A hospital is the sad face of god

[Alana]

Last night I had the following dream:

The first thing I remember, I was in a class type of setting, sitting on a desk (those small ones for one person) with other people in the "class". But I had the impression that the building was very big, with other buildings, like a university or a hospital campus.

On my left from where I was sitting, instead of a wall, the room had one huge window, and it looked like we were higher than ground level. And as I was sitting there I saw through those windows small aircraft appearing in the sky (they were khaki colour, looking military, and painted on them was a red crescent) and they started throwing bombs, and I could see explosions with black smoke over the city. Very soon, a bomb fell very close to the building where we were, and as soon as I saw it I shouted, "it's going to explode, run!", but everybody remained sited and my shouts did not seem to register. I started running out of the building, down some stairs and then on the ground, a kind of road with buildings all around. Looking up, all these aircraft continued to throw bombs all over the town, and I suddenly felt that it was useless to continue running, my panicky feeling calmed down, as if coming to terms with what was happening. It felt that nowhere was safe, so I started walking instead, and I had the thought that I might die now, in a matter of fact way.

That's when I heard a voice saying clearly:

"A hospital is the sad face of god".

And I woke up, thinking that this dream is important in some way and went through it again in my mind, so that I don't forget about it. I slept a little bit more after that, but the images stayed in my memory.

Any thoughts?

 

[Gaby]

Your dream reminds me of a series of photographs I saw this morning which brought tears to my eyes:

_http://news.yahoo.com/un-photo-archive-tells-story-palestinian-exodus-165103327.html

As Palestinians mark the Nakba's 66th anniversary Thursday, the photos tell the story of the refugee crisis' transition from temporary to seemingly permanent. Tent camps of the 1950s have turned into urban slums with some alleys so narrow residents can only walk single file past drab multi-story buildings.

The mother and son of the 1975 photo are part of a family that is now in its fourth generation as refugees. Sattari's parents fled their home in what is now Israel in 1948. Fathiyeh was born in the Gaza Strip and raised her own family in the Rafah refugee camp. Her son Hassan — the baby with the gaunt face in the photo — is now a 40-year-old father of five, living in another camp.

They appear resigned to never being able to return to their ancestral home.

 

[Zadius Sky]

Any thoughts?

Very interesting dream.

The classroom scene immediately brings me to think of a "lesson" being shown or learned. And, a "single-person desk" could represent a personal interest to or an evaluation of something (other thought here is "sit back and enjoy the show"). The dropping of bombs could be related to an "explosive" situation in one's personal life (or a prediction?). A hospital building or an idea of one could be something that you are very serious about "fixing" some problems (perhaps in your life situation recently).

Well, that's just one perspective of your dream. fwiw. :)

 

[Arwenn]

Gaby, those are some very moving images. They say a picture says a thousand words, well the sadness I see in those faces will not easily be forgotten.

Alana, what an interesting dream for sure. To me, it speaks of lessons, danger and the ability of seeing what others can't see, and that somehow you are reconciled to face whatever it is that is coming. What caught my eye was the title for this thread. I've always felt scared of hospitals because as a child I learned that that's where people go to die.

It's funny though because when I looked up the etymology of hospital, it wasn't always for the sick and dying. From Wikipedia,

During the Middle Ages hospitals served different functions to modern institutions, being almshouses for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or hospital schools. The word hospital comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, hence a guest. Another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, hospitable reception. By metonymy the Latin word then came to mean a guest-chamber, guest's lodging, an inn. Hospes is thus the root for the English words host (where the p was dropped for convenience of pronunciation) hospitality, hospice, hostel and hotel. The latter modern word derives from Latin via the ancient French romance word hostel, which developed a silent s, which letter was eventually removed from the word, the loss of which is signified by a circumflex in the modern French word hôtel. The German word 'Spital' shares similar roots.

Recently I have had to visit a friend's mother who is terminally ill. Each passing day brings her closer to death. There is no quality of life, and watching the toll the disease has taken on her and her loved ones is heart-breaking. The palliative care ward of hospitals is truly the sad face of god.

 

[truth seeker]

Just saw your post Arwenn and was thinking along similar line. I'll leave the post as it stands anyway in case it's helpful.

