Question
I had a dream where I am on top of the world. The world is a frozen ice ball
and I'm sitting on the top with others. It would shake like an earthquake
periodically. We had long metal extensions on our hands. While talking, the
world would begin to shake, and we would have to hold on with our metal
extensions.
Answer
While a specific dream's meaning can only be known by the dreamer him/ or
herself, there are some interesting images that we all share.
If this were my dream....
In my dream I am on top of the world. A couple of meanings for me pop up,
that I am feeling grand and that I have risen above the valley, the village
and the marketplace. From up here I can get away from the struggle of
everyday life and gain some perspective. There is much about this that is
grand and wonderful. But it's a little chilly. I am removed from the warmth
of a larger group of humanity. I do have a small group with me, but it's still
a little cool. Frozen. The ground here isn't particularly stable either.
There is a sense that my whole ground, all that supports me, could give way.
In my dream there is a twist to the classic tale of vision quest at the top
of the world. My friends and I have long metal extensions on our hands. I am
reminded of the movie "Edward Scissorhands" and delay making any judgments
about the loss of humanity just because we are turning part machine. It seems
to me that since the first tools were made, we have been on a steady road of
becoming and extending the natural tools of arms, legs, mouth, eyes....
I am reminded of a seminal article by Donna Haraway in Socialist Review,
No. 80 (1985) titled A manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist
Feminism in the 1980's in which she challenges the negative views about technology
and suggests that human-machine combinations will equalize the
cultural playing field for woman and other repressed groups. Cyborg are *not*
the Beehive drones of a Queen Machine like we see in Star Trek movies, but
champions of connectivity, communication and diversity.
In my dream, the extensions seem to keep me connected to the world when the
ground moves. In a sense, they are the extensions I will use to stay
attached to the solid world when world views change. The challenge for me
is to imagine what and how these extensions are in my waking life.
2/20/98
Richard Wilkerson is general editor for The
Internet Dream E-zine, Electric Dreams, and director of DreamGate, the Internet
Communications and Dream Education Center. He writes the Cyberphile column for
the Association for the Study of Dreams Newsletter.
Back