Friday, January 6, 2012

S.P. Somtow, Witchfinder General

Official Coat of Arms of the Zoe Katholike Church of St. Papinian of the Darker Angels
I had a dream so bizarre I decided not to write it down.  But when I don't write them down, I forget them. It's a way to avoid facing whatever message may be concealed therein.

But four days have gone by and the images still haunt me.  So, I have to write it down after all.

I dream that I was an official hunter of witches and that I had found a way to trap my prey.  It is to hang human torsos upside down from a tree branch as bait.

Presently the witch comes crawling along the tree ... she is covered in a black cloak which appears to be part of her, not a garment.  From the next of the cloak, her head should emerge but instead it is the head of a serpent.  A monstrous serpent - the head is like a human head.

The lure works because the serpent slithers down the torsos, looking for the head to devour.  There are no heads but instead there is my sack, in which I trap the witch.

Finally I am able to strip off the witch's hide which is that garment-like black leathery mass.  I put it on and it erects a huge jagged hood around my head, protecting it from view.  In my dream, I see myself only from behind, so once the hood is up there is no sign of my face visible.  I am completely enveloped in the witch's skin.

A voice says to me, "You have been given the privilege of hunting this witch because you seek your inner self.  You have been allowed to sacrifice these people, hanging their torsos on this tree, because they are the cost of your self-knowledge.  You have hunted the witch and may now wear her skin as your own."

***

So there it is.  What the hell does it mean?  I'm afraid to think, but this is the longest that a dream has refused to be pushed back down into the subconscious ... without being written down.

3 comments:

  1. I'm betting your kundalini is on the rise for the year of the dragon or... the stuff you're smoking is waaay too strong my friend :D

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  2. That dream practically has subtitles! I'll not your birthday address (and happy birthday by the way) on 29 December, and point out that you posted this on the Feast of Epiphany. Re-read the birthday address and I think you'll get it.

    In the mean time, on the Jungian approach of seeing everything in a dream as a reflection of Self (and we'll just skip the doctrine of anatman for now) I'd say the question is, that now having made the sacrifices and clothed yourself in the garb of a Witch, the question now is what you will do with your new Powers.

    Charlie

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  3. The above comment from someone who couldn't get comments to work....

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