Maybe the 'classroom' represents the school of life and some part of you feels powerless in being able to save others - like you are doing all you can to help but still feels it isn't enough. The last part of the dream may be you coming to terms with accepting the idea of death.

Looking up the word hospital, I found:

hospital (n.) Look up hospital at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "shelter for the needy," from Old French hospital, ospital "hostel" (Modern French hôpital), from Late Latin hospitale "guest-house, inn," neuter of Latin adjective hospitalis "of a guest or host," from hospes (genitive hospitis); see host (n.1). Later "charitable institution to house and maintain the needy" (early 15c.); sense of "institution for sick people" is first recorded 1540s.

So it seems a hospital in general terms is a place for the needy and sick. Thinking along these lines, hospitals exist largely because of a failure in society in some way (families didn't want to or couldn't take care of the needy, etc). It's a place where people went because they had nowhere else to go to receive care/help. I suppose that before hospitals existed, people were taken care of at home in a loving environment. It's like they represent how we have lost the ability to be hospitable to each other and have strayed from our connection to 'god' or the divine within us. So perhaps that explains the saying you 'heard' just before you woke up.

I thought the red crescent symbol was interesting so I looked it up. Not sure if this information helps or is relevant. It's also from wiki so a huge fwiw.:

Red Crescent
The Red Crescent symbol

During the Russo-Turkish War from 1876 to 1878, the Ottoman Empire used a Red Crescent instead of the Red Cross because its government believed that the cross would alienate its Muslim soldiers. When asked by the ICRC in 1877, Russia committed to fully respect the sanctity of all persons and facilities bearing the Red Crescent symbol, followed by a similar commitment from the Ottoman government to respect the Red Cross. After this de facto assessment of equal validity to both symbols, the ICRC declared in 1878 that it should be possible in principle to adopt an additional official protection symbol for non-Christian countries. The Red Crescent was formally recognized in 1929 when the Geneva Conventions were amended (Article 19).[1] After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Red Crescent was first used by its successor nation Turkey, followed by Egypt. From its official recognition to today, the Red Crescent became the organizational emblem of nearly every national society in countries with majority Muslim populations. The national societies of some countries such as Pakistan (1974), Malaysia (1975), or Bangladesh (1989) have officially changed their name and emblem from the Red Cross to the Red Crescent. The Red Crescent is used by 33 of the 186 recognized societies worldwide.

_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement

What's interesting about this is that if the symbolism applies, this means that those planes were supposed to be helping not bombing! This may be another indication that instead of helping each other, we're really doing each other harm (speaking in societal terms).

 

[Iron]

Any chance that this dream is actually a memory from a parallel/previous life?
The imagery, the red cross and the way the dream develops made me think that it could well be a memory from another life.

 

[Alana]

Thank you for your thoughts. The hospital/hospitality connection is really interesting too! Maybe something about lessons in hospitality.

But what of the bombs? Who seem to interrupt the lesson? And then there's the detail of the red crescent moon on the military planes. Why should I see and remember that?

I did a search to see which nation flags have a crescent on them. Here's a list (of nations and international organisations)

http://www.flags.net/search.php [it doesn't come up, you have to check only the word crescent and then search to see them]

Most of these are countries populated by Muslims in the majority. Being that I am a Greek Cypriot, and there's a red crescent moon on the Turkish-Cypriot flag, the dream might even be something of a "family line memory": being bombed by the Turkish army in the 1974 war. I don't know about previous parallel life though.

Hospital(ity), lessons, red crescent, bombing, people who don't realize the danger, running, coming to terms with it, a hospital is the sad face of god...

 

[Beorn]

Thanks for sharing your dream Alana. Here's a few thoughts I had while reading it.

The first part made me think of your awareness. The class being a little higher then the ground level, the glass window you can look out of and the way you responded to the bombs when others just sat there seemed to indicate that you are in a place where you can see what is going on and respond to it appropriately.

