A new tarot layout
I find tarot helpful in gaining insight on creative projects. Recently, I discovered a new tarot layout in a book called Tarot and Psychology by Arthur Rosengarten PhD that is especially good for this purpose.
This post is about that layout and how I applied it. It also includes some basic tarot pointers.
Here is Dr. Rosengarten’s Layout:
- What is for us?
- What is what is against us?
- What is known?
- What is unknown?
- What do we need to know?
How I read
The images on the cards are similar to images in dreams and the same rules of interpretation apply. A working knowledge of symbolism and mythology is helpful. Knowing the cards is helpful too but, as with dreams, personal associations matter.
When I read, I try to take it seriously. I dialogue with the cards and allow plenty of time to journal and reflect. I usually lay the cards out on my library table. Having a dedicated space is nice because you can leave the cards out as long as you like, but it’s definitely not required.
The ask
If you read tarot, you have probably heard all of this before but I think it bears repeating.
- The first step in any reading is to formulate a question. The question should be open-ended and leave room for reflection.
- Asking for insight and understanding is good. Asking the cards to directly tell you what to do is not.
- Asking about the future or a specific outcome (fortune-telling) is the lowest and most disempowering use of tarot.
NOTE: Not everyone agrees with this list.
My question for this reading was, “What do I need to know about my new writing project?”
As I shuffle I consider the situation, looking at it from different angles, then try to enter into an open or detached state toward the end.
The reading
These are the first five cards I drew according to Dr. Rosengarten’s layout + two extra cards I’ll explain as we go.
- What is for? The Fool (0)
- What is against? 6 of Pentacles (6)
- What is known? The Star (17)
- What is unknown? 7 Cups (7)
- What do I need to know? The Empress (0+6+17+7+=30=3)*
Looking at the first 5 cards
I journaled six and half pages on this reading so I’m just going include a few highlights. As you’ll see in the next photo, I have a second notebook I use to write down actionable ideas I come up with as I journal.
I try to look at each card like I’ve never seen it before. While I know all the standard “meanings,” I like to think about what I see in the card in the here and now.
When I journal on the cards, I end each entry on each card with a question for further reflection.
Here is a condensed example of what I wrote in my journal on this reading:
The Fool (for) Idealism. Seeker. The journey. Beginnings. The Fool as I see him this morning isn’t only beginning a new journey filled with naivete and optimism—he’s embracing it. His arms are wide open, like he is open. The future is uncertain, the chasm yawns, but he is wholly in the moment. I see a visionary with his eyes fixed on the vision. I sense the energy of new beginning. How can I ride this wave?
The 6 of Pentacles (against) Earth. Generosity. Wealth. Over-spending. Need. I used to always read pentacles as money and I still look at that first. This is a card of flow. It can be seen as generosity, depletion or need. I’m not overspending on my writing business but what about my energy? Pentacles are earth so this might be about energy lost through projects. I’m not doing too much (for me) but there are several steps left in getting my last completed project published. How does that affect this project? Are there issues about distribution I need to consider?
The Star (known) Hope. Balance. Destiny. The unconscious. Like many major arcana cards there is a LOT that can be said about the Star. Today, the eight pointed star reminds me of Inanna and her descent and the pool is the deep well of the unconscious. I am reminded of archetypal energies pouring out the water of inspiration into both the deep well and the thirsty ground. These are familiar (known) motifs and associations but how might they apply to the story I’m writing?
The 7 of Cups (unknown) Emotion. Water. Fantasy. Confusion. Discernment. The same card in the same position it was in last week. That reading was about fiction writing in general but its reappearance (like a reoccurring dream) makes me think I haven’t really understood the message. In some ways it mirrors the 6 of Pentacles (both show division). Cups are water and water is emotion and therefore related to inner states. How I am divided or conflicted and how might this be showing up in or around the story? What have I missed? How am I scattered or indecisive?
The Empress (what I need to know) Fertility. Creativity. Venus. Queen of Heaven. Selected from the numerical total of the other cards (30 = 3 + 0 = 3), the Empress circles back a familiar goddess archetype. Romance books explore the feminine (note the symbol on the rock). Many of my stories have themes of trauma and healing, including the vampire story I just finished and the romance I’m writing now. The Empress, seems to be addressing some reservations I have about my FMC. But is this accurate?
