You are in:
Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866 > June > An Instructive Dream
An Instructive Dream
During the last episode we had of illness, in April 1866, we were under the influence of an almost continuous somnolence and absorption; at that time, we dreamed constantly about insignificant things, to which we payed no attention. But, in the evening of April 24th, the vision offered such a particular character that we were vividly shocked. In a place that brought no recollection to our memory that resembled a street, there was a gathering of individuals chatting in a group; among them, only some were known to me in the dream, but I could not name them. We were looking at this crowd, trying to grasp the subject of the conversation, when suddenly, an inscription showed up at the corner of a wall, in small characters, shinning like fire, and which we were striving to decipher. It was conceived like this: “We discovered that the rubber, rolled under the wheel, makes a league in ten minutes, as long as the road…”. While trying to realize the end of the statement the inscription faded away gradually, and we woke up. Afraid that we could forget those singular words, we then quickly transcribed them.
What could be the meaning of such a vision, that nothing in our thoughts and concerns could have provoked? Since we were not involved with inventions or industrial researches, that could not be a reflex of our own ideas. Besides, what could be the meaning of “rubber rolled under the wheel makes a league in ten minutes”? Was it the revelation of some property of that substance? Would it be called upon to play a role in transportation? Is the intent to make us aware of a discovery? But then, why us instead of especial people, with the opportunity of doing the studies and the necessary experiments? Nonetheless, the dream was very specific, very special to be set aside among the fantasy dreams; it should have an objective, but which one? That is what we tried to discover without success.
During the day and having had the opportunity to consult with Dr. Demeure about our health, we took the opportunity to ask him to tell us if that dream carried anything serious. Here his response:
“The dreams that have besieged you in the last days are the result of the very suffering you are experiencing. Every time there is a weakening of the body there is a tendency to disengage the Spirit; but when the body suffers, the detachment does not happen in a regular and normal way; the Spirit is constantly called back to its position; it results in a kind of struggle, conflict between the material needs and the spiritual tendencies; it also results in interruptions and mixtures that cloud the images, transforming them into bizarre and meaningless settings. The character of dreams is connected, more than one think, to the nature of the illness. It is a study to be made and physicians will find valuable diagnosis in it when they acknowledge the independent action of the Spirit and the important role they play in the economy. If the state of the body reacts onto the Spirit, in turn the state of the Spirit powerfully influences health, and in certain cases, it is as useful to act upon the Spirit as it is upon the body. Well, the nature of the dreams may frequently be an indication of the state of the Spirit. I repeat that it is a study to be made, that has been neglected up until now by science, that only sees the action of matter everywhere, and does not take into account the spiritual element.
The dream that you mentioned, from which you kept such a clear memory, seems to me that it belongs to another category. It contains a remarkable fact that is worthy of attention. It was certainly motivated, but at the moment I could not give you a satisfactory explanation; I could only give you my personal opinion that I am not much certain about. I will seek information from a good source and tomorrow I will inform you about what I learned.”
The following explanation was given the next day:
“What you saw in your dream, and that I am assigned with explaining to you, is not one of those fantastic images provoked by the illness; it is incontestably a manifestation, not of discarnate, but of incarnate Spirits. You should know that during the dream you may encounter known or unknown persons, dead or alive. The latter case was the one that happened in this circumstance. Those that you saw are incarnate persons that do not know one another for the most part, and are involved with inventions tending to improve the means of locomotion, by annihilating, as much as possible, the excess expenditure caused by wear and tear of materials in use today. Some thought about rubber, others about other materials, but what is peculiar is that they wanted to call your attention as a subject of psychological study, about the gathering, in the same place, of the Spirits of different men seeking the same objective. The discovery has nothing to do with Spiritism; it is just the meeting of inventors that we wanted to show you, and the only objective of the inscription was to bring to your attention the main objective of their concern, since there are some that look for other applications of rubber. Rest assured that this occurs many times, and when several men discover a new law or a new element, at the same time, in several points of the globe, their Spirits studied the issue together, during the sleep, and when they woke up, each one worked their own way, putting in place the fruits of their own observations.
Note that these are the ideas of the incarnate, and that do not prejudge the merit of the discovery. It may well be that something useful may come out of all these brains in ebullition, as it is possible that it only results in fantasies. Needless to say that it would be useless to question the Spirits about it, for their mission, as you have said in your books, is not to spare man from the work of research, bringing them finished inventions that would add to so many causes of encouragement of laziness and ignorance. In this great tournament of human intelligence, each one is there on their own, and victory will come to the most skillful, most perseverant and most courageous.”
Question: What to think about discoveries that are attributed to chance? Aren’t there some discoveries that are not the result of any research?
