Friday, July 23, 2010

dreaming about the keebler elf (my interpretation added at the end)


My hilarious husband sent me this image a bit ago following my a.m. dream report in which I told him the dream I had just before waking this morning.

In the dream someone had given me a very large herd of driving horses and equipment, and I had a brief time in which to find a place to move them. I was working with a realtor, looking for a piece of land large enough to provide plenty of pasture for this herd of big horses, and she talked me into going to see a place she thought might have "potential."

Guess where she took me?  Apparently, the Keebler Elf died, and left behind his mansion, many-acre property, and elf factories. We arrived at the very stylized mansion, and she convinced me I had to see the inside to get the full sense of the potential.

The inside was everything you might imagine the Keebler Elf's home would be: curlicue molding of many colors, elf-like decorations dripping from every inch of wall and ceiling space, and all the accoutrement that an elf might end up with by the end of his long elf life.

"There is no way I can live here!" I said to the realtor, who assured me there was a HUGE market for elf decor and that I would make enough selling the stuff to collectors to pay for the entire property.

Still not convinced, she took me outside and instead of showing me the land where I might house the driving horses, she led me to a little gravel lane, which had tiny elf factories on both sides. "All the equipment is still in place!" she said. "You could sell it or put it back into operation and have a working farm that pays for everything you need!"

I woke up feeling like I had been through an ordeal, and like I had a huge decision to make - horses needed a home! There was a property that would allow it to happen! But the private estate of the Keebler Elf????  I just wasn't sure if I could do it.

And I'm still not sure. However, it has kept me chuckling to myself all day long.

(please note that I am hereby starting to label my posts, in a very belated effort at creating some order here on camera-obscura!)


And now, let me write my interpretation of this wild and crazy dream, after it's been sitting in my subconscious/conscious most of the day today:

The big driving horses being offered, if I can only find a way to house them, are not horses at all, but "big dreams" - likely writing related since I am in the process of launching a "small" press. In my mind, big driving horses are powerful and capable of huge forward motion. Galloping forward, in a big way. But that estate is too small - the mansion is packed with elf stuff, the factories are too little.

The Keebler Elf - well, who knows, really, where that crazy image came from, but my guess is that my unconscious was really trying to knock me over the head with something so outlandish I couldn't fail to pay attention.

The Keebler Elf is small, has died, and has left behind a huge "field of possibility" - but much of what exists there is useless to me - crowded and gaudy and not my "size." I could make the connection to big publishing here, but that might be pushing it. :)

I'm thinking the Keebler Elf also represents the part of me that is being cautious, keeping my dream of a "small" press "small" - and not allowing for the "potential" the realtor promises is indeed there: she says there is a huge market for the stuff in the mansion, the factories can be sold or used, in other words, make use of what you have, get it all out there so it can work for you. Go for it!

There's more to be said, but it's subtle stuff that would only make sense with a longer explanation - but I am reminded of the Keebler Elf commercials that were so prevalent on TV when I was younger. Lots of making and baking and sending those cookies out the door to be sold.

All that activity, all those cookies - from a little, tiny tree.  What's small can still have a BIG impact. And, elves have magic!

Isn't it pretty fabulous what our unconscious can use to get our attention? If this dream had incorporated any other symbol I would have forgotten about it by now. But the Keebler Elf made me stop and pay attention.

18 comments:

ponymaid said...

Billie, frankly I'm a tad worried...are you still in the midst of that heatwave? A cool cloth to the forehead can sometimes make the elves go away.

Valentino said...

Not to rain on the Keebler private estate / driving horse farm parade - but how would you staff the tiny elf factories?!

Too funny Billie. Thanks for the laughs :)

billie said...

LOL, Sheaffer - yes, heat wave is upon us, and I have been walking around with a wet cap AND a wet scarf rolled and tied around my forehead! Can you imagine what I'd be dreaming if I were actually suffering from heat stroke?

billie said...

V, the realtor didn't exactly go into that part! LOL.

Grey Horse Matters said...

I don't know but I've heard that dreams can be omens. Maybe subconsciously you're thinking of getting a bigger place for the herd. And of course the Keebler Elf was probably there because you really needed some sort of chocolate to make you feel better in all this miserable weather. Very funny dream.

billie said...

Arlene, the idea of moving makes me weak, but it's true that I'm probably always subconsciously "dreaming" of bigger pastures. (not greener, mind you, with this batch of easy keepers!)

I have no clue where this came from, but a desire for chocolate works for me. :) I could do with a big dark chocolate cone right now.

nerowolfgal said...

http://en.rian.ru/strange/20100721/159893433.html

This isn't on topic but I ran across this report of a Russian parasail outfit that forced a donkey into a harness and flew it through the air.

Quote: "On July 15, the donkey was forced to parasail along a beach on the Sea of Azov for half an hour to promote paragliding. The donkey was braying with fear and children were crying. ...if a veterinary finds any injuries caused by the flight, the police will launch a criminal case on animal cruelty charges."

What of the mental injuries? I am writing an email to the paper, just so they can have an idea of the outage people around the world feel when this sort of thing happens.

billie said...

Thanks, nerowolfgal, I'm equally as horrified as you are. I just visited the link and am trying to figure out how to leave a comment - the site won't let me click on anything to register.

kippen64 said...

Being Australian, I had to Google the Keebler Elf because I'd never heard of it before. If dreams are omens, which is a notion that I don't agree with, then it seems to me that you might need chocolate and a larger place to keep your horses. Or maybe all of that and some more horses. A dream like that would have sent me to the coffee pot. Cheers :-)

billie said...

Hi, Kippen - I like the thought of more horses! Likely my husband will remind me that I can't put more horses before more pasture... :) Thanks for commenting - and for reminding me that the Keebler Elf is not a universal symbol. (thank goodness!)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post, wonderful interpretation.

billie said...

Thanks, Suzee. This was a doozy. :)

Unknown said...

That's a good one, Billie. And please tell your subconscious that she should feel free to kill off any and all diminutive avatars of unhealthful and disordered eating. Those M&Ms varmints can go next.

billie said...

LOL - one of my most favorite commercials were the M&M guys (plain and peanut) diving into swimming pools of different colors. I adored that commercial.

That would be a neat dream to have - considering that one of my writing mantras is "dive deep."

Add the color and I'm there!

forever in blue jeans, Beth said...

Wow ! What a dream, and loved your recounting of it and musings about it - better, more entertaining that many movies !! DO you dream in color?

Hope there'll be a sequel :)

Thanks for sharing :)

Beth and Cookie,
in Virginia

billie said...

Yes, Beth, I dream in color. I've often said if I could transfer some of my movie-length dreams directly to film, I could have my own Hollywood production company.

Peggy Payne said...

Congratulations on the press, Billie. I think this is very cool.

And I love the elf dream.

billie said...

Thank you, Peggy. I'm pretty excited about it.