Evil

Evil is ‘live’ spelt backwards. In dreams the sense or presence of evil is often depicting those things you have so repressed that they are no longer properly alive and healthy. Repression has turned them back upon you making them an internal evil. They therefore need meeting and being brought into proper recognition and expression. Usually refers to some of our own urges which we have judged as wrong because of moral or social values, and thus denied expression. Charles in the example below, probably feels that what he identifies with as himself – his established values and beliefs – is threatened by what he senses beyond the door. Whatever threatens our ‘I’ or ego, is often felt to be evil, even if it is natural urges. The unbalanced and real evils in the world, such as terrorising of individuals and minority groups, can of course be shown as the feeling of evil.

“All you may know of heaven or hell is within your own self.” EC

Example: ‘At the top of the stairs is a small door, half opened as if inviting me to go up. I get an overpowering sense of something evil beyond the door just waiting for me.’ Charles M.

Example: ‘I am lying on the floor in my bedroom with a towel over me. I am trying to hide and protect myself because I am terrified. There are four devils trying to get into my body and take over. My bedroom is going like a whirlpool around me, like evil all around me. I wake in a hot sweat and am terrified to go back to sleep.’ Joanna. LBC.

Joanna is most likely in conflict with her sexuality – the bedroom. When we fight with our own urges they often feel like external agencies – evil forces – attacking us. See:  archetype of the devil; black magic; active/passive. While we sleep our conscious self is largely or totally unconscious, and while we sleep our voluntary muscles are paralysed – therefore another will or motivating force moves our body. So we have a Conscious Will, and what I will call a Life Will.

The first one we have experience of as we can move our arm or speak in everyday activities; but the second will takes over when we sleep. This Life Will or motivator has been active for millions of years and we see it working all the time in animals. We are partly split in half because we are often opposed to what our Life Will in us wants. So the only way to express what is good for us is in dreams when our conscious will is largely passive. When we meet the inner urge to grow as it expresses from our Life Will, it feels like a hugeness which they are usually unaware if. It feels like something alien or attacking, it is a shock. The Hugeness that we are, we often react to it in our dreams or in waking with fear or panic or as something evil. So we dream of being attacked by aliens or frightening creatures. If we realise that they are things we have created through our own fear we will pass on. The Hugeness is part of our totality. It is the enormous potential you have within you, it is Life you are frightened of.

Example: I was destroyed a long time ago, and now I go about destroying my own. So full of hate for ourselves are we, that we hate our own children.

But I was destroyed a long time ago. Yet somehow I am not quite dead, and must needs go on destroying my own until I destroy myself. I must snatch my children from supposed harm and hurt them, and then blame the buggered life not onto myself, but upon the supposed. I must take him out of my neighbour’s house because their boy is dirty, and swears, because he calls me a silly sod, and because my wife says so. I choose to believe that there is evil in dirt, in swearing, in loud voices and talk. It is easier to believe that than to see the evil as the lack of interest and of my own absence of love. So I shut him in his room, not wanting to accept that it was too many shut doors, averted lips, closed hearts, that opened the neighbour’s soul to their own sorrow.

Example: It developed into an idiot like babbling. There were no formed words, and the chattering on and shouting in a mindless way, with saliva dripping from the mouth. I thought at first this was expressing madness or idiocy, but it went on from there. The body posture was slightly crouched, the babbling and grunting developing.

After a long time it became more intense. My left hand covered my face, and my eyes looked through my fingers at the group. With idiot and leering laughs, the quality of a mindless and evil desire was manifested in. It was the desire for power over people and things. The right-hand pointed at the group, expressing manipulation. Now the spirit began to feel threatened and callout, “Oh. Oh. Oh.” Its crouching leering postures slowly changed into one of being bent double, hands touching the floor. It called out a number of things – Satan, Durga, and other words I cannot recall.

It seemed to be calling for help, but was gradually being “cast out”. As this happened my body crumpled up and eventually fell on the floor. There was more crying out and a little thrashing about. The words, “Over. Over. Over” was said a number of times. Then the body relaxed.

The man who experienced this went on to say, “I lay there for quite some time, then was led to stand up. As I stood, inner realisations came to me. What had been cast out was a creature I had myself brought into being by my own desire for power expressed in my life. It was a hidden or unconscious thought, or desire, which was created out of my own energies, and then fed on them. It also, in subtle and hidden ways, manipulated my actions to fulfil its own mindless and base impulses. I realised there was no external evil or devil. It is what we create with our own fears, our own desires and plans to grab money or sex that have awful effects within us. 

Evil spirit or spirits: The idea of evil spirits started early in human experience, for anything that caused people to experience any awful thing was was seen as evil – i.e a hidden or invisible influence that could cause harm or fear. So what we now call germs or viruses was called evil spirits. But today we tend to see anything that we cannot understand or account for can be represented in dreams as an evil spirit as in above example.

Useful questions and hints:

What of my own urges do I struggle with most?

Do any part of the dream suggest what the evil feelings emerge from – bedroom/sex; bank/money – food/gluttony?

What do I try to avoid or pull back from?

See Processing Dreams – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams – Avoid Being Victims