silent partner

This dream was at the end (or the same night) as the previous 'Blue Bono' dream but it was so different that it seemed like it should have it's own entry. The other people - my friends - in the previous dream are gone and I am outside at night. It's raining and I am trying to cross a busy street. It's supposed to be Chicago though in reality I don't know Chicago too well and I don't recognise the street. A new york style bus is passing in front of me and there are other people who I think of as "workers" with me. We cross but the bus is still moving forward and I see one bus about to knock down one girl. It's just the moment before and there is that feeling of "oh no" . I think I said something but perhaps it was just a strong "Stop" thought in my head. Then she is up on the outside of the front of the bus smiling (instead of being flattened by it.) Then there are other smiling people all quite fuildly attached to the front and sides of the bus while it is moving. I remember thinking "Oh, that's how it's done in Chicago...."

There are links between Hartmann's and Hobsons ideas where one writers point of view is supported by the other one, even though their approach and conclusions are very different.
Hartmann describes the working of the brain in terms of "nets of the mind" as a way for us to have a visual model of how the brain works. Physically, we have learned that the brain is made up a large network of neurons and synapes which communicate via electrical signals. The neurotransmitters which Hobson discusses, act on these networks to facilitate the communication. The level and activity of these neurotranmitters he argues are a major factor in affecting our dreams, and other "altered states of consciousness". Hartmann suggests that the "nets" are "connecting" or "cross-connecting" when we dream, which moves away from Hobson's more scientific explanations but what is similar is the idea that the physical brain is operating differently when we are asleep (Hartmann 78).

"The Dream as a Revelation" was written by James Sully, a leading figure in child psychology in the late 19th Century. This essay brings up different aspects of dream theory. Freud, who came after, cites this essay in "Interpretation of Dreams" and from reading the essay I can definitely see links between Sully's ideas and Freud's writing.
Sully begins by pointing out that there are two extreme views of dreaming at that time - one where dreaming is seen as superior to waking in the way it provides more insight. The other is that dreaming is just "intellectual fooling". These may be the extremes but it is similar to the debate on dreaming we are still having now - are they a meaningful link to the subconcious, part of our mind, or just a by-product of a practical brain performing memory functions while sleeping.
He goes on to argue that the science at the time can reconcile this opposition. He is aware that there are physical differences in the brain activity while we sleep, which is what Hobson also tells us today. His physical explanations are not as accurate or as scientifically proven as Hobson are, over a century later, but Sully is trying to reconcile the physical and mental. He also calls the brain state while sleeping an "altered state" and compares it to hynotic trance and psychosis, which is similar to what we read in the Hartmann book.

I am quoting Sully in my title, when he refers to dreams being more primal, and from the lower more primitive parts of the brain. This makes me remember the dream I had last night which is a bit disturbing. I dreamt I was with a guy (cannot remember any details now of where, what happened, etc.) but in the dream he turns out to be the boyfriend of my older sister. My sister is 11 years older than me and I would not be interested in her boyfriend at all in waking life but there was something in the dream where he and I were a couple. This strikes me as "irrational and immoral" even though I scoffed at the old-fashioned and victorian nature of that wording when I read it. I personally would see it as a huge no-no to be interested in a partner of a sibling and as I said, I am not anway, so I have to say, that is one dream I am pretty glad I don't remember the details of...!

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483-1520)
(school of): Joseph explaining the dreams to his brothers. Fresco.
Location :Logge, Vatican Palace, Vatican State
Photo Credit : Scala / Art Resource, NY
Image Reference : ART45844

This painting to me seems to have a story within a story. Joseph and the relationships with his many olders brothers strikes me as one aspect of the scene. The other is the fact that he is describing his dream and it seems that the bubbles above them are representations of his dreams as he is telling them.

Artist : Gregorio Pagani [Italian Painter, 1558-1605]

Found this painting before I read Ovid's "Pyramus and Thisbe" and am taking the wild guess that things do not work out well for the lovers. Am interested now to see what happens...
I love Thisbe's dramatic pose in this painting.

This is just one short part of a dream I had last night, the only bit I can remember. I think not having enough sleep due to midterms is no helping in trying to remember dreams this week!
Anyway, I am with people and we are outside but I don't know who they are now. I am throwing wine glasses ahead of me on the road. These wine glasses are the exact same as a set I do have that have a small Amnesty International logo and candle and the words "To Freedom". I have also broken a few of them in real life, not by throwing though, usually just clumsiness.
In the dream I throw them and I say to whoever it is that is there with me, "if they break they are no good, otherwise I'll keep them". The glasses don't shatter, instead they bounce off the road when I throw them and come back to me.