HI
For the past few months i have had 2 recurring themes in my dreams and have had a hard time trying to make sense of them. I was wondering if it means anything to anyone here and they an help me understand them.

Dreams Themee one
I keep seeing the arthurian excalibur and been drawn to it over and over again and, then heading out to war armed with the sword... I see battles and ultimately my own death in the final battle

Dream theme two
This is an ancient battle sceane from India where I keep seeing the image of Bheesma (he was Arjuna's grand sire - arjun was the chief hero of the epic battle Mahabharat of which/from which the Bhagavad Gita Arises) .... in this iamge i keep seeing Bheesma and it seems he is saying something but i dont seem to hear it .. and again it is the battle sceane... this time the Kurukshetra (where the final battle for Dharma was fought in India) and all i see again is blood and battle everywhere...

Strange as it seems I am at peace with the war, given how much i have protested wars this was rather a radical expeirnce of me being at absolute peace with a FINAL BATTLE...

For the last 2-3 weeks, these image/dreams seem to pursue me like my own shadow... i dont even know how or where to start to understand them...

can anybody help me understand???/

thanks in advance

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 30, San Francisco

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

MFB,
Wonderful dreams. One of my most favorite myths is of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. It offers so many metaphors as to the true waking life of the spiritual search {the Holly Grail} as well as the difficult tasks of overcoming those dragons {the job you dislike, the demands soceity puts on you, the difficult circumstances you have too overcome daily, etc,}in the waking life. These myths pronounce the need for the death and resurrection within, a death to dependency on the ego-centered self and a resurrection to the true self which when relaized opens one up to the spiritual/creative Self.

When the Knight enters the forest he takes a path that no one has ever taken before. This is metaphor for the individual path

The second dream focuses on other mythological themes, having to do with the East {you have undoubtly studied the myths and are probably on that spiritual search}. These battles in your dreams have to do with the inner self as much as they do with the outer life. When searching for that true self which has an aspect of spirituality, such battles are to be expected, even in our dreams. Of course they are metaphorical of the search and the dragons in life. You often have to shed a lot of blood {energy} in this quest for the true Self.

You are at ease with these battles. This tells me that you are indeed traveling the hero path and accepting it, what life throws at you. The FINAL BATTLE comes when you realize that it is the journey that is most important and not the final distination.

These dreams are addressing your inner search. Joseph Campbell was the master of myth and when it comes to guidance to the journey there is not a better source.

The Four Functions of MYTH....Joseph Campbell
1 The first is the mystical function...realizing what a wonder the universe is, and what a wonder you are, and experiencing awe before this mystery...

2 The second is a cosmological dimension, the dimension with which science is concerned--showing you what the shape of the universe is, but showing it in such a way that the mystery again comes through...

3 The third function is the sociological one--supporting and validating a certain social order. And here's where the myths vary enormously from place to place...It is this sociological function of myth that has taken over in our world--and it is out of date...

4 But there is a fourth function of myth, and this is the one that I think everyone must try today to relate to--and that is the pedagogical function, of how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances. Myths can teach you that.

Gerard