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Dreams, Myths, Projections & the
3brain/Qself
a brief look
" Wyncken, Blyncken & Nod one night
sailed off in a wooden shoe ---
sailed on a river of crystal light
into a sea of dew"
It may be helpful to offer a practical framework to understanding dreams,
myths, and all of the psychological projections that effect us day in,
day out. I think of all three as same source phenomena: perhaps like a
movie projector with 3 different settings. The Dream setting on
this "projector" is similar to creating a "virtual reality"
experience. When the setting is changed to Myth, you have an animated
cartoon with which you can actually play-along. When the setting is switched
to Projection, you engage in a powerpoint presentation which proves
you are, after all, the center of the universe.
So - what is this "projector?" Where is it in you and me? What's
it all about, alfie?
As Carl Sagan noted in "Dragons of Eden," research by Paul MacLean
& others have suggested that only mammals & birds "dream"
- reptiles do not "dream." The reason? The dream center in all
vertebrates' brains is located in the Reptilian Brain. Confusing? Try
thinking of it like this; the normal mentation state of the neocortex
is "consciousness." That is the "operating system"
of the neocortex "hard drive." The mentation state of the Paleomammalian
Brain is "emotion." That is how it "thinks."
And what is the mentation state of the Reptilian Brain? It is "image."
And that is why the dream center operates there. Reptiles do not "dream,"
because dream is their daily mindstate. When they go to sleep, they don't
dream. When you go to sleep & dream, you are experiencing intimately
a mindstate that is about 350 million years old (actually, more - but
I'll talk about that later). In a real sense, you time-travel whenever
you dream.
Parts of the PaleoBrain are also active during dreaming, as well as some
of the Neocortex Right. The only part of your 3brain which actually sleeps
- is the Neocortex Left! Hmmmmm.
It is primarily the Reptilian & PaleoBrain which operate the "Projector"
mentioned above. That is why dream, myth & psychological projection
are "unconscious." In each case, the intended "receiver"
or "watcher" of the projections is the Neocortex - mostly, the
NeoLeft. Yes, something in you is trying to get a message across.
Dreams are sort of the internal version of projection.
After we talk a bit about myth & psychological projection, I'll tell
you why I think all of this "projection" is happening. Fairly
simple, actually.
... we have a soul within our soul that describes a circle around
its proper paradise which pain and sorrow and evil dare not overleap...
and it is this soul that we labour to see in many mirrors... there
is some one myth for every man, which, if we but knew it, would make us
understand all he did and thought.-- Percy Bysshe Shelley
It is not uncommon to hear that Myth is the "dream of the masses,"
or something similar. And of course, the Neocortex has been busy for centuries
trying "break the code" of dream/myth. In fact, I'm addressing
dream at this time, because so many of you wanted to talk about it.
I think a lot of the globe's mythology was probably generated out of various
individuals' dreams. There is no doubt that every myth had its inception
out of some individual source. I have already covered some of the thousands
of human myths that unconsciously reflect the 3brain structure of the
humans who constructed the myth. For example, where Indo-Europeans saw
a heaven-earth-hell cosmos, ancient Incans saw a three colored eggs cosmos.
A closer look at these myths reveals a great deal about the 3brain dynamics
going on in those groups.
But one of the most interesting convergences of dream/myth occurs with
an Australian tribe.
The indigenous people of Australia ( commonly referred to as "Aborigines")
have occupied the country for approximately 60,000 years. Amazing. Just
imagine the strengthening of the territorial center in the reptilian brain
for them (through re-enforced neural circuitry created by thousands of
years of cultural "tradition). Also imagine the devastating effect
when that territory is threatened. It is little wonder that the reptilian
brain predominates the culture, both in fear & loving ways. The structure
of the Aborigine universe varies little across Australia. It consists
of three planes: the earth, the sky, and the underworld.
Reptiles abound in their mythology and rituality. The primary deity is
the RAINBOW-SNAKE: The Great Creator Serpent, in charge of Fertility,
Growth and Refreshing Rain. Also known as ALMUDJ, GALERU. The RAINBOW-SNAKE
is a bit of a mish-mash, with a kangaroo's head, a crocodile's tail and
a python's body, all decorated with water lilies and waving tendrils.
The Snake has many names and comes in male and female form. YINGARNA,
the female, is the original Mother of Creation, and her son NGALYOD is
the Great Transformer of Land. Family portraits go back 8,000 years, which
makes the Rainbow Snake one of the oldest religious symbols. And it's
still going strong today.
And since the "dream center" is located in the reptilian brain,
it is interesting that these people have built up a belief system around
what they call "The Dreamtime" or "The
Dreaming." Through Dreamtime they intimately link their spirituality
to their territory, expressed as relationship to the land.
The Dreaming is a vital definition of creation. It refers to the creation
of earth, humans, and animals, but at the same time it is omnipresent
in their daily life. All life is believed to be imbued with The Dreaming.
Dreamtime stories portray the Ancestors moving through the earth, shaping
the land, and giving life to animals & plants. The Dreamtime also
takes life away. Through The Dreamtime, the "aboriginal" people
and the earth are part of one another - as inseparable as territoriality
& the reptilian brain.
Another trait of the reptilian brain is "obeisance to precedent,"
rituality. The Dreamtime people display this trait also. The individual
in the tribe tries to live his/her life according to the "law"
laid down by the Ancestors.
The reptilian dreamcenter, as i noted before, is very close to the reticular
activating system's quantum activity. So it is extremely sensitive to
waves of certain frequencies, the " singing of the heavens."
