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STORYTIME TAPESTRY
Dream With Parthena
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Dec 30, 2005
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I
am pleased to announce a new column for Storytime Tapestry. Parthena Black is a
dream editor for BellaOnline, and a friend of mine.? I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do.
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Carol
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Dreams - Twelve Days of Dreaming
Most of us are familiar wiith
the popular song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I always giggle
when I conjure up a mental image of what a roomful of the gifts listed in the
song might actually look like! The gifts are mainly live people or animals
laying eggs, leaping and dancing! In fact, 184 of them are birds. Another
interesting piece is that when the number is actually added up, it totals 364,
which is one digit short of the number of days in a year.
There are a variety of views about the origin and meaning of the song. Some
sources say that the gifts mentioned in the song are Christian symbols while
others say that the song was written to help English Catholic children learn
the catechism in secret when Catholics were persecuted in the 16th century.
The timing of the twelve days varies based on religious or spiritual beliefs.
In pagan or nature based religions, it begins at Yule or Winter Solstice around
December 21st and continues for twelve days. In Christian faiths, it begins at
Christmas on December 25th and continues until the eve of the Epiphany on
January 5th.
Ancient folklore has it that dreams occurring through the twelve nights can
provide the dreamer with insight into the coming year. An interesting exercise
would be to pay special attention to these dreams in your dream journal. Make a
note to yourself to look back on them at three, six and nine month intervals to
see if they have relevance to what has transpired in your life.
If you don't have experience in dream journaling, here are some sample sheets
to get you started:
Sample Dream Journal
Form
If you??re seeing this form with links on the left and right, scroll down and
click on the link at the bottom of the page for the PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.
DREAM NAME:
_____________
Date: _________________________
Main People: __________________________________________________
Main Actions:__________________________________________________
Main Emotion:__________________________________________________
Main Symbols:__________________________________________________
Environment (Location, weather):
_______________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION:
Write a summary of your dream, including as many details as you can recall:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Dreams at BellaOnline.com
See the Dream Journal
Form Instructions for help on filling this out.
You might also want to try some intentionally focused or lucid dreaming
during this time to create positive thoughts that can help you manifest your
goals.
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What is Lucid Dreaming?
The term "lucid dreaming" was created by Frederik
van Eeden to describe a dream in which you realize you are dreaming. Most
people have actually experienced lucid dreaming without realizing it. In most
cases, a person wakes up realizing that things are a bit too wierd to be real,
forgets about it and just falls back into the normal dream state.
The more strongly you believe that you really *are* dreaming, the more likely
that you will then be able to control the dream. People who first begin to
lucid dream are often able to do things like fly for short periods of time that
would normally not be possible. As dreamers gain confidence that they really
*are* dreaming, they can cause even more profound changes. They can cause items
to morph, or weather to change, or items to vanish. Some lucid dreamers
maintain that they have been able to touch things in the dream environment,
even attempting to bring things back with them into the waking world.
Lucid dreams can be incredibly fun - you can fulfill your fantasies about
flying, or sailing the ocean, or riding wild horses. But lucid dreams can also
be incredibly therapeutic. If you??re terrified of dogs, you might always dream
of dogs attacking you. If you were able to realize it was just a dream, and
confront those dogs without a fear of being mauled, it might help you overcome
that same fear in real life. In this sense, lucid dreaming could be helpful in
breaking habits or changing behaviors and feelings. You could ease a fear of
public speaking by "rehearsing" in a lucid dream and directing the
speech to go well. Some have even reported the ability to learn a new language
through lucid dreaming! The possibilities are endless.
It is also known that thinking about positive imagery often helps real life
healing and activities. In psychology, this is called the "self-fulfilling
prophecy." If you truly believe that you will achieve a goal, you are very
likely to achieve that state or goal. Frequently, simply setting the goal is
enough motivation to achieve it even if your beliefs are a bit weak. If you are
ill and are able to dream about being well and healthy, this may help you
improve your health in real life.
One way to determine if you are having lucid dreams is to pay attention to
whether you had active thoughts that led to making choices to take certain
actions in your dream, rather than simply being an observer. Lucid dreaming is
most likely to occur in the final hours of sleep before waking. If you wake up
before the alarm goes off and find that you were dreaming, pay special
attention to that dream. Once you get a feel for lucid dreaming, you can then
begin to build on those skills.
Lucid dreaming is not potentially harmful. You cannot "over-dream" -
your body naturally regulates how much dream time occurs in your sleep.
Controlling dreams helps you face fears and practice skills you wish you had in
real life.
May all your dreams come true!
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You may even want to set up a dream
altar in
your bedroom with items to inspire your dreams. Before going to sleep each
night, meditate for a little while on the issue you want to dream about and
write your question or concern in your journal. Be sure to keep your dream
journal and a pen near the bed to record your dreams immediately upon waking,
before you forget them.
May all your dreams come true!
Parthena Black is a master's level social worker and ordained spiritual
counselor? specializing in dream interpretation.? She is the editor of
the Dreams site at www.bellaonline.com? as
well? as? a? sculptress and? jewelry designer.? Her art
may be viewed at www.oymygoddess.com?
and you may reach her at oymygoddess@msn.com
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