Okay, this is weird, if mundane, and pointless, but worth sharing.
A few nights ago I had a very detailed dream that I was apprenticed to anm aged Chinese Bronze Caster, and he was constantly berating me.
I carefully poured the molten bronze into the ceramic molds. But they were in some sort of basin, and as soon as they were filled, the Master dumped an enormous amount of cold water into it (from some elevated basin? I didn’t see). I was shocked – you don’t cool the bronze like that before it’s had a chance to set.
But he amazed me further by instructing me to immediately put my hands in and shake the molds. That water would be boiling hot! And the molds and the bronze would be searing hot.
I refused. He hit me, and reached in himself through that steaming water and massaged those hot lumps of metal.
Shortly after, he pulled out the molds and broke them open.
“Look at this! Look at these voids!” he shouted, pointing out where the bronze had failed to fill the molds, leaving bit unsightly gaps in the castings (they were faces, and now looked like leprosy had eaten away the cheeks) “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d done what I told you! Prepare new molds!”
I asked him what to use as a mold release agent, expecting it to be grease or graphite-like powder or something, but I was shocked again.
“Paper!” he told me. I was to moisten long rolls of thin paper (like rolls of calculator paper) to make it stick to the inside of the molds. That’s stupid, I thought – that would make it impossible to pick up the fine details from the molds. But I didn’t want to argue with the Master again, so I did it.
Usually my dreams aren’t as detailed or as vivid. This one was, which is why it sticks in my mind.
I’d like to think I’m well-educated (Og knows I’ve spent more than enough time in schools), but it’s not clear to me that this would [produce vivid or detailed dreams. I’d think that a life full of varied and detailed experiences could do it, too.
as for what it all means – shrug – I’ve been at a new job for the past couple of months, and learning new things, but my boss isn’t Chinese, and he hasn’t hit me or berated me, and I haven’t been casting bronze or anything, so if that’s it the relationship is pretty thin.
And how come I almost never have any dreams related to sex? vivid dreams ought to make for awesome porn.
What is your father like? Your boss? This individual may be symbolic of one of them, or it may be a part of yourself. Are they hard on you? Are you hard on yourself?
You are trying to create something in your life. Something enduring, somewhere.
Impatience, Shock, slap of reality (cold water). Again, who is the Master? (and don’t say Sho’nuff! )
You think it takes longer, he is telling you to act quicker.
The feeling that what you are doing isn’t good enough, that there are holes in your work. Insecurity about possible failure.
What do you do for work, or how are you trying to create something enduring? The paper is the form, the mold in which you are attempting your creation.
I’d be curious as to the answers to my questions and how this fits in your life.
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