Dreams
A Dream or a Parable?
by brad (5/18/97)
Last night I dreamt that I visited a concrete city. The buildings there were incredibly stark, mere shells amongst a multitude of empty streets. Inside these shells lived a small society of young women. All the young women were princesses, apparently descended from a long line of some urban royal family.
I was the only visitor here, and also the only man. These young women either ignored me, did not see me or could not see me. I may have been a patron attending some interactive stage play, or placed there as an observer by some higher source -- I don't know.
The young women were all pretty, in an ordinary sort of way. They were all Caucasian, American women with sandy blond hair. They wore no distinctive clothing or jewelry, and possessed no distinguishing features. For the most part, they appeared to be average small town girls in their mid-20's; except for their unique method of reproduction -- which I will explain shortly.
Except for the soft voices of the young women talking amongst themselves, I don't recall hearing any sound as I walked through structure after structure. As I walked through the second floor of one particular structure, I stopped near an interesting looking concrete trough with a young woman sitting in it. The trough was more like a concrete gutter drain with barriers about 4 inches high on either side. The woman sat in the center of the trough, legs extended, with both feet placed just outside each barrier, one on each side.
As she sat there, the young woman stared out a very large concrete opening in the exterior wall. The opening resembled a window, except it had no glass. Many of these "windows" were present on each of the four exterior walls in this space. These openings must have provided this room with its primary source of light, as I recall no electric lighting or light fixtures. The sunlight reflected off the building across the street and came in through each concrete opening casting eerie shadows on the walls beyond. The odd angle of the reflected light created almost complete darkness in each corner of this very large room.
Another woman -- much older than the woman in the trough -- stood just outside the trough, overlooking the young woman that sat in its midst. This older woman had shorter, graying hair and was dressed in a long white robe with a white sash cinched around her waist. I moved closer to see what was happening.
The young woman in the trough said "I want to have a child now."
The older woman, who was looking down at this young woman nodded. She then summoned another older woman. This woman emerged from the corner darkness, looked at the young woman briefly and then disappeared into the darkness again. She quickly returned carrying a large piece of red cloth with a flower print on it and handed it to the other older woman . This woman now gestured for the young woman sitting in the trough to lie back and then she gently placed the cloth over her mid section.
The cloth draped the young woman's body on each side and covered her from her knees, to just below her breasts. After waving her hands back and forth a few inches above the cloth, as if massaging the young woman's womb, the older woman removed the cloth and handed it back to the woman that had brought it to her. That woman nodded and scurried off again. She soon returned with a small kite that someone had made from the cloth that had once covered the young woman's midriff. She handed the kite to the other older woman, then once again retreated into the dark corner beyond.
The older woman motioned for the young woman to stand. When she did so, she handed her the kite. The younger woman bowed graciously and left -- I followed.
The young woman walked down some stairs and went outside the concrete structure. She held the kite away from her body with one hand and held the ball of kite string with the other. As she released the kite, it began to climb on the breeze that blew between the buildings. It flew higher and higher into a cloudless sky. It was as though she were trying to warm the kite in the sun. The kite was easily visible as a dark shadow against the otherwise bright blue sky. I don't remember anyone else being nearby to witness this event; only the kite flying woman and myself.
After a short time, the young woman reeled in the kite, took it in hand and returned to the second floor of the building. Once there, she returned to the same trough were she had been before. She laid down, placed the kite on her midriff and waited for the older woman to return. As if out of nowhere she appeared and took the kite from the young woman. She somehow made the sticks and strings of the kite disappear, leaving only the red cloth. She draped the cloth back over the woman's mid section where it had been before. The older woman stepped back, kneeled down and waved her hand a few inches above the cloth that covered the young woman's womb. The cloth began to rise in the middle. At first, I thought it was rising off the young woman, but I soon realized that the cloth was lifting because the young woman's belly was getting bigger. Her belly grew larger and larger with each pass of the older woman's hand. Suddenly, the woman's hand stopped moving. She glided to a position where she was straddling the concrete trough and beckoned the young woman to spread her legs. As she did so, with no effort on the part of the young woman, a small head appeared from beneath the red cloth, and rather quickly a baby emerged from between the young woman's legs.
The older woman cradled the baby as it came out, then used the red cloth to clean it up. She then wrapped the baby in the cloth and handed it to the young woman who seemed quite pleased. The young woman stood up, bowed in appreciation and was on her way.
I surmised that that older women were magicians or some sort of village shaman. They appeared to assist each other in the task of rebuilding the society that lived within this concrete village.
Intrigued by the magic performed by these older women, I stayed in the room and watched another young woman go through the same process. After this woman had left, a small girl came in. She did not sit in the trough, but tugged on the older woman's robe and said "I want one too!"
The older woman bent down to be at the same level as the child and shook her head no. The little girl became sad and begged the older woman. The child's dismay seemed to be more than the older woman could handle. She stood up, beckoned the other older woman and motioned toward the little girl. They both smiled in apparent agreement and the assistant disappeared momentarily, returning with a much smaller kite made from the same red floral patterned cloth. The girl was ecstatic, she ran from the building grinning from ear to ear. I had to run to keep up with her.
She entered the street and ran for a good distance. When I next looked up, the concrete structures were gone and we stood just outside a small cottage with a concrete patio in the back. The girl ran to the patio and immediately cast her kite to the wind. A younger woman appeared on the patio and stood next to her. She looked similar to the young women in the concrete structures except maybe 10 years older -- perhaps in her mid 30's.
The younger woman crouched next to the young girl and said "Oh, you are flying your kite now." The young girls head bobbed up and down enthusiastically in confirmation.
The child quickly reeled the kite in, laid on the patio and placed the kite on her tummy. The other woman bent over the little girl, picked up the kite, made the sticks and string disappear, then replaced the cloth over the young girls mid section. As she moved her hands back and forth just above the cloth, it began to rise. I was amazed. Soon the bulge was quite large compared to the small girls frame. Suddenly I heard a whimper. The woman's hands stopped and pulled from beneath the cloth a beautiful golden Labrador puppy. The cloth disappeared. The little girl jumped to her feet and gently cradled her new puppy in her arms. The young woman's eyes followed the girl as she ran into the cottage. Both were smiling broadly, quite happy with how things had turned out.
I awoke.
What do you dream about? Tell me...