Do dreams show us two or more ways of looking at something? Can we be “of two minds” in a dream? I came across an interesting way of conceptualizing dreams while reading the channeled work of Jane Roberts and “Seth” a non-physical entity. Seth said,
Pretend that you are some weird creature with two faces. One face looks out upon one world [the dream reality] and one face looks out upon another world [the physical one]. Imagine further this poor creature having a brain to do with each face, and each brain interprets reality in terms of the world it looks upon. Yet the two worlds are different, and more, the creatures are Siamese twins. At the same time, imagine that these two creatures are really one, but with definite parts equipped to handle two entirely different worlds.
The subconscious, in this rather ludicrous analogy, would exist between the two brains and would enable the creature to operate as a single entity. At the same time—and this is the difficult part to explain—neither of the two faces would ever ‘see’ the other’s world. They would not be aware of each other, yet each would be fully conscious.
[Seth, Dreams and Projections of Consciousness]
Later, Seth mentions ways to dissolve the barriers between the two states, but I actually like his analogy very much. I like the concept that our dreams and our waking consciousness are showing us two different views of two different realities; two sides of the same coin. The rules that apply in the waking world cannot be applied to our dreams. When we begin to unpack the symbols and metaphors of our dreams, we can start with a clean slate.
In the same way, so many people I know have had their lives rearranged by job loss, illness, death, change of all kinds and certainly I am among them. And we all know someone who was touched by Hurricane Sandy at the end of October. For so many people, a clean slate is in order. What if we looked at our changing circumstances in the same way that Seth suggests we view our dreams, as two different worlds and perspectives? “Where people fly and water runs uphill” [Jeremy Taylor] and all the rules we have come to expect or accept as givens in life are different. Our changing dreams and lives are two different worlds that share a common bridge, our unconscious.
From that perspective, we can be a lot easier on ourselves as we respond to our changing circumstances with the same creativity with which we respond to our dreams. We can look for the themes and the metaphors and we can find the overarching message from our new direction in life. And most importantly, we can play with our dreams to allow their message to emerge. So the next time you are faced with a challenging life or dream situation, consider the possibility that you are of two minds about it….and that would be a good thing!
Einstein said, “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” In other words, to solve a problem, whether in dreams or in waking life, we have to change our minds. Our dreams, very literally, show us how to do that.
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