Thread: Hello from a Surrealist

Wow, a lot of good info there to absorb. I had never thought of Lovecraft as a surrealist but I suppose it fits. One thing I've noticed about him- the horror always comes from underground or the distant past - well except for when it comes from outer space, but then I suppose any of them can stand in for the unconscious. And if we include Lovecraft, then I suppose that opens the door to Poe and Ambrose Bierce and a whole slew of Romanticists.

In a way I agree with you about lucid dreaming taking some of the unconscious element out of dreaming. In fact, I believe that's why when I was in here a couple of years ago and doing well as far as having more lucid dreams, I suddenly decided quite abruptly and unexpectedly that I actually liked non-lucids better. From that point on not surprisingly I stopped having lucids. However I don't think it's that simple or clear cut. Which is why I'm back and trying to achieve lucidity again. For instance in his writings about Active Imagination, Carl Gustav Jung said that he needed a more conscious way to explore the unconscious realm than normal dreams can afford, because usually the sleeping mind is too weak and unaware to do more than serve as a rather simple observer or follow along with whatever the dream script is.

So he developed his techniques for active imagination, which for all the world sounds to me like WILD. He would go into meditation essentially and watch the shifting kaleidoscopic images 'behind the eyelids' until they began to form images and become more solid ad real and then when a coherent landscape of some kind formed he would step into it and begin interacting with it. He was careful not to try to assert any control, he restrained himself to only responding to the characters who showed up, asking them questions and responding to them, and he said it's important to negotiate with them - not to fight, argue, or just ignore them, but to be sure to assert your own personality and not just let them do whatever they will to you. In this way he says you can be led deeper into the scenarios that the dreams are attempting to realize for you and actually explore them rather than turning it into a video game adventure.

Plus of course with his incredibly extensive understanding of myth, fairy tale, religions and other systems of symbols with which man had projected his most profound thoughts (and unconscious contents) out onto the world, he was able to reach deep parts of the unconscious and transform himself. His theory, which I believe is absolutely true, is that in the ages before science had switched us to a rational materialist and very reductivist approach that disenchanted the world and removed the depth of meaning from it, religions and myths etc were the ways people explored and came to understand the unconscious. This also included astrology, alchemy, the Tarot, the I Ching, and many other occult or arcane mystic approaches such as Gnosticism and the Kabbalah.

Well, I guess I've veered off the topic of surrealism - sorry about that! But I think this is very relevant, as it gets at the heart of what lies behind the surrealist symbolism. And from your D&D talk I'm getting a very strong Stranger Things vibe. Waiting patiently for the second season to drop - excellent show!