[Opinion] Psychological Stress of an Intense Dreaming Practice

[Lemongrass00]

Hello all,

This past year I have been really hitting the dreaming hard, and within the last three weeks I have been test driving a course a friend of mine is developing that works with Archetypal theory and have been incorporating that into my dream work as well.

Within the last two weeks I have had multiple dreams that have the recurring theme of dismemberment including dreams of being physically dismembered by men, psychically/emotionally dismembered by women, and dreams of revolution of groups of figures representing traditional authority in my life being slaughtered and replaced by groups of figures representing mysticism. These dreams and the desire to know more have bled into my conscious mind, and I have been borderline obsessed with reading and diving deeper into the unconscious, and had to catch myself more times than I should with spending too much time on this stuff.

I have been feeling the stresses though, and its effects have been felt in my moods and thoughts while doing mundane things. I just wanted to emphasize how critically important it is to be grounded in something like a workout routine, a non-magick hobby, a social circle, etc. We get plenty of LARPERs and batshit crazy people on this forum, but I can genuinely see and understand how people can lose themselves to this if they are not careful and prioritize balance instead of just 'progress'.

 

[WonderFire]

Hello all,

This past year I have been really hitting the dreaming hard, and within the last three weeks I have been test driving a course a friend of mine is developing that works with Archetypal theory and have been incorporating that into my dream work as well.

Within the last two weeks I have had multiple dreams that have the recurring theme of dismemberment including dreams of being physically dismembered by men, psychically/emotionally dismembered by women, and dreams of revolution of groups of figures representing traditional authority in my life being slaughtered and replaced by groups of figures representing mysticism. These dreams and the desire to know more have bled into my conscious mind, and I have been borderline obsessed with reading and diving deeper into the unconscious, and had to catch myself more times than I should with spending too much time on this stuff.

Afaik dismemberment and being put together again (usually in some kind of improved form) is somewhat common motif in shamanic visions. It (usually?) represents initiatory process of death and rebirth- even brahmin are sometimes called "twice born" (dvija).
Your experience sound very, well, archetypal indeed.

I have been feeling the stresses though, and its effects have been felt in my moods and thoughts while doing mundane things. I just wanted to emphasize how critically important it is to be grounded in something like a workout routine, a non-magick hobby, a social circle, etc. We get plenty of LARPERs and batshit crazy people on this forum, but I can genuinely see and understand how people can lose themselves to this if they are not careful and prioritize balance instead of just 'progress'.

Agreed.

 

[Vandheer]

Always admired how you kept persisting on dreamwork man.

What do you think those dreams are about? Could they be about transformation, ripping the usual norms apart perhaps? Maybe you don't feel you live up to society?

We get plenty of LARPERs and batshit crazy people on this forum, but I can genuinely see and understand how people can lose themselves to this if they are not careful and prioritize balance instead of just 'progress'.

Thats the disturbing part. Maybe they aren't even pretending but they are so far down on their madness in their heads no one but they are the ones in the right.

 

[Lemongrass00]

What do you think those dreams are about? Could they be about transformation, ripping the usual norms apart perhaps? Maybe you don't feel you live up to society?

I think it is symbolic of the “dismemberment” of my psyche and beliefs, as even 2 years ago I held a radically different worldview than I do now, and these different dreams symbolize different layers where change is taking place.

What is interesting is that it feels more like it’s being done to me than me doing it. It goes back to whether the human makes the archetype or the archetype makes the human.

 

[Taudefindi]

Within the last two weeks I have had multiple dreams that have the recurring theme of dismemberment including dreams of being physically dismembered by men, psychically/emotionally dismembered by women, and dreams of revolution of groups of figures representing traditional authority in my life being slaughtered and replaced by groups of figures representing mysticism.

Oh wow, talk about a brutal change in the subconscious realm.Are those dreams scary?Painful?Or do they feel, as strange as it will sound, "liberating"?Or you feel nothing during them while going through that?Do you see it all from a first person perspective or from a second person perspective?

how critically important it is to be grounded in something like a workout routine, a non-magick hobby, a social circle, etc.

Agreed.
Magic can be a big part on someone's life but it should never be the most important thing, after all we still live with and in the mundane.

We get plenty of LARPERs and batshit crazy people on this forum

I wouldn't say plenty, but it's been a while that they have started to appear a bit more than before.

Maybe they aren't even pretending but they are so far down on their madness in their heads no one but they are the ones in the right.

I feel like it is simple delusion and desires of grandeur, but it some of them really are "down in their madness" this would make everything actually worse than it seems.And their refusal to seek professional help won't help them on the long run.

it feels more like it’s being done to me than me doing it

We enact the change but change will also happen without us to start it.It may even be both.

