Symbol Watcher

Wikipedia says firefly light doesn't emit heat. It's the glow that attracts other fireflies for mating. Some large firefly groups demonstrate what is called biological synchronization -- a phenomenon where all the fireflies blink their lights in unison.

Earlier this summer I had the following dream: I am leaving a government assembly that was open to the public. I am outside on the sidewalk. It’s nighttime. A bus is parked right out in front on the curb. Another woman, in her early 20s, is with me now. She is blonde too, but her hair is long and straight, just as I used to wear it at her age. I am torn about whether or not to take the bus, but it is cold outside. I don’t want to walk home in the cold, so I start to walk toward the bus. But for some reason, I decide not to get on. Now I’m sitting on the curb, putting on my tennis shoes. These are the same shoes I wear at the gym in conscious life.

I’ve decided to walk home. I feel the young woman is still with me, although I don’t see her. She walks slightly behind me. As we’re walking down the sidewalk. I’m telling her, “See, it’s not really cold. It’s 60 degrees out. If we hadn’t walked we wouldn’t have seen (or would have missed?) the beautiful fireflies.”  All around us are these beautiful golden yellow fireflies. They seem magical. Unlike “real” fireflies, their glow is constant and throughout their whole bodies. Every part of them glows, even their wings. 

The sort of fantastic, magical beauty of the fireflies touched me. I guess they have that numinous quality Jung often wrote about.  I understand the dream is commenting on my leaving/not following the authoritative, collective lifestyle (as symbolized by the public government assembly and the bus with its predetermined route and mass of passengers). I put on my workout shoes, I think, as a play on words. I’m exercising my right to go my own way, to figure out my own path home (my “home” being my true self).  

The young woman who walks with me is a part of me. She’s the part of me I have to convince that going home on my own two feet is a good choice. When I was her age, I was focused on fitting in to society, being accepted as part of the group, so it makes sense that she represents my reservations about travelling on my own. When my dream ego is showing her it’s okay to go on foot because it’s actually warmer (kinder, more feeling) than I expected, I’m actually telling that skeptical part of myself.

And that’s pretty much where my understanding of the dream ends. Why it’s 60 degrees out, I don’t know. It’s certainly not an overabundance of warmth, but it’s more than enough to walk home without freezing to death. Six represents union and balance, as in the hexagram of two intersecting triangles. A cube is six sided, so the number also stands for stability. If anyone has any thoughts on that, please chime in.      

I don’t understand what the dream is trying to show me about myself through the lightening bugs. My only association with lightening bugs is that I loved to chase and catch them when I was a child and I still love watching them even today. The day ends and out comes these little flickering beacons. Nature gives us a source of light even when things turn dark. As I type the last sentence, I wonder if maybe that isn’t the fact the dream is trying to communicate. But is it some light of knowing within me? Is it the light of help and love I might (hopefully) receive from others along my journey? Maybe it’s both. I don’t know.

If anyone has any thoughts, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave them here. Thank you.

– Writeye

Posted on July 21st, 2009 under Dreams, Jungian Psychology • Tags: lightening bug symbolism, six symbolism. •  Print This Post •  Email This Post • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback