A common dream image depicts the dreamer as being sick, infirm, or dis-abled in some way — not a pretty picture. To be in need of “Big Medicine,” as Native American Indians might describe it, implies that one is diseased or “dis-eased” in a paradoxical sense that is unknown to us, while being deeply felt by our unconscious selves. By all outward appearances, one may seem physically healthy and whole; so what a blow to my self-image or ego to discover that I might actually be psychically sick!

We know that medicine — particularly the kind of medicine that aggressively attacks invading armies of viruses, bacteria, or cancer — is often destructive in the service of hoped-for healing. Sometimes, we have to face the hard reality that we may, indeed, feel worse before getting better. Taking our medicine, while ultimately desireable, can also be terribly frightening. Will we even survive?

Cancer patients face this reality whenever they endure the loss of hair, appetite, and white blood cells as their chemotherapy regimens destroy both cancerous cells along with healthy disease-fighting cells. The poison and the cure are woven together in the process of healing.

From the view of depth psychology and world religions, the ego — our daytime consciousness — is the patient of the soul. The soul inevitably and aggressively wants more and more of life than the ego will allow. And so, we need “Big Medicine” in order to find meaning in our relatively short walks upon the Earth. By surrendering to God, the Universe, or the Great Spirit — by whatever name we call the Unknown — we open ourselves to a kind of life that both heals and challenges, destroys and creates, breaks down in order to make room for new structures of living and being, and facilitates dying in service of resurrection. Only in surrendering to a conscious death of the ego’s ruling domination can the possibility of a more abundant and meaningful life unfold in ways that are real and manifold.

Of course, we all want to know what is IN the “Big Medicine.” We want to know how prayer will help, or how long meditation should last in order to acheive “enlightenment,” or how in heaven’s name will our small acts of selfless service make any lasting differnce in the great scheme of things. But then, if we actually knew these things, there is still no guarantee that we would more enthusiastically follow through with the regimens. Maybe we’re better off trusting that the Source of Divine Healing is a Love so radical and unconditional that the Cure will be worth whatever the Cure may cost. And that if the goal is ultimately a matter of patience and perseverance, then the path of health, wholeness, and peace in the world is a contribution each of us needs to make a priority — with fearlessness and resolve.

“If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.” — Ghandi

Amen

I once heard a young college student recall his surprise when he went to visit a friend’s parents who had moved to Florida. The family had lived in North Carolina in a beautiful, while modest, home, and they had attended a very conservative church near a metropolitan community. The young man described walking with his friend to the front door of a double-wide trailer on a warm, sunny afternoon in Florida. When his friend’s parents opened the door, to the young man’s shock, his friend’s parents were both naked — they had become avowed nudists!

The experience of the image of nakedness in our dreams can be equally surprising, shocking, or disturbing. Particularly is this so if the person in the dream is oneself. And maybe even moreso if there is another person with whom I am enjoying said nakedness — another who may not be a husband, wife, or partner!

So, what is this symbolic nakedness about? What does it mean to be naked symbolically, or to be with another together and naked — especially with an unknown other.

At the level of pure image and experience, it can be thrilling to be in the presence of another who accepts us and receives us wholly in the flesh:  no barriers, nothing to hide. We are unconditionally present in body, mind, heart, and soul.

At the level of psyche, nakedness can represent the unconditional acceptance of oneself, one’s emotions, desires, dreams, and possibilities. We are, in nakedness, as we were at birth — mysteries awaiting our unique emergings into unknown possibilities. We await the clothing of our lives, the shape of our destinies, and the gradual unfolding of our journeys. To return to this state of being unclothed may symbolically represent a psychic “re-turning” to the mysterious possibilities inherent in the exposure of one’s ego to the unlimited possibilities contained within one’s own unconscious depths, the psychic space where all opposites exist together.

So maybe to be naked or unclothed is the soul’s way of inviting us into that sacred space of letting go of the ego’s constricting influence on our lives — that sacred space where our own Divine souls are inviting us to become exposed to, or to rejoice in something new, joyful, and creative? Are there restrictions in our current lives that need loosening or removing in the service of freedom and growth? But not freedom and personal growth alone, for the soul seeks to take shape in service to the worlds in which we live — in service to our communities, relationships, families, and our places of work.These places are the worlds where God’s mystery is served best. When we remove the confining limitations of ego, we free ourselves creatively and powerfully for the discovery and manifestation of new possibilities.

Amen

(cf. The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images, Taschen)

The image in my dream last night is one of playing one-on-one basketball against a taller, stronger, quicker opponent, but I won’t give up or give in despite my relative weakness….

My strength is not what it needs to be — not even close to what I want it to be. And yet I am persistent. Like the proverbial dog guarding his last bone, I won’t give up or give in.

This is the way it feels being 59 years old and dealing with arthritis and the associated pain that comes and goes. It is, indeed, bigger than me in that I really have no choice in the matter now. My opponent is big and, at times, aggressive. He means to give me no quarter. I can’t get around him, but at least I can hold him off, keeping him at bay as best I can — stretching, moving, going to the gym even when I’d rather not. I’m not prepared to give up the fight — just yet, and hopefully never.

Aren’t we all dealing with some force greater than we are? Some opponent that would certainly defeat us if we would only let our guard down for a moment? I think of those poor souls who have lost their homes or their livelihoods or both up along the New Jersey shore and in New York. How easy it would be for them to give up — never thinking previously that they would have to face something as daunting as starting over from scratch.

We need to help each other in our challenges to overcome our opponents. We need whatever strength we can muster from within ourselves, whatever guile or cleverness or determination we can manage — but we also need to band together in our common humanity for the greater community.

Amen

This is my first foray into the world of blogging, so yes, welcome!

I envision this to be an adventure in listening to the soundings of soul in both my life and in the cultures in which we live. Through the messages that come to us in nighttime dreams, we connect with the depths of life, our own souls, the soul of the world, and some say even with God. In this blog, I’ll be sharing dreams, reflections, active imaginations, and other writings that hopefully appeal to anyone who cares about the place of soul in the midst of our busy lives.

Feel free to share your own dreams and reflections, writings or poetry, comments, and anything that contributes to the exploration of the collective unconscious. Together, we’ll explore the depths of life, love, relationships, work, and the worlds in which we live, move, and have our being.

Peace,

John