Looking at Cards 6-8
Cards 6-8 are extra cards not in Dr. Rosengarten’s spread. They are the two aces in the photos plus Strength.
Possible progression (6 & 7) I like to pull two more cards to join with the “what is known” card in the top of the spread. This is a little predictive on the surface but I think of it as where things are > where they may be headed.
The Ace of Swords (air, beginning, spirit, inspiration) > Ace of Pentacles (earth, beginning, material, building). To me, this shows a good progression, from conception to implementation. This is the energy of beginnings (which connects to The Fool), however, not of completion. Aces are especially meaningful to me, so much so that I once wrote a poem on the topic. It was about starting over. I'm starting over with a new story. What are my next steps?
An 8th card for clarification I wasn’t sure if my insights on the Empress were on target or not. Given the symbolism in this reading, I liked the idea of an eighth card so I shuffled and drew one. That card was Strength which is card 8 in the major arcana. It is also the featured card on my tarot calendar for August. The number and symbolism seemed synchronistic so I read what was written on the calendar.
I liked what the calendar said about strength from within vs. strength over others and the reminder that the original name of the Strength card was Fortitude—which is one of the four cardinal virtues as represented in the major arcana. Fortitude is strength that does not break. The woman taming the lion in the Strength card (3rd from the left below) reminds me of Ishtar with her lions. The Star and the Empress suggest other related goddess archetypes (Inanna and Isis). To me, the mythology is relevant. But how might I apply it?
My takeaway
I think the questions posed by the 6 of Pentacles and the 7 of Cups call for further thought. I liked the idea of fortitude as it might apply to bother me FMC and myself. The aces call for a shift—from envisioning to building but it is all very preliminary.
I found the goddess imagery in this reading interesting. Associated attributes like creativity, intuition and independence are qualities I want to further develop in my FMC and in myself.
As I journaled on this reading, I got some specific ideas about characterization and backstory—as well as some general insights about the plot.
The cards will stay out on the library table until I feel that I’ve gotten all I can from it—but I already feel that I’ve made progress.
___________
🩸 You can check out the first chapter of my vampire story (which I’m serializing to Substack) here. Check it out if you're curious about how I write romance: https://barbaragraver.substack.com/p/trancing-miranda-vampire-story-ch-1
Luna wondering when tarot time ends and walk time starts:
©2025 Barbara Graver. All rights reserved. This is an original essay. Do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission. This post cross-posts to barbaragraver.substack.comIt is often difficult to see how a single dream compensates the consciousness of an individual. If there is a dream series available, the meaning of the compensation often becomes more evident. — Murray Stein, Four Pillars of Jungian Analysis
I had the first dream in what I’ve been calling the Dream Gate series last year and the most recent a few weeks ago.
The dreams so far are as follows:
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The Dream Gate: Technically two dreams divided by short period of wakefulness but effectively a single dream.
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The Dream Wall: The longest dream in the series which made the theme of the series (the interpretation of dreams and my Jungian studies) clear to me.
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The Dream Vault: The most recent dream which can be found below.
In this post I’ll share some of what I’ve learned about how a dream series works, the Dream Vault dream, Jung’s theory of dream compensation and how all of this comes together for me.
About Dream Series
One of the primary functions of dreams, per Jungian thought, is to compensate for (or correct) the many erroneous attitudes of our waking life. This is Jung’s theory of compensation in a nutshell. (For more on this topic, please see my post On the Nature of Dreams.)
While there’s a lot you can say about the dream series idea, the really fascinating thing to me is how a series can help us better understand compensation—and where our waking attitudes may be out of balance. For me, this is a relatively new way of looking at dreams.
Before I was introduced to Jung, I liked to imagine that dreams, were meant to encourage me. Dream series, in particular, seemed to be showing how I was progressing in life. According to the theory of compensation, however, our dreams usually aren’t telling us what we’re doing well. They’re telling us what we can do better.
Not as flattering, obviously, but a lot more actionable.
Unless we’re stuck, the guidance we get from our dreams changes over time—and this is true even within the boundaries of a given dream series. While each dream in a series is a variation on a theme, the specific message will, and should, change from dream to dream. In my experience, these messages usually point to something I need to address.
When I first started working with the Dream Gate series, I was looking at the individual dreams as indicators of personal spiritual progress. Now I see them in a more actionable (and down-to-earth) way.
