First Report: GLiDE #3 -08.08
Type: State of Awareness
Subject: The Olympics
Objective for this Study:  To examine the impact of media-directed attention toward a global event on the content and state of dreams

During the recent Olympic games held in Beijing, researchers at the College of Metaphysics in the United States have been tracking dreams.
This week we begin our look at global consciousness by examining one dream, its interpretation, and a glimpse of world headlines that day.  In honor of the XXIX Olympiad, we carry on its slogan:
One World, One Dream

Date: 08-08-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

RATTLESNAKE AROUND MY NECK
I had the same exact dream 2 nights in a row.  There was a rattlesnake on the ground and one wrapped around my neck.  I pulled the one off of my neck and was holding it in its center.  It whipped around and bit me on the arm. I immediately woke up.   female/OH, United States

Response
Everything in a dream is symbolic.  Each dream is about the dreamer’s thoughts and attitudes the day before the dream.  Your dream recurs because the message is important and needs to be heeded.  The main symbol in the dream is a rattlesnake.  The Dreamer’s Dictionary, by Dr. Barbara Condron gives a very clear picture of what a rattlesnake represents in a dream.  Its symbol definitely relates to the message of your dream.  It states that a “snake symbolizes compulsive use of life force or creative energy…If it’s biting you, you need to become attentive to how you are using your creative energy, moving from habit to reasoning with awareness.  If it is poisonous, your compulsive use of life force is breeding negativity which drains your life force.”
Look at what you are creating in your life and then most importantly look to your thoughts.  A simple thought of “I probably won’t get it anyway,” or “that’s too hard” can drain the life out of any project.  Sometimes we have these thoughts over and over, habitually.  They are thoughts that we heard and “bought” as a child.  They need to be changed by creating something simple and easy at first.  Write down what you want to achieve, how you will benefit from having it and then do the physical steps necessary to have what you want.  As you continue to achieve small goals, you will develop strength of will and a belief that you can have anything you desire.  One suggestion that would benefit you greatly is to read the book Purpose of Life, by Dr. Daniel Condron. It helps to understand that when our activities and our aspirations have meaning for us, it is easy to be motivated and determined to achieve what we want.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings
on 8-8-2008:

• Opening Ceremony ins Beijing, China for the Olympic Games – an example of purposeful creation with reasoning, artistic and technological skills advance to the limits of human imagination. 
• 8-8-2008 represents one’s value, world value, integrity and worth.
  
• Russian tanks enter Georgia’s South Ossetia region.
  
• Tibetans protest in Nepal
• Clashes near Afghanistan’s border
• $2.3 billion plunges into the Red in Housing Market for Fannie May Realtor

Date: 08-09-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

CLEARLY UNHAPPY
The dream started out by myself and my female cousin going to my ex-boyfriends house to help his father make a meal.  Once we were done he invited us to stay so that we could catch up once he got done taking a shower.  While he was in the shower my cousin and I waited on the couch, and my ex’s current girlfriend came into the house and sat down with us, clearly unhappy that I was there.  My ex also returned home, and though unsure as to my reason for being there did not ask me to leave. A heated discussion about my presence insued between my ex and his girlfriend. During the argument I decided to leave, I made it out the door before I started to cry and my cousin put her arms around me.  Half way down the driveway I turned back to the house because I heard a noise and discovered that my ex came out into the garage, he saw me crying and chased after us out to my car.  He accused me of messing things up, but he was sorry that I was crying and said that he was actually glad to see me. I was angry that he still didn’t understand how I felt, but I responded that it was a pleasure helping his dad out, and that I hoped that everything turned out ok.  Then I got in the car to leave, and I woke up.

