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Brain waves can move objects

There has been much debate about brain waves and telepathy. Science was not in favor of the idea, disposing of the subject as being “Accidental”. Almost all of us remember the laboratory experiences of people like Robert van de Castle, Stanley Krippner and Montague Ullman in the ’70s. There was a lot of debate about the accuracy and the repeatability of the experiments.

Brain waves can move objects

More and more science seems to meet magic. We all loved the fact that science helped a paralised lady to drink. The latest inventions use brain waves to make objects fly. The Puzzlebox Orbit, a former Kickstarter project has gone viral, and raised 74,799$.

 

Joshua Marcias has a background in electrical and biomedical Engineering. His business partner Steve Castelotti from Puzzlebox is a computer scientist. It is about time science and magic meet. Take a look how using brain waves makes the helicopter fly. Concentration is needed to create the brain waves that keep the helicopter floating. Puzzlebox is marketed as a tool to learn people to focus, meditate and concentrate. The more one uses these abilities, the more the brain gets familiar with it. Even though this is not a proven fact, it is a very cool gadget to play with.

The Puzzlebox orbit helps you to concentrate and clear your mind. If you are focused, your mind produces a specific type of brainwaves. These brain waves are picked up by a control set.

puzzlebox-orbit-mobile_edition using brain waves
On the right side of the picture is the headset that captures your brain waves

 

If brain waves are able to set a material object, a drone, in motion it make you wonder what else brain waves are capable of.  Sending out waves to another mind? Your brain is used to the brain waves of your spouse (that is why a lot of people are not able to fall asleep when their loved one is not around). Connecting with other people, or even worlds like the ancient people thought? Would it be able to create a fascilitation device that enables you to connect with another brain?

Anyway, this is a very cool gadget, I would love to have one!
Do you like this post? Feel free to like and share.

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Alchemy: transformation of matter and spirit

Alchemy is the practice of transforming matter into other substances. In a very precise, orderly way.  Alchemy studies matter and its relationship to magic.

Alchemy is not only the transformation of matter, it also symbolizes the
transformation of spirit.

Alchemists did experiments to find relationships between matter, philosophy, astrology and spirituality. The aim of alchemy is transforming lead into gold. The way to do that was by the philosopher’s stone. Alchemy was practiced by respected researcher like Sir Isaac Newton’s. When John Keynes, yes the famous bought Newtons’ alchemical works he stated that Newton was “not the first in the age of reason, but the last of the magicians.”

Linda Mastrangelo, dreamer, teacher and alchemist has a wonderful Etsy shop where she sells jewelry that helps you strengthen the work of your soul. Can you imagine how powerful it is when you, on the verge of an alchemical process are reinforced by a beautiful jewel? A jewel that softly reminds you about the step to be taken in your alchemical process?

Linda M and the dragonfly

To do this Great Work, transforming lead into gold, alchemy uses a process of four stages. Each stage has a color to signify its chemical change:

  1. Nigredo: the blackness: all ingredients had to be cooked into a black matter, a decomposition. the dark night of the soul.When you have been kissed awake to go into your transformative process, this it the talisman for you. When I first met Linda, she was sitting on a terrace in beautiful sunny Virginia. Dragonflies kept flying up to her and landing on her hands. It was time to change. Linda put this urge of the universe into her Etsy shop, and now you can profit from this experience. This beautiful talisman will keep you aware of your determination to make a change for the better:
  2. Albedo: the whitening: after the chaos in the first stage, the alchemist washes away the shadow, the darkness and purifies it. Things you do not need any longer in your personality are moved away. Carl Jung considered it the animus anima stage: in this period you become aware of your other side.Between the Nigredo and the Albedo, there is the stage of the peacock. If you have had an inner experience of other world, the peacock is a multi colored symbol of the emotions you experience Linda’s peacock’s tail in heartshape form is a reminder of the work to come, It prepares you for the journey ahead. The peacock is a symbol of the many colors proceding the alchemical process. The Peacock has many eyes upon its feathers looking inward to spread your wings.

    peacockheart alchemy
    Alchemy Peacockheart
  3. Citrinitas: yellowing: the light found in the last step must now be put into conscious awareness: the silver of the moon must transform into the golden light of the sun. Carl Jung equated this stage with the archetype of the Wise Old Man or Wise Old woman.Linda has the perfect ring for this stage: The talisman of the Initiate, you delve into the deep Mysteries without flinching:

    ringyellow alchemy
    Alchemy: Flowering eye ring
  4. Rubedo: reddening: alchemical succes. The end of the Great Work, the Self.
rubedohair ornament alchemy
True spiritual emergence and awakening. Alchemy hairpin Linda’s Etsy shop

Meet the King and Queen of Nature! The Uraeus, like the Caduceus, is Snake of duality; right and left brain and kundalini energy: Two serpentine energy flows called the “ida” and the “pingala”. True spiritual emergence and awakening. The Third Eye. This is the healing medicine of Kings and Queens.

I hope to have inspired you with today’s Mindfunda. If you like it, feel free to share.

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Brain evolution

Please support this blog by using the link in this story if you want to buy the book I discuss. It will give Mindfunda a little kickback fee.

In his book “Commung with the Gods” Charles Laughlin tells about brain evolution, with a special emphasis on dreaming. Being an anthropologist trained in neuroscience he shares some interesting facts about how we evolved into our current brain-mind.

Charles Laughlin Communing with the Gods

“The evolution of the animal kingdom began with the origin of single cell creatures who very likely also experienced their environment in some rudimentary way” Charles Laughlin writes in Communing with the Gods. “Movement is adaptation to the environment. It implies that the moving animal has a depiction of the environment and its changes”. 

Reading this, I remembered a Ted Talk I saw years ago from Daniel Wolpert who made a strong argument for movement being the only reason for the existence of a brain. And it is true, movement does improve our chances of survival and procreation. But Charles Laughlin tells us more about brain evolution, its structures and how they affect dreaming.

Early on in evolution there was a thing called down time. Time for an animal to channel its energy in dealing with inside information. The Caenorhabditis elegans, a roundworm, is one of vertebrates who has downtime.

As the evolution of multi cell animals arose, it was necessary to develop control and coordinate somatic activities. Specialized cells that grouped together in the form of a neural tube with multiple sensory organs. So neurons evolved and began to specialize. Neurons can be divided into:

  1. Efferent systems: they carry information from the brain to the organs.
  2. Afferent systems: they carry information from the organs to the brain
  3. Interneurons: connect to each other to form local systems.
    The higher on the evolutionary scale, the higher the proportion of interneurons becomes. Interneurons are involved in making schema’s, inner movies; because they intervene between sensory input and behavioral output. These inner movies are what we use in dreaming, daydreaming, creativity and problem solving. This ability makes us able to predict the future with a certain degree of accuracy.
    Interneurons are sufficient to produce alternative states of awareness.

Sleeping and dreaming have an advantage, dreaming animals have a better chance of survival. Dreaming is a form of reality testing. The internal models are set into practice in dreams, and information about reality is assimilated.

