Learning to Trust the Inner Voices

[spoOk]

On my own, I trust my inner voices. Perhaps because my inner voice is an observer I think. This multiple avenues for verification is done but I never called it that. I scry everything, not intentionally much of the time. And the tools that are specifically designed for divination tend to back up what the world has already been displaying.

I just never saw the need to verify with others, but I can see why that would be important to people now.


 If anyone wants to play with their hemispheres for a bit,
 here's an concise article with an optical illusion that can help a body figure which side of the brain they may be using. Everybody uses both, so everybody can eventually make it change spinning directions.  

It's not special really, but I cross over, lots of people do. Which is to say, I don't use either side exclusively or necessarily predominantly. Some situations and people call for one side to respond predominantly and that required side steps up. Many of my colleagues also demonstrate that they cross over as well and very easily. I think we have to do it in order to get concepts across to different kinds of thinkers.

The only shrink I was involuntarily sent to (in 1st grade due to driving a nun apeshit enough to hit me and draw blood) tested me and told my mother it was likely that fast inter-hemispheric processes were in work and that the nun in question was frustrated by that. Every little test since then has born this inter-hemispheric dealio out. And also told me that I am not alone.

Fluidity can be learned too if anyone wants to - it's not particularly helpful in every line of work though. If a body challenges both sides simultaneously and repeatedly over years, IME, the fast crossing become ingrained and speedier.

My hunch is that with some people who do the natural sign spotting, many of whom are drawn to paganism, have another task going at all times already and may be a lot more porous to start. Thus the uber academic flavor of many pagan arenas. Both sides are engaged and want to be engaged.

i can make it swap directions too.

[Annie Roonie]

i can make it swap directions too.

Isn't it a strange feeling? ha! Sometimes if a person has trouble getting it to turn differently, engaging the different hemisphere will do the trick.  So I tell predominant left brainers to think of people they love or things that make them feel love, and I tell predominant right brainers to divide 7 by 3. :

Every year I am accused of having a remote that switches it. Which cracks me up.

But still, I prefer the terms rational and emotional (as has been used in this thread) for these hemispheres because it is more descriptive than just location.
 
I like the idea that inner voice can also include those things that are beneath the threshold of consciousness like some brain functions are.

[DancesWithHorses]

Isn't it a strange feeling? ha! Sometimes if a person has trouble getting it to turn differently, engaging the different hemisphere will do the trick.  So I tell predominant left brainers to think of people they love or things that make them feel love, and I tell predominant right brainers to divide 7 by 3. :

Every year I am accused of having a remote that switches it. Which cracks me up.

But still, I prefer the terms rational and emotional (as has been used in this thread) for these hemispheres because it is more descriptive than just location.
 
I like the idea that inner voice can also include those things that are beneath the threshold of consciousness like some brain functions are.

 
When I look at it now, I can make it skip with no effort. I feel a bit odd, I don't fall into one side or the other predominantly. I have a great imagination that allows me to look at fabric and see the finished dress just the way it will turn out and calculate how many yards it will take. So for me, all I did was study the dancer's foot and then I could move the dancer as I wanted.  

Question, where do dreams fit into this group effort?

[spoOk]

When I look at it now, I can make it skip with no effort. I feel a bit odd, I don't fall into one side or the other predominantly. I have a great imagination that allows me to look at fabric and see the finished dress just the way it will turn out and calculate how many yards it will take. So for me, all I did was study the dancer's foot and then I could move the dancer as I wanted.  

Question, where do dreams fit into this group effort?

 
I'm left handed and great with arty crazy things and imagining the unfolded box folded up etc. and have created my own language,used to write my biology class notes in runes,could explain the concepts of calculus to esl students,yet put some algebra in front of me and I blank out and or am reduced to frustrated tears. I stare at the torso where the hand passes thru/across and sorta tell it to go the other way,or glance away and back and it's swapped directions.

