• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Dream Studies Press
  • Events
  • Publications
  • About
  • Contact

Dream Studies Portal

Dream research, lucid dreaming, and consciousness studies

  • Dream Gear
  • Lucid Dreaming
  • Sleep Paralysis
  • Research
  • Mysteries
  • Resources
You are here: Home / Working with Dreams / Nightmares & Dream Terrors / Solstice dreams

Solstice dreams

By Ryan Hurd

Redwood Crux

With the approaching solstice, the dreaming is stronger, if for no other reason than the nights are long. In pre-electric times, and traditional societies today, this is nature’s ways of saying go ahead and sleep in.

Meanwhile, hundreds of folks in Brittany will converge on the major megalithic sites for a time-honored solstice celebration. Stonehenge is open to the public. And, in Ireland, a lucky few will no doubt witness the shaft of light that makes it inside the Newgrange tomb, as it does every winter solstice without fail.

The solstice is the most ancient of holidays, and is the root of many winter festivals, from Brumalia and Saturnalia to the D ngzh Festival and, of course, Christmas. But the best description of why we celebrate the longest night comes from a more modern voice:

“They say the darkest hour is before the dawn.”
– Bob Dylan

Solstice is a time of facing the shadows of life. A harsh midwinter appraisal of how many potatoes are in still in the cellar. Solstice is also the traditional time to listen to what our nightmares have been telling us, those voices we usually push away. The long nights of winter lean towards them without mercy, but remember those dark forces are only trying to get our attention.

As the daylight turns its back on us, we have the blessed opportunity to turn toward the shadows and be attentive to their whispers. Bringing these voices out of the root cellar of consciousness is the real reason for the season.

As Carl Jung wrote, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

Further studies:

Carl Jung (1989), Memories, dreams and reflections.
David Lewis Williams (2005), Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos, and the Realm of the Gods.
Bob Dylan (1975), Blood on the tracks.

Filed Under: Nightmares & Dream Terrors Tagged With: Nightmares & Dream Terrors, shadow, sleep

Download my free ebook and revitalize your dream life in less than a week!

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. the constant skeptic says

    January 29, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    thanks for the great carl jung quote… I posted it on my site with attribution of course…. http://www.constantskeptic.com

Primary Sidebar

lucid-talisman-dream-totem
Lucid dreaming pill

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Cultivating your Dream-based Wellness Practice
  • Far out! How to Explore Liminal Dreaming 
  • Journeys into the Deep: Lucid Dreaming and Lucid Surrender
  • Sleep Paralysis 2nd Edition now in Print
  • Dream Worship: Lucid dreaming as spiritual practice
  • How to Cure Nightmares and Self Heal with Lucid Dreaming
  • Mapping the Intruder and the Incubus from Sleep Paralysis visions

Copyright © 2022 Ryan Hurd  WordPress · Log in