I was in Albuquerque, riding my bicycle around the college neighborhoods. I was in my 20's. I cycled passed several blocks of Victorian-style houses, some of which had been turned into trendy shops. I met up with a young man, also in his 20's, and we talked some, and he asked me to dinner. I agreed, got off my bike, and we walked toward the restaurant.

We walked through a neighborhood where many of the buildings had once been houses which were made out of train cabooses. This was now a neglected neighborhood, with shyster doctors, massage parlors that were actually fronts for prostitution, and other run down and neglected cabooses/houses. Many of them were empty. We walked further on and came to a funky pawn shop that was full of beautiful Asian items left by denizens of the run-down neighborhood and the "China town" style neighborhood that was next to it. We shopped, but we didn't buy anything.

Then we went on to the restaurant, and we walked toward a tunnel that was under an overpass. The man and I were separated by a group of women in "Greek goddess" style outfits who were exiting the tunnel. He was able to get in before them, but I had to wait until they had passed. (I was walking my bike during all of this). I finally caught up to him, and we were in an alley in the tunnel, at the back of all the stores and restaurants. He stopped at one and spoke to friends and said that we were coming in, and I said that I didn't mind coming in through the back and walking through the kitchen. They said no, and he led me around to the front.

From the front you could tell the restaurant was an old Victorian house that had been remodeled inside. No one wanted to live in it because it backed against the overpass, so someone had bought it and turned it into a restaurant. The front yard was very unkempt, full of weeds and no grass or plants. The sign hanging in front said "Chez Noir" and we went inside. It was a rather nice restaurant, but not very busy at the time. At the end of the meal, as we were drinking a glass of wine, the young man looked into my eyes and said, "You are responsible for everything I do tonight."

Albuquerque does have a college district, but no large China town area that I know of. Who is this strange man, and why am I responsible for what he does?

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 41, New Mexico

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

pilly,
Could this dream have something to do with your creative or spiritual Self? A part of you that provides balance but may been neglected? The bicycle {two wheels}, you and a man {balance-duality} and 20s, again the number 2, balance of the duality of the psyche.

And then there is the Greek Goddess style outfits exiting the tunnel {connection to the unconscious}. That could very well be the feminine aspect which is the space of the psyche that is the creative self. Unconsciously you are aware of this aspect {back of the restaurant} but must enter through the front {consciously aware of this aspect}. There is no conscious personal growth with out the creative {front yard was very unkempt, full of weeds and no grass or plants}.

As for "Chez Noir". In French the translation is 'at black'. You may be at that unconscious {black} stage of needing to consciously realize the importance of the creative.

"You are responsible for everything I do tonight." Ruling the masculine can only be accomplished by the dominant feminine. Night is also black or the unconscious.

As for the opening theme of being in your 20s. Was there an creative and/or spiritual experiences that may be related to the present day? At 41 you are in the prime of mid-life. That stage of life is full of searching and reflection. And learning {the many restaurants} more about yourself.

Another possibility would be replacing the creative/spiritual with love and romance.

gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 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

Oh, Gerard, I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one! I have most definitely been missing both the creative and spiritual aspects of my life, and have been working on ways to put them into my overloaded schedule. BOTH of these aspects have been neglected in my life...

The no conscious personal growth without the creative makes perfect sense in regard to my life at present.

In my 20's, I definitely fostered a dream of becoming a writer, but as time has moved on, I let that go to pursue a more stable, secure way of making a living. The spiritual aspect also comes into play, because at the same time in my 20's, I was committed to daily meditation and a type of home-spun Buddhism that I was drawn to explore because of a dream, believe it or not. Those are two other things that I have let go because I allowed earning a living to take over my life. I have now come back to wanting to establish a daily meditation practice, but keep finding life getting in the way.

You have definitely interpreted this in a way that is meaningful to me. I think you are correct abou the dream speaking to these aspects, and not love and romance, because I am quite content and happy (knock wood)in my marriage.

Thank you again for your time and help, Gerard!

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 41, New Mexico

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

pilly,
Thank you for providing the follow up post. The dream, its interpretation and your response not only provide insights to how the dream fits in your life, and help in direction for you to continue your spiritual and creative path, it also provides me with an opportunity to provide insights to how I came up with the interpretation. I hope you don't mind me using your dream as an example.

The First Paragraph
To view the dream as written, on the surface there is little that causes one to look to the spiritual and creative Self as a theme. Yet the dream did two things in its beginning which led me to look in a particular direction to my interpretation. It first offered symbols that led me to the spiritual and creative, while at the same time offering images that addressed a time frame from which that spiritual/creative search began. This is not uncommon for dreams as Jung often stated is the case, dreams will very often provide two or more interpretations of dream symbols and/or motifs within the same dream.

The first clues were the associations to the number two for which I saw as a desire/need to find balance {an immediate intuitive perception on my part}. You must balance yourself when riding a 'two' wheel bicycle. Then there were the ages of you and the young man, in your 20s. Again the number two. Although that alone doesn't provide concrete evidence to a spiritual/creative connection, it did focus my attention on a need/desire for balance {again, an intuitive perception}. But what led me to the spiritual/creative possibilities were the Victorian-style houses. A 'staple' image in most dream are houses and the house is almost always symbolic of the dreamer or aspects of the dreamer. The description of the house thus becomes important.

My first inclination was to confirm my understanding of what 'Victorian' represented, in terms of definition. Using the old mouse I was led directly to one particular page {out of many possibilities} that offered this summary; It is from the time of Queen Victoria and the Victorian era, "a tremendously exciting period when many artistic styles, literary schools, as well as, social, political and religious movements flourished". Not the standard dictionary response you will most often find but the page I chose out of all the possibilities.
Note: Perhaps as important is my choosing the above link in particular when other pages on Victorian era stated a bit different, most not including the language that pointed to artistic styles or flourishing religious movements. I consider this as an intuitive guide that often is available to those who believe in the power of the intuitive psyche {as I strongly do believe}.