I don't use an alarm clock,I just think what time I need to wake up and usually do,but I can't seem to make that work with requesting dreams. sigh.

[MadZealot]

I have a theory, shared with some others here, that Deity has a less-complicated time dealing with human brains when they're partially...cracked open already?

 
Yep, I'd add that 'madmen' (ie the most cracked) make the best prophets.

[Annie Roonie]

Question, where do dreams fit into this group effort?

I don't know. That's a good question. I've been recording dreams, or what I remember of them off and on since ... I cannot remember at the moment! I can tell a normal dream from something else. There are lots of not so normal dreams, but figuring them out is a puzzle for me, but one cool thing about them is that the dreams that are special don't happen that often.

This could be useful if my experience is the norm. Having similar out of the ordinary dreams in the same time window would, IMO, be pretty unique. How to use that other than to know it, I have no idea!

[DancesWithHorses]

I don't know. That's a good question. I've been recording dreams, or what I remember of them off and on since ... I cannot remember at the moment! I can tell a normal dream from something else. There are lots of not so normal dreams, but figuring them out is a puzzle for me, but one cool thing about them is that the dreams that are special don't happen that often.

This could be useful if my experience is the norm. Having similar out of the ordinary dreams in the same time window would, IMO, be pretty unique. How to use that other than to know it, I have no idea!

 
I almost never dream but when I do it's really weird stuff. Maybe recording it is a good idea! The one thing I've noticed is that the last person I interacted with (see my other thread to know what I mean here) will appear.

[Nyktipolos]

I don't know. That's a good question. I've been recording dreams, or what I remember of them off and on since ... I cannot remember at the moment! I can tell a normal dream from something else. There are lots of not so normal dreams, but figuring them out is a puzzle for me, but one cool thing about them is that the dreams that are special don't happen that often.

This could be useful if my experience is the norm. Having similar out of the ordinary dreams in the same time window would, IMO, be pretty unique. How to use that other than to know it, I have no idea!

 
What's a "not so normal" dream, though? I've had, I think, not-so-normal dreams my entire life. But maybe they're normal after all. I just assumed they were not (beyond being able to recall my dreams after waking a lot of the time, although much gets lost and I need to write it down somewhere before I forget, unless the dream is unforgettable.).

[DancesWithHorses]

What's a "not so normal" dream, though? I've had, I think, not-so-normal dreams my entire life. But maybe they're normal after all. I just assumed they were not (beyond being able to recall my dreams after waking a lot of the time, although much gets lost and I need to write it down somewhere before I forget, unless the dream is unforgettable.).

 
Just hazarding a guess but maybe "not normal" is intended as not typical for the dreamer. For example, my "normal" dreams include sleeping through an alarm, fire, running away and losing the farm, all the goats dying, that sort of thing. "Not normal" for me is when people other than my family and "random strangers" appear. So I think Annie is referring to dreams that are not typical for her, they appear out of pattern, have unexplainable elements, that sort of thing. I could be wrong though.

[LiminalAuggie]

(I've seen it go both ways with people I worked with, but more generally the "this person has been seriously open-headed since childhood, and now has other stuff going on" is a bit more common.)

That would certainly make sense...though I'm hesitant to self-diagnose as such. I always believed in spirits and other powers as a kid. My best friend and I read The Egypt Game at probably eight or nine and decided to do the same thing! I quickly accumulated a massive Bast shrine full of plastic cat figurines and I was way more into it than my friend; I was certain that if I just was dedicated enough it would make me fulfilled in some way or special...of course that's around the age when we start teaching kids to be serious about the Real World and I just sort of drifted away from that...wow. That makes me feel very sad, looking back.

I think open-headedness is definitely a part of certain Mystery work. When I first read your post I immediately thought of reading His Dark Materials (oh my gosh my entire life and worldview is built on young adult literature, is it painfully obvious that I'm a Library Kid?), when the one explorer fellow undergoes trepanation to let the Dust in and gain greater wisdom and power. I have a lot of swirly thoughts going on about trauma creating a gateway or means of communication. Hm. Maybe time for a blog post about harm.

