A Dream About Race, Muggings, Wizardry, and Dialogue
I had a really weird dream last night.
In it, I was walking in a city, with Kelsey, and we noticed something scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk. It was something about the Norristown High Speed Line. At first I was excited, thinking "Yay, someone is writing about the Norristown High Speed Line" but then I realized that it had a derogatory comment about black people on it. We started talking about the comment and expressed that we found it disturbing.
There were three young black women walking behind us, and they overheard our conversation. I remember feeling nervous at first, because I had made a few frank comments about race, which I didn't think of as being politically correct, and I wasn't sure if they had offended these women. But apparently they didn't and they actually liked my comments, and they joined in, and we started having a really positive and productive discussion about race. We stopped and were standing around at one point, and more people joined in. It was a really great discussion, but the women eventually moved on, and I was ready to go on my way with Kelsey.
I then realized though that I didn't know where Kelsey was. I turned around, looking for her, and I saw her being held up at gunpoint, up against a building. I was really terrified. Before I could realize what was happening, the people holding her up then came over to me and held a gun on me. They didn't say anything and I didn't know what to do, so I pulled out my money. I remember thinking that I hope they didn't take my ID and other cards because it would be a pain in the butt to get my cards replaced. I remember looking at the man holding me up...he was a tall, lanky white man in his 40's and was scruffy, had short hair, and wearing jeans.
I then remembered that I was a wizard (because in dreams I am a wizard, and this often comes out in crisis situations). And I was like--how could my magical powers hold up against a gun? I didn't know. I wasn't sure. But I knew I was a powerful wizard, and I took a risk. I was like, just in case, I am first going to cast a spell to protect both me and Kelsey from harm. I wasn't sure if the spell would fully protect us from a gun, but I cast it anyway. I then was like, I'm going to cast a spell to make myself more agile, because that couldn't hurt in this situation. And then I was like, maybe I can cast a spell to attempt to disarm my assailants. So I did, but I wasn't sure if it worked. I remember casting a large series of spells which resulted in a large tactical advantage for myself and Kelsey in the situation.
I still wasn't sure if I was safe against this assailant who had a gun, but I felt like there was certainly a good chance that I was. But then I realized that he and the other muggers were scared shitless...after all they were now confronted with a wizard who was casting magic spells at them...and I realized that they were just as uncertain as I was, about whether or not their gun would have any use against me at all, and they didn't seem at all ready to use it.
But instead of attacking or trying to run, I was like--maybe now I'm in a position of more power, maybe I can use this position to try to open some dialogue. So I was like: "Alright. So how about we talk about the fact that you were just trying to mug us and take our money. What is that about?"
And it worked...the people were so freaked out that they started engaging in a frank discussion about what they were doing, and why. And it was a really fascinating discussion. And we were talking about how we reacted in the moment. And it was like, we went from being involved in a power struggle, to having a frank discussion about what was going on in our lives and what our wants and needs were, and it turned out to be a really productive and positive discussion.
I feel like the interpretation of this dream is more obvious and direct than most. I think the dream is also about Why This Way, and the way of resolving problems and disputes by moving away from power struggles and moving towards building a consensus that really addresses the underlying issues. Maybe there is some subtlety in the dream though that I haven't yet uncovered though...maybe I can return to this at some point in time.
In it, I was walking in a city, with Kelsey, and we noticed something scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk. It was something about the Norristown High Speed Line. At first I was excited, thinking "Yay, someone is writing about the Norristown High Speed Line" but then I realized that it had a derogatory comment about black people on it. We started talking about the comment and expressed that we found it disturbing.
There were three young black women walking behind us, and they overheard our conversation. I remember feeling nervous at first, because I had made a few frank comments about race, which I didn't think of as being politically correct, and I wasn't sure if they had offended these women. But apparently they didn't and they actually liked my comments, and they joined in, and we started having a really positive and productive discussion about race. We stopped and were standing around at one point, and more people joined in. It was a really great discussion, but the women eventually moved on, and I was ready to go on my way with Kelsey.
I then realized though that I didn't know where Kelsey was. I turned around, looking for her, and I saw her being held up at gunpoint, up against a building. I was really terrified. Before I could realize what was happening, the people holding her up then came over to me and held a gun on me. They didn't say anything and I didn't know what to do, so I pulled out my money. I remember thinking that I hope they didn't take my ID and other cards because it would be a pain in the butt to get my cards replaced. I remember looking at the man holding me up...he was a tall, lanky white man in his 40's and was scruffy, had short hair, and wearing jeans.
I then remembered that I was a wizard (because in dreams I am a wizard, and this often comes out in crisis situations). And I was like--how could my magical powers hold up against a gun? I didn't know. I wasn't sure. But I knew I was a powerful wizard, and I took a risk. I was like, just in case, I am first going to cast a spell to protect both me and Kelsey from harm. I wasn't sure if the spell would fully protect us from a gun, but I cast it anyway. I then was like, I'm going to cast a spell to make myself more agile, because that couldn't hurt in this situation. And then I was like, maybe I can cast a spell to attempt to disarm my assailants. So I did, but I wasn't sure if it worked. I remember casting a large series of spells which resulted in a large tactical advantage for myself and Kelsey in the situation.
I still wasn't sure if I was safe against this assailant who had a gun, but I felt like there was certainly a good chance that I was. But then I realized that he and the other muggers were scared shitless...after all they were now confronted with a wizard who was casting magic spells at them...and I realized that they were just as uncertain as I was, about whether or not their gun would have any use against me at all, and they didn't seem at all ready to use it.
But instead of attacking or trying to run, I was like--maybe now I'm in a position of more power, maybe I can use this position to try to open some dialogue. So I was like: "Alright. So how about we talk about the fact that you were just trying to mug us and take our money. What is that about?"
And it worked...the people were so freaked out that they started engaging in a frank discussion about what they were doing, and why. And it was a really fascinating discussion. And we were talking about how we reacted in the moment. And it was like, we went from being involved in a power struggle, to having a frank discussion about what was going on in our lives and what our wants and needs were, and it turned out to be a really productive and positive discussion.
I feel like the interpretation of this dream is more obvious and direct than most. I think the dream is also about Why This Way, and the way of resolving problems and disputes by moving away from power struggles and moving towards building a consensus that really addresses the underlying issues. Maybe there is some subtlety in the dream though that I haven't yet uncovered though...maybe I can return to this at some point in time.