I've started buying the Death Note manga (I blogged vols. 1-4 here). It's an interesting story, but I don't love it the way I love the other manga series I'm reading (Samurai Deeper Kyo, Saiyuki, and Vagabond). Someone noted on my LJ that the anime is even grimmer (hard to imagine!) than the manga. I don't usually watch video stuff unless it involves going out to a movie theater!
The House Dream
I don't entirely buy the interp, but it got me started thinking about other ways of looking at it. That's the main reason I like dream interp tools, and why I sometimes read Tarot or I Ching - it makes me think of the situation in different ways.
See, I'm having issues with our synagogue. My religion is a comfy fit for me, but I am having trouble dealing with the people at my place of worship. On the plus side, it's the synagogue in which I grew up, and they are pretty much OK with mixed marriages (my husband isn't Jewish), and they do a lot of community service - including ecological stuff and outreach/cooperative work with other religious groups. On the other hand, I've never been comfortable there socially, and neither are my husband and daughter. We're just all too geeky and introverted, that's all. The Young Lady is almost finished with religious school. I think that after next year (her last year), I'm going to have to find another place, somehow.
So the meaning of the rabbi's house is now more clear to me. The young woman is, I think, the other people (especially the other moms) at the synagogue, with whom I am co-existing but not interacting, while I decide what to do. I've been "digging around" in my past feelings about this whole issue - the fact that the rabbi's house was next to my parents' is a lucky coincidence exploited by my subconscious - and I'm almost ready to get rid of that part of me.
BTW, the "new" house wasn't actually our Kensington house. So I'm not going with that aspect of it 100%. But, there is another Reform Jewish congregation in the area - and it's in ... Kensington! And I don't like changes, so I've been resisting the idea of even checking it out. Also, we lived in Kensington mainly because it was literally just around the corner from my father and stepmother during the last years of his life, when he was ill and confined to a wheelchair, so I don't have many happy memories of that time. MaybeI'm getting ready to deal with all that. I certainly hope that I'm finally getting out of this depression, which was triggered in part by his death.
The connection between a latch and an appeal for aid is far-fetched to me - I think that symbols have to make sense to the dreamer. For example, someone who keeps rabbits as pets (like we do) will likely associate rabbits with the usual interps for pets, not the usual interps for rabbits (e.g., fertility). To me, a latch is extra security. The thought process was something like, OK, so there's an iron latch on the inside - but how do I use that to secure the house when I'm on the outside - I'd lock myself out if I did. And the demon thing pointed out that there was a latch on the outside too. And then I felt it was OK - that the house was indeed secure against the ghosts - and I can return there.
I think that the demon was my "dream guide" - I've only had a couple of those that I recall. I think it's interesting that he showed up only in response to my actions - I didn't have help until I asserted myself. But maybe I don't entirely trust my own decision-making here - hence my distrust of his advice. But also, I've been afraid to go out and make changes - I don't want to make things worse than they are now, and I'm afraid of doing something irrevocable. Perhaps the latch indicates that I can step out of my current self/situation, and my inner self will be safe when I get back.
Re: ah, Death Note
I've started buying the Death Note manga (I blogged vols. 1-4 here). It's an interesting story, but I don't love it the way I love the other manga series I'm reading (Samurai Deeper Kyo, Saiyuki, and Vagabond). Someone noted on my LJ that the anime is even grimmer (hard to imagine!) than the manga. I don't usually watch video stuff unless it involves going out to a movie theater!
The House Dream
I don't entirely buy the interp, but it got me started thinking about other ways of looking at it. That's the main reason I like dream interp tools, and why I sometimes read Tarot or I Ching - it makes me think of the situation in different ways.
See, I'm having issues with our synagogue. My religion is a comfy fit for me, but I am having trouble dealing with the people at my place of worship. On the plus side, it's the synagogue in which I grew up, and they are pretty much OK with mixed marriages (my husband isn't Jewish), and they do a lot of community service - including ecological stuff and outreach/cooperative work with other religious groups. On the other hand, I've never been comfortable there socially, and neither are my husband and daughter. We're just all too geeky and introverted, that's all. The Young Lady is almost finished with religious school. I think that after next year (her last year), I'm going to have to find another place, somehow.
So the meaning of the rabbi's house is now more clear to me. The young woman is, I think, the other people (especially the other moms) at the synagogue, with whom I am co-existing but not interacting, while I decide what to do. I've been "digging around" in my past feelings about this whole issue - the fact that the rabbi's house was next to my parents' is a lucky coincidence exploited by my subconscious - and I'm almost ready to get rid of that part of me.
BTW, the "new" house wasn't actually our Kensington house. So I'm not going with that aspect of it 100%. But, there is another Reform Jewish congregation in the area - and it's in ... Kensington! And I don't like changes, so I've been resisting the idea of even checking it out. Also, we lived in Kensington mainly because it was literally just around the corner from my father and stepmother during the last years of his life, when he was ill and confined to a wheelchair, so I don't have many happy memories of that time. MaybeI'm getting ready to deal with all that. I certainly hope that I'm finally getting out of this depression, which was triggered in part by his death.
The connection between a latch and an appeal for aid is far-fetched to me - I think that symbols have to make sense to the dreamer. For example, someone who keeps rabbits as pets (like we do) will likely associate rabbits with the usual interps for pets, not the usual interps for rabbits (e.g., fertility). To me, a latch is extra security. The thought process was something like, OK, so there's an iron latch on the inside - but how do I use that to secure the house when I'm on the outside - I'd lock myself out if I did. And the demon thing pointed out that there was a latch on the outside too. And then I felt it was OK - that the house was indeed secure against the ghosts - and I can return there.
I think that the demon was my "dream guide" - I've only had a couple of those that I recall. I think it's interesting that he showed up only in response to my actions - I didn't have help until I asserted myself. But maybe I don't entirely trust my own decision-making here - hence my distrust of his advice. But also, I've been afraid to go out and make changes - I don't want to make things worse than they are now, and I'm afraid of doing something irrevocable. Perhaps the latch indicates that I can step out of my current self/situation, and my inner self will be safe when I get back.
Thanks for helping me to think through this!