Saturday, December 03, 2005
Sharing Dreams with Animals
Many of us have had the experience of "sharing" dreams with others, particularly those we live with or with whom we are very close. By "sharing" dreams, I mean that when we sleep, we have dreams which are strikingly similar to the other person's own "night" dreams. Often they carry the same theme or similar imagery. Such similarities of experiences seem to be the result of "psychic merger" or "psychic bonding."
But do we also share the same intimate connection with our animal companions, particularly those who live with us and share our daily lives? Now, people who have such companions know that animals are in fact quite psychic (when they want to be.) They seem to pick up on matters which concern them, and ignore the rest. For example, if you even think about giving the last bite to your dog (who may be snoozing in another room), she instantly appears, ready for her treat. The same goes for taking her out for walks--don't let the thought enter your mind, unless you are ready to deliver--she knows what is going on in your head, as if you had called her and brought her leash.
But what about sharing their dreams? Usually, there is simply no way to check this, since, gifted as our beloved creatures are, they do not speak. But here is a little incident which made me wonder.
Dreams can be prescient of future events. Usually such dreams predict (or pick up on) events of major significance--impending disasters, deaths of close friends, even world crises. But our dreams are often about trivia, matters which we often do not even remember next day.
My dream was one of the latter. It didn't have a plot or purpose. It was a brief snapshot, a glimpse of our cat (Maude Gonne, named for the beloved of W. B. Yeats) eating heartily from the bowl of our dog,(Nora Barnacle, who is named for James Joyce's wife.) Now, in case you don't know, cats simply don't eat dog food. They would almost never condescend to this level, demanding their own special dishes, those intended for cats alone. I didn't remember this insignificant moment in my dream life--until Gina told me the following next day.
It seems that the morning before the dream, she had very carefully and quietly put some special food in Nora's bowl--Nora being deeply asleep on her bed in another room. Nora apparently didn't hear what happened. Then Maude began to approach the bowl to see what was new--and Nora instant appeared, ready to defend her victuals.
So--my question is--was I picking up on Nora's own dream last night, one expressing her own anxiety that the cat would raid her food bowl and eat all her good treats? Did I somehow tune in to Nora and her fears? If it was mere coincidence, it was a rather curious one.
Now, one reason I mention this is that it sheds some light on subconscious communication between all of us. Some people believe that there is a vast reservoir , a common pool of dreams, thought, memories issuing from us all. Generally, we stay in our own bailiwick, and "armor" ourselves against such a mass of data coming in. But psychics seem to be able to "break in" to this storehouse, and others of us do from time to time have experiences that suggest we too are connected at a very deep level to what Yeats called "anima mundi," the world soul.
Now, having said all of this, another thought occurs to me. What if I was not picking up on Nora's dream but that of Gina, who witnessed the earlier encounter and told me about it(but after my dream). In that case, it would merely be an instance of one human sharing another's dream--but still, that too is rather remarkable.
P. S. There is also a Kundalini connection here. Psychic awakening seems often to precede or accompany Kundalini awakening. The psychic powers of the yogis is legendary. And the development of our own psychic ability seems (sometimes) to help prepare for the further opening of the subtle body through Kundalini arousal.
But do we also share the same intimate connection with our animal companions, particularly those who live with us and share our daily lives? Now, people who have such companions know that animals are in fact quite psychic (when they want to be.) They seem to pick up on matters which concern them, and ignore the rest. For example, if you even think about giving the last bite to your dog (who may be snoozing in another room), she instantly appears, ready for her treat. The same goes for taking her out for walks--don't let the thought enter your mind, unless you are ready to deliver--she knows what is going on in your head, as if you had called her and brought her leash.
But what about sharing their dreams? Usually, there is simply no way to check this, since, gifted as our beloved creatures are, they do not speak. But here is a little incident which made me wonder.
Dreams can be prescient of future events. Usually such dreams predict (or pick up on) events of major significance--impending disasters, deaths of close friends, even world crises. But our dreams are often about trivia, matters which we often do not even remember next day.
My dream was one of the latter. It didn't have a plot or purpose. It was a brief snapshot, a glimpse of our cat (Maude Gonne, named for the beloved of W. B. Yeats) eating heartily from the bowl of our dog,(Nora Barnacle, who is named for James Joyce's wife.) Now, in case you don't know, cats simply don't eat dog food. They would almost never condescend to this level, demanding their own special dishes, those intended for cats alone. I didn't remember this insignificant moment in my dream life--until Gina told me the following next day.
It seems that the morning before the dream, she had very carefully and quietly put some special food in Nora's bowl--Nora being deeply asleep on her bed in another room. Nora apparently didn't hear what happened. Then Maude began to approach the bowl to see what was new--and Nora instant appeared, ready to defend her victuals.
So--my question is--was I picking up on Nora's own dream last night, one expressing her own anxiety that the cat would raid her food bowl and eat all her good treats? Did I somehow tune in to Nora and her fears? If it was mere coincidence, it was a rather curious one.
Now, one reason I mention this is that it sheds some light on subconscious communication between all of us. Some people believe that there is a vast reservoir , a common pool of dreams, thought, memories issuing from us all. Generally, we stay in our own bailiwick, and "armor" ourselves against such a mass of data coming in. But psychics seem to be able to "break in" to this storehouse, and others of us do from time to time have experiences that suggest we too are connected at a very deep level to what Yeats called "anima mundi," the world soul.
Now, having said all of this, another thought occurs to me. What if I was not picking up on Nora's dream but that of Gina, who witnessed the earlier encounter and told me about it(but after my dream). In that case, it would merely be an instance of one human sharing another's dream--but still, that too is rather remarkable.
P. S. There is also a Kundalini connection here. Psychic awakening seems often to precede or accompany Kundalini awakening. The psychic powers of the yogis is legendary. And the development of our own psychic ability seems (sometimes) to help prepare for the further opening of the subtle body through Kundalini arousal.
