Hello Everyone,
I'm not sure exactly how to post this because I am wondering about certian symbols in several dreams I've had lately. If this is a problem, let me know and I will post a specific dream.
In the last 4 months I have had 5 dreams involving Jesus (2 dreams), buddha (2 dreams) and a medicine man (3 dreams). I've done some reading (Jung, and 'christ and buddha'), done some art and talked about these in therapy. Still..I don't have any idea or feel any connection to these images. I will say that I am put off by the medicine man because he was white in the dreams. My bias suprises me but that's my problem in terms of feeling stuck.
any ideas would be welcome
best regards,
Leslie

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 wisconsin USA

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Leslie,
Yes, it would be best to post an actual dream to discern the real possibilities of its meaning and intent.

All the characters you mentioned are often thought of as 'spiritual' men. Jesus and the Buddha spiritual icons of specific faiths and the medicine man the spiritual advisor for Native Americans. The clue may be in the medicine man being white which may suggest something is not proper about that image. The medicine man being white may suggest something inauthentic about your spiritual identity. Are there any questions to your spiritual self that are now in question? It could also point to somethng about yourself, or in your life that is 'inauthenic'.

The fact all the people you mentioned are men may play some role in the meaning of the dreams. The feeling of being stuck may be due to masculine tendencies or actual waking life associations with men. Perhaps there is a quality about this masculine aspect that holds itself up as 'superior' and that is what is bothering you.

Post a dream and perhaps these things will become more clear and the intent of your dreams will also be more transparent.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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Hi Jerry,
Here is one dream. I am with Jesus in the underground area where he was buried. He and I are both dressed in white robes. He is weeping and says "I am going to be crucified and it's going to hurt. Where is my father and why has he forsaken me"?
All I can do is sit with him and try to be of some comfort while he weeps. I realize there is nothing I can do to stop this process. I can feel that for the moment we are safe in the little tomb and it feels comforting.

At first memory I thought I had reached out and touched him in the dream. Later I realized that I wanted to reach out but was afraid to touch him at such a tender moment.

This dream was the beginning of this series.
To be blunt, this dream came prior to my having some vivid memories of my dad which took me back into therapy.
I have been talking about who I really am v.s. the way I present myself to others. Which of course has to do with being authentic.
Leslie

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 wisconsin USA

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Leslie,
Jesus crucifiction, and resurrection, in its association to the individual often represents the transformation of consciousness that person is actually experiencing in their life. If there is not a spiritual transformation currently taking place in your life, then perhaps there is another transformation of 'spirit' the dream is wishing to communicate. You speak of 'going back into therapy after vivid memories of your dad. Could this transformation have to do with that. Wanting to reach out and 'touch' Jesus in a 'tender' moment may be addressing an 'inner' desire to reach out and touch that spirit within yourself {and possibly your dad}. Jesus could represent that higher feminine aspect {Jesus lived out of feminine aspect, God the masculine}. This does seem to be an odd way to approach such a transformation but dreams do have their unusual ways.

Can you elaborate on the therapy and the vivid memories of your dad? Since these dreams began right after those memories, and return to therapy, there may be something in that which will provide clues to te symbols and metaphors of seeing Jesus and the Buddha, as well as the medicine man.

And you mention your authentic self. Has that self been adversely affected by the father/daughter relationship? I suspect te dream is addressing some type of transformation but pinning it down may take more dreams and/or info.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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Hi Jerry,
I've been thinking about all the information you have given me. Right now I"m reading the wounded woman by M.Woodman which i'm sure you know about. My Dad was very wounded and violent. These are the memories I am having. This time though, I can feel them and in the past they have been like a movie.

I"ve thought for years that I 'worked through' this but it seems to me that as I get older, illusions fall away and I am left with feeling that I have failed in some important ways. What I am learning is that I appear to be really well put together and the idea of failure to me seems unbearable. What I thought I knew turns out to be survival skills and not my genuine self. I am well armored but my genuine self is very tender, patient and loving.

My Dad and my brother both committed suicide and both said they had 'failed' prior to death. They also both felt they had a sort of special connection to God. Neither one of them ever got beyond their own extreme experience with being abused.

