive sense {enhanced perhaps by learned people skills over teh years}. I am at that stage of my journey where investigation of the deeper psyche is becoming more of an interest. Having learned through Jungian psyche to understand dreams and interpret them I believe there are great treasures within the human psyche yet to be discovered. Believing you can seems to be most important {why the selling of positive thinking works so well}. I believe I do have the ability to read dreams because of that great intuitive sense, I know I can shoot the eyes out of a basketball goal because of my intuitive senses {it is all natural to begin with}, and I believe in myself, as a spiritual being occupying this human body for a short period of time so to experience what life has to offer as an experience. What comes after this life I don't dwell. That makes it a lot of easier to configure death as a part of life and the journey. And because I do have this great belief in the power of the feminine psyche I believe whatever comes after this life is tied to that aspect of being. It all seems to fit when objectively looked upon.

With your advanced education in Jungian psyche I do hope you will make the Forum a home when you wish to explore your abilities with dreams. As of late I have been able to answer most posts but I have always have had and need help from others in answering the posted dreams {I am self employed and do have full time responsibilities}. Your 'expertise' would be a great asset at the Forum and I can assure you what you learn here will be of great benefit to better understanding dreams. And I, and those who visit regularly, would love to learn more about your path, having worked in the film industry {which is fascinating to any mind}. George Lucas is a constant favorite {he being a student of Campbell} and for someone who has insights to such spiritual people, it would make a great conversation topic. Of course you are welcome as a spiritual being no matter who you know. It is what you know that will help others in their journey.

One final comment. Have you watched the 'offical' video of Myths-Dreams-Symbols at the front page of MDS? A wonderful film produced by a young aspiring film maker in Hollywood Ciaran Vejby. Being from Nashville the most famous are from country music so my experience with 'stars' is limited. Ciaran did a masterful job with his film.

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Suzanne,
A great article and perspective. Your identification with it is a big step forward in your desire for wholeness and harmony in life. And it does seem you have isolated the core of the emotional conflict that you face and are trying to resolve. But it also seems there is still aspects of the conflict that do remain unresolved. Is that true and if so why do you think it is so?

From my own childhood experiences and from working with dreams at the Dream Forum I have come to believe the foundations of most emotional conflicts do in fact to be rooted in childhood. In your commentary, prior to the Medusa comments, you mentioned your own childhood and the tomboy personality you displayed. Have you examined those earliest childhood years to determine if there are associations to your Medusa complex? Your defence against the masculine surely has ties to our patriarchal society but is there not deeper reasons for such a position and could it not have its beginnings early in life?

My belief that most emotional conflicts begin in childhood has been boosted by the recognition that the psyche of a infant is much more developed than we ever thought. Rob Reiner has supported this position for many years through the Parents Action for Children formerly the I Am Your Child Foundation.
In 1997 Rob and Michele Reiner joined forces with leading child development experts to help raise public awareness about the critical importance the prenatal period through the first early years plays in a child’s healthy brain development.

The premise of his belief is the first years of life are the most important. It is well documented there is an association to early childhood development to adult behavior but many dismiss the importance. From the many dreams I have explored that involved early childhood images most all are associated with negative childhood experiences {confirmed in follow-up responses}. My interest in and exploration of the psyche combined with those experiences with dreams lead me to believe we can associate much of our personality, as well as psyche influences, to early life experiences. What we learn as infants become the foundations of our lives, the persona/personality being a direct result of those earliest experiences. Just as I was unconsciously driven by the influences from early childhood so too I believe as a rule of thumb we all are. An infant 'remembers' experiences seen and heard and those influences unconsciously become a primary regulator of who we become later in life. Of course this is based on cursory evidence but with most of my late life assumptions I see the great possibility of this be a truth. My ability to interpret dreams has become a reality only in the past 10 years. Before I began my journey and process of Individuation I knew nothing of the process of dreams let alone any knowledge of how to interpret these unconscious events.

So my question would be are there any associations from your earliest years that could be at the root of your psyche imbalance? Have you thoroughly explored those possibilities?

In the process of my individuation I became aware my destructive activities during my twenties were directly associated with my childhood. Like father like son, sex became my substitute for what was not given me by my father as a child. Looking for love in all the wrong places, seeking approval where there was none from my father. But I never gave it a thought until I began my journey to wholeness and my individuation. Once I discovered the associations I was thoroughly cured. I had outgrown much of the unconscious impulses but there was still that void. It too disappeared with my realization of my 'wounded self' {it seems we all possess that internal wounded child}.

Have you explored your wounded child and laid it to rest? My thoughts are when this is accomplished the toughest part of the journey is behind you. It is the most important psychological threshold of the hero/heroine journey {Campbell's Monomyth}.

