Dreams: Beliefs & Superstitions

Today I am emerging from my comfort zone, into which I have slipped lately. When I started blogging, my topics were connected with human emotions and reactions of people. Non-fiction was my favorite genre of writing. 

Then I discovered my niche and got pushed by my muse most of the time. Poetry provided me a soft spot into which I immersed myself completely. I’ve almost abandoned writing about topics of human interest that still draw a lot of traffic to my blog.

This post is inspired from a recent discussion on dreams.

Dreams have remained a mystery yet they are unique experiences that are said to be significant, as they are a manifestation of our desires, feelings and emotions. They could be unexpressed thoughts or ideas that struggle to see the light of the day. My grand daughter says she often dreams that I am staying in her home forever, and asks me if it is possible.

Dreams could be as innocent as that one! 

Or as superstitious as this one: It is believed that morning dreams could be messages or warnings like the dream of a young lady who had an intuition that her husband was stepping into a risky business. She dreamt that he returns from his business trip with gray hair.

A dream that places you in some celebrations is considered to be a bad portent and is associated with potential bereavement in the family. Losing jewelry in such dreams is inauspicious. However, I have many times dreamt that I can’t find my jewelry box or my favorite necklace is missing but I have never faced any adverse effects! Probably some beliefs are so illogical.  

If you meet a dead relative or friend in a dream and you happen to give them something, that is said to be too bad. On the other hand, if they give you a gift, it is good. My aunt told me that her dead father-in law gave her two white pigeons in her dream and later she was blessed with twins.

Never respond to somebody’s call in a dream, that could be a call from heaven or hell!

My grandma refused to discuss a dead relative (a lady she didn’t like) for fear of her visits in her dreams. Whenever we would ask, “Ma, why didn’t you like her?” She always responded,” We’ll discuss that in the morning.”

If you keep returning to the same house in your dreams, it signifies your attachment to it. Probably that is your childhood home or you yearn to be there more often.

Being surrounded by water from all directions in your dreams or whatever route you take, if you are unable to escape, signifies anxiety. Since dreams are made of bits and pieces of our memory that blends past and present, they seem absurd like most of the times when I get surrounded by gushing water, I am riding a bike, which I used only as a teenager. Often I wake up from this recurrent dream, reaching nowhere.

A nightmare that I could never forget is that my car flies off a cliff and lands in a valley but I woke up with the impact.

Lucid dreams are most pleasant and everybody agrees that we can go back to sleep to continue enjoying them.

Some dreams can be as real as this one – whenever I can’t find a clean restroom to pee, I wake up with the realization that I actually need to pee!

In the dreams of my friend, who is an empty nester, her children are still small, running around in her home.

I’ve never noticed color in my dreams. What about you? I hope you have some dreams to share.
© Balroop Singh

Thank you.

Colleen’s Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt #TankaTuesday

celestial showers
besiege us as we step out
banal biases melt
in the light of our lustrous love
streaks of hope exorcise smog

***

when our paths merged
to gather divine blessings
shadows departed
dormant dreams whirled around us
ending layers of darkness

© Balroop Singh, August 2021.

*** 

Thanks to Colleen M. Chesebro for this challenge, which explores Ekphrastic writing inspired by visual art (photographs). Cheryl, from last month’s challenge, provided the photo for this month’s challenge. 

Thank you. 

For more poetry: click here to hear Magical Whispers

Have you checked my latest release? – Slivers: Chiseled Poetry

Ghosts of the Past

Image from Pixaby

Who doesn’t meet them?
Who doesn’t get pulled in by them
Into those alleys we would like to forget?

I exorcised them, pushed them away
Away into the valleys of obscurity
Closed my doors despite their persistence.

I know they visit uninvited,
They linger in the shadows
To fan your wrath, to create ruckus.

The more you feed them,
The bolder they get
To add angst to your heart.

Only when you stop listening to them
Only when you accept the past
And forgive those you hold responsible

Only when you fight
The self-created demons
Only then, will they recede.

Serenity lies within your heart
But you have to stoke it
To let it permeate around you.
© Balroop Singh

Inspired from somebody who clings to the past and keeps wallowing in self-pity.

Thank you.

Many thanks to Colleen for a lovely review of my latest release – Slivers: Chiseled Poetry

For more poetry: click here to hear Magical Whispers

 

Silence Is Powerful

Recently I stumbled upon an enlightening book and would like to share some nuggets of wisdom that I gathered while reading it. I quote volubly from the book and also add my own observations.

Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise by Thich Nhat Hanh exhorts us to find silence within ourselves. If we try, we would hear five sounds:

“1. The sound of the wonders of life that are calling you. (Sound of the birds, rain etc.)

Everything begins with a sound.

2. The sound of the One who observes the world. This is the sound of listening, the sound of silence.

3. The third sound is the Brahma sound – the transcendental sound, connected with spiritualism in Indian thought.

4. The sound of the rising tide.

5. The fifth sound is the sound that transcends all the sounds – the sound of impermanence, a reminder not to get attached to particular words or sounds.”

In the journey of life, how many of us have heard these sounds? Do we even know about them?

Do we introspect? Do we ponder about our activities, our purpose of the way we are living our life?

I am sure every one of us has heard the first kind of sounds but do we hear the call? Do we pay attention to them?

We also know the fifth sound so well yet never recognize its impermanence. 

There is a “small voice” – the inner voice that is often hushed by us. If we listen to that voice, it could unravel many desires that have not been paid any attention to.

Joy comes from listening to the inner desires that get drowned in the humdrum of life.

“We are what we feel and perceive. If we are angry, we are the anger. If we are in love, we are the love.”

Individual consciousness is required to eliminate toxic elements (anger, fear, despair) from our consciousness. It can be cultivated.

Conscious breathing is a good way to nourish body and mind with mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the practice that quiets the noise inside us. Noise of memories, of experiences, of past regrets, of uncertainty about the future… the list is endless.

Mindfulness too can be cultivated. It is not an easy task but also not unattainable.

“There is a radio playing in our head: Radio Station NST: Non Stop Thinking.” Mindfulness helps in silencing this non-stop station.

“Silence comes from the heart; it doesn’t mean we have to sit quietly.” No. It means learning to control the internal chatter, to calm the mind by “changing the way of your thinking and way of your looking.”

It is this chatter that prevents us from listening to ourselves or any one else. Only when we

“listen deeply to ourselves, can we listen to others. Take some time each day to listen with compassion to your inner child, to listen to the things clamoring to be heard. Then you will know how to listen to others.”

Four mantras to cultivate deep listening and presence in your relationships:

“1. I am here for you.

2. I know you are there, and I am very happy.

3. I know you suffer; that’s why I am here for you.

4. I suffer, please help.”

I have tried to condense a 225-page book into a short post to convey the most significant points that highlight the power of silence.

Thank you for reading.

Balroop Singh.

If you like poetry,  check my latest book: Magical Whispers

My Creative Cave

Image from Pixaby

My creative cave
Is open from both sides
Starry nights spread their tresses
When sun wanders away.

My heart tingles with delight
When the glow of moon
Creates magic in my cave
My pen drapes around the light.

Emotions echo
To release the words
Oppressed by feral fears 
Creativity cedes her hold.

Till dawn breaks
Bringing dewy-damp whispers
And melody of flowers
A new song reverberates.

A song in synch with the surroundings
A song that soothes many hearts.
© Balroop Singh, June 2021

If you like poetry,  check my latest book: Magical Whispers

You can click here for more poetry.