• 51 participants
• 12 dreams
• Over 30 associations

Main Themes:

1. Search for common language, being connected.
2. Yet the competition, fragmentation across borders. Who has the knowledge? who knows the truth? We were all in one, experiencing pandemia, the world in lockdown; as we move out of lockdown, social distancing shows its effect: isolation, differences, classes and fragmentation come to the foreground.
3. Whose God / stories are best? Catholic, Hindu, a yet to be explored China, the myths of ancient Greece. Which one will give the answer? Jesus or Krishna? or the powerful symbols of knowledge like the snake in the Garden of Eden? or Shiva’s trident which destroys the world of illusions? The stick and the snake of Aesculapius, god of medicine?
4. Towers climbing – tower of Babel? – different languages. Trying to climb up high and being directed down to probe the underworld, the dreams, the journeys to the beyond, and when no answer comes forth, even the time before being held in the womb/matrix, in the gap between death and rebirth. Beyond the matrix…
5. Lingua franca: searching the language of connection, beyond differences; at first the focus is on Latin, which in fact today is a root language of a few educated people, in a way a real sign of class differences. Until 50 years ago Latin was the unified language of the Catholic Church. Latin and Catholic presence are quite strong, it makes one wonder about the element of guilt/sin and punishment at the time of pandemic.
6. Underground / rebellion, going underground? The subversive: music and art, the language which unifies, the freedom of jazz. Shoes have been left aside; barefoot, unprotected, vulnerable and at last in contact with the earth: Gaia’s response?

Dream: I am with my family. Content and at ease. Then there is a building. Hospital, academic building. Many rooms. I can see inside but cannot get inside.  Colouring of the grass. Green and blue and pink. I tried to use the outside elevator. Almost fell off. Jumped onto ledge. Had to go back down. Many people outside watching. Did not feel safe. Dog shit everywhere. Inside saw a shoe. Danger. Man in hospital set of blue scrubs chasing me. Feeling unsafe and unprotected. Not safe inside and not safe outside.

Dream: Botanist shed. Botanist shows seedlings. Left my shoes in my room. Barefoot. Botanist led us on wooden pathway. Climbed narrow stairway to reach the room. Saw my daughter on second floor. Asked do we have to climb another floor?

Dream: Dream about climbing. Trying to make our way up to the top of a large ship. Glass bridge to another part of the structure. With my daughter. Next part became like old ship timbers. Crumbling. Holes drilled into the surface – crumbling away.

Dream: Flying in a helicopter above the sea. Then flying on my own. Did some acrobatic flying. Enjoyed it.

Dream: In my house on a sofa with a friend. Large black snake entering. Don’t feel panic. Remember conversation with husband about snake – he advised not to make large movements and to step aside. Snake catcher takes the snake with a trident without killing it.

Dream: Walking down a road. It is night. Stand on divider in the road. Before we go to the place we have to take a walk. People lying on the road and covered in sheets as if they are sleeping on the street. I want to walk to the other side. Lots of people also sleeping on the floor there. Some covered slightly, others completely. We cannot walk there.

Dream: I am in a large group of tourists visiting and ancient city. Rome. On a tram. We stop by large classic architecture. Like a Museum. Pool?? Looking down to the pillars. Then an old friend who plays guitar. This is the code of war. The pole belonging to Mars? Feel the need to look for my previous colleagues. Keep missing them.

Associations:

• top of the newspaper: “You can trust.” On the bottom: “Security.”
• Helping son with homework about scientific names of things. Then he asked whether all scientific names are Latin? I said yes. All is written in Latin. It is an ancient language that is kind of dead right now. We only study it but no one speaking it anymore as a language to communicate. Asked myself: Why? All the species and names in Latin. Link with ancient Rome.
• All thee dreams about climbing. Thinking of film “High Rise”. About society in turmoil, Classes.
• Associate with dream with the bodies in die road. Makes me think of the painting: Sleepless in the Underworld. Contrast to the film High Rise. Sense of the inevitable equality between all.
• Barefoot out in the world in the streets. Without protection.
• To the word turmoil. Feel turmoil inside of me. Going through difficult personal process. But also my first day starting to work from office again. After two months of absence. Affecting my capacity to connect with dreams and associate.

