Before I discovered the Dreamwork - and this was true particularly when I was in my teens - my only touchstones to magic and wonder were mythology and fantasy. This early love still holds strong in me; and sometimes the Archetypes enjoy using fantastic motifs to get their message across to me, such as in this dream worked in a recent session:
The wizard Gandalf is standing in front of a blackboard upon which is drawn a map of the world. He is lecturing the hobbit Bilbo: "The best way for us to insure our security against the enemy is for you to conquer and unite all the surrounding countries!"
At which point I think, "A hobbit empire?" But would we not have something similar, if North of Eden governed the world? This dream refers to the spiritual war that NOE is standing at the front lines of. The Animus (Gandalf) is telling me through the child (Bilbo) that I'm not supposed to "make do" with the state of the world as it is but rather that I'm being called to join in the battle.
"It IS a war," Marc said. "So all right then: let's win!"
Unfortunately, I have been struggling against a lifelong tendency to isolate myself, shun intimacy, and never let anyone get too close. To join in the fight, I have to open to a deeper level of honesty and transparency. I was challenged by this dream from my most recent (as of this writing) session:
I follow a man, who I've been wanting to speak to, into a shop. There they sell pills that produce lucid memories (i.e., essence and expanded consciousness). In order to get the pills, we all must undress and ask a partner to shave our private parts. I get as far as the shaving cream and then decide that everyone's a stranger to me and I don't want any of them touching my scrotum. I go to the bathroom to rinse off.
This is my present edge. My challenge is to make a different choice, to risk being that vulnerable with the Animus, myself, and the people in my life. This is something I feel uncomfortable even letting people know about, so strong is the resistance (as of an hour ago, I was decidedly NOT posting this!) But...to be rid of that pattern once and for all! Oh, there is definitely excitement living alongside the fear and insecurity.