This house would be your house and the link above propelled me to look in that direction in my approach to interpreting your dream. A spiritual/creative connection, something that began in your 20s.
Note: Anytime I see a time frame of an age of the dreamer I look to that as important. It 'very often' does point to a particular time frame as being instrumental in the life of the dreamer. I have found this to be true in a 'great many' of the posted dreams I have interpreted.

From the first paragraph my attention was directed to the spiritual/creative aspects while also looking to the time frame when you were in your 20s as something to look for also. Of course nothing concrete had been established from that beginning but it did 'push' me in a particular direction. This is often the case in my interpretations, an intuitive approach that sees beyond the mere words to reveal greater possibilities that are most likely correct. I have come to believe that the intuitive mind is available to anyone who seeks to broaden that aspect of the psyche, and is able to let the 'intuitive self' proceed unencumbered by ego. A metaphysical process that is inherent in nature of the human psyche {as are the archetypes of Jungian psyche}.

The Second Paragraph
The neglected neighborhood, and other run down and neglected cabooses/houses would be a description of some aspect of your life {remember, the dream is about you}. The prostitution was also an important symbol because it reinforced my observations from the first paragraph that something about your life was out of balanced, and being used as something that 'prostitutes' your true Self. And the empty houses. Without the spiritual/creative Self life is empty. Instead of the Victorian rich houses you are next to the 'cheapened', inexpensive, China made surroundings that detract from your true self. Asian 'items' in themselves are not cheap but rich in oratory and advice. But 'next to' that is the other side of the tracks, China town, thought of as less than desirable.

The Third Paragraph
Restaurants are where you receive nutrition for the soul. Tunnels lead to the unconscious realities to the conscious life. The Greek Goddess is the divine feminine, the highest power within the psyche {yes, above that of the masculine}. And it is most always spiritual if not creative {the nine Muses of Greek mythology}. This separates the feminine from the masculine, the masculine must be in submission. Yet your own masculine aspects must be strong, lending itself to a full balance of psyche. It is in accord with the harmony of a balanced psyche that one succeeds in their quest and completion of the spiritual path. This is a common theme of most mythological stories throughout time and history of mankind.

The Last Paragraph
"From the front you could tell the restaurant was an old Victorian house that had been remodeled inside". Consciously {front} you are beginning to realize the 'true' condition of your life {even prior to this dream}. This condition is not something you want to live in because you are backed up against the social directives that take away from the creative and spiritual. So you have to look inward for that 'nutrition' that will feed the soul {restaurant} and not the demands of the ego centered social being {what I call the 'social dragon'}. The ego self is void of growth {"The front yard was very unkempt, full of weeds and no grass or plants"}. Chez Noir, the black, the collective unconscious is where you will discover state of balance and harmony you desire. It is 'a rather nice restaurant' but too little activity. The glass of wine is the spiritual blood of sacrament and the 'responsibility' of achieving the spiritual is in the hands of the power feminine. With that the masculine is led to the light, not submissive but in accord, balanced, and harmonious.

Forgive me for using so much space to explain my reasoning for the interpretation of your dream. But the way the dream unfolds is a perfect example of how most dreams do present themselves. Having met the primary test of being a correct interpretation to your dream {if the interpretation fits with your life then it is most likely correct} I wanted to illustrate how I use the intuitive self to examine all aspects of the dream. Of course central to do that is an understanding of Jungian concepts of dream psychology. Without Jung we would be unable to properly interpret dreams in such a meaningful way that let's the dreamer understand how the dream language is describing the dreamer's life and all the aspects that make up that life.

gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 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

pilly,
One additional thought on how dreams are structured which goes to some of my thoughts in my last post. This is from my page A Simple Guide to Dreams.

How Are Dreams Structured?

There is no 'one' defining theory of dream structure.
But Jung supposed the majority of dreams are composed of four parts or phases, pretty much as in a drama play performed before an audience. The dream is very much like your life on stage, and you are the director, actor and witness. First we need to figure out the scene and time of dream as well as dramatis personae { the actors in a play}. In first phase, which can be regarded as the exposition, the initial situation (setting) is represented – already pointing at central conflict expressed in dream.

Example: The dream starts out, "I'm in my mother's house". Or "I am riding on an out of control train".


The second phase is the plot and contains something new (essential change), which leads the dream in the third phase: the culmination. In this phase the most critical things happen, which bring the dream to a closure: the fourth phase or denouement. Jung attributed extraordinary significance to the end of dream. The end of dream is so important, Jung held, because we cannot consciously influence on the outcome (i.e. change the end), and dreams so reflect the real situation.

Jung: "Nature is often obscure or impenetrable, but she is not, like man, deceitful. We must therefore take it that the dream is just what it pretends to be, neither more nor less. If it shows something in a negative light, there is no reason for assuming that it is meant positively."



According to the end of dream, Jung discriminated between favourable and unfavourable dreams. If we were to reverse the well-known proverb, then for dreams we may say that a good end makes a good beginning. Favourable dreams have quieting effect and direct us to the most constructive ways of solving problems. On the contrary, unfavourable dreams contain a warning of, perhaps life important, negative changes. Hence dreams can be said to have a prospective function; they warn us about bright or dark future. Favourable or unfavourable end of dream, however, must not be taken as a final and absolute meaning of dream. This can be done only after several interconnected dreams.


Even though Jung found the structure of dreams as described above, he warned not to take this as literal law. Look at the whole dream [and subsequent dreams] to determine what the dream message is.



gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 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

Email  

Oct 5th, 2008 - 10:28 AM