Jerry-

After my dream I went over your notes and then I obtained new insights via active imagination.
• The people I met in the cave-like room represent the contents of my unconscious mind. There are (symbolically) 144 of them, half male and half female. Not all of them were in the room during the dream. The number 144 reduced by half in series results in 72, 36, 18, and finally 9. The number nine can be reduced to 3. I as ego represent consciousness, so conscious + unconscious = 1 + 9 = 10, or 1 + 3 = 4. Both 10 and 4 symbolize completeness, oneness.
• The above reduction and addition symbolizes the process of assimilation, as in e pluribus Unum (out of many, one).
• The stone’s dimensions are 10 x 10 x 1, all numbers symbolic of unity and/or completeness. Being square implies 100, which is an even greater completeness. The stone symbolizes the Self. It is a Mandala image.
• I brought the light to the cave. I alone in contrast to the 144 can see within and outside of the cave (consciousness).

This is a very positive dream for me, and it filled me with good feelings. The main theme is unity. Unity of the conscious and the unconscious.

The difficult path I took to arrive at the cave-like room symbolizes the individuation process. I have been working at it for years. It led me to this dream. Being both myself and an archeologist seems to make sense too. An archeologist is a good metaphor for practicing individuation; probing the unconscious, digging, uncovering lost (unconscious) treasures…. All the old structures are unnecessary aspects of my self that no longer serve any purpose and must fall away. Only the original stone (enduring) cave-like room remains sound.
The light streaming through the window represents consciousness, mine, as I am the ego, center of consciousness. The fire in the fireplace represents life. Life is a type of slow fire that eventually burns itself out. The Self is also the center of consciousness and of the entire psyche. It resides at the threshold between consciousness and the unconscious, the window sill. It cannot be moved against its will, thus the bolts. It floats to represent its power over nature. It is made of stone because it is an enduring part of nature.

I, being conscious and knowing the stone’s will, can unbolt the stone and carry it with me. I take it to the others, and we face the fire (life) together, strong in our sense of unity. It is a communion with the Self. Only as one can we fuly realize the Self.

I feel like I know the others, but I don’t know their names. I must learn all of their names, and get to know them better (bring them to consciousness, to assimilate them). This is my assignment, and it will take a lot of work, as implied by the 144.

I cannot read the writing on the stone, nor do I know the meaning of the initials and dates, and I have no idea what made the scar. Those things speak to a future state, where I will be ready for that knowledge. I actually feel I am not ready to know.

The impressions of ancient memories and past lives associated with the stone, along with this sense of future, symbolize the eternal nature of the Self—simultaneously of past, present, future. I am pleased with this dream and with my interpretation, but I will probably revisit it several more times in the future, because dreams are like onions, there is always another layer.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58M

Ray,
I'll try to provide a more insightful response tomorrow since today I am fighting a head cold which limits my intuitive mind. I do appreciate your response and your knowledge of Jungian psyche. Wholeness is the intent of self analysis with dreams being nature's tool for informing us what is out of balance. Jung's concepts in dream analysis are the proper way to interpret the symbols, images and actions and when used correctly the dreamer can derive what lies beneath the surface of consciousness, the true self {Self}.

I was going to comment on the numbers in your dream but because I have so little personal knowledge of your life it would not provide the best insights of their meaning. The number nine is the number most important with the number 4 and numbers drived or related to nine providing info about wholeness. These pages will provide insights to the importance of 9 and 432. 432,000 in is the number of the universe according to Joseph Campbell the numer recurring throughout the ages in his research of mythology.
The number nine
The number 432

Just as number gave us the immune system to heal and protect the body, so to it gave us the dream to heal and protect the psych{ology}

