In the preceding text, we saw how to make an incubation. Now let us see how the dream answers Irina’s question.

Irina is in the habit of asking her dreams for guidance. She is a pretty, single woman in her fifties, who would like to be in a loving relationship. She doesn’t want to live full time with the partner, but wishes to share with him pleasurable week-ends and vacations.

She has just met Julian, whom she likes and asks her dream if he would be a suitable mate.

 Dream

I bring them back and lay them in my parents’ backyard.  They yell out to move them away, for hardly had I laid them on the ground, that ants and other creeping insects came out of them.

Interpretation 

Flying

 This image : Irina flying in the air, is indicating that Irina has merged with the realm of ideas, the domain of thoughts. She is thinking of the possibility of a relationship with Julian.

She takes some branches.

 For Irina, what is a branch?

 She answers: a branch is connected to a trunk, it is fragile, it is a natural elongated growth.

  Keeping in mind the incubation question, I recapitulate her description and ask her :

 - Irina, when you are thinking of a relationship with Julian, what does an elongated fragile growth that is connected to a trunk remind you of?

  - Oh !You are implying that it corresponds to the male genitals?

 - I’m not implying anything, I’m just reformulating your description.

We agree that it follows logically, that the tree branches represent this man’s erections.

So, the dream directly addresses Irina’s question. 

It says :

- You want to know if an intimate relationship with Julian would suit you ?  Well, let’s look what will happen.

The dream gives indication in the 2 following scenes :

1) I bring the branches back and lay them in my parents’ backyard.

If she enters into a relationship with this man, it will occur within a frame resembling her parents’ relationship :

 Irina cried out :

 -“Oh! but I don’t want that, my father was sweet but he was a wimp and my mother had to take responsibility for everything. She didn’t have a life of her own.  Ok, I understand.

What does the second scene show ?

2 The parents yell out to move the branches away.

Despite this awareness, if Irina decided to live with Julian, she’d immediately have to move aside the branches … that is, remove herself from contact with his penis. That means to give up on sexual relations.  Why?

The dream indicates the reason in the following image.

Ants and other creeping insects are coming out of the branches

The ants and creeping insects indicate reactions of the nervous system over which we have no control.   

These are physical swarming reactions, vague and unpleasant sensations which disgust and causes one to flee.

With these images the dream describes what Irina will experience in the sexual relation with Julian.

The dream points to a “malaise”, a disgust, an irritation of the senses.  A sexual encounter with this man would be ill-advised, the sexual relation would be frustrating for Irina. This man will immediately get on her nerves.

Irina is quite upset.  She understands her dream and accepts the warning, but she thought that Julian was not so bad. Whatever, she won’t go further with him.

After this dream, Irina, is very disappointed.

But she has just had another dream, which pertains to the same question.                  

Next time we will discover what dreams have in store for Irina.

You will find  this text on the French Blog :

christinae-riedel.blogspirit.com, 10 May 2007, (05 10 2007)

Illustrations 

I thank the artists and photgraphers whose works permit me to illustrate my blog

Branches :www.xfrogdownloads.com 

Dream incubation is asking the dream to give you a solution to a problem. It is a timeless practice all over the world.

Let’s start with some contemporary examples.

Lately on ARTE TV*, I was watching a very interesting program on ginseng (jin shen) meaning “root man” because of its’ vaguely human shape. The value of this beneficial root constitutes a growing source of income for the South Korean economy.

It is increasingly known and imported by the western world for its numerous health benefits, and it is very expensive! The real  ginseng is harvested primarily in Korea, ( Jinan) making it an important asset for their economy.

The wild ginseng is very rare and more expensive than gold, however it is not easily found. These roots develop totally hidden underground with nothing showing on the surface.

What is the link with the dream incubation ?

The peasants, thanks to a dream incubation, know how to find these roots in a secret location in the mountain.

  They put their tents up on a spot for a week or more. The day before beginning their search, with respect they repeat their ancestors’ ritual of purification by bathing in the river. Then at a chosen location they erect an altar and light candles. There they deposit offerings to the “god of the mountain”: cloth to dress him, a pig’s head, beautiful fruit and other appetizing foods.

In prayer, they bow before the god and they ask to be given a dream that will show them where the roots are located underground.  Then after bowing repetitively they retire to their tents to sleep and dream. 

What a pleasant surprise ! 

There they were, filmed by an ethnologist and the ARTE crew, people who to this day still practice what men have been doing for thousands of years… incubating a dream or showing how one prepares himself to dream.

This is not only the case in Korea ; in China also incubating dreams is still practiced today as it was in the old days. Then the Chinese used to go to temples where they asked and received inspirations and instructions. It was even considered an obligation for the dignitaries and rulers to go there officially to seek advice from dreams as to the affairs of the state.

Hardly imaginable nowadays. Can you imagine our politicians incubating a dream?

In China today, a pilgrimage to get counseling from dreams still exists. This reputable place is called « The Stones and Bamboos Mountain ».

 An individual comes to ask and receive a message from the gods as to the appropriate behavior to adopt in his situation; another comes for a diagnosis or even seeking information on the appropriate treatment for his ailment.  All come with the intention of following their true destiny, wishing to add breadth to their lives. So, pilgrims still come to consult dreams on all kinds of subjects.

Does that practice still only exist there, at the other end of the world ?

Soon I will tell you.

 You will find this article on the French blog : 06 May 2007

* Arte TV : French and German channel specialized in Art and Culture

Biography :

“ The Stones and Bamboos Mountains», article in “Terrain 26”, March 1996, edited by the French Culture Ministry.

This article is written by Brigitte BAPTANDIER, Research Director in the Laboratory of Ethnology and Sociology at the National Center of Scientific Research in France.

Illustrations

Mountain-Spirits and Korean Ginseng : www.rjkoehler.com

The Stone Bamboo Temple : www.chinatourme.com

The Stone Bamboo Mountain : : www.chinatourme.com