I do not want this to be something I feel.
I find the thought of 'spirit' or being more spiritual very lonely and scary. And yet it is always something I've desired and felt deep in my bones. These male images leave me feeling nothing (except for the dream I posted).
The medicine man showed up to help me get my son's attention over to a white wolf. Then he was a tattoo on my arm which my friend was 'uncomfortable' with. Then he was a ghost while I climbed a cliff to find jewels.
Buddha was a tattoo on the arm of the friend of mine who did not like my tattoo. He came up in another dream in which I told a woman " I hope you can find Jesus and Buddha because they will heal your pain". She grabbed me and said " ditto'.

I often dream of the goddess and feel very connected to these dreams. My art is almost all invoving females and animals. I have never understood the masculine aspects of my dreams or what they mean.
Perhaps in sharing these themes I can start to touch this part of myself.
You have already given me much to work on and I thank you for taking this time with me.
Leslie

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 wisconsin USA

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Leslie,
Ill provide specific comments later. But I do want to express my belief that you are progressing when you say there is still work to be done. And you were working with survival skills and not your genuine self. What dreams do most is provide insights to that genuine self and those things that prohibit you from being that true person.

There is a need to do more in your progression to being that true self. The fact your father and brother committed suicide makes it even more important that you discover those deep seeded, and often very unconscious, motivations for a need to be a survivalist. Is there genetics that need to be concerned with? Or is it the poor/improper childhood your father, your brother and you were brought up in that contributes most to these emotional disparities? Their 'failure' wasn't something that just happened. There are always deeper causes to every condition and most often it is in childhood the foundations are to be found.

It is important to understand the significance of waking experiences that turn into symbolic representations in dreams. The tattoo of the Buddha on the guys arm is one. Using that symbol as a metaphor in your dream is common dream stimulus and isn't something I can name or 'predict' because it was a personal waking experience being used as a symbol. But the inclusion of such symbols is common and when looking back at the actual experience you begin to see why it may have been included. But when you look deeper within yourself you 'realize' why it was used. It is describing some aspect of your psyche, fitting neatly into the scenario that is your life. And the goddess in your dreams. That is a representation of the highest order, your won higher self. And as is all art, your art is a self portrait of you. And your struggle with the masculine {which is in one big for instance your father}.

"Perhaps in sharing these themes I can start to touch this part of myself.

There it is. Sharing these themes, first in your art and now verbally. That is best route I know of to bring these unconscious energies to consciousness. And by being conscious the energy that had over you reside and you begin to 'take back' your true self. You are no longer living a life of survival but living the true life of self. Great progress, one realization at a time.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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Hi Jerry,
I had a dream last night that I had my own home and it came with all the things I loved..like a huge back yard and a little river. There was much work to be done but I knew it was possible. There were two mysterious stairways that were in the back yard and were mine. I wanted to explore but knew I had to do a lot of yard work first.
I think this was a good dream.
I am very grateful for your feedback. This journey I am on is very difficult and getting a better sense of what these dreams mean is helping a lot.
I believe that dreams are the key and will always tell me my own truth, over and above everything else.

Just to be clear: the tattoo's were all dreams. My friend does not have a tattoo, but I dreamed that he did (buddha).
He comes up often in my dreams as a supportive person.
Leslie

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 wisconsin USA

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Leslie,
Yes, your dream does seem to be very positive. Not only do you have that house {you} love but are aware of the need for more work. Those mysterious stairways can lead to more discoveries. But the fact you had such a positive dream may indicate there is nothing so dire that is hidden in the depths. That may be a positive statement about how you are successfully navigating the psyche in your determination for personal growth.

And the tattoo of the Buddha only being a dream. Perhaps it is a response to how you need to 'have a tattoo', metaphorically speaking, in your spiritual life. When I say spiritual I mean the higher self, a progressive self who is determined to succeed in the journey to personal growth.

What aspects in your life do you still feel you are stuck? This dream may indicate you are working in the right direction on those problems. As always with owning a 'home', there is always work to be done.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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HI Jerry,
I am very grateful for this discussion we have had. Interesting things are happening all around me in terms of houses and medicine men and who knows what else tomorrow.
thanks so much. i've learned a great deal here and it's sinking in.
best to you,
Leslie

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 wisconsin USA

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

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