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Oneiric Experience of a Mother and Child Dream

We're going to talk about a particular dream I had about my son. When I went to sleep on October 11, 2012, the day before he was going to die, I prayed and asked the Lord of Life for him to receive my vibration of love, tenderness and affection, and then I fell asleep?

In this paper, we will discuss dream formations as a way of thinking from a different state of consciousness than the one we are used to. This mode favors inspiration, as many scientific discoveries, artistic creations and solutions to everyday problems have arisen while people were asleep.

Having access to our own natural resources allows us to remain focused on the issues that plague us when we're awake. Furthermore, for decades, scientists have tried to understand the different characteristics of dreams. Research seems to indicate that they are simply thoughts, in a different biochemical state from the waking state, but the scope of dreams seems to defy human nature.

The psychological requirements for dreaming alter neurological functioning, which is why the dream experience can seem strange or meaningless, since the chemistry of the sleeping brain affects the way we perceive our own thoughts. This is of fundamental importance on the path to self-knowledge.


A mother and son's dream: 4 years of longing

Beloved son. Today, it's been four years since I've seen you, since I've had your warm, loving embrace and your smiling gaze.

Today, you would have been 57 years old here with us, but I feel your presence alive in my heart.

Today, we are on different planes. But I feel an infinite love that unites us through the beautiful memories and the great adventures we shared.

Today, when we miss each other the most, we meet in DREAMS. That's when we talk a lot, welcome each other and are sure that life goes on differently...

Here's a description of the dream:

Ah! I hear you saying: "The line is moving! You need to stop being hard-headed and listen to me! You're not old enough, listen to me!" And we smile in search of a common denominator, and everything is resolved in another time.

I take advantage of this new time of being together and say that I heard from one of your best friends that you called me Turkish in a loving, respectful way, honoring your Lebanese origins. And between smiles and surprise, I tell you what I also heard from another friend of yours: "I'm sure my mother is always by my side to listen to me when I need it. It's true!" And that your success in the magistracy was signaled by my presence in your life, by your side, whenever you needed it and in the face of all difficulties.

And you walk around showing this place where you are marked by your deeds and actions, by the presence of your attitudes in the lives of people who, within the anonymity, exercised the unconditional love that you knew so well how to spread to everyone when you were here!

And you say: "That, dear mother, is how life is consolidated in this real and eternal place. I know that one day we'll meet and you'll be my neighbor." Laughs... And at that moment, he takes me to see the house where he lives today. Beautiful, bright, full of love and peace! Its walls are built by his harmonious actions; the doors, by the fairness of his attitudes and behavior, the roof that lets the sun shine through a crack, showing his generous, friendly and loyal heart. And when we look at the ground, we are walking on the immense energy of an ocean of probabilities sustained by the congruence and fullness of the entire journey he has been on, where he has been true to what he thought, felt and accomplished.

At that moment, he pointed me to a plot of land next to his house and said: "Beloved mother, that's where your house will be built. All our actions, attitudes, thoughts and feelings form the foundations of our eternal home! I am always here, attentive to the material you send for the construction of your house. As an engineer, I draw up the floor plan and as a judge, with tranquillity and conviction, I know that the maximum sentence of a life full of love and light will be given, because you and Dad were the mass that helped me lay the foundations for the construction of my house, where I was able to develop the exquisite and subtle finish that I enjoy today in the greater world." And then we hugged, as lovingly as ever!

At that moment, I felt that we needed to wake up to our realities and say goodbye. It was then that I invited him to continue meeting us in the DREAMS and to continue adding knowledge, sharing compassion, multiplying the gains and reducing the differences and the distance between us! And so, we thank the Lord of Life for our loving, profound and eternal reunion.

We hugged and I felt the warm embrace and the kiss on the head that I always received when we were together, along with the certainty that I would see you soon!

The dream came true, waking me up to a new dawn. Me here and him there, in spirituality, but lovingly kept inside my heart by the love that has always existed.

And when I opened my eyes, I felt embraced by this 4-year-old boy who, after all, deserves all my care and love.

Regina Nohra12/10/2021

A book of wisdom from ancient Egypt says that the god created dreams to show people the way when they can't see the future. According to Chevalier (2016), the dreamer is at the heart of their dream and the entire collection of symbols from all eras and peoples can be used to analyze dreams. According to Chevalier, dreams animate and combine images charged with affectivity and, therefore, their language is precisely that of symbols. But the art of interpreting them does not depend on rules or mechanical coding. At the same time, it requires an intimate and broad understanding of the psychic, personal and social environment, in addition to the symbols.

According to Jung (Chevalier, 2016, p. 848), one must not forget that one dreams first and foremost, and almost exclusively, about oneself and through oneself. In other words, each element of the dream is like a symbol of the subject. The interpretation of the dream, like the decryption of the symbol, is not just a response to the curiosity of the mind. They take the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious to a higher level and improve their communication networks. This is therefore one of the ways in which the personality is integrated.

The more enlightened and balanced man tends to replace the man torn between his desires, his aspirations and his doubts, and who doesn't understand himself or the events of life.

