Most dreams are simply the brain cleansing itself of the previous days myriad of thoughts and impressions. It only makes sense that this is why they dissolve and go away, leaving behind no memory.
There are some dreams, however, that are so vivid that you will never forget them.
The Third Dream
In this dream, my mentor from Special Forces was present.
"Deacon of Doom"
By curious twist of Fate, Deacon was not only my mentor in Special Forces, but he was also my mentor in my post-military career as a security consultant. I have learned a great deal from the Deacon. He has always brought out the best in me, showed me how to apply my knowledge.
In the dream, Deacon and I are preparing for one of our secret missions. Because it was World War II in Europe - in the dream - we put on the uniforms of the Gebirgsjäger - elite alpine troops of the Wehrmacht - to infiltrate an enemy installation a la 'Where Eagles Dare'.
This is extraordinary because when I was stationed in Europe I actually trained with the Austrian Gebirgsjäger up in the Alps, and received the coveted Edelwiess.
So we're in this compound, and like most Germanic military / industrial facilities it is very bauhaus, there is lots of concrete because those people seem to worship cement; they must have invented it for the Romans.
It's Day 2 of the mission; Deacon is off doing his nefarious deeds, setting up commo or something, meanwhile I'm walking across the center of the compound and it strikes me something is awfully familiar about the surroundings. That is because the place is actually my old high school campus; International School Bangkok, in Bangkapi, Soi 15.
Of course in my dream the place is infested with German and Austrian soldiers in Nazi uniforms. Everywhere you look there are swastikas, iron crosses, SS lightning runes, eagles, the whole nine yards.
A blonde woman approaches me.
"I don't know what it is about you, something is different."
She puts her hand on my sleeve. With a discreet nod of her head she indicates all the Nazi swine around us.
"You are not like the others."
I'm thinking, 'Oh great, I'm busted. Now we're going to have to scrub the mission and get the hell out of here.' As she begins fiddling with a button on my uniform, I become aware that she is Jewish, trying to pass herself off as a fraulein.
Then I become aware that the blonde woman I am talking to in the dream is somebody I actually know - an ex-lover, in fact.
Dream Interpretation
This dream is obviously of great psychological significance - the kind of dream that Freud would have said reflects the wants and needs of the subconscious psyche. The dream is fraught with significant symbolism; the Nazi uniforms and insignia themselves transmit a strong message.
The woman is the key to this dream; present life circumstances demand discretion, however. Needless to say, the enemy installation I am infiltrating in the dream morphs itself into my old high school campus, and it is apropos that she approaches me within these surroundings.
But nowadays we are completely different people from who we were, way back when. There are aspects of my persona which I sense she finds disturbing - military themes, my enthusiasm for the gun culture, etcetera - the warrior mystique, for lack of a better description. She is of the arts crowd, surrounded by people who perceive themselves as being more . . . < ahem > . . . open-minded . . . in their outlook on life. The Nazi uniform I wear in the dream may possibly represent the exterior that people tend to see, versus the sensitive sophisticate that dwells within.
Analysis of this dream revealed a deeper, more profound facet of my subconscious that I find somewhat disturbing. Again, circumstances demand discretion, and so this will remain private.
STORMBRINGER SENDS
I had two dreams that affected my life. Both happened while I was in college. After I got out of the Army in 1976 I went back to college and enrolled in ROTC. In the summer of 1978 I was at Fort Riley for ROTC Advanced Camp. Since we had most weekends off, my buddy and I had gone to Kansas City twice to Royals games. The second time we purchased tickets for the next weekend's game, great tickets - second deck right behind home plate. The night before the game I had the dream. In the dream we had gone to KC, stopped at our usual pre-game watering hole, then had more beers at the game. On the way back to Fort Riley there was an accident. I cannot remember if we were directly involved but I remember a CJ5 rolled over in the ditch and three to four bodies. I woke up with a tremendous sense of dread. The next day, shortly after leaving Fort Riley, my buddy asked me what was wrong. I told him that it seemed silly but I went ahead and told him about my dream. His eyes got huge and he told me to turn around, back to the fort. I asked him if he really believed in that premonition stuff. I still remember the chills I got when he then told me that he had had the very same dream the night before. We turned around.
ReplyDeleteThe second dream was not so dramatic, but helped me make a decision. Early in my senior year in college we had to fill out our "dream sheets" regarding which branch of the Army we wanted. I knew from my enlisted experience that I wanted Combat Arms but could not decide which. One night I dreamt I was leading a raid on a Soviet regimental CP. It was winter, knee deep snow, very cold. The CP was in a village that looked like some stereotypical Russian village from WWII. They had no security out and we saw smoke coming from only one chimney in the village and decided that must be the CP. We are outside the door, one of my men kicks in the door, a couple of us throw grenades inside. After the blast I find myself in the middle of the room and, due to the warmth inside, my glasses fogged up completely. I have worn glasses since 7th grade. I remember being terrified that I could not see and emptied a 30 round magazine from my M16 then hit the deck as fast as I could. That was when I woke up. I decided no infantry for me, I went into the field artillery.