Orient Oriental

The unconscious, the source of life and its mystery. Thus it often represents transcendental wisdom and intuition. See: Chinese.

There are legends throughout the world in which “a poison damsel” (as they call her in the Orient) appears. She is a beautiful creature who has weapons hidden in her body or a secret poison with which she kills her lovers during their first night together. In this guise the anima is as cold and reckless as certain uncanny aspects of nature itself, and in Europe is often expressed to this day by the belief in witches.

The east, as the direction from which the sun and other celestial bodies rise, naturally symbolizes new beginnings and rebirths. Dreams about the East (in the sense of the Orient) have other associations, sometimes of a spiritual nature. For someone living in the Midwest or California, “back East” has entirely different connotations.

May be an aspect “foreign to you” or a need to orient” yourself in the situation.

 Example: I dreamt next morning I intuitively remember a Chinese name. I telephone them. A man answers, calling me by name. I am surprised. He tells me he has known me for hundreds of years through incarnations. Somehow I have to die because of my child.

Example: The Guru or master was not Indian, and not surrounded by an Ashram or disciples. He was only known through personal relationship, and was a Tibetan or Chinese. I felt, or have the feeling, he was from a mountainous place. The master was showing or giving me a book to read or understand certain passages. There was a sense that he was acknowledging me as becoming a Guru in my own right. I was going on a journey with another person.

Example: This was very beautiful.  As I did so I felt even more fully the impact of the old Chinese man who I had felt the presence of earlier.  I could feel the beautiful quality he carried within him from his culture.  I understood that the brushstroke, as simple as it was, carried within it everything that the man was, and in turn he carried everything that was his culture.  I don’t mean that he carried all information and knowledge from his culture, but that he had arisen from it and could not in any way be distinct from it. As I experienced this I realised that it is only when we accept ourselves as a brushstroke that we can see the bigger picture.  As I said that I had the most amazing experience of accepting myself as a brushstroke and then of seeing the bigger picture.  It wasn’t that I saw in detail any particular thing.  What did happen was that I had a glorious sense of wonder in touching something beautiful that transcended myself.

Example: In the dream I entered a very large house in a row of large houses. It was as if I was visiting the house and yet lived there. Inside the house I went through many rooms, but eventually went through an initiation in which I entered a different state of being. It felt like a step onwards. The house was run by Chinese, and at one point I was having another experience with a Chinese woman. She and I merged and it was like another initiation. Then I was out side the house, but seeing it from what was the front. It was like a massive temple entrance. So I must have got in originally through the back of the building.

I started exploring the dream by saying that I am a grand house in row of grand houses. My first view of me was of what I thought was the front of the house but later realised was the back. Inside the house I was huge with masses of rooms and space. Even as the house I wasn’t aware of how many rooms I had and what took place in me. I felt as if inside me was a Chinese influence and every one was Chinese, but my exterior was very definitely English with a grand style. Although I didn’t feel as if I were exploring but walking through many rooms. I felt as if there was so much going on in the building of various things that I could not understand. I suppose if I try to describe this it would be that in many rooms the atmosphere and décor was so different it felt as if I was in different times or environments.

Useful Questions and Hints:

Do I feel the Chinese influence is alien to me or easy?

What were my feelings in the dream?

Did I experience new insights or views?

See Being the Person or Thing – Guru – Brushstrokes – Identity and dreams