A place to discuss what you think they mean or are. Here's one of my more vivid dreams:
I was in a raft of wood with two other guys going down some nasty rapids. We knew there was a waterfall coming, but none of us cared. In fact, we WANTED to get to the waterfall and go over it. We paddled with our hands to try and get there faster. Finally, we neared the end, but there was a series of ropes tied on the very surface of the water from shore to shore. We had to grab at these ropes and lift them up so that we could sail beneath them. At least we reached the edge of the waterfall. I looked below, and it appeared to be a several-hundred foot fall. Oddly enough, there was no water below, only jagged rocks. We went over the edge and began falling through air. While falling, I stretched out my hand and screamed "Valhalla!" (I know this part's a little cheesy, but that's what I said) The ground rushed up to meet us, and everything went black. I blinked my eyes, and they slowly adjusted to the darkness. When my vision at last returned, it appeared as though I was in an enormous darkened cavern, and thousands of skeletons were hanging from the roof of the cave above me. In that instant I felt sheer terror sweep over my body. I blinked again, and woke up to find myself staring at my ceiling fan.
I have no idea what this dream means, but there it is. I wrote this poem about it shortly after, if anyone's interested:
Upon a bark, upon a stream,
Down waters swift we rode;
Within the darkness of a dream,
Towards waterfalls we flowed.
We yearned for where the river came
Abruptly to an end,
For there our spirits, free of shame,
The One-eyed would commend.
We gripped the shafts that bore our steel,
And screamed upon the tide;
The rapids’ rocks had torn the keel,
And hewn the starboard side.
My arm I could no longer feel,
My brothers all had died,
Save two, who by my side did kneel
And roar in feral pride.
We raised our swords towards the sky,
And bellowed in a tongue
Of heathen kin-a pagan cry-
As water drenched the lung.
Before our eyes the shores did fleet,
As did our lives still young,
Which we, like blood soaked in a sheet,
From out the sheet had wrung.
Forth I did shout my father’s name-
Recalled my mother’s face-
I saw my wife, who always came
To me in my disgrace.
I heard my son; his laughter rose
From memories long past-
Would this, my life, I still have chose
To have it end at last?
We come now to the end of all,
Where waters fall to fate,
And course beyond the waterfall
Where stormy graves await.
I scream and thrust my blade on high:
“Valhalla!” comes the call;
And blood adorns the pagan sky
From which my brothers fall.
My eyes open in dreariness;
The dark smells of despair.
I feel consumed by weariness
And terror as I stare
Upon a cave where echoes rang,
A cavern deep and wide,
From which I see in thousands hang
My brothers who have died.
I was in a raft of wood with two other guys going down some nasty rapids. We knew there was a waterfall coming, but none of us cared. In fact, we WANTED to get to the waterfall and go over it. We paddled with our hands to try and get there faster. Finally, we neared the end, but there was a series of ropes tied on the very surface of the water from shore to shore. We had to grab at these ropes and lift them up so that we could sail beneath them. At least we reached the edge of the waterfall. I looked below, and it appeared to be a several-hundred foot fall. Oddly enough, there was no water below, only jagged rocks. We went over the edge and began falling through air. While falling, I stretched out my hand and screamed "Valhalla!" (I know this part's a little cheesy, but that's what I said) The ground rushed up to meet us, and everything went black. I blinked my eyes, and they slowly adjusted to the darkness. When my vision at last returned, it appeared as though I was in an enormous darkened cavern, and thousands of skeletons were hanging from the roof of the cave above me. In that instant I felt sheer terror sweep over my body. I blinked again, and woke up to find myself staring at my ceiling fan.
I have no idea what this dream means, but there it is. I wrote this poem about it shortly after, if anyone's interested:
Upon a bark, upon a stream,
Down waters swift we rode;
Within the darkness of a dream,
Towards waterfalls we flowed.
We yearned for where the river came
Abruptly to an end,
For there our spirits, free of shame,
The One-eyed would commend.
We gripped the shafts that bore our steel,
And screamed upon the tide;
The rapids’ rocks had torn the keel,
And hewn the starboard side.
My arm I could no longer feel,
My brothers all had died,
Save two, who by my side did kneel
And roar in feral pride.
We raised our swords towards the sky,
And bellowed in a tongue
Of heathen kin-a pagan cry-
As water drenched the lung.
Before our eyes the shores did fleet,
As did our lives still young,
Which we, like blood soaked in a sheet,
From out the sheet had wrung.
Forth I did shout my father’s name-
Recalled my mother’s face-
I saw my wife, who always came
To me in my disgrace.
I heard my son; his laughter rose
From memories long past-
Would this, my life, I still have chose
To have it end at last?
We come now to the end of all,
Where waters fall to fate,
And course beyond the waterfall
Where stormy graves await.
I scream and thrust my blade on high:
“Valhalla!” comes the call;
And blood adorns the pagan sky
From which my brothers fall.
My eyes open in dreariness;
The dark smells of despair.
I feel consumed by weariness
And terror as I stare
Upon a cave where echoes rang,
A cavern deep and wide,
From which I see in thousands hang
My brothers who have died.