Groups - and people - vary, but really, I want to work with people who, when I say "Hey, thanks for trying to be helpful, but that suggestion there? Heard it, not so helpful." go "Oh, right." and move on. Doesn't really matter what the topic is.

That sounds ideal. In my case I think it would involve a long period of just being around and listening in this kind of setting to get a feel for a group/build up enough trust and confidence to share my questions. The trust is the tricky part, but thank goodness for the cloak of relative anonymity that is the internet, otherwise I'd probably be not nearly as aware of myself and my path as I am now.

[LiminalAuggie]

Just hazarding a guess but maybe "not normal" is intended as not typical for the dreamer. For example, my "normal" dreams include sleeping through an alarm, fire, running away and losing the farm, all the goats dying, that sort of thing. "Not normal" for me is when people other than my family and "random strangers" appear. So I think Annie is referring to dreams that are not typical for her, they appear out of pattern, have unexplainable elements, that sort of thing. I could be wrong though.

 
Seconding this. Typical dreams for me involve either long sprawling adventures or your typical trauma dream stuff, usually teeth-related, eurgh. Those are usually harder to recall, as well. The atypical dreams where I look back at them and think "okay this could possibly mean something" tend to include a really intense element of physical sensation, like very clear sounds or smells, as if someone turned the brightness and contrast way up and added all sorts of sensory elements. These never feel as "floaty" for me as "normal" dreams.

[DancesWithHorses]

I think open-headedness is definitely a part of certain Mystery work. When I first read your post I immediately thought of reading His Dark Materials (oh my gosh my entire life and worldview is built on young adult literature, is it painfully obvious that I'm a Library Kid?), when the one explorer fellow undergoes trepanation to let the Dust in and gain greater wisdom and power. I have a lot of swirly thoughts going on about trauma creating a gateway or means of communication. Hm. Maybe time for a blog post about harm.

When you read books (typically fiction), are you able to build up the world that is written on the page in your imagination? I have a sort of theory about this. I sort of stumbled on it after I realised that no matter, I have to be very careful when watching movies. Those scenes would later turn into dreams or night terrors depending on the movie.  When one is younger and scared of scary movies, the adults laugh and say it's an age thing, ie no scary movies for small children. But even now, movie that isn't a romcom or intended for really small children will give me nightmares for weeks after. It's frustrating, I wanted to see Thor and that one western movie... can't remember the name of it. I can not. I'm afraid to admit even the bear in Brave was a lot for me. Oh and some of the books they publish for Young Adults now, one that I read caused me to lose sleep for weeks after.

Bare with me, I'm getting to the point here... ok, so in being open-minded as a younger child, and able to use a great imagination, stays with the person and makes it easier for mystery work. That's sort of my theory about bookworms, mystery work and dreams.

[Nyktipolos]

Seconding this. Typical dreams for me involve either long sprawling adventures or your typical trauma dream stuff, usually teeth-related, eurgh. Those are usually harder to recall, as well. The atypical dreams where I look back at them and think "okay this could possibly mean something" tend to include a really intense element of physical sensation, like very clear sounds or smells, as if someone turned the brightness and contrast way up and added all sorts of sensory elements. These never feel as "floaty" for me as "normal" dreams.

 
Hm. Okay, yes this makes sense. While I don't have the teeth bit, most of my dreams generally tend to be chaotic and not very often based on reality (i.e. places I've been, people I know). Hence my earlier confusion.

The brightness and lack of floaty-feeling is something I get, totally. I seem to associate that more with lucid dreaming, or at least my strongest memory is of a lucid dream, where I walked out of a school (admittedly my old elementary school) purposefully and "outside", where it was a bright and clear summer day, and it really felt like the brightness and contrast had been turned up to high. Think that default wallpaper for Windows XP, the one with the green fields and blue sky? Except way more... intense.