For the most part I consider this a very lucid dream, I understand that I am dreaming about my ex because I still love him and I still want to be with him, but I do not understand why I am dreaming about his father.  In the time that I was with my ex his father and I got along but were not close.  So any insight you can give would be greatly appriciated.
female/CA, United States
Response
Dreams are amazing tools when de-coded, understood, and consciously used for self-discovery, self-reflection, and seeing where change needs to occur within the self.  Although you still love your ex-boyfriend and desire to be with him, this dream does not reflect your relationship with him, his girlfriend, or his father.  Instead, what the dream does reflect is your state of mind prior to this dream.  More simply stated, every person, place, and thing in your dream symbolizes and mirrors a part of yourself.
So, when you dream of helping your ex-boyfriend’s father make a meal, what this mirrors when interpreted in the Universal Language of Mind, is how you find pleasure in preparing knowledge or information that is familiar to you and that you have a certain level of experience or wisdom with.  The disharmony within your self occurs when you become passive about how you’ll go about fulfilling the desires that you have.  An example of how this may play out in your waking life is through relying on others to make things happen, or just simply allowing fate to work everything out for you.  However well intended this may be, the fact is that you are not happy with yourself when you pursue this way of thinking. Instead of feeling good about your ideas and what it is you want to create, you develop resentment within yourself thus allowing all the gratification, delight, and enjoyment that you once had be replaced with blame and resentment.  Not only is this way of thinking expressing itself through your emotions, it is also beginning to effect your health.
In order for you to cause something different to occur, we would suggest being honest with how you are feeling in all situations.  Journaling your thoughts and learning how to interpret your dreams would allow for you create the desired space in your thinking and allow you to begin to understand how you truly feel. Through practice you will come to know yourself as someone who can initiate action on your desires.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings on 08-09-2008:

• August 9, 2008 is the first major day of the 2008 Olympic games
• Bomb Threat Forces Jet to Return to Japan
• Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)
• Comedian Bernie Mac dead at age 50
•  1,500 killed in South Ossetia, Russia

Date: 08-10-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

BRAD PITT’S AT THE POOL
I dreamed i was walking through a locker room, but for some reason this locker room was “co-ed” so there were guys and girls, they were changing, showering, etc. as if they didn’t care that there were guys and girls in the same room, and they were nude. Me and my friend(if i remember correctly)  were the only two people that were clothed. but all we were wearing was a t-shirt and boxers. i was walking through the room astonished at how they acted so normal (undressing/changing in front of everyone). i was walking through the locker room, but i wasnt sure what i was walking towards (i think the exit door) as i kept walking i saw two guys standing behind some kind of wall, talking. but it was a small wall, and you could see over it. as i got closer i saw that one of the guys was brad pitt. as soon as i realized this i was excited (brad pitt is my favorite actor), i walked up to him and casually said “hey! how are you? as if i  had known him forever, because i didnt want to walk away and think that i just wanted his autograph. he said “i’m good” and then we were both quiet. then he realized that it was only polite to ask me the same, so he said “how about you?” and i said “fine” i started telling him how he probably hears this all time but i’m his #1 fan. but then i stopped mid-sentence because i realized that i guess i wasnt because i wasnt THAT into him. so then i just said “nevermind” and so even though i didnt want to ask him for his autograph i did. and so he said sure but then i realized that i didnt have a pen or paper or anything, and i started looking around and i saw there was a notepad on the small wall in front of us and i looked at the note pad, but someone had already written on all the pages, then i turned to my friend and i asked him if he had any paper? and he didn’t, so i tore off a piece of one of the sheets of notepad paper that had nothing on it, and he signed on it. then he l eft, and i realized he left, so i started running in the direction that he went, I realized that i had left my friend behind, but that didn’t matter to me because i knew he’d probably catch up. after running for a few minutes and going left and right, i found myself at the entrance of a pool. as i walked through the entrance, there was a man in a tux, standing in front of a microphone right next to the pool. he was facing me as i walked in, and there were a lot of people sitting around the pool. it seemed that the man in the tux had just finished introducing brad pitt or something, because as soon as i walked in, there was some clapping and then the man in the tux sad down. i walked toards the microfone, and the pool was on my left side. i saw brad pitt sitting on a leather chair, and i asked him if he minded if i sat next to him and he said “no” so i took a seat on the leather chair next to him. i noticed that me and brad had the only two leather chairs at the pool, everyon e else was laying down on those plastic chairs that you usually see at outdoor pools. then i took the piece of paper out and look at it, it was really taterd now, and all crumpled up but it still had his autograph on it. Then i woke up.
male/OK, United States
Response
Your dreams reflect to you your waking consciousness the day before you had the dream, therefore what you did when you were awake before this dream is being described here in the Universal Language of Mind for your personal growth and evolution.  You are in a state of mind where there is a lot of honesty, and this honesty is somewhat new and different for you.  Parts of yourself are expressing honestly outwardly and inwardly.  There can still be progress in this regard as you identify the quality of your friend (who was clothed) and begin to intentionally be honest with the experiences you receive through your 5 senses.  For instance, if the waitress asks you how your food was and you found the food to be bland and lukewarm then share your honest experience with her. The honesty that you express in this situation will set you into a realm of freedom that is uncommon in this day and age and it will benefit even the people who at first don’t like what comes out your mouth.
As for Brad Pitt, what outstanding quality does he exhibit to you?  This will show a way you imagine yourself to be.  If you see Brad as being confident then in the dream he represents the way you imagine yourself as being confident.  Whatever he represents, it is important for you to realize that this is the next place in your unfolding honesty.  Perhaps you have realized that whatever he represents to you isn’t worth as much as you originally thought because you aren’t his number 1 fan.
Become honest in this regard and stop pretending or going along with the flow of what you set into motion.  Instead, be yourself and express yourself honestly.  You will find that there are many positive side effects of honesty including having more real friendships, freedom to express yourself, and the ability to learn and grow.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings on 08-10-2008

