In this post, I’ll be sharing some of my strangest and quirkiest dreams, and exploring an unorthodox metaphysical theory -- called “counterparts” -- that may connect and explain them.
The second quirky dream phenomenon is the unexpected recurrence in my dreams of certain dream figures. It is not surprising to me that I often dream of my wife, my family members and my close friends. But it is very intriguing to me when an acquaintance (sometimes someone that I have not seen in many years) starts to show up repeatedly in my dreams. For example, allow me to introduce you to Adam*. I’ll be sharing some of my Adam dreams later in this post. In waking life, Adam is a business acquaintance of mine. We both work in the Charleston real estate industry. In waking life, we might cross paths about once per year. Oddly, I recorded a remarkable streak of Adam dreams in 2012. He appeared in 7 separate dreams that I recorded over the course of a 9-month period. And, he continues to show up in my dreams from time to time, albeit with less frequency compared to the 2012 streak. Of course, these are only the dreams that I wrote down in my journal. He may very well have appeared in other dreams that I forgot or did not bother to write down. Why so many Adam dreams? * Throughout this post, I’ll use an * to indicate when I’ve changed a name for privacy purposes An Introduction to CounterpartsAs for the unorthodox theory that may connect and explain these intriguing dreams, it has an unorthodox source. I first become inspired to start a dream journal (back in 2011) after reading several of the Seth books published by Jane Roberts. In creating the books, which were published in the 1970s and early 1980s, Jane acted as a medium or channel, speaking aloud for an unseen spiritual teacher name Seth. Seth described himself as an “energy personality essence” that is no longer focused on a physical plane of reality. In Seth’s model of reality, the soul is a complex (multi-dimensional, multi-gender, multi-ethnic etc.) and highly creative being that expresses itself simultaneously through numerous personality structures. Seth explains:
What is a “counterpart”? Seth offers the following introduction to the concept:
Thus, a counterpart is another aspect of your soul that is experiencing the physical world from its own unique perspective. In a larger sense, we are spiritually connected to everyone on the planet. We all spring from the same ultimate spiritual source. But, just as we have siblings and cousins in the physical world, the counterpart theory suggests that we also have siblings and cousins on the inner spiritual planes. In some cases, these types of relationships overlap. For instance, you may have a waking life cousin that is also closely connected to you on the soul level. Over the course of many sessions channeled by Jane Roberts, however, Seth made it clear that many of our close spiritual counterparts are not connected to us by waking life familial bonds. Seth tells us that, due to our strong inner connection, we often dream about our counterparts:
Seth dropped an additional bombshell on Jane and her students. Over the course of our lives, Seth explained, we can all expect to interact face-to-face with some, but not all, of our counterparts. In fact, Seth informed the students that attended Jane’s weekly classes in Elmira, NY, that several of them were counterparts of each other. After studying the symbolism of my numerous Adam* dreams, I’ve come to understand that he is one example from my own life of such a scenario. As you will see, I’ve discovered several others. Counterpart Dream HintsAre you curious about the identity of your counterparts? Would you like to confirm the intuitive feeling that you already have about some of your inner spiritual connections? Because we often dream of our counterparts, dreams provide us with a unique opportunity to do some spiritual detective work about the identities of our counterparts. The fact that a person is a recurring dream figure does not necessarily mean that they are a counterpart. But, to my way of thinking, it certainly makes them a candidate, especially if their repeated appearance is unexpected. Before I conclude that someone is very likely one of my counterparts, however, I look for dream symbolism that is suggestive of a strong bond or connection. Counterpart Dream Hint #1: Space Sharing
Counterpart Dream Hint #2: Seeing Double I’ve found that counterpart dream imagery often involves a double element, which suggests that this person might be my “double”. Here are some examples. The first two are taken from my collection of Adam* dreams: • I’m wearing a dress shoe on one foot and a sneaker on the other foot. I cross paths with Adam* and he also has a dress shoe on one foot and a sneaker on the other. • I’m sharing an office with Adam*. Our two desks configured such that we sit face-to-face as we work. There is also a shared bookshelf. I watch as Adam labels one shelf as mine and another shelf as his. Note: In addition to the double imagery, this dream also features shared space.