The Dream Vault Dream
What follows is the most recent dream in the Dream Gate series. This dream was short but powerful. Audio is rare in my dreams but there was sound in this one.
I’m walking through a long underground chamber or passageway As I walk, heavy battleship gray iron doors crash open one after another to let me pass. The mechanism is automatic and the doors are are loud when they open and I know that they are signaled somehow by me. They remind me of doors on a vault. My impression is that the passage is rectangular or square (not arched) with heavy girders overhead. The space has an industrial feel. It isn’t bright but I think lights come on as the doors open for me. I am moving fast and feel a strong sense of purpose. There is an energy to the dream and a feeling of determination or even command.
This is the only dream in the series that occurred underground. It is similar to dream one because the dream doesn’t reveal what’s on the other side of the door (or doors). It is similar to dream two because I am being proactive, In all three dreams, vital information is withheld.
The Series as a Whole
In this present study of alchemy I have taken a particular example of symbol-formation, extending in all over some seventeen centuries, and have subjected it to intensive examination, linking it at the same time with an actual series of dreams recorded by a modern European not under my direct supervision and having no knowledge of what the symbols appearing in the dreams might mean. — Carl Jung Psychology and Alchemy CW Vol. 12
I like what Jung says about tracing particular symbols through a series of dreams. I haven’t read Psychology and Alchemy so I can’t speak to how he did that. But I think it’s okay to make connections between symbols that aren’t absolutely identical.
Dreams are fluid, in my experience, and symbolic elements are rarely fixed. In the Dream Gate series, the first (the Dream Gate dream) had a wall and door/gate. The second dream (the Dream Wall) had only a wall. The last (the Dream Vault dream) had a series of doors. To me, these elements are all closely related.
The common symbolism revolved around boundaries, passageways and a strong sense of the unknown. While these elements presented in different ways, I believe they’re connected.
Dream One (the Dream Gate)
I didn’t know what was on the other side of the door in dream one but the volkknot symbol over the old arched doorframe supplied context. I knew the dream was talking about what I used to call “the other side” but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make that kind of connection or enter into that reality again or how I could reconcile it with Catholicism. Sometime later, a synchronicity provided additional insight.
To me now, the land of the dead and the other side and the collective unconscious and its archetypes are one in the same. And I am not afraid of it.
Back then, however, I was wary.
Dream Two (the Dream Wall)
In dream two, I crossed a wall to speak with the Interpreter of Dreams. This gave me the general theme of the dream. To me, the old man (the Interpreter of Dreams) and the scroll he was holding represented dream interpretation and Jungian psychology—both of which I was then actively studying.
I still had reservations, however, about what I was learning. Not long after the Dream Wall dream a second synchronicity helped lay those reservations to rest.
I liked the imagery in the Dream Wall dream and was happy to have found my way to the wise old man.
This, I thought in the aftermath of the dream, shows progress—but I hadn’t read Jung’s thoughts on compensation then. If I had I would have realized that while I had overcome my prejudice I still had a LOT to learn.
I realize this now. The Interpreter of Dreams did not show me his mysterious scroll or provide an interpretation of the dream I’d brought him. I was in the right place, but I wasn’t getting it.
And, in some ways, this is still true.
Dream Three (the Dream Vault)
The Dream Vault dream is a great example of Jung’s theory of compensation at work.
The person striding through the underground vault in this dream isn’t me. The heavy iron doors of the underworld don’t crash open at my command. There is no actual power or mastery. This is not where I’m at or even where I’m ending up.
Because that isn’t how compensation works.
Dreams aren’t a pat on the back. They're a challenge.
And I understand why I’m being challenged. I have NOT been focused. I have NOT been studying. I have NOT been working with my dreams. And I need to do better. Not crashing through the gates of the underworld better, necessarily, just an hour or two here and there.
Because knowledge IS power and if you want it you have to work for it.
Next Steps
There have been a lot of kind of cool symbols in the Dream Gate series so far. Medieval gates, dark symbols, mysterious scrolls, walls—both broken and intact, underground passageways, wise old men, a journey through a winter wood looking for answers.
I know that each of these symbols are important or they wouldn’t be in the dreams. I know I need to make time to reflect and look individual elements up in my symbol books and journal about Persephone and the Descent of Inanna.
