Communing With the Gods, 3


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I

3

Anthropological Theories of Dreaming

69-93


pp. 69-70 usefulness, to hunters, of dreaming

p. 69

"it was said by traditional Eastern Cree {viz., Naskapi} hunters of Labrador that, "If a man could no longer remember his dreams upon awakening, he could no longer hunt" (Flannery and Chambers 1985:4). Cree hunters, beginning in their teens,


sought to have special spirit visitors appear to them in their dreams and establish a relationship with them.

{This sort of dreaming-process is the rationale for this book's title, Communing With the Gods.}


These visitors would then mediate between the hunter and the animals being hunted. So attention to dreaming

{Such "visitors" [N.B. space-aliens aboard flying saucers are often likewise designated "visitors".] would compell the animals to go to a specific location; and would shew that location to human hunters in their dreaming.}

p. 70

was very important to the Cree, and they considered the loss of dream recall as aberrant."

Flannery & Chambers 1985 = Regina Flannery & Mary Elizabeth Chambers : "The Role of Dream Visitors in Traditional East Cree Belief and Practice". ARCTIC ANTHROPOLOGY 22.1:1-22.


p. 71 repository of archetypes

"The self is the repository of all the archetypes ..., and archeypal imagery such as that found in dreams may be considered ... parts of the self ... ."

{Wrong! The deities are the repositories of their own archetypes, and the scenery found in dreams may be considered as sub-planar correlatives of the those deities.}


p. 72 "unitary whole"??

"Jeannette Marie Mageo (2003b, 2004, 2006) has brought these versions of the self together in her account of dreaming cross-culturally.

She notes that for many ethnologists, the notion of the self as a unitary whole is fiction (ibid:9; see also Ewing 1990)."

{According to the Bauddha dars`ana (Buddhist philosophy), it is denied that there is an unitary "a-tman" ('self'), and it is affirmed that the supposed evidences usually taken to indicate the existence of a unitary a-tman are actually evidence of, instead, the existence of separate skandha-s ('faculties' of sensing and of thinking) : that we are aware of sensing and of thinking, but are merely conjecturing (and wrongly so) any unity.}

Mageo 2003b = Jeannette Marie Mageo : "Theorizing Dreaming and the Self". In :- Jeannette Marie Mageo (editrix) : Dreaming and the Self. Albany : State Univ of NY Pr. pp. 3-22.

Mageo 2004 = Jeannette Marie Mageo : "Toward a Holographic Theory of Dreaming". DREAMING 4.2-3:151-69.

Mageo 2006 = Jeannette Marie Mageo : "Figurative Dream Analysis and U.S. Traveling Identities". ETHOS 34.4:456-87.

Ewing 1990 = Katherine P. Ewing : "The Illusion of Wholeness". ETHOS 18.3:251-78.


{The notion of a "self" is contrived by ruling classes in order to trick the working class into isolation of its membres, and hence into oikonomic impotence : for, the notion of a "self" will induce an attitude of "selfishness" which will hamper-and-impede the working class from mutual co-operation for undertaking class-action to abolish capitalism and to institute industrial democracy. In Bharata, the de-facto independence of the jati-s (work-guilds, such as for artisans) from being controlled by the wealthy-and-ruling varn.a-s (such as ks.atriya-s) resulted in not being tricked into any notion of a "self" (thus for the Bauddha; and for a transcendental self aequivalent to universalism compatible with class-consciousness for the Astika artisans other workers). [written 23 Oct 2017]}


p. 72, fn. 1 "archetype"?

"For Jung, the self is an archetype -- often the archetype of the holistic ..., and may appear in dreams as man[.]d[.]ala[-]s, which symbolize all possible unity ... ." {This is misleading. A man.d.ala is a castle/fortress occupied of a set of deities, who themselves are (FGuLD, p. 162) "Independent beings, ... intelligent, autonomous individuals".}

{As can be appretiated from his then-secret Red Book, the function of the so-called "archetype" is a diluted version of various dream-entities who in his dreams each employed a reflexive designation of "deity" (or aequivalent). This is not practicably "holistic", except in the sharply-limited sense of 'mutual inter-co-operation amongst dream-entities'.}

FGuLD = Dylan Tuccillo; Jared Zeizel; & Thomas Peisel : A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming. Workman Publ, NY, 2013.


p. 73 what theatre? whose mind?

"the dream-world -- an inner theater of mind (Laughlin, McMannus and d'Aquili 1990:Chap. 8)".

{Not quite! Although theatrical-like behaviour may occur in dreams, the dream-architcture is itself constructed by divine builders (through their planning out such architecture in their own minds); so as to provide, for use by divine dream-actors and by divine dream-actresses, a staged theatrical set-up.}

Laughlin, McMannus, & d'Aquili 1990 = Charles D. Laughlin; John McMannus; & Eugene G. d'Aquili : Brain, Symbol and Experience. NY : Columbia Univ Pr.


p. 74 In what way are dreams "projections of patterns" or "mediated schemas"?