This kind of testing and future planning involves the frontal lobe.  At a later stage in evolution the ability to conceptualize became part of the symbolic process. Conceptualization has to do with language. We have to not only comprehend our own ideas, we also need to talk about them with others. We do that most easily by using concepts. When we talk about the Big Bang, almost everybody knows we talk about the origin of the universe.

Language is an essential part of this process. Language processing requires many areas of the cortex. This ability probably occurred during the time of Homo habilis, 2.5 million years ago.

According to Charles Laughlin, early humans were dream sharers. Dream sharing would have given humans food for thought. The effort of searching for meaning is universal among animals with brains like the Homo sapiens.  It enabled them to address existential questions that arise as a consequence of dream sharing. Dreaming became part of mental reality.

Communing with the Gods is a very interesting, very anthropological book. The definitions of concepts are numerous, and the theory the author proposes to incorporate biological, evolutionary and neurologic information is very interesting.

If you are interested in the brain, in dreaming, in evolution, you must definitly get a copy of this book.

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7 symbols that tell your dream is about your health

In my series of blogs and Facebook posts about the relationship between dreaming and health I have often stated that dreams can be an early warning sign of a disease or a chronical illness. What are the things to look for in dreams? What common themes could refer to a health issue? So I decided to create a list:
7 symbols that tell your dream is about health.

It is not a “golden” list it could be different for everybody. But these are common themes:

1. Dreaming about a house.

health symbol: house (intrusion)
health symbol: house

If you dream about a house it might refer to your body. What room are you in? Every room can refer to a different part of your body. A kitchen might say something about your digestive system. An attic might say something about your brain. Is the house well kept or is it untidy? Maybe you are putting out a fire in the house. Fire could refer to an infection. Are there any unwanted visitors?

I see B. in my house. That is strange because I did not invite her. All of a sudden I see S. too. B. and S. both tell me they are at my place for a meeting we agreed upon. Unaware of this meeting, I feel quite awkward and invaded. Then I see W. walking towards me, he is there for this meeting too. I awake feeling completly out of place.

The dreamerwas diagnosed with an infection of the lungs soon after this dream.

2. Dreaming about snakes

rodasclepius
A snake can be a symbol of heath

 

Snakes are very powerfull totem animals they are and always will be the sign of Asclepius, the ancient God of health.  Whenever you dream about a snake try to look for a relation with your current health. Beacuse they are not only healing, they can be poisonous too.

3. Dreaming about horses

brown_horse_running
a horse can be a symbol of health

Horses usually refer to the energy of life. A horse is an animal that senses who you are. It can symbolize a physical strength, vitality, but also our psychological or emotional ability to go on in life.

In my dream I have to take a beautiful brown horse down a spiral straircase. I know that the horse will break its beautiful legs if I do that. Then I go down to the basement where an old teacher waits for me. He says: “your next lesson will start soon”.

The lesson was an illness, an infection that enabled the dreanmer to take the rest
he needed. The energy of life, the horse, did not need to break its legs.

4. Body wounds

Dreaming about your body being hurt or wounded can be an indication of an illness. Dreams about being shot or stabbed may be an early warning sign about a physical symptom. Dreams about health are often not very symbolic because the trauma to the body is apparent. Using symbolism would complicate the message of the dreams. Often when one dreams about being hurt or stabed somewhere, this is the exact organ that is not healthy.

5. Car

Dreaming about a car that stops driving or even gets a flat tire might be signals that you have to carefully track the energy-flows in your body. A car can be a symbol for the vehicle that moves us around: the body.

jaguar-e-type
a car can be a symbol of health

 

While I am driving, all of a sudden there is an explosion in the car. The car keeps driving but all of a sudden I am on the backseat while the car still drives. Beacuse that is not possible I get lucid and start to drive the car with my mind.
I drive the car round the corner and then another dream-figure blocks the road.
After getting out I want to know what he symbolizes, so I ask him. He just looks at me and tells me to stop.

In this dream too, the message is a clear one, the car, symbol of the body explodes. the dreamer was indeed very

6. Vegetables and trees

If the vegtable Kingdom in your dream appears to be dark, dehydrated,
wounded or neglected one should pay attention to the way your body feels. All worlds: those of animals and of plants are integrated and likewise they mirror each other.

7. Losing money

Money in a dream might represent energy. In waking life, you get an amount of money for the energy you put into a project or job. If you lose money it might indicate a physical blockage of energy.

It is no all-inclusive list I can give you. Every person is unique. If you dream about a fire in your attic it may not mean you have an illness. But hopefully you will, like a detective, scan the possibility of a disturbance in your physical energy-flow. If you want to know more about the relationship between dreams and health I can recomend Vasily Kasatkin’s book A Theory of Dreams. In a research that lasted two decades, Russian Psychiatrist Kasatkin collected dreams from all kinds of patients and analysed them.

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Have you ever had a health related dream?
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Bob Marley, Get up stand up

I am in a different time frame. I am in the past.I see my husband with his former girlfriend on a party. The girlfriend is a very nice colored lady, I like her immediately. Because this lady has no clue who I am she starts to tell me how she and my husband met: at a party they started dancing at a Bob Marley record and then all of a sudden they where kissing. I wake up jealous…

Bob Marley
Bob Marley

Bob Marley as an archetype

Whenever I hear a dream about a celebrity I start to wonder what archetypical feature best defines this pop or fim star. Usually a pop star is a clear coat rack to “hang” the symbols of an archetype on.
What is an archetype? Carl Jung himself defined them in this way: archetypes are part of human inheritance.  They are extraordinarily stable and enduring structures that form the fundamental organization of the psyche, that arise anew in every human incarnation, and that are akin to the instincts. We all know archetypes: The Magician, the Wise Man, the Fool, the Empiror, the Goddess.

Bob Marley… The King of Rasta. Bob Marley is an archetype. The King, the Empiror takes care of order, of rules, of laws. The Empiror brings order in chaos. In the ’60s Bob converted to Rastafari. He grew dreadlocks, because of the rules: “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow”. (Numbers 6: 5 KJV).

The heavenly mandate in China acknowledged an Empiror when he was able to bring heaven and earth together. If in this dream the husband symbolizes the heaven, and the dark lady symbolizes mother Earth, the the stage is set up for the sacred marriage. Marriages are blessed by God. Bob Marley oneself said once, in an interview: well God come black. True true (Davis, Steven, Bob Marley: the biography (1983) p. 115).

“Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev’rything, and make ev’rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!”
(Get Up, Stand up, Bob Marley)

This might be the song that the husband and the girlfriend started kissing on.
The dream does not specify it, and when I asked the dreamer about it, she could not tell which song it was. But the message from Get Up Stand Up is that one should look for god on earth, search for your inner spark.

The archetype and the collective unconscious
If you are interested in archetypes and want to buy it, please use the link on the page. Mindfunda will get a little kickback fee.

 

 

 

 

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Music-heart connection
 of Beethoven

We all know how soothing music can be when our heart is broken. Or how we jump around on up-beat tempo music when we are in love. Recently cardiologists found out that listening to music can strengthen the heart and improve the recovery of patients suffering from heart disease. There is a connection between the heart and music.