Dream: Turmoil reminds of dream practising yoga on the beach. Really present in the yoga. Then NY state governor came to me. Says he needs to find my dad. My dad is a mayor in North Carolina. We have to walk there. Why not other form of transport? Have to go NOW. He kept asking me what should NY do? I gave ideas. He didn’t like any of them. Got to my dad in tiny town in NC. They agreed they will work together. I said no you cannot cross the boundaries of states. My dad’s first idea on how to work together was accepted by the governor.

Associations to bear feet, Latin and mythology:

• We have the need to do something we must eat?? we must do it when we need to do something.
• Thousands of migrant labourers have found themselves on their feet in India. They have been displaced. Trying to go home. Public transportation was ‘arranged’ but people could not get access. Some dying while walking in the heat. Hunger. Anxiety. Sadness.
• Gustav Dore illustrator. For Dante Divine Comedy. Many figures where Dante is travelling with Beatrice and with Virgil, (he guides Dante through hell to the door of purgatory, beyond he cannot, as he did not receive baptism) The rational and feeling parts accompanying Dante on the journey through the 9 levels from hell to paradise (after death worlds)
• Painting “Sorrow”. First in series of four. Painted my own feet in snakes. Acknowledgement of my own sorrow.
• Sleep in the underground. Dore. The underground under the earth. Fell asleep just now. Felt it hard to associate with dreams. Underground in response to lockdown and to matrix. Unacceptable to not share dreams and associations. Unacceptable not to follow lockdown. Rebellious.
• Keep hearing the word Latin. Greek mythology and stories. 14-year old son is dyslexic. He signed up for Latin. I felt conflicted. Not much money in school system where we live. How will children learn all the wonderful myths? Perhaps learning Latin will help him learn the myths.
• Bare feet. Think of “Barefoot in the Park”. Film. Closing scene: Jane Fonda dancing with bare feet in Central Park. Joyful and light.
• Another association to bare feet: Barefoot psychoanalyst. Felt drawn to the book. Frightened by the implicit subversion while I was actually signing up for an orthodox training programme. The author playing jazz was beautiful and moving, this convinced me to read the book.
• Barefoot brings image of Frodo and his feet in Lord of the Rings. Really really large feet.
• Latin: classical stories. Ancient stories of the gods. Violence and death. Daughter wants them to read it to her. She wants to shield her from the violence. But she (daughter) is interested in death.
• Barefoot as show of respect in churches and holy places in Asia and elsewhere.

Dream: In city with husband. Looking for somebody to show us the way. Ambivalent about following the man or not. Next scene in the house, rather open house with other people. Man coming in with his baby child. Demanding to be employed. First the scene not pleasant at all. Then comes out with baby on her lap. Sing together.

Dream: Dream about Latin. Woman and man hugging and create circular form. Hear music. Gods Wrath of Mozart. Dies Irae (day of wrath) in the Requiem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVc9G36uxPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3wFdajeAwU

Dream: On the way to the hospital with friends. Mother with daughter in her 20’s. Limping. Knees are hurt. Why these black heels if her knees are hurting? Upstairs in hospital big room with window and lots of men in business suits. Shake her hand but her hand is wet. She just washed it. He feebly shakes her hand. Young 20-ish woman asked: Did you really leave your job 10 years ago? Yes I did, I had fun, enjoyed my job. Very successful. Then I resigned because I had two boys. I was much better PR Director than I was a mother.

Dream: Going to client in central London. Went there via different means as usually. Lost. Asked someone. Directs her to the underground. Unsafe. Tries all other efforts to get there without having to go in the underground. Frozen with fear. How to find the way without putting herself in danger?

Associations:

• Same association about arriving in unusual manner. Dorothy, wizard of oz is fake. No place like home. Want to go back to home (how things were) before covid. But only if we come together with heart and brain and courage.
• Climbing, flying helicopter. Dante Divine Comedy. Purgatory. Descending instead of climbing. Underground.
• Underground association with story of Kore/Persephone taken into the underground by Hades & Persephone . Saw the positive side of him. This created all the different seasons.