I love doing that and I love that Carl Jung thought myth and symbol were necessary tools in the toolbox of dream interpretation. But I don't actually spend a lot of time filling that toolbox—or havent been—and I haven't been spending a lot of time with my dreams or engaging in active imagination or reading Jung either.
Which makes me think about my prorities and the general structure of my day-to-day life. And it occurs to me that the scrolls that need to be read and the doors that need to be opened aren't actually in the dream. They're here.s.
- If you want to know more about the other dreams in the series, please click on the appropriate links: 1. The Dream Gate 2.The Dream Wall
- I wrote a post on Jung’s theory of compensation in dreams which you can read here. I’ll also be writing more on this topic. So if you find it interesting, please consider subscribing to my Writing After Dark newsletter (below) or following this blog!
Dream School Update
I started Jungian Dream School last fall in response to a wonderful synchronicity involving Jungian analyst Murray Stein and the This Jungian Life podcast.
As you may already know, dreams have been an area of interest to me ever since I had the dream I call the Spirit Dream in 2007 which changed, or possibly saved, my life.
I’ve recently written my Spirit Dream / autism memoir up to the point where what I learned in those first weeks of Dream School becomes relevant. So I went back to module one and worked through it again.
In doing this I reread On the Nature of Dreams more carefully than I had done the first time around. And there was so much there, I wanted to share a bit of what I learned. I hope I will do it justice and not get too much wrong!
How Dreams Bring Balance
In On the Nature of Dreams Jung points out our dreams are rarely in accord with the sensibilities of our conscious mind. To Jung, this means that the unconscious (which he calls "the matrix of dreams") must have an independent function. In other words, the unconscious functions separately from our conscious self (which contains the ego).
In creating dreams, the unconscious may strongly oppose our waking paradigm. This is intentional.
The gap between our everyday attitude and the dream may be slight or great (or very occasionally absent). This relates to Jung's concept of compensation. According to Jung, the dream deviation is an attempt to correct (or compensate for) the errors of our conscious self.
According to Jung there are three compensatory possibilities:
- If the conscious attitude is one-sided the dream takes the opposite position.
- If the conscious is more in the middle, the dream may deviate a little from our waking attitude.
- If the conscious attitude is correct the dream will coincide (though not mirror, because the conscious always maintains what Jung calls its autonomy).
The purpose of compensation is to restore wholeness or balance. This correction usually has something to do with what is going on with us at that particular point in time. Some dreams, particularly long series of dreams, are more far-reaching (this is addressed in Psychology and Alchemy which I will have not read).
It's important to note, that compensation is not black and white. Dreams have their own kind of logic. Their relationship to our waking life is nuanced, complex and expansive. Understanding a dream is always a process.
Who Can Interpret Dreams
According Jung you don't have to be an psychologist (or any sort of professional) to interpret dream. Which isn't to say that anyone and everyone can do Jungian dream interpretation. The characteristics required to "diagnose dream compensation" according to Jung are: intelligence, some knowledge of psychology and life experience.
But these alone are not enough.
Jung is adamant in saying that an understanding of mythology, folklore, indigenous cultures and comparative religion is also required.
I loved hearing that. While I have learned through Dream School that we must always consider our personal association first when approaching a dream, I find mythological themes to be very important in dreams. Right or wrong, whenever it is there I apply it.
On the Nature of Dreams also contains a warning for people who decide that the dream "knows best” or readily believe that dreams predict the future. According to Jung, those who take this approach may find that their dreams become trivial over time. This is because these individuals are over rating the subconscious function and under valuing the conscious.
The conscious, per Jung, must fulfil its own appointed duties. It has developed for a reason and has an important role in our lives. The dream, according to On the Nature of Dreams, may fill in the blanks, correct our attitude or move us forward after our best attempts have failed. This is not to say that they never provide real life guidance, only that most of what they have to tell us relates to our internal states.
Dreams tend to be mythic, symbolic and poetic. Because of this they offer much more than ordinary, everyday advice. While some dreams are precognitive (as Jung was well aware) most are not, and it’s important to properly understand the dreams role in our life.
Dream interpretation can be challenging. While a lot has been written on it by Jung and his contemporaries very little of that is what I would consider an easy read. The book Dream Wise written by three of my Dream School instructors makes Jung's ideas accessible—as do the writings of Jungian analysist Murray Stein.