The music of Ludwig van Beethoven was probably also affected by his heart.. Researchers at the University of Washington found out that when a person has an arrhythmia, it happens in patterns. These heart rhythm problems of Beethoven affected his work. The picture shows the rythm of a person with arrhythmia:

ventricular fibrilation
ventricular fibrilation

These same patterns coincide with sudden and unexpected changes in rhythm and key found in Beethovens’ later work: for instance his ninth symphony. His heartbeat must have been a focus point for him because he was almost deaf.

beethoven's-ninth
The pattern of notes in Beethovens’ ninth symphony

Zachary Goldberger publiced an article in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine called The heartfelt music of Beethoven. And because there is a connection we can all feel between music an the heart: the way your heart beats in synch with a drum, this relationship might just open very interesting perspectives.

 

THIS CONTENT IS CREATED BY SUSANNE VAN DOORN, AUTHOR AND OWNER OF MINDFUNDA; MAKING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY, MYTHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY EASY TO USE IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE!

What is Mindfunda about?

My name is Susanne van Doorn, I am a Dutch psychologist, blogger and author. I have been working with psychology, dreams and mythology ever since I finished my study in psychology at Tilburg University. I made this independant site to share insights, and recent scientific articles about the brain, dreams, and mythology for use in your personal life.

This posting is categorised as Spirifunda:
psychology for everyday with a spiritual layer of meaning, searching for the soul. Our brains are wired for believe in magic. In a world filled with rationality, you sometimes need a little magic, a little “I wonder why”. Synchronicity, the insights of Carl Jung, the mythology used by Freud, the archetypical layers in the Tarot, the wisdom of the I Tjing, Shamanism, the oldest religion of humanity, all that information gets published in the Spirifunda section of Mindfunda.

Read more about Mindfunda here, or visit our Courses Page.

Ready for more free Mindfunda content on ‘SPIRITUALITY‘?

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Proof for Atlantis?

“…both wealth and concord decline as possessions become pursued and honored. And virtue perishes with them as well.” 

Plato, Timaeus/Critias

atlantis
Map of Atlantis T.A. Barron

In his dialogues Critias and Timaeus Plato was the first person to mention Atlantis. Atlantis, according to him, was more advanced then other societies at that moment in time. Around 9500 B.C. It destroyed by Zeus because the Kings did not appreciate their Gods and were only out for wealth. It disappeared, swallowed by the sea.
Oner of the things Plato writes about is the mystic material called orichalcum. According to Plato it was only mined in Atlantis.
Recently, divers at the coast of Sicily found 39 tablets in a shipwreck 1000 ft from the coast of Gela. It is a material made of copper, sink and a low percentage of lead nickel and iron.

Most of us see mythological stories as epic tales about all the challenges life has to offer and how to deal with them. But sometimes evidence is found for the reality of epic tales. Atlantis always has been a very creative mythology with great stories about how people escaped from Atlantis to Egypt, which led the Pharaohs to building their great temples and pyramids.
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/atlantis-legendary-metal-found-in-shipwreck-150106.htm

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Monkey see, monkey do


Unknown

People often learn things without understanding the process. A reasearch with monkeys give us insight into how we decide when the outcome is uncertain. We, as the monkeys use a rational process to increase the chances of success.

Neuroscientist Michael Shadlen researched the way humans and animals use a strategy to make sense of uncertain information. The monkeys in his lab saw two dots on a computer screen, but touching one of them would give them a reward. Shadlen manipulated stimuli to release uncertainty: when a symbol appeared, for example Pac-Man, the dot that would give the rewards was probably the left one, while a pentagon favored the right dot.
The monkeys had electrodes in their brain and Shadlen monitored the neurological buildup, and found out that the decision for a dot on the right or left side was made when activity in favor of the right or left side exceeded a threshold. This experiment tells us that our brain is more rational then we think!

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Little known ways to look at dream content


We always knew that dream work was essential for keeping an emotional and rational balance. Mindfunda will tell you about little known ways to look at dream content
. Dreams can warn us, help us when we are feeling down, correct us when we are being too stubborn. And now at last, science found evidence that the way people describe their dreams is an indicator of the psychological help they are best suited for. Looking at the patterns of words that are used and analysing  them to help decide which therapy will be sufficient for a patient.

 

graph-words-1
Example of a word graph

In a recent study by Alex Berezow of RealClearScience, 60 patients described a dream. Some of these patients had psychological disorders, others didn’t. The words they used were put into graphs. After analyzing them the graphs of patients suffering from bipolar disorder and of schizophrenics looked different.

Schizophrenics tend to use few words to describe their dreams and people with bipolar disorder use more words and repeat themselves. The word graphs for undiagnosed people different from the two groups of patients, the Schizophrenics as well as the bipolar patients.
So before making hypothesis about the patient, a therapist would be working more efficient by discussing dreams with patients and analyzing the dreams inclusing their use of words. Read more by clicking here.

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The Human Genome project: how we are all connected

Once upon a time I had a dream that ended with a clear voice telling me that “Everything is connected”
Now that is a very good attitude to life by, I know. And because of the human genome project we have proof that we all descend from one being 3.5 biljon years ago. The genome, 4 letters : A, C, T and G, the initials of 4 chemicals. Three of them compose amino acids, the building blocks of many living things. This thread of genetic similarity connects us and the roughly 10 million other species in the modern world to the entire history of life, back to a single common ancestor more than 3.5 billion years ago

In April 2003 the Human Genome Project was declared complete. It started in 1990. Victor McElheny wrote a compelling book about it, easy to read even if you do not have a very scientific background. This book tells you about the people behind this project: David Botstein and his method constructing genetic linkage maps that enabled the sequencing phaseof the Human Genome project, about Francis Collins, leader of the project and a very spiritual man and writer of the bestseller “The language of God: A scientist Presents Evidence for belief“.
It tells about Craig Venter, the first person ever to sequence the human genome, but was too stubborn to maintain in the project. A method he proposed was rejected and he went to a private investor. Juicy stuff, this book, and very informative about this important scientific work. A must read if you want to know all about how science can make the world a healthier place.

Drawing the map of life Victor K. McElheny

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Smile

 

“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.” 
Suzanne Collins, the Hunger Games

Smile

Today I will share an inspiring Ted talk by Ron Gutman. Ron Gutman is a personal inspiration for me because of his work on health and well being. At Stanford University he created a program called BeWell for students. Health depends on so much more then the body alone. We are connected with our environment in so much more ways then we realize. Click the link and enjoy. Ron’s talk is about how healthy smiling is for you. How you can predict the length of the life of a person on a photo judging by his smile. Smile as much as you can and feel the endorphines make you stronger and feel better…

After finishing my work on the connectio between dreams and health I was more aware then ever that my personality and my interpretation of things that happened to me affected my health. Listening to my dreams, like Vasily Kasatkin suggests in his book “A theory of dreams” helped me very much.
Did you enjoy this blog? Please share it with your friends.

