New dimensions.

I rarely dream in a memorable way these days but I’m still a believer in the usefulness of dreams for revealing subconscious desires, fears, pain and confusions, and even for pointing a way through it all, so why oh why should I have a long detailed and enjoyable dream about finding nice empty shop, inviting my friends to inspect it with me (along with a flock of other persons unknown but interesting) measure it, admire it, plan in great detail and with huge enthusiasm how it could be made into - a second-hand bookshop!!!??

I thought I’d done that.

The dream broke when I was told the rent - £1000 a month. I woke up. Seems I am quite practical and grounded even in my dreams. Still, for a longish time I remained wrapped cosily in my two duvets, basking in the warmth of creativity the dream had carried. Maybe it’s time for the next project.

Let it be known here that my daily awake self is very much enjoying NOT having to sit in a shop all day, not having to repel boxes of broken-spined paperbacks, cobwebby cartons of spore-bearing, sneeze-making treasures from someone’s great-aunt’s attic. Even crisp volumes that would be good for listing on Amazon don’t hold any thrill for me just now - unless I want to read what’s between the covers.

As to what I am actually reading, the last two weeks of feverish cold followed by wicked asthma that had me circling the drain there for 24 hours, found me rereading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time, Phil Rickman ditto, Chaucer (I like the sound of the language) and watching the entire boxed set of the X-Files through for the third time. It might almost have been called a Retreat (with the capital) as I failed to answer the phone and spoke to no-one except immediate family for almost 21 days in all. Nothing spiritual about it obviously, but I do think the rereading and rewatching have a similar effect to the TM mantra - sometimes the words disappear and clarity remains.

I’ve been through a passage like that once before when the last child finally left home and I found myself alone in a five bedroomed house surrounded by trees and owls with no-one to talk to, cook for - exist for. It was a time of redefinition which was enabled by watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer through and through.

I like the paranormal. Indeed I demand the paranormal, the supra-consciousness, the metaphysical. I like to have the paranormal present in my entertainment. I need the promise of other levels, other dimensions, of something beyond the mundane. It’s not just a comfort wish. I’ve always been able to extract deeper truths than most people would bother to look for in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. For me they are the new mythology and express the quantum leaps that human consciousness has made. When it is properly addressed the characters don’t escape the the challenges of humankind. For instance I like the moment when (in Harry P) the Muggle Prime Minister hearing of the coming battles with the Dark Lord, says in a plaintive voice: ‘But you’re wizards. You have Magic. You can do anything.’ The PM from the Ministry of Magic replies gently: ‘The other side have Magic too.’

It’s still an equal playing field between good and evil and other human qualities have to be present for Good to triumph. The role of the Champion requires the small self to be overcome, conquered for the greater good. All the best myths are in the end about overcoming the ego to find the purity of the human soul. Humour, affection, loyalty, friendship and love are all qualities the Dark is not thought to possess and they are what carry us through most of the Dark patches of our lives.

The X-files is definitely to be classed with the best of all mythology. The archetypes are there; the quest for the Truth, the facing of monsters and demons - none of which are as truly horrifying as the ruthless wiles and manipulations of evil humankind. What’s new in the mix is that the origins of the world religions, and even the gods themselves are up for serious questioning, (although Scully holds the line for those who want one consciousness overlighting all creation.) The blend of metaphyiscal, mystical, science and science fiction, legends new and old, rumours and suspicions of conspiracy, are interlocked together into a modern Grail legend. The Quest continues past the end, with the additional realsiation that we all have the Truth within us and within our grasp drawing what was once ineffable closer to being conceptualised and verbalised without detracting from its mystery.

There have been theses and Ph.D’s on the subject so I don’t really need to ramble on, but I do find it all completely absorbing!