But numbers is merely an aspect of depicting wholeness. The primary focus should be on the emotional energies with a dream since it is the emotions that dreams address. That is what I look for in dreams, emotional energies and how they play out during the course of the dream. Anyone with a great knowledge of Jungian concepts, and an intuitive mind, can discern these energies and provide an outline of them. If the person has a in depth knowledge of the dreamer's life then the personal aspects can be derived as well. At war with the commanding general in a dream would point to inner conflicts on a major scale. But it could also point to conflict with the dreamer's boss/employer or someone who has a major controlling part of the dreamer's life. As Jung stated, all dreams have at least two meanings/applications and this is what he meant, the outline of energies as well as the personal. At the Dream Forum I have only cursory knowledge about the dreamer {age and gender} which allows me to provide an outline of the emotional energies and can only guess {educated} at the personal. Age is important since the stages of life play a huge role in where the dreamer is in life. Gender is important because of the archetypal anima/animus aspects {in an outline}. The inner conflict with the self will be an outline and the actual experience of conflict {usually recent} with the boss addressing the personal. What is extraordinary is how a dream will use the same images/actions/symbols to address both. Many dreams have more than two applications and often those will develop over time with new experiences in life. We can analyze a dream at age 25 and 25 years later find new applications. There is no greater computer than the human brain and with the presence of the soul everything that is is connected. What is true within one's life has corresponding meaning in the deepest depths of the universe. Everything that is came from the original source, what most call god but that word has such limits it could never explain the full extent of its meaning. I prefer the word Gia since it represents planet earth, a living organism within the darkness of the cosmos {which is in disorder seeking order}. We are an expression of the general disorder and the goal in life, and the dream, is to find wholeness, balance and harmony. But as with the universe that is fleeting, disorder being the ruling factor.

Reading your response there is no doubt there is focus in your conscious life on finding wholeness, and Individuation. That comes through in your dream. But what emotional energies are there that control your being? Knowing those, and the sources for them {look at childhood first}, and then the dream truly speaks to the soul. I don't often interpret my dreams because at the present time there are so many things going on that I need to focus {I rescue cats and have been active in the rescue community since I retired and moved to Florida in 2013}. I have worked through my personal issues {seeking the father, the Luke Skywalker syndrome in the current era} and am at that place in time of the final stages. But when I do analyze my dreams I usually know in a short time what personal issues it is addressing. The universal energies still apply but having travel the hero path for some 27 years and having resolved most of the underlying issues I can look to personal conflicts when I interpret my dreams {also see Campbell's Monomyth}. I gain new understanding of why I had the dream and how to confront the issues in my waking life. As we age emotions take on greater potentiality in the waking life and although having travel the path there are always new obstacles. The only way I know to avoid this is to become a Buddhist monk and live that solitary life of meditation, and Nirvana.

What I would focus on is your response, "I cannot read the writing on the stone, nor do I know the meaning of the initials and dates, and I have no idea what made the scar." The writing on the stone and the meaning of the initials and dates are important underlying forces in your life. The scar is most likely a personal scar from past experiences. Again look to childhood since the foundations for who we are begins there and most often is the original source of all major personal issues. The universal applications of a dream are important in they provide a guide to where you are in your 'hero journey'. But is is the personal applications that define the underlying emotional energies and knowing those are what allows us to confront and resolve the issues. Until that is done wholeness will always be illusive. A void will always remain because we are all seeking love and affection, the inner child who never receive enough in the formative years.

I'll try to provide my thoughts on your dream with the new knowledge I have from your response. If there are experiences related to your personal life you wish to share, that will be most valuable in providing a final analysis.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 69 Altoona, Fl

Thanks, Jerry.

I look forward to your final analysis. From your reference to the number nine I found the following:

31. The number 144 is a gematrian number often thought to be connected to the concept of "light".

Nice tie-in, as my dream is about bringing light to the 144.

Ray

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58M

Ray,
I am aware of your age and although not of the stage of the journey I assume you have explored much of what is to be known on the path to wholeness. I want to offer some experiences from my own journey {I am 69} and use the language of Joseph Campbell in doing so. If you have not read Campbell it is essential if you wish to grasp the full meaning of the journey and life itself. Here is some of what Campbell had to say about this topic:

BILL MOYERS: You changed the definition of a myth from the search for meaning to the experience of meaning.

CAMPBELL: Experience of life. The mind has to do with meaning. What's the meaning of a flower? There's a Zen story about a sermon of the Buddha in which he simply lifted a flower. There was only one man who gave him a sign with his eyes that he understood what was said. Now, the Buddha himself is called "the one thus come." There's no meaning. What's the meaning of the universe? What's the meaning of a flea? It's just there. That's it. And your own meaning is that you're there. We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about.

