Meeting (As in a group)

Activities, decisions, directions that are not simply your own. Your involvement with other people. But also, at a more symbolic level, the bringing together of more aspects of yourself. Therefore a large group suggests a lot of energy involving many different aspects of yourself.

We all have a Mammalian as part of our Human ‘brain’. This give rose to the skills shown in mammals such as wild dogs and apes. Whereas the lizards do not demonstrate mutual activity in hunting or caring for young, mammals show enormous awareness of bonding, caring for young, group activity, hierarchy and recognition of family and pack. It is this grouping, working together or fighting one anther that is still very much mammalian behaviour. We can see it strongly in football supporters.

When an integrated group is formed, being a member of it can produce a positive sense of connection with others. If one disagrees with the goals and beliefs of such a group, the group can sometimes exert an enormous pressure to conform with their goals. This can lead to individual persecution or conflict between the opposing groups or nations. Or it may be you feel a group of people you are involved with are forming a clique and pressurising you. It may lead to a person feeling alienated or shunned. See Archetype of the Outcast

The different age groups also represent the opportunities commonly associated with that age. For instance a sixty year old woman who falls in love might say ‘I feel like a young girl again.’ Or one might say to a young person, ‘You’ve got an old head on your shoulders.’ It is in precisely this way that dreams use age to represent feelings and situations. As far as we can tell some of these differences are because at different periods of our life we are confronted by different challenges and different needs. But that is only partly true, and the changes in our experience of dreams are also due to not only the physiological changes of our body but also the psychological changes, or spiritual changes, occurring at different ages and the cultural attitudes to the age we are.  See Every 7 Years You Change

In looking through a collection of dreams I find ‘old clothes’ which related to old attitudes and behaviour; ‘old shells’ from the war which indicated past difficult feelings and experiences; an ‘old woman’ who turned out to be a mother; his ‘old inadequate self’; ‘old group’ was about confronting my old social values.

 Example: I then saw the guy that I used to date playing with the kids. I was surprised he was there. Then the scene switched and my two housemates came into a room where a group of people was drinking. A party was going on and my housemates started to yell at some of the people because they were underage and drinking. I had yelled back at them because I was the only one drinking alcohol and I thought they were overreacting to the situation. I told them that they were being really hypocritical, and they just laughed.

Example: I am telling this story at a dinner at night (underground) to a group of family and friends. I feel happy with my wife, but still bitter at the arbitrary way in which I was rejected by the ‘service’ at the last second on the whim of this officer. I also feel some envy for those who were accepted and who went on to become successful. There for the grace of the devil, go I. Anyway, in spite of what happened to me I now feel happy.

Example: Some days ago I dreamt I was walking alone through a small town. I was heading for a place that a group of people, in a street parallel to mine, were also heading for. A person from the group tried to persuade me that the right way to get to the place was along the street the group was walking. I knew that the street did not matter, only the general direction. The person was quite disturbed by my independence. It made him or her feel uncertain to have their leader apparently questioned. I felt uncertain to for a moment.

Then I walked on and came to an open stretch of ground. There were no obvious pathways amidst random obstruction bushes. I wondered if I could get through to where I wanted to go. The group arrived and together we went forward.

Useful Questions and Hints:

Was I ever a member of a group?

How do I deal with groups who are different?

What attitudes do I still have that are connected with group action?

See Individuation – Identity and dreams – Life Changes – Ages of Love