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The top 5 best Carl Jung gift items

“All you can take with you is what you have given away”
Carl Gustav Jung

We all know and love Carl Jung.  And now that birthday/anniversary/10 year on the job occasion is comming up. You do not have the money to buy the Red book, but you want something original. Or you have been a Carl Jung addict – synchrobicity specialist for years and you want to treat yourself.Well here is your help:

The 5 best Carl Jung gift items:

1. The Great Psychologists Finger puppet set.

22.95 Amazon

All it takes is one couch and two great minds. Jung and Freud finally back together again.

2. The best Carl Jung quote we all know, love and use from time to time:

12.99 Amazon

 

3. Another winner: one of my favorites: the Therapist in a box, so you can stop blaming your mom. It contains a stress ball in the shape of a sofa, a sand timer and a set of cards with affirmations. It is THE gift for a spiritual person with a sense of humor.

7.95 Amazon

4. Give a Red Book or Liber Novus with this beautiful leather oak tree book. The recepient is able to write down his dreams, ideas, drawings and keep them forever in this beautiful book.

Sacred Oak Tree Leather Blank Book 17.78 Amazon
 
 '...A tree is one of the best examples of a motif that often appears in dreams (and elsewhere) and that can have an incredible variety of meanings. It might symbolise evolution, physical growth, or psychological maturation; death (Christ’s crucifixion on the tree); it might be a phallic symbol; it might be a great deal more. And such other common dream motifs as the cross or the lingam can also have a vast array of symbolic meanings...' – Man and his Symbols by Carl Jung

5. Shirt for men: Forever Jung. in 13 colors available. From Burgundy to plane white, black, blue, brown, green orange… She will love you for it. 

T shirt Forever Jung, 17.80 Amazon

Have I left something out? Please let me know and I will add it here/
Feel free to like and share!

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The alchemical tension in a room with a view

The alchemical tension in a room with a view

This is the second Mindfunda Mythology about the relationship between mythology, films and dreams; for the first see this link: the Science of sleep

Like in alchemy, tension creates motion, in your life and in your dreams.

escher6
Heaven and hell by Escher

“As the polarized motion of magnetic fields can be used to generate electrical energy, polarity in a story seems to be an engine that generates tension and movement in the characters and a stirring of emotions in the audience”
Chris Vogler

When you look at the story of your dream, most stories can be divided into three simple parts: the beginning. the middle and the end. Most of our dream-books tell us that the turning points of stories involve a “violation” an “argument” or a dispute. Let’s look at a simple example. A bike dream of mine.

Being of Dutch origin I have had lots of bike dreams: my bike being broke, me riding a bike somewhere, or not being able to open my bike… In waking life I often ride a bike.  My brother, almost a generation older then I am, taught me how to ride. That is: he put me on a bike told me to paddle away and I asked him to please hold me. ‘Yes I will hold you” he promised, but he let go (do you see the tension in the story? Someone broke his promise to ensure my personal growth. By promising me to hold me I let go of the fear I was going to fall and hurt myself, and by beraking his promise my brother enabaled me to gain enough motion to go forwards). So when I shouted at him: Alright, you can let go now: He laughed and said: “you are already on your way”. I looked back, scared myself and.. you guessed right: I fell down. But let’s go back to the topic: tension creates motion, motion creates meaning.

Let’s look at an example where the motion was a psychological one instead of a literal one as in the example above…
In a dream I head years later, being a grown up woman getteing a second education about the connection between food and physical well being I had this dream:

“I am at a play about kings and queens dressed in costumes of the middle ages. I feel imoprtant to have been invited at this cultural heighpoint of the year. As always I admire the velvet robes of the men and woman, and the beautiful hooped skirts on the dresses of the ladies. But a lady I know, G, keeps getting in my site. She is so much bigger then I am and she is blocking my view. I get mad but I do not say a thing”.

Somebody is bigger then me. That was true. When G. was in my life, she was much more extraverted, much funier and much more in touch with people. This dream told me that I was looking at her in a way that got the fun out of the play in my life. We are all participants in our life  I felt immideatly triggered to watch the film “A room with a view” once again.

A Room with a view

This is such a beautiful film with an easy to grasp symbolic meaning. If you have not seen it before, I really encourage you to go out and see it. I would love to know if this blog resonates with you. Doe you see motion in your dreams when there is tension? And does this motion change your life for the better?

 

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the Science of sleep (film with trailer)

The science of sleep

Stéphane (Gael Garcia Bernal) is a lucid dreamer. His lucid dreams started when he was a kid. He confuses dreams with waking reality. When he moves back to an apartment in Paris, the one he grew up in he meets a lovely lady Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and falls in love with her. Being introvert and struck into his own dreamworld, the films deals with him trying to connect with Stéphanie and get her involved in his vision of the world.

 

Science of Sleep is avalable on Amazon

Film is the modern way of making mythology.

I like the way this film handles our rational view on the sleeping mind versus the waking mind. The hero in our mythology is this very cute, clumsy boy in love with this gorgeous girl. Being an introvert who has been in love and also a lucid dreamer I could easily connect with the theme of the film. The title “The science of sleep” is a contradictio in terminis. In our current society dreams are seen as random fire patterns of the neurons and only geniuses like Carl Jung can capture their nightly visions in a scientific analysis.

In my recent article: What does my dream mean? Four ways of looking at a dream I mentioned the ways people have -from the last century until this day- looked at dreams. It can be rational: dry and scientific: dreams are but waves of your nervous system you brain knits a little story with once you are awake (and remember your dream. It can by physical: dreams respond to the inner and outer changes of the body and the last is displayed in this film too: the romantic notion that dreams are messages. From a higher being or your own higher self. This ilm seems to embrace the last view but then harshly shows that the real world and the dream world are hardlycompatible.

Will this couple be able to sustain as a twosome in this waking, rational cold word? The strangeness of Stéphane and Stéphanie, gets highlighted in the strange changes of languages in the film (French/English/Spanish). The couple has equal names written in the male and female version: Stéphane means the crowned one Stéphanie means “she knows”. And even thogh they are so much alike and make a good couple, in that little difference lays the plot. See the trailer here. Do yourself a favor and watch this film. I would love to hear your impression of it.

Please like and share the article, and let me know what other films you would like to share.

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The secret trick to understanding dreams you dream

There is a secret trick to understand more about the dream you dream. It is this secret: dreams tell stories. But who is the storyteller? What is the perspective of your dreamstory? This is a subject that gets ignored by most dream methods: Jungian, Freudian, Gestalt. There is only one book I know of that mentions this: Lucid dreaming, Gateway to the inner Self by Robert Waggoner. Let’s explore. I’ll start by telling you one of my favorite dreams:

“I am walking in the garden, the grass is green and next to me walks an older man with grey hair and glasses on. He wears a suit. I recognize him as Carl Jung. We walk together and he keeps on talking to me, telling me things about the psyche, that by waking up I forgot about.”

My feeling when I woke up was one of sheer happiness. I was a great admirer of Carl Jung and his insights in the human psyche. To come up with a concept like “the collective unconscious” has always impressed me. To dream of such a man treating me like his equal, discussing things that mattered to him with me made me very happy.