Answer – “Chance, as you know well, does not exist; things that seem to be the most fortuitous to you, have their reason of being, as one must consider the innumerable hidden intelligences that preside over all parts of the whole. If the time has come for a given discovery, the elements are brought to light by those very intelligences. Twenty men, a hundred men will pass by without noticing it; only one will fixate his attention on that. An insignificant fact to the crowd is a ray of light to him. Finding it was not all; the essential part is to know how to implement it. It was not chance that placed it before his eyes, but the good Spirits that told him: “Watch, observe and take advantage if you will”. He then, in moments of freedom of his Spirit, during the sleep of the body, may be placed on the path, and when he wakes up, instinctively, he goes to the place where he can find the thing that he is called to make fruitful by his intelligence.”
What could be the meaning of such a vision, that nothing in our thoughts and concerns could have provoked? Since we were not involved with inventions or industrial researches, that could not be a reflex of our own ideas. Besides, what could be the meaning of “rubber rolled under the wheel makes a league in ten minutes”? Was it the revelation of some property of that substance? Would it be called upon to play a role in transportation? Is the intent to make us aware of a discovery? But then, why us instead of especial people, with the opportunity of doing the studies and the necessary experiments? Nonetheless, the dream was very specific, very special to be set aside among the fantasy dreams; it should have an objective, but which one? That is what we tried to discover without success.
During the day and having had the opportunity to consult with Dr. Demeure about our health, we took the opportunity to ask him to tell us if that dream carried anything serious. Here his response:
“The dreams that have besieged you in the last days are the result of the very suffering you are experiencing. Every time there is a weakening of the body there is a tendency to disengage the Spirit; but when the body suffers, the detachment does not happen in a regular and normal way; the Spirit is constantly called back to its position; it results in a kind of struggle, conflict between the material needs and the spiritual tendencies; it also results in interruptions and mixtures that cloud the images, transforming them into bizarre and meaningless settings. The character of dreams is connected, more than one think, to the nature of the illness. It is a study to be made and physicians will find valuable diagnosis in it when they acknowledge the independent action of the Spirit and the important role they play in the economy. If the state of the body reacts onto the Spirit, in turn the state of the Spirit powerfully influences health, and in certain cases, it is as useful to act upon the Spirit as it is upon the body. Well, the nature of the dreams may frequently be an indication of the state of the Spirit. I repeat that it is a study to be made, that has been neglected up until now by science, that only sees the action of matter everywhere, and does not take into account the spiritual element.
The dream that you mentioned, from which you kept such a clear memory, seems to me that it belongs to another category. It contains a remarkable fact that is worthy of attention. It was certainly motivated, but at the moment I could not give you a satisfactory explanation; I could only give you my personal opinion that I am not much certain about. I will seek information from a good source and tomorrow I will inform you about what I learned.”
The following explanation was given the next day:
“What you saw in your dream, and that I am assigned with explaining to you, is not one of those fantastic images provoked by the illness; it is incontestably a manifestation, not of discarnate, but of incarnate Spirits. You should know that during the dream you may encounter known or unknown persons, dead or alive. The latter case was the one that happened in this circumstance. Those that you saw are incarnate persons that do not know one another for the most part, and are involved with inventions tending to improve the means of locomotion, by annihilating, as much as possible, the excess expenditure caused by wear and tear of materials in use today. Some thought about rubber, others about other materials, but what is peculiar is that they wanted to call your attention as a subject of psychological study, about the gathering, in the same place, of the Spirits of different men seeking the same objective. The discovery has nothing to do with Spiritism; it is just the meeting of inventors that we wanted to show you, and the only objective of the inscription was to bring to your attention the main objective of their concern, since there are some that look for other applications of rubber. Rest assured that this occurs many times, and when several men discover a new law or a new element, at the same time, in several points of the globe, their Spirits studied the issue together, during the sleep, and when they woke up, each one worked their own way, putting in place the fruits of their own observations.
Note that these are the ideas of the incarnate, and that do not prejudge the merit of the discovery. It may well be that something useful may come out of all these brains in ebullition, as it is possible that it only results in fantasies. Needless to say that it would be useless to question the Spirits about it, for their mission, as you have said in your books, is not to spare man from the work of research, bringing them finished inventions that would add to so many causes of encouragement of laziness and ignorance. In this great tournament of human intelligence, each one is there on their own, and victory will come to the most skillful, most perseverant and most courageous.”
Question: What to think about discoveries that are attributed to chance? Aren’t there some discoveries that are not the result of any research?
Answer – “Chance, as you know well, does not exist; things that seem to be the most fortuitous to you, have their reason of being, as one must consider the innumerable hidden intelligences that preside over all parts of the whole. If the time has come for a given discovery, the elements are brought to light by those very intelligences. Twenty men, a hundred men will pass by without noticing it; only one will fixate his attention on that. An insignificant fact to the crowd is a ray of light to him. Finding it was not all; the essential part is to know how to implement it. It was not chance that placed it before his eyes, but the good Spirits that told him: “Watch, observe and take advantage if you will”. He then, in moments of freedom of his Spirit, during the sleep of the body, may be placed on the path, and when he wakes up, instinctively, he goes to the place where he can find the thing that he is called to make fruitful by his intelligence.”