The hero path is a psychological journey

Jerry

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Hi Jerry,

First let me start by thanking you for your gracious generosity and appreciation for my openness. I am very touched by your warmth in reaching out. I feel we are kindred spirits having this Divine connection via your creation to act on your soul's guidance. You provide a safe and inspirational place where so many otherwise had no place to go with their need to share.
KUDOS to you my soul brother! And I do feel this forum is like a new how where I am excited to decorate with simple beauty through the guidance of spirit. I am looking so forward to journeying with you Nd those who bring through their authentic dream sharing.

As for your additional feedback regarding what the dream speaks to once again you intuited yet another piece. As a child, my father left the family by the time I was 2 years old. I grew up without him but was reconnected with him physically when I was 21. When my parents divorced my mother negotiated an arrangement that stipulated he was to have absolutely no contact with my brother and I until we became of age(18). He honored that arrangement but when my brother turned 18 he found us. Initially, he physically reconnected with my brother. I was out here in California and already married. My father and I began our reconnection via the phone until I was 21 when he made the flight to LA to come see me. He showered me with extravagant gifts including a cabriolet. I was going through a separation with my husband at the time and that's what prompted his coming to see me. ( the husband story I will share more about later). Shortly thereafter he sent for me to come to New York and offered me a position as VP of his company and within a week I didn't want to be there. I'm a California Girl. Unbeknownst to me he too was going through a separation/divorce and had another agenda for having me come to NY. To babysit my sister while he went to Rio. An incident occurred for which he held me accountable. This was the impetus for my quick departure. Consequently, we remained estranged for some 20 years.

In November of 2008 I learned he was dying and was able to fly back and get closure. It was a most sacred reunion. Today I am graced by this experience as it opened the path for my healing. There is a legacy in paternal lineage of abandonment and this added to my inner conflict. I am the eldest of 7 children on my father's side and the first born on my mother's side. I feel my place in the biological family is to break the spell that has been passed down through the women before me. A journey I am so blessed to have access to the resources that seem to continually appear on a need basis. On my mother's side the women have been under the spell of enslavement to the masculine and that too is moving forward. This piece had to do with financial oppression. I'll share more about the financial piece later. I have a meeting to attend and have to head out.

I am humbled and holding center with our new relationship developments. i'll finish this when I get back.

Offered with Gratitude,
suzanne

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Hi Jerry and Dreamers,

Below is an interpretation of my dream from my teacher (Carolyn Conger) who is survived by Brugh Joy. She and Brugh had a 30+ year working and a personal friendship. She too is gifted as an intuitive and holds a Phd in psychology. She's kind of a Shaman Woman with a practical approach to Jungian psychoanalysis. I have been very blessed over the past year to have developed a loving relationship with her through her guidance and unconditional loving support.
In terms of my dream, Medusa continues to deepen within me as many colors of this Archetype are becoming more vibrant. I am experiencing a sense of wholeness as I deepen into this journey.
I'd love to get your feedback on her interpretation and please google her. I'm sure you will find a deep appreciation for what she brings through in her being-ness and teachings.


(Wow, Suzanne, what a dream!! Raw, sexual, sacred power is initiated through it. You have been opened to the the power of the dark feminine which can heal and destroy. And often the serpent woman has been wounded by the masculine.
I can’t think of another woman more suited to be initiated into these mysteries. You have the power, and I think it was activated through your acting in the group.
If it were my dream, I’d get images of her and post them in my bedroom and bathroom. Just that alone will help the unconscious continue bringing your particular experience of this archetype into being more available to you. And I would begin to notice and journal when I felt her awake and present within me, even if it’s a private feeling of her energy. She can’t be there all the time, but she can be waiting in the wings and giving you energy to create and relate to everything you do. So maybe there’s not much more to “do” about the dream except stay in contact from time to time with her energy.
You do have the parental protection (sponsor and husband) to integrate the energy. When they said you had to get rid of the snakes it means that ordinary traditional relationships cannot relate to it---it is to be experienced internally and in special circumstances. So it is an extraordinary state of consciousness as well as a special energy. The parental parts of you cannot let the you that is the child, become more powerful and mystical.
The dream also explains some of the chaos in your life, past and present. Whenever there is an adjustment of major power energies, the whole system (everything in your life) appears to fall apart or change. The goal here is to hold center until the new access to power is integrated.
And again, I say wow!

Love,
Carolyn)

In the Mysteries of the Psyche,
Suzanne

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Suzanne,
To be honest I don't see an interpretation other than at the last where there is general description of 'chaos' in your life. As for the sexual aspect there is the Freudian application but other than that and the one Medusa archetypal I don't see anything else. Of course the Medusa figure could represent a true aspect, her being a strong candidate for sexual power. I assume you have confided in Carolyn and that has been expounded on. Do you see Medusa in those terms?