"Mageo suggests : "The images in dreams ... are projections of patterns left by life ... mediated schemas, which are aptly rendered as ... figures" ([2004]:153)."

{In order to evoke a respectful/reverential attitude on the part of a mortal dreamer, the divine architects designing the dream-scenery imitate its details from whatever the mortal may hold in highest esteem in the waking world.}

Mageo 2004 = Jeanette Marie Mageo : "Toward a Holographic Theory of Dreaming". DREAMING 4.2-3:151-69.


p. 76 the relation between myth and ritual

"Mageo's approach to dream analysis is analogous to the relations that may exist between myth and ritual drama in some societies (see Turner 1982; Schechner and Turner 1985)."

{Myths (which may repraesent dreams repeatedly experienced by reputable shamans) may be theatrically acted out, with the intent of favorably impressing the actual deities (who may be invisibly viewing the mortals' performance) whose guises are being played by the human actors and actresses.}

Turner 1982 = Victor Turner : From Ritual to Theatre. NY : Performing Arts J Publ.

Schechner & Turner 1985 = Richard Schechner & Victor Turner : Between Theater and Anthropology. Philadelphia : Univ of PA Pr.


p. 78 whose "computer"?

"Current neuropsychological research addresses ... mental processes attributed to the brain regarded as a wet computer ... . Research attention is deflected from ... social interaction ... ."

{According to Bodish religious litterature dozens of deities occupy each mortal's brain; and according to Taoist religious litterature vast multitudes of deities occupy each mortal's brain. Such deities control every mortal as if the mortal were the deities' personal robot. Thus, the "social interaction" required in the human brain is among congeries of deiies.}


p. 78 whose "group living"?

"it is dreaming that enables the intense conjoint relationships of group living."

{The deities who assemble the dream-scenery do so as a conjoint effort of their divine group.}


p. 80 name conferred on Icelandic child in mother's dream

"Heijnen (2010) offers the simple example of pregnant women in Iceland who dreamt that an ancestor was passing their {his or her} name on to an unborn child, and this was acted upon."

Heijnen 2010 = Adrie:nne Heijnen : "Relating Through Dreams : Names ... and Shared Substance". HISTORY & ANTHROPOLOGY 21.3:307-19.


p. 81 Navaho dream-wind

"Physical reality -- indeed, all thigs in the perceptual world, including people -- are motivated by ... one, vast, cosmic Holy Wind that flows in and out of all things (bii>asti, the "animating energy within"), that underlies and vitalizes the normally hidden totality of the universe. Wind underlies the vitality, dynamics and movement of nature, from the contemplation of which people may attain their intuitions about the purpose of existence. ...

Dreams are the experience of the "wind that stands with" one ... . In dreams one may seek guidance, uncover one's spiritual path, diagnose problems, and communicate with the spirits of other beings and things ... ."


p. 82 How can anything be "a construct of" anything which is a part of it?

[According to author Ch. D. L., there is ample] "evidence that everyday reality too is but a construct of our brain."

{If the specific "our brain" meant by the author is the material-world one, then the author is claiming that the entire material universe is an artificial construct of a tiny fragment of the same material universe. This is a very gross fallacy in logic, the sort of fallacy rejected by every logician, by every metaphysicist, etc. etc.}

{There is not, and cannot ever be, any evidence of the sort so confidently alleged by the author. Instead, all evidence would indicate that the illusion of a material universe must arise out of higher planes-of-existence, where the mind and its thought are in no way dependent on any such illusion as a "brain" (whether a material one or otherwise), but rather out of the collectivity of souls.}


p. 82 en-telekheia

"Might not the distortion of understanding of traditional polyphasic peoples by modern ethnologists derive from their inability to enter the domain of dream life so commonplace among many other peoples?

{In actuality, far from being hampered or hindred from entring the dream-life, ethnologists (alike to everyone else) indeed do entre, every night, that dream-life; but would automatically lose their professorships if they were to acknowledge its non-illusory nature. The author is a retired (emeritus) professor, not susceptible of losing that status.}

And might not dream reality constitute a special experiential domain in which the principle of entelechy {This is the Hellenic term aequivalent to the Latin \actualitat-\ 'actuality' (as distinguished from potentiality).} operates to make

the normally invisible forces in the world

{Such "normally invisible forces" are, of course, the deities-and-divinities controlling the material universe and its events. To label them "forces" is to evade the facts.}

visible, alive and interactive ...?"