Counterpart Dream Hint #3: Mirrors Mirror experiences in dreams are often suggestive of a counterpart connection. I already provided one example at the beginning of this post (seeing my reflection as a Japanese man). Here are two others:
• After walking out of a college classroom, I encounter a mirror. The reflected image is that of young man in his late teens or early 20s. He has is long blonde hair, with long bangs coming down over his forehead. Counterpart Dream Hint #4: Confusion Over Identity
• I’m in the drive-through lane of a fast food restaurant. Before I place my order through the speakerphone, the worker asks me my name. I spontaneously respond “Eddie”*, as if this is my name.
Counterpart Dream Hint #5: No Hint Required In perhaps my most obvious counterpart dream, I am walking along a sidewalk with Adam* (good old Adam!) and Greg*. Greg points to each of us in succession and says: “counterpart, counterpart, counterpart”. No interpretation required! Counterpart Q&AIs a counterpart the same as a “soulmate”? The concepts are related. We tend to use the phrase soulmate in the context of romantic relationships. The counterpart idea is broader, with the underlying idea being that intimate soul connections are not limited to the contexts of romantic love or familial bonds. Is the counterpart idea related to the idea of reincarnation? I think so, since Seth uses the term counterpart to refer to soul connections in a very broad sense. Like many other metaphysical teachers, Seth teaches us that time is ultimately an illusion. From the perspective of the soul, so-called “past lives” and “future lives” are perceived as occurring simultaneously. Recall my mirror dream where I saw the image of a Japanese man as my reflection. I’ve come to believe that this dream gave me a glimpse into the life of one of my counterparts. Unlike Adam*, I don’t believe that I’ve ever met this Japanese man in waking life and we may never meet in waking life. Until I get further clarification, I remain open to the possibility that he represents a “past life” or “future life” (realizing that both categories are better understood as “simultaneous lives”). Do men have female counterparts and vice-versa? Yes, they do. Seth gave numerous examples of this in the Seth books. And, my dreams have suggested to me that I have several female counterparts. For reasons that are not yet clear to me, however, I’ve collected more dreams about male counterparts than female counterparts. Appendix I: |
Jane Roberts, The “Unknown” Reality (1979), especially Vol. 2, Sessions 721 through 732. Susan M. Watkins, Conversations with Seth (1980), especially Vol. 2, Chapter 6, entitled “Who Else Do You Think You Are? Counterparts Are Comparatively Encountered”. Jane Roberts, The Oversoul Seven Trilogy (1977-1984). |
I am excited to share the news that my article entitled "How to Travel Without Luggage (In Your Dreams)" has just been published in DreamTime magazine, the official magazine of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. The article is an adaptation of one of my prior blog posts. I discuss what I learned from a trilogy of luggage-themed dreams that I experienced in 2012. You can view or download a .pdf of the article by clicking on the image below.
Do you believe in meaningful coincidences? I was excited to be invited by Unity of Charleston to deliver a talk in October about Synchronicity and the Law of Attraction. This slideshow video combines the audio from my talk, originally delivered on October 22, 2017, with the Powerpoint slides that I showed during my live presentation. Please enjoy the video and feel free to pass it along to a friend.
Special thanks to the Charleston Jung Society for inviting me to deliver the opening talk of their 2017-2018 lecture series. Below is a video (along with Powerpoint slides) of my presentation: "Lucid and Jungian: Doing the Opposite". I've also included a few still images from the event.
People often tell me that they have trouble remembering their dreams. In response, I frequently offer them a quote from Jungian analyst Marion Woodman: "A dream is like a deer at the edge of the forest: If it’s welcomed, it will come out. If you feed it, it will develop a relationship with you. But if you don’t care about it, it will disappear." In fact, I probably repeat that quote in random conversations a few times every month.
So, I took notice when I recently saw a real-life "deer at the edge of the forest" (see image below). I was playing golf at Kiawah Island over Memorial Day weekend. I did not notice the deer until I was right upon him or her. Amazingly, the deer did not flinch and continued grazing as my golf cart whizzed by along the cart path. As a practitioner of "dream yoga" (life is a dream), I take animal reflections quite seriously as messages, especially when there is synchronicity involved (in this case, the synchronicity of representing a phrase that I commonly use). This deer's message for me? I think it is something like this: "I do represent dreams. I'm not running from you because you have cultivated a relationship with me. Not only am I a deer at the edge of a forest, but I'm also a deer at the edge of a fairway. I'm easily accessible to you. Just keep your eyes open as you drive along your path."
