hi ,
i felt i had to mention this dream because of its ,once again,classical mythological commparisons,the understanding of which has helped me greatly in understanding my journey,
i am on a tour of some chambers and cell like structures built into a cliff face,
while inside i have a vision of ,and feel the pain and torment of all that have been incarcerated here,
torture victims etc,
i come across an ancient book,inside are records of all the dark things done by humanity,
i realize that our guide is actually the torturer talked of in the book,
i walk across to him and hit him over the head with a wooden staff four times ,knocking him unconscious,maybe even killing him,
scene change,
three of us are running through an ancient labyrynth,
i can see the finger marks etched into the rocks by the countless people who have come this way before,
a well worn path,
we arrive at an enclosed courtyard where stands a huge tree,we climb ,i heave myself up to a ledge and jump onto the tree,i climb up to the very top,
balancing on the very crown of the tree canopy,
i am connected to the tree by a tether so if i fall i will be safe,
the leader with me remarks that ,this was the everest of its day,
i feel that this dream held a similarity with the myth of the minataur,
or more correctly the confrontation with the dark aspect of our nature,ref the ancient book,

i have tried to understand what has brought this dream to the fore,
my only feeling is,
i have been watching the tv series ,into the west,
the plight of the native americans and the utter destruction of thier way of life and spirituality had me close to tears,not something that i have just come to realize,
i have a special place in my heart for these great and noble people,who's wisdom and knowledge is something that we are going to need if we are to save our planet,
the old holyman ,loved by the buffalo said,on being asked by some kids,how and why did this all happen,
he replied , the world lost its centre,
i feel that this is the case now,
perhaps this is the reason for the sense of great change,gerard,kathy,myself and others feel,

steve.

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Steve,
I think you are on the right track. Where there is a compassionate heart, and an intellect that understands the hero pattern, the emotions can present themselves in a such a way to express the deeper aspect of the psyche. Spiritual Jungians have access to the deeper realms of the original mind and will present themselves in our dreams {if for no other reason because it is original spirituality}. I'm sure the dream is addressing your own personal path but I see a collaboration with your sincere compassionate Self within the dream also. Identifying with Native Americans and their suffering is identifying with that deeper spiritual Self, which is rooted in nature. For Native Americans true spirituality is rooted in nature.

Your explanation to why you had this dream sounds very sound to me. Understanding the concept may be difficult for some but a good Jungian education in dream psychology can alleviate that.

Gerard

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Hi Steve,
I’ve not seen the series although Madeline spoke a lot about it as is played here. She too was deeply touched. Your dream speaks volumes. For some reason the tree and your interpretation brought to mind the Tree of Life, that you are connected to this, it is your center.

Researching animal totems and fetishes led me to begin learning about a Native American people named Zuni. You may already have traveled this path. If not you may be interested in this particular tribe. Due to their beliefs and way of living they were able to escape many of the horrors thrust upon other Native American tribes. Links are below:

Crystalinks – Zuni has a brief overview.

American Indian Arts – Implications of the Conceptual Presuppositions of the Zuni Worldview.A ‘dry’ paper on linguistics but contains some good information about how their belief All is One is reflected through their language.

And finally the most in depth at Internet Sacred Text Archive – Zuni. Site contains full text of several books including mythology and folk tales.

Kind regards,
Kathy

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hi,
thankyou both for your words,
i am a firm believer in jungs idea of relating myth to dream,sometimes it is glaringly obvious,sometimes not,he has taught me to search for things i did not know,(minotaur being the beast in man)
i think gerard you termed it,things known but unknown,
kathy,
thank you for the zuni info,
i happen to have a picture as a wallpaper,
on my computer, a zuni medicine man,his drum has the bear on it,and standing behind him ,a huge spirit bear,hows that for synchronicity,
i have'nt studied these people as much as the plains indians,but i see your ref to them and the synchronicty with my interest and picture ,as a call to delve deeper.
many thanks,regards steve.

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