Since I don't dream of spiritual things or gods that often, generally when they get involved in my dreams I take notice. Otherwise "mundane" dreams I look through with a lens of "well, what's my brain trying to work through right now? what can I take from this? anything I should be paying attention to?".

[Juniperberry]

Question, where do dreams fit into this group effort?

 
(Disclaimer: I'm not on a Mystery path, but I do believe in profound experiences.)

I'll know when a dream is more than a dream when I see my fylgja. It's the same dog and he always has a coat of silver, like mercury. The dreams are also realistic. For example, once I fell asleep and then dreamt that a dog was barking. I "woke up" in my room and saw the dog outside the door looking through the banister to downstairs. So I walked down, saw three women in my kitchen...and, anyways. Everything in my surroundings was just like being awake.

It's not just the fylgja that signifies an important dream,  though, it's the mercury as well as the realism. I've had dreams of the dead visiting me at my very realistic house/yard in mercury textured vehicles. So something about that color is otherworldy, and it always involves the otherworld visiting this world and not a subconciously constructed dream world.

Realism, mercury-silver, otherworld beings.

So..I'd look for patterns like that, but not necessarily the same thing.

[Annie Roonie]

(
So..I'd look for patterns like that, but not necessarily the same thing.

After reading the dream comments it seems like you all do get what I mean by "not so normal." Just something that stands out to you from your normal.

But this part of what Juniperberry said has been VERY important. I got the advice ages ago from, I have no idea where honestly, Ha!, but it is echoed in much dream research. Recognizing patterns allows the dreamer to have more control not only over the dream state (to induce lucid dreaming etc.) but in dream recall. To recognize patterns you need to remember them. Dream journaling helps with that.

If you read about dreams, you'll know there is scads of terminology that goes with it. I won't use that - but instead put it this way - the dreams that happen closer to waking are easier to remember so having a way to record them right as you wake is the best way to begin to recognize patterns. (I experimented with a voice recorder to try to get something down of the dreams that began as I drifted off. That was hilarious and not of much use except now I know what I snore like. :eek:

The easiest way for me to record my dreams is to have the computer accesible and a word doc open. I get up and sometimes even before the bathroom I sit down and pound out the dream. I don't spell check and am sometimes half asleep. Then later I go back to it and clean it up being careful not to change anything unless I remember something else. This has helped as I have aged because when I wake my fine motor skills are not at their peak. Holding a pen and writing is a fast way to make me stop journaling.

I decided with a new blog that I would post them for several ill defined reasons. One of which was that I wish that ancients would have kept dream journals. How cool would that be to read what was swimming in their heads at night? Maybe one day I can be that ancient dreamer for someone else! Another was to give me frequent and prompted access. If I commit to posting it, when I lapse, I can't just kick the journal under the bed and forget it. Another is that I do get divinatory type dreams and I cannot remember them right off the top of my head save a relevant detail, so I can access them online anywhere anytime. And I will sometimes get messages for other people that I don't know. A tiny part of me hopes that one day the person will find the message online and know it is for them. And other people have read my journals in the past and see things in them that I don't (not about me, but for some reason they get ideas of their own and go off and do something with the idea).

But if you decide to do that, I think allowing yourself to not be held accountable for your dreams is important! I've read other's dream journals and thought, "ew, is that about me?" And after doing it myself, the answer is always NO. I have strangled my very best friend in a dream. It meant nothing about her. And it didn't mean I secretly wanted to be a killer either. Might seem like that one is a no brainer, but darned if I don't have to remind myself of it now and again anyway.

But perhaps doing something like that would enable a group to go back and point to shared symbolism if it exists and maybe put it into some context. I dont know if people have ever done that before or what the value of it might be past an oooh.

Oh yeah, and sometimes not remembering the dream but only the feelings from it is useful to record as well IME.