So, I took notice when I recently saw a real-life "deer at the edge of the forest" (see image below). I was playing golf at Kiawah Island over Memorial Day weekend. I did not notice the deer until I was right upon him or her. Amazingly, the deer did not flinch and continued grazing as my golf cart whizzed by along the cart path. As a practitioner of "dream yoga" (life is a dream), I take animal reflections quite seriously as messages, especially when there is synchronicity involved (in this case, the synchronicity of representing a phrase that I commonly use). This deer's message for me? I think it is something like this: "I do represent dreams. I'm not running from you because you have cultivated a relationship with me. Not only am I a deer at the edge of a forest, but I'm also a deer at the edge of a fairway. I'm easily accessible to you. Just keep your eyes open as you drive along your path."
A few months ago, I was invited to give a talk about dreams at an attorney wellness luncheon. Special thanks to Mike Ethridge for the invitation and for recording an audio of the presentation. In the talk, I explore six (6) wellness applications of dream journaling. I've created a slideshow that combines the audio of my talk with some of my Powerpoint slides:
DreamTime magazine, the official magazine of the International Assoc. for the Study of Dreams, has published an article that I wrote about pets and dreaming in its Winter 2017 edition. This 3-page article is an adaptation of one of my previous blog posts. Here is a like to the .PDF of the relevant pages of the magazine: goo.gl/xPduVe
In addition to recording dreams in my journal, I occasionally record "Meditation Notes". These are insights that just come to me spontaneously during a meditation, a yoga class, or upon waking in the middle of the night. I recently found fresh inspiration from re-reading the following journal entry from 2014:
February 11, 2014 (Tuesday)
Meditation Note (4:40 AM). An insight of sorts came to me after waking in the middle of the night. It is difficult to describe in intellectual terms and the concept is really not “new” for me. It just seemed like a deeper understanding of the concepts I’ve been entertaining for years. The general idea is that I’m simply vibrating in a never-ending “now”. The linear patterns that I encounter on a day to day basis (e.g. the sun rising and setting; the apparent slow aging of my body; the patterns of people and animals moving about in a very linear way) are illusions that create a particular kind of experience. If I can disentangle myself from these recurring patterns, I’m left with the idea that I’m just shifting my focus / vibration and experiencing manifestations consistent with my recent focus / vibration. All the things that could appear as manifestations already exist. I make them visible through my focus / vibration. One analogy might be Google Earth. All the data is already there (with Google constantly adding to it) and I just zoom around the field of data. When a manifestation appears, it generally has to appear in accordance with a logical sequence because that is how Earth life patterning is set up – manifestations generally arrive in a linear way that you can explain to your friends. But their true nature is dream-like and they could appear, disappear, and shift instantaneously (as they do in dreams). They only appear in logical or linear sequence because that is what all of us participating in Earth agreed upon before we came in. I don’t need to exercise any “effort” to change the manifestations that appear before me. This can be accelerated by releasing resistance, judgment, ideas of limitation etc. I can simply focus / vibrate and enjoy what flows in next as a manifestation. Like a radio dial, I’m basically adjusting my tuner. Instead of a limited number of radio stations, my tuner can select from an immense field of manifestation options.
February 11, 2014 (Tuesday)
Meditation Note (4:40 AM). An insight of sorts came to me after waking in the middle of the night. It is difficult to describe in intellectual terms and the concept is really not “new” for me. It just seemed like a deeper understanding of the concepts I’ve been entertaining for years. The general idea is that I’m simply vibrating in a never-ending “now”. The linear patterns that I encounter on a day to day basis (e.g. the sun rising and setting; the apparent slow aging of my body; the patterns of people and animals moving about in a very linear way) are illusions that create a particular kind of experience. If I can disentangle myself from these recurring patterns, I’m left with the idea that I’m just shifting my focus / vibration and experiencing manifestations consistent with my recent focus / vibration. All the things that could appear as manifestations already exist. I make them visible through my focus / vibration. One analogy might be Google Earth. All the data is already there (with Google constantly adding to it) and I just zoom around the field of data. When a manifestation appears, it generally has to appear in accordance with a logical sequence because that is how Earth life patterning is set up – manifestations generally arrive in a linear way that you can explain to your friends. But their true nature is dream-like and they could appear, disappear, and shift instantaneously (as they do in dreams). They only appear in logical or linear sequence because that is what all of us participating in Earth agreed upon before we came in. I don’t need to exercise any “effort” to change the manifestations that appear before me. This can be accelerated by releasing resistance, judgment, ideas of limitation etc. I can simply focus / vibrate and enjoy what flows in next as a manifestation. Like a radio dial, I’m basically adjusting my tuner. Instead of a limited number of radio stations, my tuner can select from an immense field of manifestation options.
