9 Grimmauld Place

[changeling67]

I was talking to a friend about the nature of dreams and the unconscious.  We touched on Jung and the 'House Symbolisation.'  I rely on dreams as a source of creative influence as they are often random,varied and absolutely bizarre.  Whenever I am in an unsettled dream state, I repeatedly return to a house that I rented for nine years of my young adult. It has a unsettling story to tell; a past history of failed businesses, divorces, malefic squatters, domestic abuse and suicide. I too, was on the receiving end of unfortunate experiences and I wonder if there was some kind of stagnant energy or haunting of some sort that overshadowed it.  It certainly wasn't on the 'Shady Side of the Street' - it was a plain 2 up/2 down, at the top of a hill that overlooked a seaside resort.

Anyway, said friend recommended that I retrace my steps back to the unconscious.  Why did I return there and not my childhood homes/other rented properties or indeed the home I have lived in for the past twenty three years? I thought about what he had said and managed to locate a pattern within these dreams, where tokens, songs and poetry played a part. I hadn't realised that I had other repetative dream cycles - just that my psyche was most upset on the place that it had settled.  I jokingly refer to it as '9 Grimmauld Place' as a nod to the sinister building pre HP5 OOTP (although the OOTP place was number 12).

What he said made me think - "You return there because this is a place that a lot of damage was done." I was jolted; for some reason I hadn't seen it as that - but he was right.  You know when that is the case, because is strikes at the core and resonates like a temple bell.  Sometimes it takes another person to point out the obvious.  In seeing this, I think I am part way understanding myself a bit more.

I owe that guy breakfast (or at  the very least a steaming pot of tea).

Comments

[bluegerl.livejournal.com]

That was interesting... especially about the dreams. Freud didn't cover any of mine.. which are wandering paths that I KNOW... but have never been down and ending up on a lovely secret beach... I KNOW where this path IS...but I will never go to the Isle of Wight to explore, in case it ISN'T!! Something to do with Tennyson but I can't dredge up the connection. And I have been prone to flower meadows.. very Swwiss summery ones. How lucky I am.

Your old house... oh yes houses DO have secret sad tales hidden in their walls and attics. Some don't let you know about the secrets until damage has been done, but if you've been in the same one for 23 years... well it MUST be a super one! LOTS of good happies in those walls! Strange tho... the friend sounds very wise and mature... make him a LOVELY cuppa! XXXXXX

[calico-pye.livejournal.com]

Not only could it be an actual idyllic area, it could also symbolise a path to freedom, without restraint or a flowering of the humanities within yourself (music, art etc).

The one I am in requires a lot of restoration - we've always been too comparatively broke to do that, although a lot has been done. I would say that it has been the place where I have been the most creative - especially art and writing. Very productive - dare I say it MAGICAL!!!

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

That's a very interesting observation. How does knowing this keep you from returning now that you've figured this out?

At least a pot of tea and some cookies!

[calico-pye.livejournal.com]

I think the understanding of it will filter down at some point. It really helps when I envisage have an industrial hose and blasting it with white paint. Makes me feel a ton better.

Hubby, Self and Friend will probably have tea at our local diner on the industrial estate - we've gotten into a habit of doing this every Sunday in anycase :-)))

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

Well done, then. I hope it works out for you!

[bethnoir.livejournal.com]

Really interesting insight, I often find myself wandering around Colchester in my dreams/falling asleep moments, particularly one little street near a Body Shop and fruit and veg vendor, nothing bad happened to me there, but it seems to be important to some part of my brain.

[calico-pye.livejournal.com]

I am no dream guru and I know that dreams are wholly personal to the dreamer - however, it does strike me that you maybe looking for natural products that are for your own healing - a dreamstate 'top up' spa if you like. When I have dreams like that, I wonder why it is in a specific place - has Colchester have significant resonace for you?

[bethnoir.livejournal.com]

Well I was at university there for 3 years and had a lot of interesting experiences there, so yes, but not the town so much as the univeristy campus which I never dream about! I love the weirdness of dreams.

[calico-pye.livejournal.com]

I do, too. I used to keep a dream diary a few years ago, but gave up. This year, I have been cataloging them and I find the random stuff that comes up is fascinating!

[bethnoir.livejournal.com]

I try to note down particularly significant dreams too, I love reading them back after I've forgotten them, they read like someone else's life :-)