Stein’s short book Four Pillars of Jungian Analysis talks about dream interpretation in concise and understandable way.
Big Dreams
Big dreams are different than other dreams because they contain symbolic images found in the collective unconscious of the human race. These images are reflections of invisible energetic forms Jung calls archetypes.
Archetypes have existed at all times in human history and in all places. To Jung, this proves that there is both a personal unconscious and a collective or universal unconscious accessible to all. Archetypal images include thing like dragons, initiations, fairy tale elements or alchemical substances. For me personally, they tend to present as specific deities, symbols and themes.
Big dreams come from the collective unconscious at critical stages of our lives. They may hard to interpret, Jung says, because of the lack of personal meaning. Often, we need to go back to the mythology in order to understand them.
This is why a knowledge of myth and folklore is so important. If we don't know these stories we may fail to recognize important elements and messages in our dreams.
We can identify big dreams by their mythic themes and "poetic force and beauty." Often these dreams haunt us, becoming the "richest jewel in the treasure-house of psychic experience." (CGJ) This, in my experience, could not be more accurate.
The Stages of Dreams
A key point in On the Nature of Dreams is a the idea examining a dream through its structure.
Jung provides four stages that describe the structure of most dreams.
- Exposition: The statement of place, introduction of key dream characters and the initial situation of the dreamer.
- Development: The plot of the dream as it becomes more complicated and tension develops.
- Culmination or Peripeteia (a Greek word for an unexpected reversal or point where the situation changes dramatically): The point where something decisive happens or something changes completely.
- Result or Solution: While not every dream will have a fourth stage Jung looks at this last stage in relation to the solution sought by the dreamer.
I like to look at the structure of the dream and question each stage keeping in mind that every aspect of a dream is there for reason.
There is a lot to be learned from the structure of the dream. The setting, key characters, action and turning point are all important. When I look at my own dreams, I always consider the result or solution. Sometimes this fourth stage is little more than an idea or impression which may be easy to overlook—but it is still important.
Context and Associations
It is also crucially important to do what Jung calls "taking up the context" by exploring personal associations for each dream element.
Because dreams are closely tied to our lived experience, it's also helpful to think about our current situation as we try to understand how our unconscious might be trying to restore balance in the here and now.
Most dreams are not big dreams. But every dream we have is important in terms of our day to day life. Many apparently "lesser" dreams can be mapped as part of a dream series that may be factor into our individuation process (a Jungian term that describes the process of becoming the person we are meant be).
Dreams offer an immediate and crucial course correction as we journey from day to day. They do not (in the vast majority of cases) tell us what to do. Instead they help us orient ourselves to a life that aligns with our greater purpose.
I'll be writing more about what I'm learning about dreams and Jung in future posts!
__________
I've had a few dreams I consider big and one that figures prominently in my memoir and in my life as a whole. You can read it here: The Spirit Dream. You can read about my Murray Stein experience in my A Creation in Time post. You can learn more about Jungian Dream School via the This Jungian Life website.
About This Episode:
I usually share my autism podcast, Autistic POV, to my Substack blog, instead of here—but this episode seemed perfect for the Mystic Review so I embedded it below.
It's funny, I always thought of my interest all things metaphysical as something that was only tangentially related to my autism diagnosis. Then, just recently, my perspective changed.
That is what the podcast is about mostly. I also talk about psychic ability and parapsychology (and this blog). I am going to be doing episodes on these topics so I will cross-post them here, for those of you who are interested.
Please note, that the idea that autistic people (especially nonverbal autistics) are unusually telepathic is controversial. To the best of my knowledge, it is yet to be adequately researched and, to be honest, I'm not sure it will ever be. I say more about why I think that in the podcast.
To me, the premise that individuals with autism my be unusually sensitive to psychic energies, just like they're sensitive to tons of other things, is worth exploring.
Additionally, and not incidentally, the lived experience of autistic individuals should be honored instead of marginalized. Personally, I find the Telepathy Tapes compelling and am always skeptical of the skeptics just on principle.
Please have a listen and let me know what you think!