My Dutch teacher Sister Michelle was a nun of the order of the sisters of love, so she was mean. But she was also thorough in teaching the language and we both loved books. I was enlightened to be taught about books because I read so many.  The books’ perspective I had to find. Sometimes it was the I, like in dreams, sometimes it is a first person’s perspective. But most of the time it is not. Most of the time there is an Omniscient Viewpoint. No one tells the story, it seems to be told from a god like point of view. I came to call this viewpoint in my dreams “the dream-maker”.

If you look at my ream what do you see? Who tells the dream? I start with an “I” perspective: “I am walking in the garden”. It is clear, it is a dream about me, seen from my perspective. Then there is an introduction of another character: Carl Jung. He does a lot of talking. So there is a change in perspective, from me to Jung. He tells me a lot about psychology, about the human psyche but when awake, i have forgotten all. (Given Carl Jung his intellect I guess this happened to him quite often, he was so intelligent most people lost track in conversations. It is known that he asked people to pre-read his books before publication, to check if they where not too complicated).
But- who’s perspective has the dream taken on now? Not Carl Jung’s. There seems to be a third person: the storyteller. An Omniscient Viewpoint. How does this help you understanding dreams you dream? It helps you to step back from the dream as being a part of you. the notion that all deam characters are only a part of you. If this dream of mine came from a Omniscient Viewpoint then it must have been a divine message? Indeed I did go to University and studied psychology, a study that fitted like a glove. For me, looking at the perspective of a dream story has always been the secret trick to understanding dreams you dream. I think my Sister Michelle in hindsight.What do you discover when you look at your dreams to see whose perspective the story tells?

After reading Robert Waggoner’s chapter: Connecting with the Hidden Observer of Dreaming in his book Lucid Dreaming Gateway to the inner self (highly recommended, if you have not read it yet I encourage you to do so) I did the following experiment.

"Lucid dreaming - Gateway to the Inner Self" by Robert Waggoner
Lucid dreaming Gateway to the Inner Self Robert Waggoner

I wanted to know who my dream maker was. I decided to try to get a lucid dream to get more clarity on this intriguing subject. That night I dreamed that I was standing outside a tower, a dark medieval tower. Inside was a man, looking a bit like how I imagine Merlin looks. Older man, grey hair, sharp nose, an archetypical wise old man. And I admit, I was disappointed. My dream-maker was a man. At the second I thought that (as it happens often in dreams) Merlin changed in a woman. An elderly lady dressed in a green robe with a lovely red necklace on.

How about you? Have you ever given thought about the perspective of your dream story?

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Three things you did not know yet about the apocalypse

Did you see that I added an email newsletter sign up? The Mindfunda Monthly. If it is not in the sidebar on the left you can sign up using this link.

Most of us have experienced “fin du siecle” from this century. Our world was coming to an end in the year 2000, or soon thereafter, computer would crash, money would devaluate and a nuclear war would start. But did you know this is a pretty common theme found in mythology?

1. The end of the world is a rather common theme in mythology. The Germans, in India, Iran and Israel have stories about an apocalypse, in which the primal actors are known.

In the Edda one can read:

“Then comes the ruler
into his dominion,
the powerful one from high,
who rules above all”.

2. Apocalytic stories are “deeply moving revelations of a soul living between two world epochs: in his heart the poetis still devoted to the old, but his longing leads him to the new” Jan de Vries.

CarlJung wrote the Red Book also as an apocalytic story after he had this vision:
“In the following winter I was standing at the window one night and looked North. I saw a blood-red glow, like the flicker of the sea from afar, stretched from East to West across the northern horizon. And at that time someone asked me what I thought about world events in the near future. I said I had no thoughts, but saw blood, rivers of blood”.

Carl Jung, Red Book; Liber Novus

3. Fantasy is not only allowed, it is required to deal with the psyche going through apocalypse. Because in studying his fantasies Jung realized that he was studying the myt-creating function of the mind.

I have a film with moreinformation about the Norse theme of Ragnarok. The Ragnarok is part of the Voluspa: vision/prophesy, the account of a seeress’s vision in response to a question of Odin:

you Odin, want me
to tell you what I know,
of the world and its fate,
from the earliest of times…

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About Dwarves, Elves and Giants in the Well of Remembrance by Ralph Metzner

“Men forgot that all deities reside within the human breast”
William Blake

About Dwarves, Elves and Giants in the Well of Remembrance by Ralph Metzner. In his book Ralph writes: Mythology is very much alive in our psyche. We only have to look at our dreams to realize that. Mythology can connect us with an expansion of our -rather limited- rational reality. The capacities for visioning, divination, healing and problem solving that we have allowed to atrophy for many generations can be developed again says Ralph Metzner in “The Well of Remembrance”.

Ralph Metzner, The Well of Remembrance

 

“Dwarves are the subterranean spirits of stone and metal, the masters of matter and fire, who can fashion tools, weapons, and ornaments of inconceivable power and magic.”

When I visited Egypt, I touched the sacred stone scarab in the temple of Luxor and I felt the stone responding. Very respectful I gently touched the stone and asked it what it had experienced all those centuries, and it was like the stone was showing me. That is how I connected with the energy of the dwarves.

Ralph Metner goes on to say: “The spirit of technological invention that animates many of our scientists and technicians is the same amoral and asocial intelligence that characterized the ancient “dwarves”. This is why we have the technologies of nuclear annihilation, of ecological destruction, of genocidal experimentation”.

Ralph Metner goes on to say: “The spirit of technological invention that animates many of our scientists and technicians is the same amoral and asocial intelligence that characterized the ancient “dwarves”. This is why we have the technologies of nuclear annihilation, of ecological destruction, of genocidal experimentation”.

Giants are the vast planetary forces and energies that they have always been: the ocean, winds, hurricanes, mountain ranges, volcanoes, great forests, steppes and deserts. Functioning by their own laws, they are not under the control of humans. But in addition to these natural giants there are corporate giants run by human beings as stockholders, not humane individuals.

Once, in a dream I was at a funeral. The wind blew and I was shivering, unable to protect myself. The Giants were coming, in my dream and in my life. My family was confronted with numerous of unexpected bills from big cooperations. The Giants were coming, in my dream and in my life. My family was confronted with numerous of unexpected bills from big cooperations.

Ralph Metzner: “Elves are the creators and inspirers of beauty in form, They live in plants and trees, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and other places of great natural beauty. They are guiding spirits of musicians, poets, builders, sculptors, dancers, film makers: those whose works of beauty elevate our sentiments”.

I love music. When I was a young girl and I heard a record I really liked, i was not able to concentrate on what was said. i was dancing, literally or in my mind. There is some music that touches something very deep inside.

“Free at last that what you like they could not take your pride” (U2: Pride in the name of love). I can still shout it while jumping round to the music.

When were you touched by Elves?

 

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What does my dream mean? Four ways of looking at a dream.

“I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.”
– Albert Einstein

Is in our modern era the question “What does my dream mean?” still a valid one? Let’s explore.

The latest scientific research of our dreaming minds states that dreams are just images our brains construct out of the continuous firing of neurons during the night.

But having worked with dreams I want to invite you to put that notion aside for a while and dive into your dreams. See, after you played with your dreams for a while, if you still think that they are just random electric impulses.