{What are "visible, alive and interactive" are, of course, the deities witnessed in dreaming.}


p. 83 simulacrum

"everyone knows the experience of looking into the clouds and seeing faces ... . ... The figure is called a simulacrum ... ." {The regular Hellenic term for such imagery is \par[a]-eidoleion\ : "The Man in the Moon, faces seen in clouds ... are all examples of pareidolia." (SEM&F, s.v. "Ghosts and Hauntings", p. 196a).}

{The usual Latin meanings of this Latin word \simulacrum\ are 'image, effigy; semblance (\eidolon\ in Hellenic) seen in a dream; phantom'.} {The Eddic name \SIMUL\ of the carrying-bar of Hjuki and Bil (waxing and waning of moon, respectively) is cognate.}

SEM&F = Josepha Sherman : Storytelling : an Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore. M. E. Sharpe, 2008. https://books.google.com/books?id=n2-sBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=


{The waxing and waning of the moon is said (in both Upanis.ad and Manikhaian lore alike) indicative of [particularly in another plane-of-existence] transmigration of souls of the dead. Thereby, it is indicated that such visionary simulacra plainly display, and incontrovertibly prove, the transmigration of souls into transcendental realms beyond death.}


p. 84 imagined simulacra

"According to Devereux, ... "the illusory image of a face ... or other shape or form seen in the ... configurations of clouds, ... the cracks, crevices and projections of a rock face, or other surface (2000, p. 157; see also Michell 1979 for a cross-cultural compendium ...)."

{These mental figures are likely to be derivatives of archetypes in the collective consciousness, somehow praeternaturally mediated : thus effectively proving the existence and praedominance of deities.}

Devereux 2000 = Paul Devereux : The Sacred Place. London : Cassell.

Michell 1979 = J. F. Michell : Simulacra : Faces and Figures in Nature. London : Thames & Hudson.


p. 85 connection between material world and immaterial subtle worlds

"simulacra ... by way of ... producing dreams ... could accrue the power to actually evoke elements of the cosmology ..., normally invisible power grids and lines ... . ...

{The landscape's network of invisible ley-lines is a connectivity between material and subtle worlds. Just as the connection between material and subtle bodies is known as the aetheric body, so likewise the connection between material and subtle planes is to be known as the aitheric plane.}

Moreover, perception of the naturally occurring features could possibly index ... and have given rise to ... some significant (perhaps even causal) connection between multiple realities.

{This sort of perception might evoke causalities mediated through the aitheric plane.}

This might well have lead {read "led"} to the first pilgrimages in which natural features became associated with [praeternaturally] powerful entities and events that occurred in mythic times ... ."


p. 86 failure of Freudism {Why should Freud have named a "complex" after a mere mortal, Oidi-pous, when he could have named it for the king of the gods? -- Zeus, approaching "his mother Rhe[i]a, threatened to violate her ... and ... made good his threat." (GM 13.a)}

"the projection of Freudian notions by Western analysts upon ... the dreams of traditional peoples (Mageo 2003a; see also Kilborne 1981:180, 1992; Foulkes 1985) ... fail ... to respect the native's own explanations and local theories of dreaming (Irwin 1994:11; Wax 2004; Harris 2009:9).

I am not saying that there may not be latent content to native dreams -- there almost certainly is ... ."

{The "latent content" praesumed in "the native's own explanations ... of dreaming" will typically be found in term of local mythology.}

GM = Robert Graves : The Greek Myths. 1955.

Mageo 2003a = Jeanette Marie Mageo (editrix) : Dreaming and the Self. Albany (NY) : State Univ of NY Pr.

Kilborne 1981 = Benjamin Kilborne : "Pattern, Structure, and Style in Anthropological Study of Dreams". ETHOS 9.2:165-85.

Kilborne 1992 = Benjamin Kilborne : "On Classifying Dreams". In :- Barbara Tedlock (editrix) : Dreaming : Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations. Cambridge Univ Pr. pp. 171-93.

Foulkes 1985 = David Foulkes : Dreaming : a Cognitive-Psychological Analysis. Hillsdale (NJ) : Erlbaum.

Irwin 1994 = Lee Irwin : The Dream Seekers : Native American Visionary Traditions of the Great Plains. Norman (OK) : Univ of OK Pr.

Wax 2004 = Murray L. Wax : "Dream Sharing as a Social Practice". In :- Charles Stewart (ed.) : Anthropological Approaches to Dreaming. DREAMING 14.2-3:83-93.

Harris 2009 = William V. Harris : Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge (MA) : Harvard Univ Pr.


p. 87 true authenticity is to be found in the experience itself

"To remain empirically authentic, all dream research among traditional peoples should begin with the dream experience itself (see Tedlock 1981; Irwin 1994:5; Stephen 1995 ...), which after all is intrinsically coherent and meaningful (Irwin 1994:15), and then proceed to elicit the native ... dream sharing, local dream theories and uses ... ."