The first thing I thought of regarding the red crescent was a blood moon - death, destruction and end times. Bombs seemed to indicate being at war and destruction. The reference to hospitals being the sad face of god made me think about how the medical institutions are at war with society and what kind of damage they are doing. Hospitals have always seemed so lifeless to me. Heaven forbid they could actually paint a wall green or some other color besides white!

This dream says to me that you are aware of some things that others are not and it has the potential to shock you, or has shocked you. The situation in your personal life or in the community seems too big for you to do anything about and there is nowhere you can go to escape it. There is a divine aspect to the suffering, however, and while unpleasant one might as well not panic as all things ultimately belong to the Divine.

I've always thought of hospitals as being a group of little villas surrounded by woodlands and gardens where people could really find a place to heal. One day perhaps...

 

[Sol Logos]

For me it sounds symbolic of your learning being higher - ie above others that are more commonly on the ground. It gives you a big window and a vantage point to see the world (and yourself) and so you know just what's happening before most others do. It does point to things not being grounded, too much perhaps in the head (intellectual) - if its taken as a personal symbolic view of your own psyche that is.

The reason being is there's danger presented to you in this scenario by the planes and bombing - the millitary is about control and so is perhaps being too reliant on the head or the intellect. The planes (also coming from high - a repeated symbol) bomb to suppress dissent - the potential for out of control emotions to arise? The crescent moon - a feminine symbol is not full, it's perhaps moving to a new moon might symbolise an incompleteness of the feminine side or a loss of its light and direction? Being bombed says something about already being attacked, perhaps its a vulnerable period in your life right now or something like that? What's interesting is no one is listening to you, that's a primal type of feeling of screaming but being unheard, ignored, not taken seriously etc. Did you have this sort of relationship with your mum, I'm just connecting the female moon symbol with this bit. The fact you got to the ground, as there didn't seem to be anywhere else to go might be pointing to experiencing the real groundedness of the situation, being moved to feel what its all about. And the fact you've relinquished your control, you're ready to die - points to a pending transformation, an acceptance of not having control and a spiritual death if you will of that side of you. The crescent moon connected with this part suggests its moving to a new moon (not the other way) which is the symbol of death but also new life and transformation regarding something of the feminine related to you.

The words and the fact you woke up just after this mean that this is the key of you dream in the phrase "the hospital is the sad face of god". What's interesting is how god is written by you in lower case, meaning perhaps not the God but a god. I would posit that this refers to you, essentially you are the god of this dreamscape world, you are its creator - god. If that's accurate I'd say it tells you what's going on in the hospital doesn't just represent your sadness - it is your sadness.

Its incongruent that a classroom is in a hospital whose purpose isn't teaching but administering the sick. It might point to the motivations of learning aren't for purely learning but also to mend your emotional woundings. Athough learning doesn't directly heal wounds in this context, it's seeks the safe route to learn before experiencing them, but maybe the dream is directly saying its not even safe, or at least it no longer is, this doesn't serve you anymore etc. I'm not sure but perhaps the frustrations of being not taken seriously, unheard, ignored by those who really should be taking you seriously as in the dream (for their own sake at least) points to some deeper stuff?

I guessing a fair bit here but this hopefully might help.

 

[Alana]

Wow! And all I got this morning thinking about it was me looking like

Thank you for the additional input! I will have to read it over and think about it more.

But this question stood out for me, alkhemst:

What's interesting is no one is listening to you, that's a primal type of feeling of screaming but being unheard, ignored, not taken seriously etc. Did you have this sort of relationship with your mum, I'm just connecting the female moon symbol with this bit.

That's a big part of my relationship with my mother. Since I was a child I remember seeing things she couldn't or she didn't want to and I just couldn't understand what was going on. I would tell her: "if you do this, that (negative thing) will happen." It was very clear to me. But she would go ahead and do this, and then that would happen. I felt frustrated and hurt, because usually such decisions brought more problems in our lives, and also because it felt like I was not validated (my thoughts/perceptions/emotions) by my mother.

About writing god like this, instead of God, I always write it like that. In my mother-tongue is not often capitalized either.

And about "a hospital is the sad face of god", I was thinking that maybe it is a reminder to read the book The Sufi Path of Knowledge which talks about the many faces of god, and I have it for many years now, but never got to it.