As for archetypal applications. I don't see major archetypes as an everyday event even when archetypal figures do appear within a dream {I do believe in what I term modern archetypes-such as a house, a car, those 'almost' fixed symbols that reference a particular thing}. More often when there are major changes taking place that accompany a period of time those major events happen. Usually they are not a prolonged event that retain an archetypal association. I know of dreamers at the Dream Forum who have such images constantly but the implication is more of the ongoing experiences, the evolution of the journey to wholeness, rather than a constant change of the emotional self.

In the dream the only reference to Medusa is this; "Suddenly, the word MEDUSA comes to me". That may not be necessarily archetypal. The snakes can be associated with Medusa of course but the word itself can be from waking experiences. Has that been a constant in recent waking vocabulary in your surroundings?
The sexual aspect, is there something that would lead you to believe that aspect of Medusa also represents an aspect of your psyche?

Here is what Joseph Campbell said about gurus.

A Few Thoughts on Gurus by Joseph Campbell

I mention this because I believe it important to understand that teachers are essential in the journey but they have their limits. I personally believe the only true guru is the higher Self as an inner guide and few attain that position in life let alone are able to claim to the world {he who knows doesn't know. He who doesn't know knows}. That is essentially the journey is it not, the true Holy Grail, the soul, the discovery of and lending the life to the spiritual/ creative person within. I tend to listen to that inner voice, my intuitive guide as I travel my own path, since its discovery and integration. My goal like yours is to communicate to others what I have learned. Campbell and Jung are my teachers but it is I who must venture the journey alone. They offer help, they are my 'angels', the helping hands that fate provided as I cross the many thresholds, slay another dragon. I am very independent minded and see myself in a role of a teacher but never a guru. The word guru for me implies ego and if there is one true death and resurrection it is of the ego centric self. Campbell believed it not only had to undergo a death and resurrection but a complete annihilation because in this day and age there are so many 'society dragons' seeking to dismantle any progress one may achieve in personal growth. Let alone the emotional aspects that make us the humans that we are. and are the prime subjects in our dreams.
Not to defame any teacher{s] you may have. Just a caution that the only truth is within your own domain with the rest of us looking on. I am sure Carolyn is a great source for enlightenment.

Where do you think you stand in your journey? Have you discovered the underlying causation to a possible Medusa complex if in fact you believe it exists? I believe there are explainable roots {mostly to do with early life experiences} to all our emotional responses, outside the damage that may have been caused to the brain by physical or natural trauma {psychological disease}. Once I discovered what the void was in my life, well that was the greatest threshold {Campbell's Monomyth}.

And just we you cross the final threshold, the cycle begins again until the void is filled. Even until death.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 59 Murfreesboro, Tn

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Suzanne,
If you examine my style of interpreting dreams you may notice I try to use language that is understandable to the average person {my own self being less than an intellect and closer to 'average'}. And I use links to hep support my interpretation and provide insights to the Jungian approach to dreams. Whereas until the past year or so I tended to interpret the symbols in a dream and then add them together, I now read a dream looking for evidence that supports the symbols. Often I find evidence of personality traits {which has been verified as true in some responses} as well as discernible patterns in dreams. One such pattern is where there are unnamed children or the dreamer as a child. The overwhelming evidence is this almost always represents the dreamer as a child and is addressing childhood issues or foundations of behavior that can be readily traced to childhood {a characteristic I believe we all possess- a wounded inner child}. I invite you to read the most recent interpretations including the list below to see the results. Mind you the reason for any success in properly interpreting a dream is from the Jungian 'formula' in understanding dreams. Joseph Campbell provided those necessary tools to the understanding of symbol and metaphor {the shared language of myth and dreams} and using him as a primer my less than spectacular brain has seized on its identification with Jungian thought and an ability to 'read' dreams fairly successfully. My position is anyone who studies Jung for a prolonged period as you and I have and possesses a keen intuitive sense and a desire to investigate the deeper possibilities of the psyche can become proficient at interpreting dreams. There are a mired assortment of sciences that need to be included in those studies {Elaine Pagels being a prime example of other knowledge} but with discipline and desire it is possible to interpret most dreams properly. Conveying the dream's message in a language that is understandable is perhaps my purpose. At least it is my desire.

Recent interpreted dreams
caring trusting man without a face

Mexican Prayer Room (?)


Farming and Aliens

Train ride

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 59 Murfreesboro, Tn

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Good Morning Jerry,

I just wanted to briefly touch in. Your brain, as far as I can see, is rather remarkable. I very much appreciate your approach and agree that natural understandable language is key in communicating with the collective. Plus it takes the pretentiousness/defensiveness out of what really is wanting to be communicated.
Years ago my father-in-law (CJ) imparted this piece of wisdom: "A true intellectual is one who can speak to anyone at any level without being condescending". My father-in-law was a double Phd from Stanford University. I loved that man.I missed him more than I missed my husband when I got divorced. I find your belief system very congruent with mine and am very grateful to the universal forces for having made your acquaintance.
I'm off until later and will read the pieces you have offered.

With Gratitude, Suzanne

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 46 Laguna Beach California

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Female

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? yes