Good Omens...And Bad: Prophecy in Theory and Practice, Class Five

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Monday, October 2, First Period

Scones and cookies, tea and coffee, are set out on the table. Each student is given a packet of handouts as they enter.

"First, a bit of business. It would seem I am in need of a new TA to assist Miss Halliwell. If anyone thinks they might be interested, please see me after class. Now, today's lecture is on dream interpretation, which is probably one of the most common forms of divination. Everyone dreams, although not everyone dreams prophetically. However, for years psychologists and philosophers have looked to the symbols found in dreams to understand both the mortal mind and to look for insight into the future."

Lecture:
"First of all, there are a handful of common themes for dreams: Animals, Birds, Body Parts, Bugs, Characters, Colors, Feelings, Food, House, Numbers, and Places. Most of your dreams are going to include at least one of these themes. Additionally, there are six types of dreams that nearly everyone, at some point in his or her life, experiences. These are Naked, Chase, Teeth, Flying, Falling, and Exam. The interpretation of these common types is fairly universal to most people.

Moving on to the concept of prophetic dreams, we can look at the symbols, which some psychologists believe are shared through a collective consciousness, to predict things that might happen. This is the commonest sort of prophetic dream, far more likely to occur than a 'dream vision'. Although those happen as well, and I know for some of you, perhaps more frequently than most. What we'll do today is discuss possible interpretations for some of your dreams. And don't worry, you don't have to share the very personal ones. But I do hope you've all been keeping up with your dream journals, and have something you'd like to share for discussion."

Aziraphale indicated some of the handouts, which included two Dream Dictionaries.

"I want each of you to describe a dream you've had, it can be simple or silly or commonplace, and we'll pick out a symbol from your dream and interpret it for you. Also, you'll find in your handouts that I've given you a list of interesting facts about dreams."

Homework: "Next week we'll be reviewing the material we've covered thus far, so I want you to come prepared to ask questions. Following the review, there will be a short test."

Syllabus
Class Roster
Classes Linkdrop

[ooc: The Dream Dictionaries are not all inclusive, so you may have to be creative in how you look things up. For instance, neither offers an interpretation for 'giant lobsters'. Don't ask.

Please wait for OCD threads are up. May be SP until evening EDT.]

[ooc #2: And now, in the correct location. *headdesks*]

Comments

Sign In

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

And have some breakfast too.

Re: Sign In

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi Longstocking.

Re: Sign In

[demonbelthazor]

Belthazor

Class Participation

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Describe your dream for the class, or tag in with an interpretation of someone else's dream.

Re: Class Participation

[demonbelthazor]

Bel shifted uncomfortably and frowned. "Um, I had a dream where I was back in the Underworld. I had a sword and was coming up behind someone to kill them, but when he turned around it was me. And we fought but he was stronger than me."

Re: Class Participation

[nadiathesaint]

"I dreamed I was flying to France with no shoes on. But instead of being worried about not being prepared, I was very happy about how I wasn't wearing shoes, and no one knew but me."

Re: Class Participation

[joxertehmighty.livejournal.com]

"So, I'm standing in the middle of this field, right? And all the flowers are bright red. All of a sudden, the sky darkens, and a horde of midgets in full armor descend upon me, armed with loafs of bread and those little french buttery rolls things. Just as they're about to reach me, the sun comes out, and they all turn into those little lawn gnome things."

Re: Class Participation

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi thought about what dream to talk about...

How about the one where she was flying a car with Tommy and Annika and landed in a lake and then she went swiming in her clothes while a goat ate Tommy and Annika's clothes...

Oh wait... That actually happened.

How about the one where she flew through a volcanic eruption in a wooden airplane that she built with...

No, that actually happened too...

How about the one With the shark, and Walter, and the Nazis, and the braid of... (http://strongestgirl.livejournal.com/39391.html#cutid1) No... Let's not tell that one...

Hmmmm.

"I sometimes dream that I'm falling. But it's kinda fun. I'm falling over the ocean, then, a few feet before I hit the water, I go zoooooom! And curve up. And then I'm flying over the water, and the sun is sparkling on it and I reach down into the water as I fly along the surface... And then later, I'm floating down a river of nutella on a bit of toast."