• Russian Navy blockades Georgia, Russian planes bomb Georgian aircraft plant
• Sri Lanka soldiers attack rebels, 40 killed
  
• Louisiana, USA, bans cockfighting, last state to do so.
  
• Dark Knight (a movie film) stays number one in sales with 26 million dollars
  
• Gas prices down 15 cents from two weeks ago
  
• Bolivians back Morales (Pres.) in recall vote.

Date: 08-11-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

MY DOGS
My dogs Lola and Chewie (who are both at my grandparents)were both standing outside of a door. Lola was sweating profusely and Chewie was a little bit dirty, but seemed to be shaking it off. I grabbed Lola and took her to the sink and began to bathe her. I then was in a gym practicing yoga, and got up frustrated and said this isn’t helping me I need a punching bag. There was one in front of me and the color was white. I then said I need it because I am angry. Then it switched and I was inside an old house by myself. I walked outside and there was a for rent sign. Lola was inside a fenced yard and there was a huge dog next to her. I then said to myself I need to take her out so the big dog won’t attack her. At the same time though I was holding on to Vader a lab that I gave away two years ago . I kept on saying I can’t have a black dog because that color is bad. I then realized it was my dog and not anything  evil. I then transformed him into Chewie. I went back inside the house and opened a cupboard. There was a vicious panda inside, and it was growling and trying to attack me. It had very small and thin teeth and spit covered his mouth. Someone was next to me I don’t know who it was. I began to poke the panda bear, telling it to calm down. It then transformed itself into a Japanese boy. The boy was crying.
female/TX, United States

Response
Identify the outstanding characteristics of your dogs, for they represent habits that were playing in your life.  When you became aware that you had gotten wrapped up in these ways of thinking you quickly began to clean up your habitual way of thinking and acting.
Later in the same day you were attempting to practice a peaceful state of mind and then decided it was not working and you need to release your anger.
Later in the same day you found your Self in a state of mind that is new to you, even though it feels very worn.  Your attention is drawn to how Lola, which represents this familiar habitual practice, is in danger of being effected by another large unfamiliar habit.
Inside this state of mind you uncover something that scares you about your Self and then realize that what once scared you is actually an aspect of you that is foreign and upset.
In short, this dream indicates many ways that you are functioning from habit.  In order to “wake up” in your experiences, you will need to focus your attention in the moment rather than simply going through repeated thoughts and actions compulsively.  A study of the inner workings of the mind would be helpful in order to understand how to harness your mind’s powers.  Visit www.som.org and click on the locations to find the School of Metaphysics center nearest you.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings on 08-10-2008

