Catherine Dream Meanings

See “catherine”... cathy dream meaning

In most ancient cultures, consider­ation and even veneration of dreams played a great pan. Some groups felt that dream life was more real and imponant than waking life. Not only were dreams looked to for information about hunting (Eskimo groups), but also for ways of healing physical and psychological ills (Greek dream temples) and insights into the medicinal properties of herbs, barks and clays (African tribal witchdoctors). Common to most of these groups, and evident in the Old Testament, was also the sense that through dreams one had awareness of the transcendental or supersensible. St Peter’s dream of the sheet and unclean animals was a turning point in the history of western socicty —as was Constantine’s dream of his victory if he used the symbol of Christianity.

At its most fundamental, the human religious sense emerges out of several factors. One is the awareness of ex­isting amidst external and internal forces of nature which cause us to feel vulnerable and perhaps powerless. Such natu­ral processes as illness, death, growth and decay, earthquakes, the seasons, confront us with things which are often beyond our ability to control. Considenng the information and re­sources of the times, one of religion’s main functions in the past was the attempted control of the ‘uncertain’ factors in human life, and help towards psychological adjustment to vali­ne rability. Religions were the first social programmes aiding the human need for help and support towards emotional, mental, physical and social health and maturity. Even if prim­itive, such programmes helped groups of people to gain a common identity and live in reasonable harmony together. Like a computer program which is specific to a particular business, such programmes were specific to a particular group, and so are outdated in today’s need for greater integra­tion with other races. Religions also offered some sort of con­cept of and connection with the roots of being.

Example: ‘For two nights running I have dreamt the same nightmare. I am in a chapel walking down the first flight of several flights of steps when I hear loud noises behind me. I am told to run, being warned of the soldiers who ride the cavalry horses nght down the steps, and who run you over if you are in their way.

The horses are fierce and they absolutely race down the steps at the same time every day, and you literally have to lock yourself away in a nearby room which is a long way down the chapel. I ran into the room hearing the pounding of the horses’ hooves. It was a terrible pandemo­nium in that chapel. In the room were school children the same age as me and some perhaps younger’ (Maria H). Maria, who is 16, in describing her dream says she had recently been confronted with whether to have a sexual relationship with her boyfriend. Religion, represented by the chapel, is Maria’s way of locking out her powerful sexual urges. Many dreams show that religion, as a set of beliefs, is used as a way of avoiding anxiety in the face of life’s uncertainties.

For many people, the rigid belief system helps them to avoid uncertainty in making decisions.

Dreams also portray and define the aspect of human expe­rience in which we sense a kinship with all life forms. This is the side of spiritual expenence through which we find a con­nection with the roots of our being. While awake we might see the birth of a colt and feel the wonder of emergence and newness; the struggle to stand up and survive, the miracle of physical and sexual power which can be accepted or feared. In looking in the faces of fellow men and women we see something of what they have done in this strange and painful wonder we call life. We see whether they have been crushed by the forces confronting them; whether they have become ngid; or whether, through some common miracle, they have been able to carry into their mature years the laughter, the crying, the joy, the ability to feel pain, that are the very signs of life within the human soul. These things are sensed by us all, but seldom organised into a comprehensive view of life, and an extraction of meaning. Often it is only in our dreams, through the ability the unconscious has to draw out the signif­icance of such widely divergent expenences, that we glimpse the unity behind phenomena which is an essential of spiritual life, i.e. we all have a life, we breathe, we have come from a mother, so share a universal experience.

Example: To quote J.B. Priestley from his book Rain Upon Godshill: ‘Just before I went to Amenca, dunng the exhausting weeks when I was busy with my Time Plays, I had such a dream, and I think it left a greater impression on my mind than any experience I had ever known before, awake or in dreams, and said more to me about this life than any book I have ever read.