James Hillman, psychologist, gives in his book: The dream and the underworld” a list of approaches to dreams that is still valid today.

James Hillman: The dream and the Underworld

There are three dominant views of the dream:

    1. Romantic: the dream contains a hidden but important message from another world. In today’s world, this view still pertains in films and television series, where a character receives important warnings through dreams and visions. For example, in the series Merlin (BBC) the Lady Morgana has several precognitive dreams and in Once upon a Time,  an American fairy tale drama series about a contemporary vision on Snow-white, Prince Charming has this dream about his daughter. (Yes, in this series he and Snow White have a daughter)
    2. Dreams are a worthless jumble of nonsense (however interpretable by a good psychiatrist). Because psychotherapy becomes out of fashion, analyzing dream on the canapé, like Freud once did, is not regularly used anymore.
    3. A dream reflects the physiological process going on while the body is asleep. This approach has been researched thoroughly, most of all by Vasily Kasatkin who collected data from all of his patients. Kasatkin was a psychiatrist working in several hospitals in and around Moscow. He analysed the data and wrote a book about it: A theory about dreams.
Vasily Kasatkin: A theory about dreams

4. Dreams are an invitation to get creative. This one you can not find in James Hillman his terrific book. It is my own. If you do remember a dream, write it down, draw it up, google it, associate symbols, re-write dream-stuff. There are so many cool ways of working with dreams: music, dancing, acting, painting, writing haiku’s… It really does not matter so much if they are nonsense, as long as you have fun with your dreams. They can give you a new sense of self. Dreams have led me into new ventures:

  • I studied the tarot because of a dream I had.
  •  I once dreamed about a one-eyed wanderer, and years later I discovered there is a one eyed God called Odin in Norse Mythology. This opened up a new way for me to explore Norse Mythology, and helped me to dive in ancient stories telling me more about the archetypical challenges life has to offer.
  • I made a couple of real nice clay works inspired by my dreams.
  • I had several real remarkable precognitive dreams about important things months and sometimes years before they manifested in my life: for example about meeting my husband.

So my advice to you is: dreams can be a guide into your own creative depths if you allow them to mean things.

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The Matrix and the Goddess

I recently watched the Matrix trilogy again, here’s my Mythofunda approach on it:

Oracle: “Do you know what that means? (points at banner with Temet Nosce on it). It means know thyself. I want to tell you a little secret, being the One is just like being in love…”

In 1999 the Wachowskis, two siblings, directed The Matrix. It is a story about a hacker named Thomas Anderson. Thomas is the name of the disciple that did not believe Christ was resurrected. Doubting Thomas is an expression that is still being used when someone refuses to believes the miracle that happens. In the Gnostic Gospels Thomas knows Jesus and says he will believe it when he sees it. And it hits the most important nerve in the spine of the story: it explores the tension between ratio and magic. The Goddess holds the key to the solution. Thomas has a second identity: Neo (new, a computer hacker). Neo is an anagram for the One, the person we become when we have accepted our shadow.

goddess

The Goddess, as she appears in the trilogy of The Matrix (1999), Matrix reloaded (2003) and Matrix Revolutions (2003), has three faces. The fertile young sexy feisty Trinity, the black Penelope queen of the underworld and the all knowing Oracle.

The first scene of the film opens with the Goddess. Trinity’s voice talking to Cypher. Numbers run across the screen so we, the viewers are in on the secret: we live in a computer simulated reality.

Trinity is facing the wall, behind her laptop. A very accurate description of the society we live in. Computers being machines based to calculate, the Goddess can operate them but she is at the same time inviting Neo “to follow the white rabbit”. The rabbit, in many cultures is associated with the moon. The rabbit pours the elixir of life for Chang’e, the Chinese moon Goddess. In the poetry of Chu Chi, the rabbit on the moon pounds herbs for the immortals. And the legend was told in a conversation between Houston and Apollo 11 before the first moon landing. Houston said: “Among the headlines concerning Apollo this morning is one asking you to watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful girl called Chang-O was banished to the moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree”. (source Wikipedia).
And indeed Trinity invites Neo to look at the moon: they fall madly in love. When Neo and Trinity first meet she nails down that uneasy feeling we all recognize: what is reality?

The name Trinity refers to the triple Goddess: the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. We see Trinity as first lady in the film, and she plays the part of the Maiden. Persephone in the film, who is jealous of the love between Trinity and Neo, demands a kiss from Neo to help him free the key maker. The key maker in the movie can open doors to new computer realities.

So the mother – daughter roles are reversed. In Greek mythology Persephone always was the daughter, now she acts like the Mother Goddess, demanding love as the way out of a reality that is not fulfilling your needs.

The Crone in the movie is the Oracle: the old housewife, making cookies with a clairvoyant ability: “do not worry about the vase” she tells Neo before he accidentally throws down a vase that breaks. The vase holds water: a symbol for spirituality. The fact that it breaks is a referral to the death of Trinity in the third part of the trilogy. Once Trinity is dead it starts to rain. The water, symbolised by the rain refers to the water that makes life possible. One of the most ancient Goddesses are water goddesses. Nature goddesses that need to be balanced in order to bring propsperity to all living beings. Death brings new life, the circle is round…

 

The Matrix collection in Blue-ray

 

As the dark twin brother of Neo, agent Smith says: “Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a plague and we are the cure”. Now that is a very eloquent description on the shadow we human beings bare today. Every human being that is aware of its environment knows that we created our own paradise, but in ways that undermine our earth, our health and our mental well being. There is one thing that speaks for us as a species: our ability to dream.

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Three steps to a good night sleep

3 Steps from good food to a good night sleep (which are actually four steps)

Our brain has this magical natural recipe for a good night sleep, you just have to add the right ingredients! In our food there are some important proteins. One of them is called Tryptophan, and I am going to tell you about it today. Tryptophan is like the Hypnos under the proteins, it acts like the god of sleep. How do we get this sleep god to work?

images

Here are 3 simple steps to get a good night sleep:

Step #1: from good food to Tryptophan:

The first thing you got to do for a good night sleep is start eating good healthy food, the food that actually flew, walked or swam when it was alive, and vegetables that kissed the ground of mother earth. That is how you get Tryptophan. From good food. Especially rich in Tryptophan are seeds, tuna fish, eggs and bananas.

Step #2: from Tryptophan to Serotonin

Tryptophan is only the first building block of Melatonin, the hormone that gets us to sleep and dream (The Morpheus under the proteins). You need to have enough vitamin B, vitamin C, Zinc, Magnesium and a good gut to build 5 http from Tryptophan. Why a good gut you ask? Well we are on our way to build Serotonin. Yes, the feel-good hormone Serotonin is constructed out of Tryptophan in your gut. So one of the things you need to do is restore your gut when you want have a good Serotonin level.

But even more important: recent research by Nils Paumann, Diego Walther, and colleagues show that serotonin plays a key role in controlling insulin secretion and that its absence leads to diabetes. So Tryptophan which the body turns into Serotonin regulates your blood sugar level and your cravings as well.