Again, thank you for your thoughts.

 

[l apprenti de forgeron]

Wow! And all I got this morning thinking about it was me looking like

Thank you for the additional input! I will have to read it over and think about it more.

But this question stood out for me, alkhemst:

What's interesting is no one is listening to you, that's a primal type of feeling of screaming but being unheard, ignored, not taken seriously etc. Did you have this sort of relationship with your mum, I'm just connecting the female moon symbol with this bit.

That's a big part of my relationship with my mother. Since I was a child I remember seeing things she couldn't or she didn't want to and I just couldn't understand what was going on. I would tell her: "if you do this, that (negative thing) will happen." It was very clear to me. But she would go ahead and do this, and then that would happen. I felt frustrated and hurt, because usually such decisions brought more problems in our lives, and also because it felt like I was not validated (my thoughts/perceptions/emotions) by my mother.

About writing god like this, instead of God, I always write it like that. In my mother-tongue is not often capitalized either.

And about "a hospital is the sad face of god", I was thinking that maybe it is a reminder to read the book The Sufi Path of Knowledge which talks about the many faces of god, and I have it for many years now, but never got to it.

Again, thank you for your thoughts.

Very interesting. There seems to be resonances of the "Cassandra Syndrome" in you: Seeing more and not be heard. Wanting to help those in the "hospital of god" that does not see the danger. That is, hospitality is not longer respected in this world (neither schools).
Thanks for sharing, Alana.

 

[Sol Logos]

Happy to help if I can. This sounds really weird but a strange thing happened to me as a teen with a vision of a man flying at me from behind a mirror holding an club-like internal organ in his hands then disappeared as he was upon me. The same day for some reason I was previously struggling with reading Jung and being able to grasp symbolism of mine and others dreams, after that it really appeared to change. So anyway sometimes I've been able to be of a bit of assistance interpreting dreams of others. I'd like to think it was a gift but you know I'm well aware of being invested in such beliefs and making a "magical" connection from it as a teen, I'm not so sure now but I do like from time to time trying to interpret dreams and symbols etc. If I think I can be of help that is.

Anyhow, I didn't mention about the crescent being red. I would say its another emphasis on the same symbols - waning moon, feminine connection, end of a period (as in both female period / end of a cycle), the spilling of blood and wounding, death but pending transformation also, loss of light and direction in the dark (maybe by mum and yourself as internalised authority over your childlike qualities), that might point to the emotional woundings, fears around that experiencing that pain again etc. Overall it seems to be heralding a big change, facing your big fears and accepting and the death of your inner controlling authority.

I could be way of of course but that would be my take for now. What's really amazing I find is how dream symbolism combines so many things to say so much which allows multiple interpretations but also a very specific meaning from the context in which it's presented. What I mean is like the red crescent it has archetypal, historical and personal meaning and sometimes it appears to be so perfect in the way it's constructed, given it says so much with so little and references stuff perhaps about your life now (current inner conflicts), in the past (perhaps the relationship with mum) and where it's going (end of a time period and transformation).

Overall as you know its hard for others to really interpret dreams with so much personal symbols involved but hopefully there's a whole bunch of stuff on the thread to bring more meaning to you. Incredible dream BTW!

 

[happyliza]

I immediately thought about the project you wish to do about death and dying. And that some of the imagery could relate to memories in your past of people you would have liked to help, educate, about the passing. Even the sheer numbers of people dying in hospitals etc who don't know the reality about passing over and the fear they have.

The higher bit meaning that you have the knowledge - that you are desperate to share with them. Also taking into account our knowledge of environmental factors and what is coming down the pipe and all these souls who also need help but we cannot reach.

On may levels and perspectives I feel about this project and the 'time' element etc.

Just my take on it FWIW considering that the project would have been in your subconscious and unconsciously you were actually putting the pieces of the jigsaw together ie connecting the dots, which could naturally prompt memories from your childhood and other similar 'situations' seen, heard, experienced, read about that came through due to the connection. Similarly symbolic.

 

[Gary]

I would agree with Happyliza. Exploring the 'death and dying' subject could well be bringing up alot of related issues from your subconscious, as your dream imagery suggests.