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
- Autism and the God Connection by William Stillman
- The Telepathy Tapes Podcast (https://thetelepathytapes.com/)
- The Rhine Institute (https://www.rhineonline.org/what-is-parapsychology)
- Dr. Diane Hennacy/Powell (https://drdianehennacy.com/telepathy/)
- Psychology Today article on the Telepathy Tapes by Jeff Tarant PhD (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/choosing-your-meditation-style/202503/science-skepticism-and-the-telepathy-tapes)
- Dr. Hennacy/Powell's Response to Jonathan Jarry (https://thetelepathytapes.com/dr-powell-defense)
- Sharing Our Autism Story (https://www.autisticpov.com/e/sharing-our-autistic-story-ep-6/)
My autism podcast, Autistic POV, is available on most popular podcast apps. There is also a show page at AutisticPOV.com. For anyone who wants to listen here—there is now a player in the Home Page sidebar!
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You can check out Writing On The Spectrum at barbaragraver.substack.com. I share fiction and nonfiction book excerpts, the autism podcast and most new Mystic Review posts to that site. Substack is fun and has a growing autism community and some great writers, which I love, but the Mystic Review remains my first love <3
The Context
The Dream
I am attending some kind of festival at a big open-air arena. It is in the country in PA (possibly Lehigh county). There is a country vibe and I think the music is country or folk music. I'm aware of local people who are related to (sons of) the organizer standing on a hill overlooking the arena. I talk to them but can't remember what’s said. I sense that they and their mother are not good people and there is a vague sense of danger.
Now I am dancing with the crowd in the arena. I am wearing a red dress. There are a lot of people but with space between them—not packed in like at a concert. No one else is wearing red and I know I stand out in the crowd. We are dancing away from the festival and out of the arena. There are numerous vendors, but I don’t recall any specifics.
The arena is part of a business compound with other buildings (possibly a welcome center and shop) between the arena and the road, all owned by the same family. I remember that an old school friend attended the festival in a previous year.
I am supposed to drive home and pick up my younger sons James and Andrew so they can attend the event too, so I have to hurry. There is a downpour. A hard steady rain. I get wet but am relieved to think the festival will be cancelled and I don’t have to drive to pick up my sons and bring them back. Then the sky clears and I realize I still have to go get them.
I leave the venue. I’m in a car and there is an elderly man (I would say 80s or older) with me. He is tall w gray thinning hair. I have previously agreed to give him a ride home. I have a newer car, possibly silver, and have borrowed from someone (I think James). The elderly man insists on driving, saying he knows the way. We leave together.
The car is an automatic with a console shift. The man is shifting it like it is a standard, using all three forward gears. It is annoying. I tell him he doesn't have to shift like that, that he can just leave the car in Drive and he makes fun of that manner of driving. He is a bad driver in other ways too, having trouble handling the car in general. We go up a hill, left through a business district and then left again, going back in the direction we came from. We then pull into a gas station.
I know we have come back close to where we started. I'm upset because I can actually see the venue, which is a short way down what appears to be a state highway. I am stressed about being late to pick up James and Andrew. Especially Andrew, who really wants to attend the event. I am stressed about the amount of driving (1 or 2 hours each way) I still have to do.
I point out the venue to the elderly man and tell him we have wasted an hour going in a circuit. He is unpleasant. We are out of the car. I tell him to take his things and get his own ride home. He has lots of stuff in the trunk of the car (shopping bags, containers, etc). I pile it all up on a bench. Then I see that he is having an issue with balance and cognition. I end up taking his arm to help him walk.
The man and his things are back in my car. I am at the edge of the gas station parking lot now trying to talk a group of people into taking the man where he needs to go. They seem judgmental about my lack of compassion for the elderly, but I feel if they knew him, they would think otherwise. A woman gracious woman with a southern accent is talking to the man sweetly, but after a while I sense she is getting exasperated too.
My Take Away
- The dangerous woman and her disapproving family could be associated with shadow elements that crop up in my writing (in both fiction and nonfiction) and the judgmental perspective of some who've read my work or simply my own perfectionism and self-doubt.
- Dancing in the red dress has to do with creative energy. The abandon suggests freedom and release. The fact that I knew I standout could mean there is something unique in my creative work and that I am aware of this. Red symbolizes alchemy and transformation.
- Rain is symbolic of clearing and renewal.
- My mixed feeling about my kids reflects the tension between family responsibilities and creative goals.