Professor C.A. Meier, whom Roland Cahen quotes in Chevalier (p. 850), says that the synthesis of conscious psychic activity and unconscious psychic activity constitutes the very essence of creative mental work.

In bereavement processes, the loved one may appear as if they were alive and tend to gradually decrease in dream frequency (and their symbolic meaning often increases) as the bereavement process moves towards a healthy conclusion, usually six to eight months after the death. However, according to Hall (2007), in cases of prolonged and pathological mourning, when the individual is reluctant to accept the departure of their loved one, the dream images often show the deceased in a negative light, or as if they were trying to abandon the dream ego.

People usually focus on the images in dreams and look for meaning in them, but it is just as important - if not more important - to be aware of the feelings brought up by dreams (Signell, 1998, p. 38). In this case, the dream brought a compensatory feeling of well-being by allowing his presence to be guaranteed at some point again, as well as a return to his proximity.

In Jungian psychology, dreams are considered to be a natural and regulatory psychic process, analogous to the compensatory mechanisms of bodily functioning.

Even when dreams are not interpreted, they sometimes seem to have a profound effect on the waking consciousness and even when not remembered, dreams are a vital part of the total life of the psyche. Therefore, in the Jungian conception, dreams are continually functioning to compensate and complement the ego's vivid vision of reality.

According to Hall (2007), interpreting a dream allows a little conscious attention to be paid to the direction in which the individuation process is already unfolding, albeit unconsciously. An additional benefit of dream interpretation is that the ego retains in conscious memory a residue of the dream that allows the person to identify similar motives in everyday life and take an appropriate attitude or action, resulting in less need for unconscious compensation of that particular conflict area.

However, Carl Gustav Jung was a pioneer who researched an impressive profusion of sources (mythology, religions, alchemy, esoteric texts, his own dreams, and the dreams of the clients he assisted from all over the world) and so, in Memories, Dreams and Reflections, Jung says that spirits can be autonomous consciousnesses that have stopped in time after the death of the body.

Canadian psychologist Allen Maffit takes the position that dreams are the biological basis of spirituality and religion because they are the only place where you can meet the dead. For him, the brain has no internal receptors, so he must rely on dream processes.

Marie-Louise Von Franz discovered that death takes many forms in dreams, including a twisted tree about to fall, a passage through fire and water, encounters with messengers such as angels, etc. For her, dreams often provide indications that death is not the end of existence.

Dreams can also help in the process of mourning the death of a loved one. Margarete Geme has observed an increase in the appearance of deceased people in the dreams of the bereaved immediately after the event of death. After a period of time, their appearance decreased and the appearance of living family members increased. For Geme, this change indicated a successful mourning process.

However, according to spiritual doctrines, in spiritual dreams there is contact between the unfolded spirit and other incarnate or disincarnate spirits. People report conversations with discarnate relatives or friends, messages or requests from people who have already left for the spiritual dimension.

What we do know is that we can't do without dreams. Dreams play an important role in the psyche's elaboration of what is experienced, as well as in memory processing situations. "Dreams behave as a compensation for consciousness at a given moment" (Jung). So what does the dream in question have to say to the individual from the point of view of their waking consciousness? The dream can manifest what is missing from this waking condition. Our nature, our inner god (Self), takes care of us so that we continue to evolve.

And so, "to find land on which to build a house" is symbolic, and as the etymology of the word itself says, it means to throw by gathering (Sym-ballein). You need a symbol that can unite you to a lost reality, and thus seek to grow and face adversity so as not to become diabolical (diábolos, he who separates) in order to balance the achievement of what is required at the moment in order to fulfill life's journey.

Consciousness knows that the inner house needs a place of support. This personality, which is living through a structure that has been shaken, needs to be understood and move on. We can't know for sure what the correct interpretation of a dream is, but we do know that a dream always means something and the dreamer is the one who gives it meaning.


Conclusion 

Dream life is usually so forgotten by most people that bringing it into their present life will make sense of many things. After analyzing dreams as vital psychic processes, the only caveat is that this matrix seems to guide the conscious ego towards a more adapted and mature attitude towards life and its events.

Dreams reassure me that our life in the physical body is not unique or special, and that there are other manifestations of life, proving the immortality of the Spirit.

In all religions and ancient civilizations, dreams have been an important way of connecting the material and spiritual worlds. Dreams can be considered "the royal road to the unconscious" on the way to individuation!

Dreams don't protect us from vicissitudes, but they act as a guideline for dealing with them and for finding meaning, fulfilling our destiny and realizing the potential of life within us. It therefore represents the various dimensions of being.

In all religions and ancient civilizations, dreams have been an important way of connecting the material and spiritual worlds. Dreams can be considered "the royal road to the unconscious" on the way to individuation.


References:

CHEVALIER, Jean. Dictionary of symbols. 29th edition. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2016.

HALL, James A. Jung and the Interpretation of Dreams: Handbook of Theory and Practice. São Paulo: Cutrix, 2007.

KRIPPNER, Stanley. Exotic Dreams. São Paulo: Summus editorial, 1998. SIGNELL, Karen A. A Sabedoria dos Sonhos - para desvendar o inconsciente feminino. São Paulo: Ágora, 1998.

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