The setting of the dream was quite simple, and owed something to the fact that not long before my wife had visiied the lighthouse here at St Catherine’s to do some bird ringing. I dreamt I was standing at the top of a very high tower, alone, looking down upon myriads of birds all flying in one direction; every kind of bird was there, all the birds in the world. It was a noble sight, this vast aerial river of birds. But now in some mysterious fashion the gear was changed, and time speeded up, so that I saw generations of birds, watched them break their shells, flutter into life, mate, weaken, falter and die. Wings grew only to crumble; bodies were sleek, and then, in a flash bled and shrivelled; and death struck every­where at every second. What was the use of all this blind struggle towards life, this eager trying of wings, this hurried mating, this flight and surge, all this gigantic meaningless ef­fort? As I stared down, seeming to see every creature’s ignoble little history almost at a glance, I felt sick at heart. It would be better if not one of them, if not one of us, had been bom, if the struggle ceased for ever. I stood on my tower, still alone, desperately unhappy. But now the gear was changed again, and the time went faster still, and it was rushing by at such a rate, that the birds could not show any movement, but were like an enormous plain sown with feathers. But along this plain, flickering through the bodies themselves, there now passed a sort of white flame, trembling, dancing, then hurry­ing on; and as soon as I saw it I knew that this white flame was life itself, the very quintessence of being; and then it came to me, in a rocket burst of ecstasy, that nothing mattered, nothing could ever matter, because nothing else was real but this quivering and hurrying lambency of being. Birds, men and creatures not yet shaped and coloured, all were of no account except so far as this flame of life travelled through them. It left nothing to mourn over behind it, what I had thought was tragedy was mere emptiness or a shadow show; for now all real feeling was caught and purified and danced on ecstatically with the white flame of life. I had never before felt such deep happiness as I knew at the end of my dream of the tower and the birds.’

Some Nonh American Indians developed the totem out of similar processes. In one generation a person might learn to plant a seed and eat the results. Later someone might see that through fertilisation more food was produced. Still later some­one found that by irrigating, still more improvement was made. No one individual was responsible for such vital cul­tural information, and the collective information is bigger than any one person, yet individuals can partake of it and add to it.

The totem represented such subtle realities, as it might in a modem dream; as Christ might in today’s unconscious. That older cultures venerated their collective information, and that modem humans seem largely apathetic to it, shows how our ‘religion’ has degenerated. Yet utilising the power of the unconscious to portray the subtle influences which impinge upon us, and building the information gained into our re­sponse to life, is deeply important.

With the growth of authoritarian structures in western reli­gion, and the dominance of the rational mind over feeling values, dreams have been pushed into the background. With this change has developed the sense that visionary dreams were something which ‘superstitious* cultural groups had in the past. Yet thoroughly modem men and women still meet Christ powerfully in dreams and visions. Christ still appears to them as a living being.

The transcendental, the collective or universal enters their life just as frequently as ever before. Sometimes it enters with insistence and power, because a too rational mind has led to an unbalance in the psyche—a bal­ance in which the waking and rational individuality is one pole, and the feeling, connective awareness of the uncon­scious is the other.

Although it is tempting to think of the transcendent as ethereal or unreal, the religious in dreams is nearly always a symbol for the major processes of maturing in human life. We are the hero/ine who meets the dangers of life outside the womb, who faces growth, ageing and death.

The awe and deep emotions we unconsciously feel about such heroic deeds are depicted by religious emotion.

See angel; Christ, rebirth and Devil under archetypes; church; evil; fish, sea creatures; example in whale under fish, sea creatures; heaven, hell; sweets under food; dream as spiritual guide.

See also hero/ine; mass; masturbation; old; paralysis; colours; sheep under animals. ... religion and dreams dream meaning

There is an excess of spiritual emotion, which needs to be channelled properly in order to prevent it shooting off in all directions. Various fireworks may have specific significances.

The catherine wheel signifies the martyrdom of st catherine of sienna, so in dreams could represent oppression of the feminine, while the rocket suggests aiming for the unknown.... fireworks dream meaning

Because of the different colors in gemstones and the different things associated with them, they can all have slightly different meanings when they appear in dreams.

If a specific gemstone or precious stone appears in your dream, try to work out what that stone means to you. Was it your birth stone or the birth stone of someone you know? You should also consider its color. The texture and any associations or myths connected should also help with your interpretation. It would be impossible to list all precious and semiprecious gemstones, but the following associations with some of the most well-known gemstones should give you some guidelines regarding interpretation; but please note that it is always worth your while to do your own research.