As the Spirit Ancestors journeyed through the land, they created "dreaming
tracks," often called "songlines," as they sang the land
into life.
The "aboriginal" peoples believe that by singing specific songs,
at key points on the land, they directly connect with The Dreaming. Remember
that. It is a key clue.
Take a look at this synopsis of one Dreamtime myth. What is it really
saying?
Two were traveling during the Dreamtime. One fell sick, and the Wuraal
bird came up. The other heard it and said, "Maybe we're making ourselves
wrong, coming into Dreaming." That night, the bird repeatedly struck
the dying one with its claws, killing him. Water came up where it struck
him. The other tried to outrun the rising water, but he fell in a hole,
and all three went underwater and came into Dreaming.
Remember, birds branched off from the dinosaurs.
And I have written three books on the soul,
Proving absurd all written hitherto,
And putting us to ignorance again.-- Robt Browning
There is also an interesting convergence - this time between dream &
psychological projection - on the other side of the planet, which forms
the foundation of our science/myth of psychology.
And just as humans have been unconsciously creating three-part cosmologies
for thousands of years, the "fathers" of psychology did likewise.
Both Freud & Jung put forth models of the human mind that were comprised
of three parts. Yeah, the "experts" on how the human mind works
were, in fact, unconsciously projecting their own brainstructure AND their
own brain dynamics.
Freud thought of the mind as having three conflicting internal tendencies:
the id is the unconscious, seat of instinct and
desire
the ego is the conscious self
and the superego is an internalized self-critic.
To avoid censorship by the superego, Freud claimed the "id"
uses symbolic imagery to communicate with the ego.
For Jung, the mind also has three main parts:
the conscious mind
the personal unconscious, a storehouse of individual
"memories"
and the collective unconscious.
Jung frequently used the symbols generated by his
own dreams to further his understanding of the psyche. For instance, he
referred to his dream of exploring a house with several floors to describe
the layers of the mind. (Recall, I noted in the myth/mindset outline that
globally, the favorite symbols for the 3brain were trees, mountains, and
buildings - add sailing vessels,also.)
Jung's dream:
The dream began in an upper floor room, a pleasant sitting-room from the
18th century; the surroundings felt comfortable and reasonably familiar.
On the groundfloor, the rooms became darker and the furnishings much older,
dating back to the 16th century or before.
Becoming curious about what was in the rest of the house, he came upon
a heavy door. Opening it, he went down to the cellar and found himself
in a beautifully vaulted room that looked very ancient. Feeling very excited,
he saw an iron ring on a stone slab and pulled it. Beneath the slab was
a flight of stairs leading down to a cave, which seemed like a prehistoric
tomb, containing skulls, bones and shards of pottery.
Jung thought the upper floor related to his conscious self, the ground
floor to the personal unconscious, the cellar to the collective unconscious,
and the cave to the most primitive layer of the unconscious, bordering
on the "animal soul."
Jung's dream actually gives us a much better glimpse into his brainstructure/dynamics.
Notice above that both men present 3-tiered models of the mind, but they
are curiously differentiated - both displaying more focus on the neocortex.
Freud, for example, interestingly lumps both the Reptilian & the Paleo
into one category, the "id." While the "ego" &
"superego" reflect more Neo Right & Left attributes. I think
he reflects himself & his emotionally repressed culture in this projected
mindmodel.
Jung is similar. His dream actually reveals FOUR levels. The upper &
ground floors being Neo Left & Right. He then goes down through a
"heavy door" into the Paleo Brain where he started "feeling
excited." Then he has to discover the hidden entrance to the Reptile.
Caves & tombs are favorite symbols globally for the home of the reptilian.
So what's really going on here - with this human propensity to dream/mythologize/project
unconsciously the structure of their own brains?
It is well-known that the Neocortex is wired to perceive what is going
on outside of the body, much moreso than it knows what is going on inside
its own body. The neural connections between the Neocortex and the Paleobrain/ReptilianBrain
are relatively few. This worried Paul MacLean, discoverer of the Triune
Brain system in our heads. He was often remarking that it is a wonder
that they can communicate at all - given the sparse neural connections,
the differences in chemistry and function, and the differences in operating
languages.
In effect, what we have is a "headstrong" overgrown toddler
brain (neocortex) that is refusing to listen to its "parents,"
the Paleo & Reptilian Brains. And the kid has turned the world into
a toxic playground. What's more, the Neo has "locked" the older
brains into a closet called the unconscious, and refuses to admit it has
these messy parents.
Well, the older brains are experts on survival - they've been about it
for 350 million years & learned a few things. They're trying to communicate
with the kid, but internally it is unreachable. Giving up is not part
of their programming, so - they are trying to communicate with the neocortex
where it is most focused - outside the body.
All of these projected 3tiered structures in civilization that I have
mentioned are desperate messages from your parent brains - saying - WAKE
UP! THIS WHO YOU REALLY ARE! THIS WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO YOURSELF AND YOUR
BODY! AND THE WORLD!
I believe that the human's capabilty of projection is, also, a precursor
to the next stage of "brain" evolution - which will not occur
within the confines of our skulls.
This projection of 3brain reality by the ancient brains to the "outward
focused" neo - this marvel is made possible by qself energy from
the RAS.
Jung's "archetype" of the JESTER - whose role is to act as a
mirror in which those in authority can see their own foolishness, comes
close to the real dynamic. In truth, much of civilization is a mirror
erected through unconscious projection by the ancient brains. Civilization
is humanity's mirror, built to show the human neocortex its foolishness,
its history & its potential.
And there is certainly no lack of clues out there.
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