Strange Dream Vignettes

Lately I have had a series of very short dreams, I'll call them dream vignettes. The one I remember from last night: I was in the Bishop's Office. He and I were discussing a potential call to another parish. I was asking him his opinion on whether he thought that church was really viable. He was not too optimistic. (This is a fictional church, I am not in any searches at the moment). In the room with us were his two big dogs, German Shepherd like and a Rottweiler-like. One of my dogs was with us as well, the Viszla). The dogs were curled up sleeping, each ignoring or unaware of the others. My dog was offering her usual "fragrant" gas to the environment, an after effect of eating grass....(yes, in this dream I was conscious of odor, pungent odor)....

We then began to speak about the church I currently work for. Somehow we moved from sitting on chairs to sitting on the floor. This was less formal, the kind of casual sitting one does with friends....I asked him he thought my current church, which is growing modestly and slowly, were viable. He was not too optimistic about this one either. He's main comment, neither church is or will pay you enough. (Ok, that comes from a conversation I had with my accountant...but I digress)...

Then the dogs started to sniff each other and one of them, the Rottweiler-like started to get aggressive with my Viszla, who responded in kind. I try to be the "pack leader" ala "Dog Whisperer" and gain control. But I am too afraid to be strong. So, I pull the dog out of the office and we leave via an elevator.

Suddenly I am on on public transportation bus, heading home. My dog is with me, and so is my daughter, only she is about two, not 19. We are watching a mother with a young baby wrapped in a snugli like carrier. I say to my daughter, "I use to carry you around in something like that."

Then we are home and somehow the Bishop's dog is at my door, but not the Bishop. His dog is after my dog, but this time I manage to gain some control and be the pack leader. No one is hurt, although it was very tense for awhile there...


I once witnessed a vicious dog attack. A Rottweiler lunged after a small poodle and locked it in his teeth. This was at seminary and involved two students. My kids played with the Rot, regularly. I was just returning from walking my dog when it happened. I put dog inside. We were able, eventually, to extract the poodle but the damage had been done. It was awful. Now, I have to work really hard when ever threatening dogs come around my dogs. I do not want a dog fight.

But, this dream is about more than dogs...I'll have to ponder it a bit and see what surfaces. I see the Jungian on Thursday, we will have three of these vignettes to discuss...

Comments

Unknown said…
That is some great material for analysis; you make me wish I were still with my Jungian! I hope your work together will be fruitful this week.
Diane M. Roth said…
yes, I used to do dream work, but a LONG time ago. the dogs are very... interesting.
Lori said…
I've done some dream analysis study in the day. The first check to make that I was taught was to look for was puns because for some reason our brains make light of what troubles us when it tells us our stories in sleep.

So, given that.... I couldn't but think of the old saying "going to the dogs?"
Terri said…
In my haste this morning I didn't mention the fact that a few days ago, while walking our dogs, my husband and I had an encounter with a Rot. We were across the street from our house and a neighbor had let his Rot run unleased in the field we were walking past. The Rot spied us and came toward us moving into an aggressive stance, ears back, head down and forward. We had no way to get across the street due to busy rush hour traffic but ended up backing up into the traffic. I was worried that the dog would attack mine, there was some snarling going on. And I was afraid one of us, or this unleashed Rot would be hit my a car. The owner apparently had no signal to call his dog back to him and had to run to get him, which thankfully he did in the nick of time. It really frightened me, given what I had encounterd before. And, so I know, following up on PG comments, that I am still processing that. Not so much a "going to the dogs" but a real concern that that which I love will be hurt. Or maybe, it's a "dog eat dog world" - that which I love (church, family, etc) will struggle to survive in this competitive world.
Diane M. Roth said…
what I think is interesting about dreams is how they take all of the stuff that happens to us (who calls it "day residue"?) but make it into something so much richer and stranger.

they say we are working out our problems and issues in our dreams, but in much more creative ways than we allow ourselves to during the day.

anyway, I liked what you said about being too afraid to be strong in one venue, but about taking the leadership at another time...
Terri said…
diane, yeah, i think that leadership stuff is part of the dream...past and present? present and future? but mostly what i find is that when i talk about my dreams with the Jungian even more comes up - and it seems that all the stuff is foder for contemplation. The dream is just the catalyst for what it spurs....

Popular posts from this blog

The Bleeding-heart: a poem by Mary Oliver

A Funeral Sermon: Healed by Love

Luke: A Mary Oliver Poem