Step #3: from Serotonin to Melatonin

In the last step, under the influence of diminishing daylight and your night time rituals your serotonin level gets transformed into melatonin. So make sure you don’t get extra light at night by watching tv too late, or working on your iPad or iPod, create a ritual before you go into a good night sleep, go easy on the melatonin you can buy at your local drugstore cause it sets back your biological clock and that may not be the problem. In fact, most doctors would advice you to stop taking artificial melatonin.

Bonus-step (that makes #4): 

But let your final step please be to take up healthy food habits. So let’s first quit sugar! Sugar gives you a high. You feel happy when you eat a lot of sugar. Every time you are on a sugar high the receptor cells for insulin in your body get less sensitive to insulin.

Say what??? Well it is your body’s way to protect your brain. Your brain is your number one organ and too much insulin gives you low blood sugar levels. And if you have a low blood sugar level your brain does not have gas anymore, so the engine drops down. And your brain does not want that to happen!

One of the best ways to get a good night sleep started is with “The 21 Day Sugar Detox” program by best-selling author Dian Sanflippo.

Feel free to comment below, and be sure to share it with your friends

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THIS CONTENT IS CREATED BY SUSANNE VAN DOORN, AUTHOR AND OWNER OF MINDFUNDA; MAKING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY, MYTHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY EASY TO USE IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE!

What is Mindfunda about?

My name is Susanne van Doorn, I am a Dutch psychologist, blogger and author. I have been working with psychology, dreams and mythology ever since I finished my study in psychology at Tilburg University. I made this independant site to share insights, and recent scientific articles about the brain, dreams, and mythology for use in your personal life.

This posting is categorised as Dreamfunda:
Everything you need to know about dreams. Practical How to’s, the latest scientific research, the most commonly used ways to attach meaning to dreams. This and more is given to you for your everyday use in this part of Mindfunda

Read more about Mindfunda here, or visit our Courses Page.

Ready for more free Mindfunda content on ‘#DREAMS‘?

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Valentines day Mindfunda Thought: your brain is in love on Valentine’s Day

Valentines Day Mindfunda Thought:  You’re in love, that means your brain is in love.

What does love in the brain look like? Let’s explore:  Valentines day, your brain in love. On February 14th, Valentine’s day,  a lot of couples will celebrate their commitment, children will write a card full of compliments for their parents and you might just want to send a nice card to that one good single girlfriend just to let her know she is appreciated.
But what is that love-thing? Neurological? How does Valentines day look inside your brain?

During al the decades of research, love still remains a mystery. It is an ancient, complex intertwining of the neurological system, the hormones, and the mind. You do not fall in love with everyone you see. Most of the time, there is only one person that makes your heart beat faster.

In the brain in MRI scans there is an increased activity in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) of the brain. The award system runs overtime, dopamine crushes your brain: you are addicted.

A psychologist called Arthur Aron, professor psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook has experimented with ways to fall in love. He wrote a book about it: Love and the expansion of Self. Here is how you do it:

  • find a complete stranger.
  • talk to that person for at least half an hour about intimate details of each others lives: what are your goals, what do you love most, what would constitute a perfect day for you, tell your life story and ask the other person to do the same .
  • the last four minutes, without talking, stare into each others’ eyes.
Love and the expansion of Self, Arthur Aron, Elaine Aron
Love and the expansion of Self, Arthur Aron, Elaine Aron

Well if that doesn’t woo your stranger, don’t worry. In recent years Dr. Helen Fisher did research about why we fall in love with certain people and not with others. According to her insights there are three motivators for love. The Sex drive, driven by testosterone. Romantic Attraction driven by dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin and Attraction driven by oxytocin and vasopressin. The activity in the nucleus accumbent suggests that love is highly addictive. We crave, we become obsessed, we become anxious when we fall in love.

But why do we fall in love with a certain person rather then with any person walking around, being single and available? Here is where the brilliance of Helen Fisher comes in. She discovered 4 types of people. 

  • Curious energetic types driven by dopamine. The people who like to travel and discover new things. Optimistic, unreflective, sensation seekers. Those people like people who are like them.
  • Cautious/norm compliant people driven by serotonin. These are the people who can organize, who are structured and rule driven. Those people like people who are like themselves.
  • Analytical/tough minded people driven by testosterone. Decisive, bold and direct, they like to get to the point. Those people like the Prosocial/empathic people.
  • Prosocial/Empathic people driven by estrogen and oxytocin. They see the big picture, linguistically skilled, trusting, seek harmony, diplomatic. These people are drown to the Analytical/tough minded people.
Why him? Why her? Helen Fisher Ph.D

Most of all just enjoy Valentines day. Treat yourself to something nice, a sunset, a good lunch, laughing with friends, a good book about the brain and most of all the company of the people you love.
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Our dreaming mind by Robert van de Castle

What I like about “Our Dreaming Mind” by Robert Van de Castle

It was many years ago that I first took a copy of “Our Dreaming Mind” home from the library. I can see in my later bought copy at home it is from 1994.
It would be years before I did actually meet Dr. Robert van de Castle and his lovely wife.

The reason for my interest in dreams was because I studied psychology. In my daytime dreams I could see myself treating patients with the “dangerous method” of talking to them.
My view on dreams was a romantic one: dreams where the playground of the Gods, the unraveled mysteries of our shadow kingdom, the voice of the dark side of our personality.

Robert van de Castle was a psychologist, a parapsychologist who helped in a number of very important experiments about telepathy and dreaming. After his death, Stanly Krippner wrote a little note stating that Robert showed up on their doorstep eager to be a test-person, because he knew how important their study would be.

In “Our Dreaming Mind” you will find a carefully listed summation of important scientific research, but also a heartwarming and enchanting personal tale of Robert van de Castle about his life, and his dreams. It is like an invitation to you: to get real about dreams and to scientifically straighten out your thoughts about all the revenues he reveals for you.

Chapter 1 and 2 are called the treasure chest and discuss dreams as portals between inner and outer worlds and the dreams that have changed the world. Ingmar Bergman, William Butler Yeats, Mary Shelly and lots of other famous persons’ dreamstories are told.

Part two of “Our Dreaming Mind” consists of a historical review of the early thinking about dreams. We are taken back to Artemidoris who wrote the first dream-translation list, taken into the Romantic era. The ideas about dreams being messages from God are still relevant today for some people.

Part three of “Our Dreaming Mind” catapults us into the twentieth century: Freud, Jung and others. In parts 4 Robert is at his best: he introduces research into dreams.

Part five of “Our Dreaming Mind” is a blessing for the eyes where Robert can dive into the content analysis, the method that made him famous in certain circles and that has brought forth so many good research about dreams.

Part six is the icing on the cake. Robert always did the dream telepathy contest at the IASD: the International Association of the Study of Dreams, and this chapter is about the dreams with that extra tiny bit of magic.

Our Dreaming Mind
Our Dreaming Mind

“Our Dreaming Mind” is definitely a book to read if you are interested in dreams, it has become a classic. You cannot buy a new print, but you may find “Our Dreaming Mind” as used copy over here:

THIS CONTENT IS CREATED BY SUSANNE VAN DOORN, AUTHOR AND OWNER OF MINDFUNDA; MAKING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY, MYTHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY EASY TO USE IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE!

