Sunday 13 September 2015

flashback

from Dreamscapes, first published in 2010
Earlier this month, I shared some of Carmen Medici's research into Celtic rituals during the 'Month of Coll'. Stretching from approximately August 5th to September 1st, this period in time was once renowned for enhancing shape shifting and astral projection rituals. It is the phenomenon the mystic poet W.B. Yeats delved into in his poem, 'The Song of Wandering Aengus'. Ramadan also occurs during this time, beginning when the silver moon is visible to the naked eye. Indeed, the moon appears to guide many religious and spiritual practices, its influence particularly celebrated in neo paganism, which also places much value on the interpretation of dreams.
The concept of mutual dreaming is explored by Chris Nolan in the movie Inception. It highlights the real possibilities of evolving creative awareness in the dream world. This 'architecture of the mind' theme is repeated throughout the movie and is applied to the various the levels of dreaming. The exploration of multi layered boundlessness and the multiple levels of consciousness is depicted through images such as the labyrinth.
The dreamscapes portrayed towards the end of the movie are particularly compelling. They reminded me of my early excursions through Manhattan, when the city was still alien to me. I was transported back to that great labyrinth of art and architecture, where within this tremendous cityscape, I could not remain lost, but could delve deeper into imagination.
To dream is to move beyond the mundane to a more creative state of being, because it is within our dreams that we are provided with the opportunity to meet with ourselves, to confront and acknowledge what the great dreamer Carl Jung would refer to as the Self/Shadow.
'The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.' (Carl Jung)


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