Re: Class Participation

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders whistled softly. He could go with one of his weird random dreams -- like the one where the eleven-year-old cousin he hadn't seen in over a year suddenly had five arms. Or he could go with one of the freaky ones.

"There's this one dream (http://futurebucs-star.livejournal.com/44847.html#cutid1) I had once," he began, "where my world has been blown up and I'm one of the last survivors. I'm older. Don't know how much. We're hiding out in a high school that might maybe be this place, or maybe not, and I remember weird things like the pain in my arm where a bullet got me, or the way the storage room smells all dusty. But in some ways . . . in the dream I know I'm happier than I've been in years."

Re: Class Participation

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

Okay, yeah. Bridge definitely wasn't going to go with a dream that had ended up being a prophecy dream.

"Um, a while ago I had a dream that I was selling pizza with a bunch of my friends," Bridge says. "Peter Pevensie, Xander, Callisto, and some others... except we weren't in a restaurant or anything, we were in one of those glass ticket wickets?" he says with a shrug. "And then Pippi came along to buy some pizza but ended up selling me a video game console instead."

[ooc: and that'd be my actual dream from last night, hee]

Re: Class Participation

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"I had a dream that I was very, very tall." Blair said with a bounce. "Not like freaky giantish tall, more like professional basketball player."

Re: Class Participation

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Falling. A big, gaping rip in reality. Bright blue. Her sister, running past her and diving into space. A beautiful, perfect swan dive, her hair streaming behind her as she fell through the blue and falling to Earth.

Dawn fidgeted. "What if we don't remember our dreams?"

Re: Class Participation

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

"I dreamed I was in a room with red curtains and I was much older than I am now. A giant appeared to me and told me that the woods are not what they seem and then a dancing midget told me that the gum I like is going to come back in style."

Re: Class Participation

[daemonridden.livejournal.com]

Lyra thought about which dream to share. On the one hand, she wanted to keep part of herself hidden, not expose it to these people who could use it against her. On the other hand, she wanted to succeed in this, the only class that she could foresee helping her read the alethiometer.

She sighed and raised her hand.

"I have this dream where I'm reading a book. I don't know what it's about, but it's a really fascinating read. And as I turn the page, it comes out in my hand. And then more and more pages fall out, until I'm only holding the cover. The pages are scattered in a heap around my feet and I know I'll never be able to put them in order because they aren't numbered. I wasn't able to get to the end, and I'm completely devastated."

Re: Class Participation

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

This was the drawback of this class -- to learn more about what his brother was going through, he had to give out more about himself than he probably would otherwise. But Dean supposed there was nothing, but to do as requested. With a sigh, he described what was a dream that recurred every now and then.

"I'm in the car, in the backseat with Sammy, Dad driving. And then Dad disappears and I have to climb over the seat and take over the wheel to keep us from crashing. And Sammy's yelling for me to stop, but the brakes don't work so all I can do is steer and try to keep us on the road." There was more to the dream than that, but Dean felt exposed enough giving that much.

Re: Class Participation

[likethegun]

Still feeling a little uneasy about sharing dreams, Sam went for one of the most mundane ones he could think of.

"I have this recurring dream about me, Dean, and my dad where we're out doing some sort of training, and I'm always unprepared. It changes a little every time; like, sometimes we'll be out in hot weather and I'll be wearing winter clothes, or we'll be practicing shooting and I'll have brought a water gun, or something like that. But, it's always the same basic set up."

Re: Class Participation

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

"I was sleeping alone in a white room, no bed when Susan Ivanova came in and pulled me up from the floor and pushed me out of the white room before it exploded."

((OOC: sorry Yom Kippur was Monday))

Talk to the Professor

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Ask questions, trade stories, etc.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Just do it quietly so you don't disrupt the other students.

Re: Class Participation

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi is looking through the dream dictionary.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean kept glancing at his brother during the lecture, inbetween taking note in the lecture and reading through the handouts. This was, after all, what he'd taken this course to find out more about and he was as interested in how Sammy reacted as he was in the actual information.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty had a Ouija board with him today just in case any of his project group wanted to try it out.

OOC

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

Maybe this entire class is just a dream...

Re: OOC

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

*uses canon line, because she has to* Maybe it's all a collective dream, and we're all still sleeping?

Re: OOC

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

I wanna ask about the giant lobster please?

Was there lemon butter involved?