We have power over ourselves but we can't deny that since birth and until our last breath, we are still suffering the influence from society, from those around us and from the things we see, hear and feel.We consciously might not notice it but the body always remembers and so does the unconscious mind.

 

[Lemongrass00]

Oh wow, talk about a brutal change in the subconscious realm.Are those dreams scary?Painful?Or do they feel, as strange as it will sound, "liberating"?Or you feel nothing during them while going through that?Do you see it all from a first person perspective or from a second person perspective?

Yes I felt very real pain when I was physically dismembered, but the emotional intensity kind of drew me in weirdly. At the end of the dream I resigned myself to dying and it did feel liberating, I felt as I was letting go of all my desires, plans, etc and just accepting what happened.

we are still suffering the influence from society

Totally agree, I like Jung's idea of us having to balance containing the spirit of our era, which happens to be hyper-rational and materialistic, and an older, deeper desire from the collective unconsciousness (to use his terminology) that pulls us into the more mystical aspects of the human soul.

 

[stratamaster78]

Yes I felt very real pain when I was physically dismembered, but the emotional intensity kind of drew me in weirdly. At the end of the dream I resigned myself to dying and it did feel liberating, I felt as I was letting go of all my desires, plans, etc and just accepting what happened.


Totally agree, I like Jung's idea of us having to balance containing the spirit of our era, which happens to be hyper-rational and materialistic, and an older, deeper desire from the collective unconsciousness (to use his terminology) that pulls us into the more mystical parts of the human soul.

Parts of your dream I especially would not want to experience myself (dismemberment) because I use to suffer from absolutely horrible night terrors where I would soak my clothes and sheets with sweat.

But the bolded part above I have experienced a few times from temporary Ego Death and it was exactly as you describe.

At 1st I struggled and fought with it until I gave up and then just accepted that I was dying and then it was like the weight of the world was removed from me and I felt liberated.

 

[Lemongrass00]

I use to suffer from absolutely horrible night terrors where I would soak my clothes and sheets with sweat.

What were those like?

At 1st I struggled and fought with it until I gave up and then just accepted that I was dying and then it was like the weight of the world was removed from me and I felt liberated.

Yes, that feeling of lightness you are describing is exactly how it felt

 

[stratamaster78]

What were those like?


Yes, that feeling of lightness you are describing is exactly how it felt

This was a few years ago. Well more like 7-8 years ago now and I don’t really remember anything specific.

I’ve had trouble with dreams for a while now where I don’t have sight.

Like most people either have Lucid dreams or Dreams where even if it’s not Lucid it has some degree of Mind’s eye vividness but for me it’s like I’m Blind.

I know the concept of what’s happening but I can’t see it or visualize it.

So anyway when I had night terrors it was like some kind of terrible thing was either happening to me or to someone I cared about and I understood what was happening but with like a blindfold on and hearing everything but not seeing it which made it scarier.

I would usually wake up screaming and hyperventilating with my clothes and bedding soaked from me sweating profusely and I’d have to change to dry clothes and try and go back to sleep.

It hasn’t happened in a while though and I’m torn between trying to pursue Lucid dreaming again to face it and figure it out or just leave well enough alone and stay in the dark.

 

[Konsciencia]

Hello all,

This past year I have been really hitting the dreaming hard, and within the last three weeks I have been test driving a course a friend of mine is developing that works with Archetypal theory and have been incorporating that into my dream work as well.

Within the last two weeks I have had multiple dreams that have the recurring theme of dismemberment including dreams of being physically dismembered by men, psychically/emotionally dismembered by women, and dreams of revolution of groups of figures representing traditional authority in my life being slaughtered and replaced by groups of figures representing mysticism. These dreams and the desire to know more have bled into my conscious mind, and I have been borderline obsessed with reading and diving deeper into the unconscious, and had to catch myself more times than I should with spending too much time on this stuff.

I have been feeling the stresses though, and its effects have been felt in my moods and thoughts while doing mundane things. I just wanted to emphasize how critically important it is to be grounded in something like a workout routine, a non-magick hobby, a social circle, etc. We get plenty of LARPERs and batshit crazy people on this forum, but I can genuinely see and understand how people can lose themselves to this if they are not careful and prioritize balance instead of just 'progress'.

I agree with you. Even though, I been grounded enough. I still have desires to Lucid Dream and/or Astral Project. But, I cannot do this at will. I am being control by The Universe. However, it's not a bad thing. I just desire those two things very deeply. I'm bored, and have nothing to do but to talk to God.

Post automatically merged: Mar 30, 2024

A couple of nights ago, I had this sensation of someone slicing my head in half with a saw. It felt a little bit of the pain. So what if, we do feel pain after death?