The setting is Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ten minutes into overtime of the 2012 NFC championship game, the San Francisco 49ers and the visiting New York Giants are still deadlocked at 17 points apiece. Then Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes nails a game winning field goal to send the Giants to the Superbowl. Interviewed on the field afterwards, he shared: “It’s amazing, you know, I dreamed about this last night.” The real life kick was from 31 yards out, which was easy for Tynes considering that he made the game winning kick from 42 yards out in his dream rehearsal. |
Do you typically remember your dreams? Should you bother? Beliefs about the meaning and importance of dreams vary widely. Nowadays, if you visit a psychiatrist, you are more likely to be offered a regimen of prescription drugs than to be asked to share your dreams. Some leading neuroscientists see dreams as nothing more than the brain’s attempt to make sense of the random firing of neurons. This scientific trend toward devaluing dreams contrasts notably with the perspectives of the founders of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud saw dreams as important manifestations of repressed or unsatisfied desires, calling them “the royal road to the unconscious”. Carl Jung’s seminal work blended psychology and spirituality. He regarded dreams as important communications from the dreamer’s soul or larger self.
During waking hours, most of us rely heavily upon the logical thinking of the left hemisphere of our brain to get us through the day. In contrast to this, the dreaming brain seems inclined to completely bypass the filter of logical thinking. While this can cause dreams to be bizarre, the absence of logical constraints yields dreams that are highly creative and original in nature. Whatever their source, the creative power of dreams is indisputable and worthy of our attention.
In a recent dream, I was seated in a small circle of people along with Bono from U2. Bono was strumming an acoustic guitar and singing a beautiful song that I had never heard before. I’m not trained as a musician. So, when I awoke from this dream, I had no ability to record Bono’s harmonious guitar chords. But many talented musicians can do this quite easily. For example, Paul McCartney heard the melody of “Yesterday” in a dream, and then rushed to the piano to play it out before the tune escaped his memory. Sting claims that he awoke in the middle of the night with the lyrics to “Every Breath You Take” playing in his head, and then completed in the entire composition in about 30 minutes. Billy Joel once speculated to an interviewer: “My feeling is that all of this stuff exists in a different plane and we tap into it somehow and I think I do it in a dream state.”
Salvador Dali snatched creative ideas for his surreal art by intentionally waking himself from brief naps. Sitting in a chair, he would drift toward sleep while holding a heavy key in one hand. When he slipped out of waking consciousness, the sound of the key striking the ground would soon awaken him – often with a fresh creative inspiration. For a more contemporary example of such creative napping, consider Elizabeth Gilbert, the accomplished author best known for her bestseller, Eat Pray Love. She claims that she once dreamed a complete short story while napping on a commuter train. She elaborates: “I awoke from my dream, grabbed a pen, and wrote down that story in one fevered burst of inspiration . . . the words poured forth for page after page without any effort whatsoever.” |
In the midst of a major golfing slump, Jack Nicklaus awoke from a dream where he was striking the ball much better after making a minor adjustment to how he was gripping his golf club. He applied this grip change in waking life and shot two scorching rounds over the next two days -- a 65 followed by a 68. He told a reporter: “I feel kind of foolish admitting it, but it really happened in a dream. All I had to do was change my grip just a little bit”. What creative inspirations are awaiting you in your dreams? Are there areas of your life where you could benefit from adjusting your grip just a little bit? I encourage you to experiment with recalling your own dreams and find out for yourself. Author's Note: This article by Chris Cunniffe was originally published in the September/October, 2016 edition of Oblique magazine. |
Thank you, Unity of Charleston, for inviting me to speak yesterday about lucid dreaming and dream yoga.
Author
Chris Cunniffe, Abundance Coach and Dream Coach, at Lucid Coaching, LLC
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