- The old man shifting badly might represent me and the way I've been changing things in both books. The old man's baggage could be my "baggage" i.e. past history and emotional issues. Feelings of wasting time and going out of my way with an "old" man reflects the passage of time and fact that I'm not getting any younger. My impatience and hostility toward the old man may reflect my feelings toward my work.
- The gracious woman might represent both approval (of others) and the possibility of people losing patience with my waffling.
My Weaknesses
- Disapproving family: I am critical of my work, others have been too
- Shifting: My tendency to second guess
- Baggage: Being burdened by things I have compartmentalized
- My impatience: Worry that time is short
My Strengths
- Red: Creative energy, unique or standout creativity, potential transformation through writing
- Rain: A fresh start or clean slate
- My sympathy for the old man's cognitive issues: Cutting myself slack because of autism related issues
- The gracious woman: Others may actually like my work, perhaps I should give myself grace as well
Outcome
I had three dreams about stone walls in 2024. While the dreams were far apart, I believe they were episodes in a single dream series. In a dream series, each dream is connected by a common but developing theme.
These dreams, or this series of dreams. began last year around Easter, so I decided to share the final dream now. You can find a link to the first two stone wall dreams at the bottom of this post.
The Dream Wall Dream
In the dream, I was at a house in my old neighborhood in suburban Michigan. The development changed a lot over the ten years we lived there but in this dream is was a lot like I remembered it in the beginning.
The homes were scattered across a large track of old growth forest. Most had large lots that were entirely wooded in the back and you could walk for a long way then without seeing any manmade structures at all.
I was in a part of the development near the home of a childhood friend. There were two houses. One belonged to an unnamed and unseen dream friend who was about to get married. I was inside a second house, very close by the first. Both houses were ranch-style homes.
I understood that the friend about to be married had dreamt a dream he felt was important. I knew that I needed to interpret it but I was not supposed to leave. This was a problem because there was someone I had to talk to about the interpretation. I had a sense that dream interpretation (or possibly seeing the person who would help with that interpretation) was actually illegal and I had to sneak out the back without being seen and walk quickly into the woods to find him.
It was winter, and the sky was gray, and the ground was covered with snow. The trees were just as I remembered them, tall and thin with bare black trunks. It felt like evening or maybe early morning and I set out in the direction I would have taken to our old house.
I saw that there was a wall built through the woods, or rather several adjoining walls because they were all different. I guessed that each wall was the back of a different property and, as is the case with houses, some were better maintained than others.
At one place, the wall was built out of crumbling cement blocks. It was quite low, but I could see that the wall for the next property was high and well built out of carefully laid fieldstone. There was a young man there who seemed to be a sort of guard or gatekeeper, and he confirmed that I was in the right place.
So I climbed over the low next door wall and cut over toward the house that went with the high, well-built wall.
The house was a mansion, and the occupant was renowned for his ability to interpret dreams. I was invited in. The interpreter of dreams was an older man sitting on the floor of a large, carpeted (possibly unfurnished) room. He was holding a mysterious scroll which he did not explain.
I told him about my friend's dream and shared my own awkward interpretation. I don't know if he provided feedback or additional insights. If he did, I can’t remember. And I don't remember my own interpretation or what the dream was about either.
The Synchronicities
I had the first and second wall and gate dreams around Easter of last year. Those dreams made me wonder if dream interpretation and the Catholic faith were compatible. The first and second dreams came at a difficult time when I was struggling with my writing and a group I belonged to then.
The third dream came when I was struggling to reconcile my faith with the Jungian perspective on dreams and consciousness.
A few days after the dream, I talked to our parish priest about my interest in dreamwork. He seemed to have a healthy interest in dreams and saw no harm in recording them or reflecting on them. He even shared a dream of his own.
When I got home from Mass that day I decided to listen to a Murray Stein video.
Murray Stein is the Jungian analyst who convinced me (via the This Jungian Life podcast) that Jung's approach to dreams was the right approach for me. What was especially interesting about the video I watched that day was that it mentioned that Murray Stein was a Christian.
Who would have thought?
Not me, certainly. But I couldn’t help feeling that there was a connection and that it all circled back to the dream.
The Dream Wall Revisited
I think it's relevant that I wanted to interpret a friend's dream (in dream 3) and felt that it was not allowed. I think this speaks to my uncertainty about the Church’s position on dream interpretation which was something that was on my mind at the time of all three stone wall dreams.