Irwin 1994 = Lee Irwin : The Dream Seekers. Norman : Univ of OK Pr.


pp. 88-9 Kagahiw dreaming

p. 88

"Ethnographer ... Waud Kracke has developed ... interviews with informants among the Kagwahiv people of Amazonia ([1979], 1992 ...). In these interviews ..., Kracke was able to elicit dreams within the context of a thorough background in the local cosmology and dream culture."

p. 89

"the Kagwahiv are organized patrilineally with totemic patrimoieties, and ... they ... take a great interest in their dreams, often sharing them, especially with their healers."

Kracke 1979 = Waud H. Kracke : "Dreaming in Kagwahiv". PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY OF SOCIETY 8:119-71.

Kracke 1992 = Waud H. Kracke : "Myths in Dreams ... : an Amazonian Contribution". In :- Barbara Tedlock (editrix) : Dreaming : Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations. Cambridge Univ Pr. pp. 31-54.


p. 90 ethnic dream-theories

"As Heijnen and Edgar (2010:219) note, "... anthropologists are confronted with dream theories whereby dreams are interpreted as gateways to other temporal and spatial realms ... . ...""

{Not only are the gateways to other spatial realms witnessed in dreaming, but also those very gateways may be visibly and palpably entred in such veridical dreamings.}

Heijnen & Edgar 2010 = Adrie:nne Heijnen & Iain Edgar : "Imprints of Dreaming". HISTORY & ANTHROPOLOGY 21.3:217-26.


p. 91 absence of limiting schemata in anthropological researches

So-called "postmodern anthropology" must be (according to the author) such that it "by its very nature, requires the eventual development of a science of universal structures {N.B. A "universal structure" suitable for one plane-of-existence may be useless for other planes and sub-planes.} and properties capable of explaining the apparent diversity of cultural forms. {N.B. This diversity is not merely "cultural", but is derived from incompatibilities among planes-of-existence.} ... anthropology ... continues on as a naturalistic enterprise analogous to biology ... and chemistry ... ."

{The anthropology of religion is able to research such a wide variety of systems simply because it is wary restricting itself to the limitations of any single system. The "biology" and "chemistry" whereto the author (Ch. D. L.) is alluding are restricted to a single plane-of-existence, to wit, the material plane; whereas the congeries of religious systems being explored in anthropology belong to various planes and sub-planes, so that no single scheme analogous to material-universe "biology" or "chemistry" could ever suffice to characterize the vast diversity of such religious systems.}


p. 92 dream-researches by comparativists

"see Barbara Tedlock's 1991 diatribe against the kind of dream research done by comparativists like Hall and Domhoff ... 1963b, 1964, Domhoff 1996 and Hall and Van de Castle 1996."

Hall & Domhoff 1963b = Calvin S. Hall & Bill Domhoff : "A Ubiquitous Sex Difference in Dreams". J OF ABNORMAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 66:278-80.

Hall & Domhoff 1964 = Calvin S. Hall & Bill Domhoff : "Friendliness in Dreams". J OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 62:309-14.

Domhoff 1996 = G. William Domhoff : Finding Meaning in Dreams : a Quantitative Approach. NY : Plenum.

Van de Castle 1996 = Robert L. van de Castle : Our Dreaming Mind. NY : Ballantine.


p. 92 hidden causation

"as virtually all epistemologies among the world's cultures will attest, most causations is invisible -- hidden from direct perception."


p. 93 "dampening effect" on "theory-building" {As if any single "theory" could ever describe the nigh-unthinkable intricacy of interactive transcendent planes-of-existence inhabited by vast congeries praeternatural entities of nigh-unthinkable diversity!}

"the influence of anti-scientific dogmas {the correct plural is \dogmata\} ("postmodernism")

{The highly artificial scientism advocated by the author (Ch. D. L) is a worthless delusion; whereas the "postmodernism" referred to by the author actually is renowned for (far from imposing any dogma!) eschewing all dogmata.}

has had a dampening effect upon theory-building and comparative research in ethnology generally,

{Irrelevant! The dampening effect was already produced by the rigid 19th-century schemes for interpretation of religion (such as, by James Frazer in his Golden Bough), which were afterwards demonstrated to be of scant applicability.}

and ethnographic dream research in particular."

{The only "ethnographic dream research" of any profound significance hath been into the dreaming by shamans (of tribes in Siberia and in North America), and sparsity of progress here is mainly due to the inhaerently recondite nature of the field.}


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Charles D. Laughlin : Communing With the Gods : Consciousness, Culture, and the Dreaming ... . Daily Grail Publ, Brisbane, 2011.