• Family of American tourist, left to grieve over Stabbing Attack, Bejing
• Nebraska Beef Expands Recall Pulling 1.2 Million Pounds of Beef
• Impact of Edwards Affair on 2008 Race
• Sector Wrap:  Major Internet Stocks Rise

Date: 08-12-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

UNCLES AND OSTRICHES
For the past three nights, I have had a recurring dream.
In this dream, my family and I are visiting family out of town, and my sister goes blind right before we leave. She isn’t worried about being blind, but she keeps stretching out her arms to find her way through the house in which we’re visiting. My mom has her arms around her and is trying to lead her, but she still keeps flailing her arms to find her own way. In this dream, I keep going into the bathroom to deficate. There is an ostrich in the bathroom that was nice to me at first, but each night has gotten increasingly more agitated. It keeps pecking at me and taking my hands in its beak to lead me around the bathroom. It’s not really mad at me, but it’s just upset (almost like it’s having an anxiety attack or something).  In this dream, I also keep going into the bedroom to deficate. Strangely, there is a toilet next to the bed in this room. As I’m sitting on the toilet, my two older uncles keep entering the room to see if I’m okay. I’m embarrassed that they see me, and I try to hide from them (as best I can while still sitting on the toilet). I know that they’re not trying to embarrass me; they just want to make sure that I’m okay.
Need some sleep! Thanks for your help!
female/IN, United States

Response
It’s significant that you’ve had this dream three nights in a row.  Dreams are messages from subconscious mind, a deeper part of mind, which gives us feedback on our attitudes and feelings in the form of images.  Your sister being blind, needing to defecate both in the bathroom and bedroom, and even the ostrich are images that add to the meaning of the dream.  The recurring element of this dream shows that the message from subconscious mind is urgent and needs to be addressed.
One of the main actions of the dream is your need to defecate, both in the bathroom and in the bedroom.  Defecation is a means by which waste products of the body can be flushed out of the body in a cleansing fashion.  When it appears in dreams, it symbolizes the attempt to “flush out the mind,” so-to-speak, by processing experiences, understanding what can be learned from those experiences, and most of all releasing or discarding what is no longer needed.  The rooms that this action takes place also support this insight, as different rooms of a house represent different functions of the mind.  In this case, bathrooms represent a part of mind that causes cleansing, while the bedroom is a part of mind devoted processing, understanding, and assimilating your life experiences.
This action as a focal point of the dream itself shows that there’s definitely something that you’re attempting to understand, however, different obstacles distract you from achieving this.  For example, both the ostrich and older uncles are found in the bathroom and bedroom respectfully while you are trying to defecate.  Whenever unrealistic events occur in your dreams like these, they indicate types of thinking or perspectives that are in the way or out of alignment with reality.  In other words, neither the ostrich nor your older uncles would be found in the bathroom with you in waking life.  Therefore, your subconscious mind will draw upon these types of absurd images to get your attention to help you stimulate a change in your thinking.
What’s needed in these two instances is space or privacy.  Just as you would allow yourself space in waking life, you need mental space in your mind to aid with understanding whatever it is you’re endeavoring to understand in your life.  Talking with someone you trust to merely listen while you talk your thoughts out loud and/or journaling your thoughts will help create clarity and space in your mind, for they both provide means for your thoughts to be expressed, heard, and reasoned with.  Learning how to meditate would also help greatly.  There are two instances in the dream where there’s difficulty in something leading something else.  First, your sister is flailing her arms about while your mom is trying to lead her, while an ostrich repeatedly tries to lead you by the hand with a bit of difficulty.  Both of these interactions reflect a difficulty in being able to receive direction from the inner mind.  Meditation is a practice of listening to the inner mind, which will help you follow the inner mind’s direction more readily.  Consistent practice will help you establish connections to deeper parts of you that can provide clarity, wisdom, and insight when you need it.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings on 08-10-2008

August 12th, one of the days of the dream, found the conflict between Russia and Georgia increasing as Russian military forces continued to push forward into Georgian territories against the demands of other European countries and the United States.  Since then, there has been a cease fire and withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia.  This world event and your dream highlight a universal principle that connects both events though relativity.  The state and content of the thinking, whether it’s on an individual basis like your dream or the actions of entire countries, will dictate what will occur in the life.  To put it simply, Thought is Cause.  The same thinking and attitudes will produce the same results, as shown by recurring dreams.  The ability to cause change can also be found in this universal principle.  For change to occur, the thinking needs to change.  A change in thinking overall has caused the cease fire and withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia to occur in the same way that changes in your own thinking will impact your dreaming and waking life experience.