From: Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

We've established you are on a conscious journey to wholeness. Unless you have these type 'archetypal' dreams as a norm then this would in fact be a 'big' dream pointing to possible movement to a higher stage of consciousness {some people dream big as compensation}. Usually these type dreams come in times of breakthrough. Consciously you are recognizing/have recognized the unconscious powers of the psyche as both metaphysical and learning experiences {cave}. You are participating in the dream as well as observing, having consciously taken the hero journey and learning the powers that come with 'knowing' what's beneath the surface of material life. Overcoming the set attitudes of obedience to the social world and discovering the true self {both symbolized by the stone}. There is little of any separation between the true self, the creative self and the spiritual Self. Discovering the true self, expanding the creative self can/will bring about wholeness and attainment of the Self. This is what the hero's journey is about. Whether it be Luke Skywalker, Prometheus, or other mythological hero pattern, you are traveling your own path but with guidance from those who have gone before you. You are the hero in your own life and by staying the course you become a hero in the larger world. Joseph Campbell has provided the outline of the hero journey and Jung the psychological path that coincides with it. Discovering your path, your psychological pattern is key to true understanding, of yourself as well as the world at large. Discipline is essential because you may have discovered the golden elixir translating that to fit within your life will not be easy. Many obstacles to overcome even when you think you have whether the most difficult of the tasks of the hero journey.

The above is the archetypal application of your dream. But once again I point to the personal interpretation. Have you reconciled that aspect of your life? Look to the earliest memories and evaluated what experiences provided the framework of who you are, the personality and ego? I do see issues in the dream but without knowledge of your personal life I can only outline what I sense. The breakthrough I mentioned may be related to the breakthrough in your hero journey. That could ultimately lead to a personal recognition of the symbolic meaning in the dream, all depends on the stage you are at in your journey. Personally it took until I was about your age before I truly understood this. And when I did it all made sense. Not just the pattern of my personality but also the pattern of my universal life {like Luke I spent much of my life seeking my father, a general motif in mythology and real life}. If you can comment on this aspect of your life, the personal path and experiences and how far you have come on that aspect it could explain a lot. In the dream and your journey.

As for the obstacles in life, the dragons to be slain. They will never cease. As Campbell stated, "life is series of trial and revelations". The great thing about recognizing and following the hero path is there are always the help hands of fate'. Discipline, adhering to this concept has always born out on the positive in my life. And it will work with anyone who travels the spiritual path of the hero. I believe that with all my soul because I have the experience of living it. It took some time and experience in life but what Campbell had to say about fate holds true. I don't need fate, I have the experience. Personally and spiritually. The spiritual aspect {an aspect Jung recognized as embodied in all human psyche} is the most important. That is an experience that has shown to be true throughout my journey. NOt religious, religion is for those who need to follow someone else's path. The hero blazes his/her own path. That is where wholeness leads to, the true self having recognized the SELF. And living it.

Ep. 1: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth — ‘The Hero’s Adventure’

Jerry [mediate]

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 69 Altoona, Fl

Jerry-

I do appreciate your interpretation, and I will review it several times. It is good to get another point of view for such things. All I can say about the personal side of the dream is that I practiced active imagination on the dream three times, and all three times I asked what caused the "scar". Each active imagination engaged a different "respondent" from my unconscious mind. The three different answers were:

1. You don't want to know.
2. ...can't say.
3. You are not ready.

I need to do more work, get stronger (ego?) before I AM ready.

Thanks,
Ray

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58M

Ray,
Could be repression. Or it may be you are not quite ready. There are distinct stages of the journey and although you travel a long way there are still lessons to be learned. The inner search is a long psychological journey. Joseph Campbell told many stories about the Holy Grail {the true Self} using the metaphorical references to address the inner search. The same with alchemy. Turning ordinary metals into gold {discovering the true self through inner exploration}. As I stated about being your age before finally realizing my true inner dragons {I started my journey in 1992} I heard what was being said but did not fully grasp what was said until a breakthrough. Then it all made sense {realizing my own personal dragons}. I was free from the bonds that governed my life {unconsciously}.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 69 Altoona, Fl