In the third dream, I had to sneak away to find the dream master. When I did, I encountered a wall. It was made of stone, just like the wall in the dreams I had at Easter 2024. It was not the same wall, but it was a similar sort of barrier. In dreams one and two the barrier stopped me. In dream three, it did not.
The wise old man and the mysterious scroll were important elements in dream three. The scroll may represent “learning, knowledge; the unfolding of life and knowledge; the scroll of…destiny.” To Christians it is “The Book of Life,” also associated with St. James the Great, Isaiah and the prophets. The Greeks considered the scroll to be an attribute of Aesculapius. The Egyptians associated it with knowledge. (Cooper, J.C.)
To me the old man and the scroll represent ancient knowledge and a mystical perspective. My own awkward interpretation of the dream reminds me that there is still a lot to learn.
The synchronicity of talking to my parish priest and learning that a Jungian analyst I greatly admire was Christian helped resolve much of the confusion I had with the first stone wall dreams. The priest’s open and accepting attitude was a sharp contrast to that of others I was dealing with at the time.
The Dream Series Theme
I am in a different place, now, than I was in 2024, and had to be, I think, to begin to understand the series as a whole.
The common elements were the walls themselves and the mysteries beyond them—the volkknot and illegible letters in dreams one and two and the unread scroll in dream three. The various walls in the third dream may represent different or incorrect approaches to the mystery.
Most importantly, I think the wall in each of these dreams represents the “passage from outer profane space to inner and sacred space; also symbolic of the sacred enclosure, which is both a protection and a limitation.” (Cooper, J.C.)
I was concerned about going through the door in the walls in dreams one and two. In the last dream I recognized that my concerns came from an external source (an expectation or law). Once I was in the forest I forgot these concerns and easily found a way around the high wall.
There is a lot that can be said about the elements in dream three—especially the mysterious dream master and the journey through the forest. To me, however, the theme is about barriers—both real and imagined—and how they may be overcome.
About Dream Series
Dream series are more common than a lot of people realize. I talk a bit about them in this video:
The Dream
Context and Interpretation
Combining the two elements of air and water, the swan is the bird of life: the dawn of day... It also symbolizes solitude and retreat and is the bird of the poet; its dying song is the poet's song... ~ An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Copper
Update July 2025
I've gone back and forth on the topic of writing my "dream memoir" a lot. On one hand, it seems completely ridiculous for an ordinary person who has not achieved anything unusual in life to write a memoir.
On the other hand, I lost hope and a dream saved me, and I feel called to tell that story.
I honestly don't know at this point if I'll be sharing that story here in the blog or in a long-form format but here is the intro:
In 2008, at the lowest point in my life, I had a dream I couldn’t explain.
Unlike the murky, sepia colored dreams I was used to, this dream was sharp and bright and saturated with color. A spectrum of blue, unlike anything I’d ever seen. Vivid reds. Shining white light. A beautiful woman with deep-water blue eyes, radiating love.
Filled with sparkling gemstones and mysterious beings, the dream told the story of a journey to and from an amazing location, and it told that story coherently.
As the woman in blue guided me from one dream experience to another, separate themes played out, like story-lines in a movie. When the dream finally ended, each loose end came together in a memorable and emotional conclusion.
I woke up convinced that my mysterious dream guide was someone special. I knew that the things that she showed me meant something. And even though I had no idea who she was or what she was trying to tell me, I was determined to find out.
This was the beginning of a spiritual journey that carried me through the New Age, in and out of Spiritualism and Wicca, halfway across the world, on pilgrimage to Israel, back to Christianity, through parapsychology, and onto the doorstep of Carl Gustav Jung.
And it all began with the dream, I would come to call the Spirit Dream. It was the initiation to the mystery and, ultimately, the key to deciphering it. The journey itself, however, was a process.
For me, this process was a breadcrumb path of spiritual experience, odd synchronicities, and a host of lesser dreams. These smaller events guided me from one spiritual realization to another, like stepping through the dark—and I would have been off the path and well into the weeds without them.
And so in the pages that follow, I have shared them all.
In the rest of this chapter, I talk about the life events that set the stage for the dream. In chapter two, I share the dream itself.
About the Video
Chatting about books, dream series, how dreams may explain each other and what's new on the Mystic Review. Also, a bit about Jungian Dream School and my plans for the channel in 2025. Happy New Year everyone!
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