Date: 08-13-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

THINGS FALLING APART
I don’t remember the actual story to this, but I just being inside a bedroom that felt like mine and noticing the wood that encased and made up the window was rotting.  I looked for my Dad to fix, I could see him, but he was not paying attention to me.  I then went outside to find the back driver’s side tire on my car flat, and then the front driver’s side, I thought was flat, but really was a smaller tire than normal being on the car.  I don’t really remember much else, but the feeling that things were falling apart.
female/KS, United States

Response
During the day prior to having this dream, this dreamer noticed areas of thinking within herself that need attention and correction.  The window is a way to be aware of more, as in the phrase “your window on the world.”  This dreamer could see she needed to do some work to maintain a clear perception of things – her window frame was rotting.  The window maintenance may be the strengthening of her concentration or listening, or the removal of assumptions or prejudices that distorted her perceptions.
We have higher, deeper parts of ourselves that have a clearer, truer perspective than our conscious mind.  The dreamer wanted some help with maintaining her awareness from the higher part of herself (her dad).  In the dream, he paid no attention to her, which could show a need for more patience and persistence in asking and listening to receive guidance and inspiration.  It could also show a need to expect that she will actually receive guidance and inspiration from her highest Self when she asks.
The dreamer also noticed that her body (symbolized by the car) needs some corrective action (symbolized by the flat tire and the undersized tire).  As this dreamer responds to needs that she notices in waking life, any feelings that “things are falling apart” will be replaced with a sense of self-direction and control.
Developing strength of mind through practicing concentration exercises would be helpful in creating clear thinking.  Visit www.som.org and click on the locations link to find a center near you.

A Global Glimpse

World Happenings on 8-13-2008

• The Olympic Games continue in Beijing, China.  American swimmer Michael Phelps sets a new record for career Olympic gold medals, winning his eleventh.
• France mediates a cease-fire and peace plan between Georgia and Russia.
• Fighting continues between the ruling/occupying government and opposing groups in Afghanistan, Congo, Zimbabwe, Iraq, and Central African Republic.
• The leader of the Democratic Party in Arkansas is murdered in his office in Little Rock.

Date: 08-14-08
ONE DREAM we received today:

TRAPPED UNDER A BRIDGE
I am being followed while helping another unidentified person move logs, all of a sudden a third party unknown pushes us in the water and we are trapped under a bridge with only a two inch gap for air, then I am pulled out into a hospital with blood spraying from my mouth and nose and my ex-husband of 24 years is there and I wake up.
female/TX, United States
Response
This dream is showing a way that the dreamer felt overwhelmed by their day-to-day experiences represented by the water. The bridge is a way of transitioning from one way of thinking to another. An example of a transition in thinking would be focusing on positive aspects of situations rather than negative.
The hospital is a state of mind for healing. Blood represents truth. The need for this dreamer is to become aware of how her thoughts are creating her experiences. How did her thoughts cause her to feel forced into and overwhelmed by her experiences?
The key to answering these questions is to identify the unknown third party that is responsible for pushing her into the water.  This unknown party is an aspect of the dreamer that interferes with productive ways of thinking or acting.  This unknown aspect could be a tendency to think that experiences will be difficult or challenging.  This type of thinking will interfere will accomplishing goals that are set and transitions in life that are desired.  In order to transform thinking it would be beneficial to study the structure of the mind.  Visit www.som.org and click on the locations link to find a center near you.
A Global Glimpse

World Happenings 8-14-2008

• Mongolia wins first ever-Olympic gold metal.
• 53 inmates escape from a jail in Nepal.
• 8 people are shot and killed in a rehab center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
• Tibetan protesters clash with police in Katmandu while protesting China and the Olympics.