Dream: Going underground narrow staircase inside a mountain. All getting smaller anxiety of getting stuck. Door. Open it. Small office. Many papers and files scattered all over the place. Worry that I am deep inside the heart of the mountain. How will I get out. Suddenly huge beach with sea in front of me. Realised I actually went down inside a cliff in order to safely reach the beach.

Associations:

• Latin association. Book of poems. All in Scotts. Difficult to read. Lots of friends who are taking advantage of lockdown to learn a different language.
• The underground brought to mind childhood experience. Many toys had little labels ‘made in China’. Trying to dig a big hole to get to China.
• Alice in Wonderland.
• Thinking how much she actually loved travelling. Bulgaria. Italy. Feel anxious and frustrated not able to do that.
• Association with dream of hospital full of businessmen. Businessmen can be like doctors.
• I was 6 or 7 years old. My parents took me to train station and said I must take the train to school. I took the wrong direction. Was upset. At wrong station very kind man saw my distress and helped me. Underground can be frightening but also a place of kindness and courage.
• Bare feet. Walking on roads. Series of dreams about Jesus. Walking with him asking him why things are the way they are. Always ends in a church with Jesus on the cross. Remember I came out of the tomb.
• Association with: no place like home. Living on my own. Needing to shield myself because of blood condition. Feel safe in my home and scared to go out. No place of safety other than home.
• Association to underground and bare feet. Being barefoot in home during lockdown. Ancestors working in fields. Not wanting to cover the cracks in their feet.
• Bare feet. Downward direction. Home was cold all the time. Wore socks. Fell down stairs when slipped. Barefoot is safer.
• Growing up with grandma always encouraging me to go play with other children without shoes. Let the earth touch you. You need to feel the earth. You can wash afterwards.
• People walking hundreds of kilometres to their home. People dispelled from capital but they have to be exposed to the journey on the way home. Much media attention. Then everyone forgot. No news about them anymore.

Dream: Interested in walking with Jesus. Story from own childhood. Sleeping with twin brother. Felt called by Jesus. Said to daddy I was called by Jesus. Don’t worry, go back to bed and in the morning you will see. Too embarrassed in the morning to say anything at all.

Association:

• Association with Jesus being barefoot. Difficulty to connect. Feel there is internal rebellion starting within me. Choosing to be a sacrifice in the light of what is going on at the moment.
• Learning languages. Conversation with friend. Online dialogue about what books to read by leaders. Searching for other ways of communication. Found self realising that many of the words we use today have their origins in hieroglyphs. Symbols and pictograms original and the gap between what was meant to be communicated and what we are communicating now. Search for a language to connect with each other.
• We have to reborn in new ways. Recreate ourselves again with different words and languages and ways.
• Shared language for everyone. Jazz. Improvisation. Play. Spanish Inquisition. Monty Python.
• Lingua franca.
• Jesus washing feet. India Krishna similar symbol always has one foot flat and other foot bent and only toe touching the ground. Walk lightly and tread carefully.

REVIEW

• Surprised at the many references to Latin and Italy.
• Latin universal language.
• Our search for a universal language. Music and art seem to be a language.
• Myths also. Jazz too. Something that would somehow articulate our experience.
• The underground being the path taking us somewhere.
• Bare feet – being grounded. connected with ancestors. source. Scary too.
• Need to find new ways for the future. Music and art universal language.
• Yearning for the past, home childhood, safety. Yearning for what we used to have.
• Theme of language. How meaning changed of words. Gay, grooming etc.
• Lingua Franca. Free language for everybody. Dreams too.
• Head comes out first when baby is born. Early experience of trauma. Feet finding to deal and heal from trauma.
• Third place – before the child comes into the womb. Another form.

Blog compiled by Martha Mens, Jean Cooper, Franca Fubini and Eliat Aram.

Image: Responsibility by Juliet Scott, 2019

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