Purple has long been considered a royal color so it is not surprising that amethyst has been so much in demand during history. Fine amethysts are featured in the British Crown Jewels and were also a favorite of Catherine the Great and Egyptian royalty. Amethyst, transparent purple quartz, is the most important quartz variety used in jewelry. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote that amethyst was able to dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence, and in dreams the appearance of amethyst suggests healing and transcendence. The gemstone is also a symbol of sobriety and remorse, due to the legend of the origin of amethyst. Dionysus, the god of intoxication, was angered one day by an insult from a mere mortal and swore revenge on the next mortal that crossed his path, creating fierce tigers to carry out his wish. Along came unsuspecting Amethyst, a beautiful young maiden on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana. Diana turned Amethyst into a stature of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the brutal claws of the tigers. Dionysus wept tears of wine in remorse for his action at the sight of the beautiful statue. The god’s tears stained the quartz purple, creating the gem we know today.

Diamond is the symbol of incorruptibility, integrity, perfection and wisdom, so if you dream of it, these may be themes that would repay further investigation in your interpretation. But your dream may also be hinting that you need to look at various facets of a problem. There is also the association with human greed. As a symbol of fertility and regeneration, emerald in dreams suggests personal growth and a connection with the natural in life. The green of the emerald is the color of life and of the springtime, which comes round again and again. But emerald is also the traditional color of beauty and of constant love. In ancient Rome, green was the color of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. In dreams, emerald can convey harmony, love of Nature and elemental joie de vivre.

According to Chinese legend, jade is the sperm of the Celestial dragon that fell to earth; it therefore represents a union between heaven and earth. In the West, jade is more likely to bear the symbolism of its color green. It may also appear in dream word-play. Is there something in your waking life about which you feel jaded and would like to change? In gemstone therapy, it is said that jade stimulates creativity and mental agility on the one hand, whilst also having a balancing and harmonizing effect

A symbol of the inner world of fantasies and dreams, opal stands for intuitive awareness. All of nature’s splendor seems to be reflected in the manifold opulence of fine opals: fire and lightning, all the colors of the rainbow and the soft shine of far seas. Almost ninety-five per cent of all fine opals come from the dry and remote outback deserts of Australia. For ages, people have believed in the healing power of opals. It is reported to be able to cure depression and to help its wearer find true and lasting love. The fantastic color- play of opals may reflect changing emotions and moods; either your own or of the people around you. For example, the sparkling images of boulder opal, the vivid light flashes of black opal or the soft shine of milk opal characterize the colorful world of this fascinating gemstone.

Rubies are a symbol of emotion, passion, empathy and reaching out to others. The most important characteristic about this valuable stone is its color. There is of course a reason for this: the name ‘Ruby’ was derived from the Latin word ‘rubens’, meaning ‘red’. The red of rubies is in a class of its own, being peculiarly warm and fiery. Two magical elements are associated with the symbolism of this color: fire and blood, implying warmth and life for mankind. In the light of this, ruby-red is not just any old color red; it is the epitome of the color: hot, passionate and powerful. Like no other gemstone, ruby is the perfect symbol of powerful feelings. To dream of a ring set with a precious ruby does not symbolize a calm and moderate sympathy that one might feel for someone else, but rather the passionate and unbridled love which two people feel for each other.

Sapphires are symbols of hope, joy and aspiration, and blue is the color most often association with this precious stone. This color is also linked to emotions such as sympathy and harmony, friendship and loyalty. These emotions are permanent and reliable—they are emotions in which overwhelming and fiery passion is not the main element, but rather composure, mutual understanding and unshakeable trust. Sapphire blue has thus become a color related to anything permanent and reliable, and this is one of the reasons why women in many countries settle on sapphire for their engagement rings. Sapphire symbolizes loyalty and faithfulness, whilst at the same time expressing love and yearning.

The most famous musical example for this melancholic shade of blue can be found in George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. Sapphire’s blue color is also evoked where clear competence and controlled brainwork are the issue. After all, the first computer ever to wrangle a victory from a chess grandmaster and world champion was named ‘Deep Blue’.

In many cultures of the Old and New World turquoise has for thousands of years been appreciated as a holy stone, a good-luck charm or a talisman. In Asia and Europe, turquoise is often worn as protection against the evil eye and its exquisite shade of blue is associated with heaven. In dreams it can represent healing and higher aspirations.... gemstone dream meaning