What is Mindfunda about?

My name is Susanne van Doorn, I am a Dutch psychologist, blogger and author. I have been working with psychology, dreams and mythology ever since I finished my study in psychology at Tilburg University. I made this independant site to share insights, and recent scientific articles about the brain, dreams, and mythology for use in your personal life.

This posting is categorised as  Spirifunda:
psychology for everyday with a spiritual layer of meaning, searching for the soul. Our brains are wired for believe in magic. In a world filled with rationality, you sometimes need a little magic, a little “I wonder why”. Synchronicity, the insights of Carl Jung, the mythology used by Freud, the archetypical layers in the Tarot, the wisdom of the I Tjing, Shamanism, the oldest religion of humanity, all that information gets published in the Spirifunda section of Mindfunda.

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Looking for Valentine day gifts ideas? Here’s a Mindfunda guide!

 Looking for original Valentine Day gifts ideas for your loved one?

First you might want to know what the origin of Valentine’s Day (as it is often written) is. Well, at first it was all about poetry.

The oldest Valentine’s poem known today, was written in the 15th century by Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was being held prison in the Tower of London.

the-first-valentines-day-letter

Je suis déjà d’amour tanné,
Ma très douce Valentinée,
Car pour moi fûtes trop tard née,
Et moi pour vous fus trop tôt né.
Dieu lui pardonne qui estrené
M’a de vous, pour toute l’année
Je suis déjà, etc.
Ma très douce, etc.
Bien m’étais suspeçonné,
Qu’aurais telle destinée,
Ainsi que passât ceste journée,
Combien qu’Amours l’eût ordonné.
Je suis déjà, etc.

—Charles d’Orléans, Rondeau VI.

The Duke spent most of his life in prison and nowadays is famous for his poetry. Valentines day originates in the middle ages when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It is said that Saint Valentine married couples, against the will of Emperor Claudius II, who thought that married men became weak. A number of myths go around attributing healing to Saint Valentine: in prison he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. Before he was executed he sent her a letter signed: “your Valentine’.

Here you are, still staring at the screen and desperately looking for original Valentine’s day gift ideas. This is where some practical Mindfunda comes in!

If you, by any chance are a man or a lady saying: this is all too commercial then please buy your lover a gift or a bouquet of flowers on another day. Don’t let this be an excuse to ignore the woman or man who enlightens your heart every day and who accepts you as you are. Celebrate the love you experience in your heart and your life. If you do not have a lover, buy yourself something beautiful. I got a list of beautiful affordable presents below aimed to please you.

In Europe, in the last decade valentine’s day has become increasingly popular. And indeed, to give your loved one a gift once a year (it does not have to be Valentine’s day if you lover thinks it is too commercial just ask him to give you a gift on another day).

But what present? It should not bee too expensive, but not too cheap either.
For you guys, finding good Valentine’s day gift ideas could look more complicated than they are. Let us give you some Mindfunda thoughts:

  1. Give her a diary for her dreams, thoughts and poetry. This is a very beautiful one with a good luck stone on it. Seventy five pages for her to write on and your Valentine poem is on the first page of course.  If you need help writing poetry: here is a useful link to a page that helps you to come up with words.
  2. Give her a pendant necklace made from Lapis Lazuli. Lapis means stone, Lazuli means blue. L’azulaus is the arabic word means heavens and sky. This ancient stone enhances dreamwork and the old Egyptians thought could help the death find their way in the afterlife. It eliminates negative energy and helps open the third eye. A present with a mythological meaning!If you are in America, this would be a more affordable one, given the amount you have to pay nowadays for shipping (and we only have untill Friday to get those presents in) you might consider this one. This beautiful nekclace has Lapis is perfect for valentine’s day because it has the strongest influence when it is close to the heart. According to ancient believes it takes away fear, and procures wisdom and sincerity.
  3. She might be a book lover. Then give her a book, an ode to her beauty from without and within. She is your Goddess isn’t she? Give her Joseph Campbell’s Goddesses, Mysteries of the feminine divine. This excellent book tells about how the energy of the feminine divine originate in ancient times and is still relevant today.
    Joseph Campbell: Goddesses
    Joseph Campbell: Goddesses – Amazon.com

  4. Send her a personaly kissed Card! In the Netherlands there is a very sweet promotion from the dutch post office:

if your card has a red lip print on it and posted before five o’clock on Friday, your Valentine’s card will be delivered for free. Now that is an act of love!
So go on and buy her a red lipstick (so you can try to kiss it off). It has got to be a good one, that is as beautiful as it is lasting. This is one of my favorites. It does not last 24 hours, but it stays on your lips quite a long time.

 

We hope to have given you some inspiration and ideas for Valentine’s day gifts. But wait! What becomes of the broken hearted? Well you surf here and get yourself a really tasteful sexy outfit. Go out on the town and remember: sitting at home watching television is something you are going to do when you settle again!

Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion!

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Who am I? Know Thyself

Know thyself

Mindfunda: the site to help you with funding your consciousness. From the root ‘fundamental’, the underlying principle in something usually complex, Mindfunda wants to help unravel the underlying principle in the most challenging mystery in this world. The most essential question that can take a lifetime to answer: Who am I? Know thyself, in Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν on the temples of Apollo in Delphi, Temet nosce in the movie The Matrix.

Know thyself using scientific research

We collect articles and information from a psychological, spiritual and mythological viewpoint. Science, books, films, personal experience, and dreams can help with your current life issues, to help you answer life’s most important question: who am I? The ancient wisdom “Know thyself” is taken into the modern age using scientific research, neurology but also mythology used in films, television series and plays.

Know thyself through the latest psychological insights


Mindfunda gives you the basic, fundamental knowledge in psychology. Know thyself begins at a personal level. This knowledge can be found in the department called “Brainfunda” on this site.
Know thyself also implies acknowledging your spiritual side. This fundamental knowledge on spirituality can be found on the “Spirifunda” area of the site. Do not be scared away by the spiritual layer of this site. Everyone has a brain wired for spirituality, and living in accordance with your brain increases happiness.

Know thyself using mythology

In the Western culture mythology seems to be forgotten. Could that be the reason we feel so unhappy sometimes? Let’s find our mythology. Our Personal Mythology, looking at our own lives, our own ancestors, our dreams, using the information on this site can give you the “Aha Erlebnis” that gives you the inner flow you are craving.

Know thyself using Mindfunda’s gifts

Mindfunda has a mutual dream e-book for you to download. usually we think dreaming is all about the dreamer. Mindfunda shows that you can be able to connect with somebody while you are dreaming. This book tells you about an experiment where two people meet in dreams and exchange a gift. The book explores the methods used by the couples that succeeded, making it easier for you to “mutual dream”.

Another gift Mindfunda has for you are interviews with writers of books that really give you a different perspective on live. For example: Stanley Krippner, professor of psychology about his view on mythology, Anne Baring who talks about how the universe is communicating with us, award-winning author Jean Raffa about the key to be happy and many more. Sign up for the YouTube channel here.

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