John: In the next dream, I go to the opposite extreme. I have transitioned from a state of dense contraction, in the first dream, to a state of extreme expansion. (See the first dream here: Nearing the Top.)
I am picked up in a helicopter to be taken to a house. The pilot, a woman, takes the helicopter up so fast it practically stalls out the engine, and the helicopter plunges toward the ground. The pilot rights it just in time, with the helicopter blades hitting treetops and branches, but we make it through.
The treetops give way and don’t break the helicopter blades. I give a huge sigh of relief: “Boy, was that close!” The pilot, rather than easing up, presses the helicopter hard toward its destination.
In other words, she doesn’t give it a chance to regain some sort of balance. There’s no effort to get stabilized. It’s just helter skelter flying. The person I’m with, who is the owner of the house I’m going to, just kind of looks away. He’s not paying any attention.
I’m not able to be so cool, calm, and collected. I gasp as we barrel along, swerving between trees, crashing through bushes that, fortunately, don’t cause the helicopter to crash. Finally, we set down at the base of a hill.
The house we’re going to is at the top of some steps, but to begin with I just jump out of the helicopter. Man, I’m in a state of shock. At the top of the steps I yell at the helicopter pilot.
I say things like, “Do you have a death wish?” The owner of the house and another passenger just tend to business. They bring up the luggage from down below. I’m still in a state of shock. I’m not offering any help in bringing up the luggage.
As the owner and the other guest return from down below, I’m still standing at the top of the stairs. As I gather my composure, I ask the owner, “Is there anything else left in the helicopter that I can bring up?”
Significance: In this dream I’m shown an approach that is the opposite of the first dream. In that dream, I’m burdened with a dense, animalistic energy that inhibits me and can’t be brought on my journey. It’s like a weight that gets heavier as I near the top. I can’t come before the teacher in such a condition. Still, we saw that that energy could serve a purpose because it could function as a type of way station.
In the second dream, I’ve entered into expansiveness – I’m flying in a helicopter – but everything is chaotic. It’s not smooth, controlled, or balanced, but I am up off the ground. It’s not a flight I can appreciate however, because I’m basically in shock and consumed by my reactions. Again, I do get to the destination, but I’m not in good shape.
I’m being shown that I’m somewhere in between these two extremes. The denser, contractive energy is a feminine condition that seeks union. The expansive, masculine condition experiences the chaos that creates separation.
Somehow, these two states need to be consolidated in me. Both are trying to bring about change, yet they are doing so in clumsy, unacceptable ways.
I’m shown that I can’t reach my destination with all my familiar psychological patterns. I need to let go of the lower-self ego aspects, and I need to trust in the higher aspects that can “fly” me to where I want to go.
Fortunately, I had a third dream that consolidates these two extremes.
