The Myth World of Dreams

Ingrid Goff Maidoff
Sarah's Circle Publishing

Dreams are the best evidence
that we are not as firmly shut
in our skins as we believe.
~Friedrich Hebbel

The other night I dreamt that I was visiting a remote village that was tucked in a valley between many beautiful mountains. I thought it might be China, although I have never been there. I do know that it was Spring. The trees were full of blossoms, the roads were lined with fragrant flowers, and I was on a retreat, alone.

In my dream I stepped into a small grocery. The shelves held very few items, but the room was light and bright, and what goods they did have were exquisitely beautiful. Flour was bundled in small cotton sacks, and crackers were packaged in boxes with colorful labels, intricately designed with drawings of lovely flowers, faces, animals, and places. There were attractive displays of fresh fruits and vegetables, and baked goods~ cookies, cakes, and breads.

I admired everything the shopkeeper showed me. Not knowing each other's native tongue, we spoke with the universal language of nods and smiles. In the end, I chose sweets, cherries, and fresh lilies to bring back to my mountainside cabin. Walking along the road, holding my purchases to my chest, a fresh cotton skirt swishing just above my knees, I felt more youthful, more lovely than in my waking hours. I felt I was part of the beauty of the landscape. A painter painting would have included me there, not that I improved the image, although I did feel exotic. I was part of the scenery. I belonged.

These days, I find myself visiting this dream again and again for the pleasant feeling it gives me.

Joseph Campbell said,
"Dreams are self-luminous: they shine of themselves as gods do.
Myths are public dreams. Dreams are private myths. By finding your own dream and following it through, it will lead you to the myth world you live in."

I call my myth world the Landscape of Joy. It is a beautiful refuge which I may return to again and again to find peace, balance, wisdom, and compassion. Here I store the dream-like visions from my life, and the life-like visions from my dreams; those visions that remind me of the beauty of the world and of my place in it. There are moments sometimes when the line becomes blurred, the two realms meet, and the riches from each pour into the other. And I am thankful for those...

The poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge asked the most beautiful and inspiring question:

"What if you slept;
and what if in your sleep you dreamed;
and what if in your dream you went to heaven
and there you plucked
a strange and beautiful flower;
and what if when you awoke
you had the flower in your hand?
Oh, what then?"

The poet, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said,

"There have been times in my life when I fell asleep with tears in my eyes, but in my dreams the most delightful visions came to me to comfort and cheer me, and the next morning, I would rise again feeling fresh and happy."

I wish you beautiful dreams, both daydreams and night-visions. I wish you plenty of time in the Landscape of Joy, the place within you that is of love, of peace, of light, and of bliss.
~Ingrid

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