So this is an interesting one:
Last night, I dreamed I was introducing a woman to some shadowy, unidentified third person that I feel was also a woman.
I was clearly “with” the woman I was introducing. I remember her basic build and physical features, but not her face.
I put a hand on the small of her back and said to the other person, “I’d like you to meet… ah… um…”
I could not remember the name of this woman I was with.
With the crippling intensity of emotion only felt in dreams, I was petrified with shame. She gave me a look that was sympathetic and uncomfortable all at once — and I still couldn’t really see her face.
Finally, her name came to me.
“Pandora,” I blurted with relief.
Now, blue jokes regarding Pandora’s “box” aside (what, you weren’t thinking that?), this is a pretty blatant message from the collective unconscious, wouldn’t you think?
Now all that remains is to figure out what it actually means.
I’m in the middle of a couple of creative projects — two I’m just facilitating, one is a new writing project. To prepare for that writing project, I’ve been re-examining the Hero’s Journey, so mythic structures are on my mind. Was the dream just a reflection of that?
I dunno. Even if it was sparked by my research, there’s a reason Pandora made an appearance in my skull, and not Tyr, or Odin, or Achilles, or Heracles, or whoever.
Pantheon.org has a nice capsule version of the Pandora myth. Check that out, and come on back here.
So. She’s the first woman, created by Zeus and given so many boons from the gods, her name means “many gifted.” She was a pawn of Zeus in his anger toward Prometheus, and was given her proverbial box (actually a jar) which she opened out of curiosity.
All evil escaped into the world. That’s where most people’s understanding of the myth ends. What might be important, though, is what Pandora managed to keep in the jar, in her possession: hope.
So… Pandora represents creative gifts? She’s the literal carrier of hope? She stands for dangerous curiosity / temptation? Hm. Again, I dunno.
But it’s got me thinking. Just the fact that my brain is giving me mythic symbols is a good sign, I think. Beats the hell out of dreaming of a day job, generic anxiety dreams, or old girlfriends.
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