One of the amazing and mysterious aspects of the fairy tales is the relationship of the fairy tales to our sleep and the sleep experience. Who does not know how we sleep better when having taken in a fairy tale during the day or perhaps just before going to sleep?
For many of us, sleep is the sweet balm that soothes and restores us after a long day of work and play. But for those for whom sleep is elusive or otherwise troubled, the issue is far more fraught. Most people, at some point in their lives, experience difficulty falling asleep. In addition other parasomnias—such as sleep apnea, night terrors, and sleep paralysis—are surprisingly common.
Imagination is a powerful and unique thing. It's not only used to make up stories and games, it's a key factor in our creative thoughts and can define the type of education, career and life we have. With this imagination comes a cultural literacy; fairy tales often include different cultures and ways of doing things. They teach us about cultural differences in the world outside our own and fill us with a curiosity to learn new things and experience new places.
As with so many other things it is the depth and meaningfulness that - like the pendulum - swings far when the imagination is stirred, and, curiously, helps us to fall asleep with more ease and provide a deeper sleep experience.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of how dreams and how certain events and experiences of the human soul in waking up and in falling asleep are portrayed in fairy tales. Concerning ourselves with these and related phenomena helps us with a deeper understanding of dreams and how they relate to our bodily, soul and spiritual experiences.
Rudolf Steiner says in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds (chapter 7) the following:
"During our dreams we are actually in a world other than that of our senses; but with undeveloped spiritual organs we can form none other than the confused conceptions of it described above. It is only in so far present for us as, for instance, the world of sense could be for a being equipped with no more than rudimentary eyes. That is why we can see nothing in this world but counterfeits and reflections of daily life. The latter are perceptible to us because our own soul paints its daily experiences in pictorial form into the substance of which that other world consists. It must be clearly understood that in addition to our ordinary conscious work-a-day life we lead a second, unconscious life in that other world. We engrave in it all our thoughts and perceptions. These tracings only become visible when the lotus flowers are developed. Now, in every human being there are slender rudiments of these lotus flowers. We cannot perceive by means of them during waking consciousness because the impressions made on them are very faint. We cannot see the stars during the daytime for a similar reason: their visibility is extinguished by the mighty glare of the sun. Thus, too, the faint spiritual impressions cannot make themselves felt in the face of the powerful impressions received through the senses.”
While studying this material we are well advised to turn to describing (and reflecting) on dream experiences and the idea to try to distinguish between the three different dream experiences:
Dreams relating to the physical world
Dreams relating to the soul world
Dreams relating to the spiritual world
The exercise to make attempts at a clear distinction between the three worlds is a challenge to most people.
A further point of our reflections should be to guide our mind towards the fact that the science of psychology pays much attention to the dream life and its observation.
As a starting point this statement concerning Freud and Jung should be considered:
“Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1960) also believes in the existence of the unconscious. However, he does not see the unconscious as animalistic, instinctual, or sexual; he sees it as more spiritual. Eventually, Jung split with Freud due to their differing views on dreams. According to Jung, dreams are a way of communicating and acquainting yourself with the unconscious. Dreams are not attempts to conceal your true feelings from the waking mind, but rather they are a window to your unconscious. They serve to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness and offer a solution to a problem you are facing in your waking life. Jung views the ego as your sense of self and how you portray yourself to the world. Part of Jung's theory is that all things can be viewed as paired opposites: good/evil, male/female, or love/hate. So working in opposition to the ego, is the "counterego" or what he refers to as the shadow. The shadow represents the rejected aspects of yourself that you do not wish to acknowledge. The shadow is more primitive, somewhat uncultured, and a little awkward.”
For many of us, sleep is the sweet balm that soothes and restores us after a long day of work and play. But for those for whom sleep is elusive or otherwise troubled, the issue is far more fraught. Most people, at some point in their lives, experience difficulty falling asleep. In addition other parasomnias—such as sleep apnea, night terrors, and sleep paralysis—are surprisingly common.
Imagination is a powerful and unique thing. It's not only used to make up stories and games, it's a key factor in our creative thoughts and can define the type of education, career and life we have. With this imagination comes a cultural literacy; fairy tales often include different cultures and ways of doing things. They teach us about cultural differences in the world outside our own and fill us with a curiosity to learn new things and experience new places.
As with so many other things it is the depth and meaningfulness that - like the pendulum - swings far when the imagination is stirred, and, curiously, helps us to fall asleep with more ease and provide a deeper sleep experience.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of how dreams and how certain events and experiences of the human soul in waking up and in falling asleep are portrayed in fairy tales. Concerning ourselves with these and related phenomena helps us with a deeper understanding of dreams and how they relate to our bodily, soul and spiritual experiences.
Rudolf Steiner says in Knowledge of the Higher Worlds (chapter 7) the following:
"During our dreams we are actually in a world other than that of our senses; but with undeveloped spiritual organs we can form none other than the confused conceptions of it described above. It is only in so far present for us as, for instance, the world of sense could be for a being equipped with no more than rudimentary eyes. That is why we can see nothing in this world but counterfeits and reflections of daily life. The latter are perceptible to us because our own soul paints its daily experiences in pictorial form into the substance of which that other world consists. It must be clearly understood that in addition to our ordinary conscious work-a-day life we lead a second, unconscious life in that other world. We engrave in it all our thoughts and perceptions. These tracings only become visible when the lotus flowers are developed. Now, in every human being there are slender rudiments of these lotus flowers. We cannot perceive by means of them during waking consciousness because the impressions made on them are very faint. We cannot see the stars during the daytime for a similar reason: their visibility is extinguished by the mighty glare of the sun. Thus, too, the faint spiritual impressions cannot make themselves felt in the face of the powerful impressions received through the senses.”
While studying this material we are well advised to turn to describing (and reflecting) on dream experiences and the idea to try to distinguish between the three different dream experiences:
Dreams relating to the physical world
Dreams relating to the soul world
Dreams relating to the spiritual world
The exercise to make attempts at a clear distinction between the three worlds is a challenge to most people.
A further point of our reflections should be to guide our mind towards the fact that the science of psychology pays much attention to the dream life and its observation.
As a starting point this statement concerning Freud and Jung should be considered:
“Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1960) also believes in the existence of the unconscious. However, he does not see the unconscious as animalistic, instinctual, or sexual; he sees it as more spiritual. Eventually, Jung split with Freud due to their differing views on dreams. According to Jung, dreams are a way of communicating and acquainting yourself with the unconscious. Dreams are not attempts to conceal your true feelings from the waking mind, but rather they are a window to your unconscious. They serve to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness and offer a solution to a problem you are facing in your waking life. Jung views the ego as your sense of self and how you portray yourself to the world. Part of Jung's theory is that all things can be viewed as paired opposites: good/evil, male/female, or love/hate. So working in opposition to the ego, is the "counterego" or what he refers to as the shadow. The shadow represents the rejected aspects of yourself that you do not wish to acknowledge. The shadow is more primitive, somewhat uncultured, and a little awkward.”
