Friday, March 07, 2008

Crafting365; day ten: Revisiting Dream bags or I play with string again


Green dream bag


This is a little narrower than MY dream bag I finished earlier last year. This one is for the shop. I really enjoy the process of my dream bag. I hope to share that process with others who would be open to the idea of trying to use their dreams as a tool to better self-awareness. Many cultures believe in the power of dreams. It was one of the things I was fascinated by in my anthropology courses (I was an Anth minor ).

The process of dreaming:

Dreams are often not just nonsense. Some of the symbols that appear, especially recurring ones, are there for a reason. They just need to be understood and then used to translate what the rest of the dream is saying. Once we understand what a dream is saying it can be directed and used as a reflecting tool for our waking lives.

Often a nagging problem can be solved in dreams because our dream self is not restricted by physics and time - we can go anywhere, do almost anything, if only we become aware we are dreaming. This is called 'lucid dreaming.' Realizing you are aware and able to direct things in a dream is an awesome feeling, even though it is often short-lived and the inexperienced dreamer can easliy wake themselves up as soon as they realize things 'aren't real.'

So, what are dream bags?

Dream bags are put under your pillow, or on your bedside table. The bag itself is slightly symbolic in colors and materials, but is mostly about durability and being a pretty object :)

What is inside a dream bag is the most important part of the process. A favorite piece of jewelry (perhaps from a loved one?), a special token or totem symbol, gemstones or semi-precious stones symbolizing the things you wish to dream about and other objects that have special meaning to you. These items are placed in the bag in a hope to direct your subconscious thoughts into dreaming about the ideas they represent. A dream bag is very personal, and the contents will be different for every person.

It is good to often take everything out of your dream bag, sort through it, remind yourself of why it is in there and put back only the things that still have meaning and purpose. This is a good time to redirect what you hope to dream for and put in new objects as well as take out old.

3 comments:

Ladeewolf said...

The pit-bull-dashound was cute, I have a neighbor with a doxie mix that looks just like that. When it comes in the yard to chase the cats all you have to do is open the door and say something to it and it starts yelping and running and doesn't stop till it gets home-It is so funny. I still want to make a dreambag, I may crochet it or sew it though. I can usually interpret my dreams, The symbols get a little mixed but I can usually get it. I believe you can use it to to change your own reality-but I've not tried that yet.

Jennifer said...

I love this idea!

mrspao said...

What a lovely idea.