Never Eat Possum
8/27/82
I am in a hospital watching some doctors. Is it a delivery room? A couple of the doctors are talking about a race to be held that afternoon – on bicycles? One is wanting to know what he is expected to do. A nurse has very white cake makeup on. She is fat, about forty, and pregnant. I am eating about four white, worm-like things that had been attached to a stick by one end. I am told that they are baby possum. Raw. I begin feeling sick. They tell me they (the baby possum) are not good to eat.) I run to a sink down the hall and try to throw up. I mutter to a passing nurse, “Never eat possum.”
Associations
I woke up feeling nauseated.
Sociomatrix Commentary
Dream Self: Boy, am I ever stupid. Eating something when I don’t know what it is. What’s being born? Why am I in a delivery room? I can’t run. Last time I did I lost my balance, which is what bicycles require. I guess I do need to know what to do about my ankle. But all I am getting is nauseated. These guys are responding to my suggestion of last night. This nurse is the ugliest lady I’ve ever seen. Grotesque. Looks like a whitewashed Sherman tank. But somehow she basically is a pretty person. I can see that. I can’t believe I’m actually eating that crap.
Hospital I’m glad he’s come to see me to take care of himself. I’m quality stuff even if I am antiseptic, structured, and conventional. If those turkeys are going to race they had better take care of themselves. This nurse is supposed to assist the doctors. She’s very overdone and anything but an example of preventive health. But she is basically capable and full of life. Those things are yucko. Maybe they’re natural, but the medicine is too strong. She’s feeding him medicine that’s not agreeing, that’s about as appealing as possum. I’m glad he got sick. He needs to stay away from the stuff.
Doctors: We like to work here and we like to run We need the exercise. We need more balance regarding health. This nurse is overdoing it and is overdone.
Delivery: I like him, but he can be very foolish.
Bicycle He needs me for his ankle. I’m better for him than running. And he gets articulation. These doctors know health requires balance.
Nurse: I’m trying to help. My effort may not be effective, but the effort will result in the birth of new growth in healing. I made a mistake because I try to overdo.
Makeup: I look official. I also look like those dolomite tablets, one of which you took last night. We try to hide what she really looks like, but it doesn’t work.
Baby Possum
Sink
Nurse
Comment: Before sleep last night had asked doctors in the SMU dream to help heal my ankle while I slept. I twisted it badly on my dirt driveway as I left for a run at my Higden lake house. I have never eaten possum, thank God. This was much worse than baby possum could actually be.
This sociomatrix and commentary is a good example of what happens when one puts two scenes together. Some elements are not concerned with the other scene. As a result, preference patterns do not reflect only those aspects of self invested in the particular dream, but rather two different constellations of issues with two different dreams. This also demonstrates why it is useful to divide a long dream into sections before creating sociomatrices.
I had some very good beans and rice yesterday. I took some white dolomite for my ankle at Gayle’s suggestion. Ate some more dolomite to check it out. (After having the dream.) It definitely was the dolomite. The dolomite was while and chalky like the make-up and the possum, and it was supposed to assist in the delivery of health. I’ll be. .It was all one dream, although I thought it was two separate scenes. I didn’t notice any bad taste or reaction when I took the dolomite the day before.
It was not stated in the dream that the nurse gave Dream Self the possum.
It looks as if my pre-sleep suggestion got some results. It told me what not to do in the healing process, and recommended a different type of exercise. I don’t particularly care to bike ride, and do it infrequently.
Dream Commentary
If you could change this dream in any way that you wanted, as long as it respected the rights of all fellow dream group members, how would you change it?
Hospital Teach that nurse how to dress.
Doctors Don’t give him that stuff. We’ll stop you.
Nurse Things are fine as they are. Cures are sometimes uncomfortable.
Baby Possum Don’t eat us. We’ll make you sick.
Dream Self Stop the nurse. Teach her how to dress.
Dreamage
Conflict between nurse and others makes one unlikely, although I suppose they could all explain their recommendations and let him choose.
Waking Commentary
If you were this dreamer and were dealing with his waking issues – money, relationships, fears, career choices, physical health, spiritual development – would you do anything differently? If so, what?
Hospital Don’t eat things that make you sick. Don’t take dolomite.
Doctors Go bike riding.
Baby Possum Take more conventional treatments.
Dream Self Don’t take dolomite. Go bike riding.
Action Plan
I’m sure as heck not going to take any more dolomite. I don’t think I will do any bike riding, even though it is recommended. I don’t have a bike or the money to get one.
Actual Preferences
Most Accepting Character: Dream Self
Least Accepting Character: Sink
Most Preferred Character: Doctors
Most Rejected Character: worms
Most Preferred Action: “Never Eat Possum”
Most Rejected Action: sick
Most Preferred Feeling: none
Most Rejected Feeling: yuck
Sociogram Commentary
We find conflict on three of the four axes of the dream sociogram, indicating pervasive internal dissension involving these dream group members regarding those particular life issues with which they are identified.
On the acceptance axis, waking identity feels victimized along with the sink. They seem to be victimized by both actions taken and internal confusion about what to do or not do. It is important to note that dream self does not like himself a lot; that means that waking identity is angry at itself. This pattern indicates how self anger, criticism, and blame interferes with clear decision making and the healing process. The issues seem to be, regarding healing, “Who should I trust? What should I do? Who should I listen to?” A lot of internal voices have strong opinions, but they conflict. There is a great deal of internal ambivalence within the choosers in this dream group. How can I trust my inner voices when I am angry at myself? This is indicated by the opposition of Dream Self to Doctors and Hospital and also by the ambivalence with which dream self views Nurse, another healing professional.
On the form axis, the conflict seems to be between healing attitudes and phony or inappropriate (and therefore destructive) attitudes. I am not doing a good job of differentiating between them.
On the process axis, the conflict seems to be between avoiding destructive behaviors, even if I think they are good for me (dolomite and running) and doing what I want and suffering the consequences. It is not that there is necessarily anything inherently wrong with either dolomite or running. It is a matter of learning to trust my own inner wisdom and go with it for the time being; it could be that in a week the message will become, “OK, you can take dolomite and you can run.” The question is, “Who is in charge?” and, “Am I willing to share power with other aspects of myself?”
On the affect axis, “Yuck” summarizes the distaste, both figuratively and objectively, that is pervasively experienced. Taste is a strong but rare experience in my dreams. That particular sensory modality is especially physical, and may be associated not only with the dolomite, but the general health emphasis of the life issues with which these dream group members are identified.