I kept thinking today of, "a hospital is the sad face of god." There is an underlying sense of profound sorrow in that statement for me. I mean, a hospital (or hospice or carehome) is the one place where, in any decent society, a human being who is ill, dying or needs care ought to be treated with the medicine/information based on real knowledge, with dignity and compassion. Instead, it is like the universal law of hospitality itself is being wilfully, deviously and despicably flouted.

 

[Zee Ley]

Hello Alana,

While reading The Odyssey thread the words from your dream came into my mind. The theme of hospital as a place of hospitality is extensively covered by truth seeker. I'll just add quote which I guess is relevant to your dream.

Most of Books 1, 3–4, 9–10, 14–15, and
17–22 (with shorter treatments in Books 7–8), are detailed presentations of
hospitality myth. The anthropologist Pitt-Rivers is one of many to assert
the centrality of hospitality in the Odyssey (1977: 94), “Indeed the whole
work may be viewed as a study in the law of hospitality.”


Hospitality is sacred. Both the Odyssey (Od. 9.270–1; 14.283–4, 14.389,
17.155; cf. 3.346) and the Iliad (13.624–5) declare Zeus its special guardian.
As Bolin notes (2004: 39–40, 48), hospitality resembles sacrifice in being
similarly grounded in reciprocity, as in the formula, ... “I give, that
you may give.”

{Here we see glimmerings of the ancient meals together that exemplified true humans as opposed to "animal humans" as well as the washing of the feet, "do unto others" etc. We also see that in our present world, the greed of the power elite has made true hospitality - caring for others - impossible. In other words, our present civilization is an entirely inhospitable one and thus, according to the laws set out in the Odyssey, is due for destruction!}

Though written about Genesis 18–19, Bolin’s comments
about the dynamics of hospitality in ancient cultures are equally applicable
to Homeric episodes, and worth noting at length (2004: 45):

Hospitality was the creation of a temporary patronage relationship with the host
as patron and the guest as client. The motivation behind offering hospitality to a
stranger lay in the increased honor one had in assimilating a potential threat into
the community by asserting one’s superiority over the newcomer. Guests played
their role in this arrangement by acceptance of the offered hospitality. The practical
benefit of this arrangement was that it defused a confrontational moment with
the potential for violence. Reciprocity was essential to the arrangement’s success.

Hosts honored guests by extending favor and protection in order to increase their
own honor. Guests accepted the honor of the host and, in doing so, added to the
host’s honor as patron. For either party to be denied its due in the relationship
created the situation of injustice.

{This is obviously a pathological description of hospitality though it certainly may describe the motivations for it after "The Fall" and particularly in certain cultures where pathology had already begun to dominate. But I think we can see deeper into the concept, that it is an exact depiction of the STO principles.}

In hospitality myths the gods monitor these relationships to redress wrongs
committed against either party, guest or host.

Why does the Odyssey employ hospitality myth so frequently? Several
different factors encourage this mythic type. Polyphemos’ curse specifies
that Odysseus will return home late, with difficulty, in someone else’s ship
(Od. 9.534–5; cf. Teiresias’ and Kirke’s prophecies, Od. 11.114–15, 12.141).
The curse (chronologically earlier than the rest of the poem, except for brief
retrospective accounts such as Od. 19.393–466) thus dictates that Odysseus
will be destitute, a wanderer.

As a wanderer, Odysseus is thrust into a
dependent role, relying on the hospitality of those to whose shores he
now comes.

Odysseus’ own violation of hospitality in his encounter with
Polyphemos (Od. 9.216–32)2 helps bring about his transformation into a
wanderer.

Now I am trying to picture your mood while experiencing this part of the dream

Looking up, all these aircraft continued to throw bombs all over the town, and I suddenly felt that it was useless to continue running, my panicky feeling calmed down, as if coming to terms with what was happening. It felt that nowhere was safe, so I started walking instead, and I had the thought that I might die now, in a matter of fact way.

Copare it with this excerpt.

As a wanderer, Odysseus is thrust into a
dependent role, relying on the hospitality of those to whose shores he
now comes.

One wanders if it is about one and the same ..."thing":)