Manure

The things you no longer need, that no longer nourish you, but can now be used in new growth when broken down. The manure might be new ideas or a new encounter that stimulates growth. See: Faeces.

In some ways our personality or identity is like a plant which feeds from the most unlikely material to produce beautiful leaves and flower. The plant can transform manure into living leaves and petals. Our identity feeds on experience and information – some of which may appear uninviting, painful, or unwholesome. In fact the experience may be all of these, and be shown as manure, and if not put to our roots – our process of becoming aware of things in an intensely felt manner which links feelings with intellectual insight – remain a disintegrating influence. Like manure something that is rich and needed for or holding in it the potential for growth.

Learning processes which pile intellectual information on children or adults without helping them to allow their deep feeling responses, are piling manure on the psyche while cutting off its roots. Personal disintegration is the result.

 Example: Example: I was near a lake in the countryside. Everything was frozen. I saw some horse droppings still steaming and this seemed to be the only living thing around. Kevin K.

Kevin’s comments on this are that the frozen lake and countryside express his feelings about the world around him. He sees it as cold and uninviting. It is frozen and there is no life in it for him. That is, he cannot find anything in life to excite him or have meaning. The horse dung he realised is the resources he can use to change his life. The dung can be manure or food for growth, or fuel to burn for energy and heat. This made him feel as if there is a way to transform his old unsatisfying patterns of ‘frozen’ emotions into something growing and satisfying.

Useful Questions and Hints:

What is happening in the dream with the manure?

Is it seen as useful or objectionable?

If I have used manure how have I used it?

See compost – Settings in Dreams – Dreams are Virtual Realities – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams