Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives 2023 #Potluck – Friday Free For All! #Dreams by Jan Sikes

Welcome to the new series of Posts from Your Archives 2023 where I will be sharing posts from the last six months of 2022 I have selected from the archives of willing participants. If you wish to be included the information is at the the end of the post.

Today the second post from the archives of author Jan Sikes and in one of her series. Friday Free for All in November 2022, she explored the meaning of dreams.

Friday Free For All! #Dreams

Yesterday, myself and a couple of my Story Empire colleagues were talking about sleep patterns, then we got sidetracked talking about dreams.

What are dreams?

Dr. Derup, a behavioral sleep medicine expert, says this, “Dreams are mental imagery or activity that occur when you sleep.” That’s pretty simple. But to me, they are so much more.

Freud thought dreams were repressed content, ideas, or themes. Jung’s idea of what dreams are is deeper and more objective since the archetypes that caused dreams were collective, universal, anatomical, or biological, and therefore objective and empirical. Jung thought dreams are something that you carry from your ancestors.

Hmm. Could be, I suppose.

To the Native American people, dreams were an essential conduit for communication with the supernatural world. I buy more into that theory than any other. The dreamcatcher originated with the Ojibwe tribe, and they believed it would trap bad dreams and let good dreams come through.

I’ve always been fascinated by the dream world and have dreamed ever since I can remember. They say everyone does, but not everyone remembers their dreams. And there are different types of dreams. Most often, our dreams are made up of the subconscious mind processing things from our day.

Then there are lucid dreams, where you are asleep but aware that you are dreaming. In Dan Antion‘s new books, The Dreamer’s Alliance Series, one of his characters has lucid dreams and even learns how to manipulate them for the outcome he wants.

I can’t say I’ve ever had that exact experience where I manipulated a dream, but I have definitely experienced being aware that I was dreaming. I have had dreams where I am flying low and close to the ground, but really fast, and when I have those dreams, I wake up feeling a tad bit dizzy.

But probably the most bizarre dream I’ve ever had was one where I dreamed I laid down on a bed and went to sleep. When I awoke, I was so disoriented and unsure if I was awake in my dream, or awake in my real world. I’ll never forget that. It was a very strange feeling.

I’ve had a dream interpretation book since the seventies, so it’s something I’ve always been fascinated with. You can tell by the photo the book is well-worn.

I’ve dreamt about loved ones who have passed on. Then, on the other hand, I’ve had visits from loved ones who have passed on, and there is a distinct difference between the two. When you have a visit, you know you’ve been with that person. Often, there will be a lingering fragrance or touch after you awake. When I experience visits, I often awake with tears on my cheeks.

Dream interpretation is as broad as the dreams themselves.

For example, here are some of the basic dream interpretations in my book:

• To dream of wild animals is generally a good omen pertaining to business.
• Dogs in dreams are a good omen and often represent friends.
• To dream of being naked indicates a stroke of money luck.
• By the same token, to dream of feces, symbolizes wealth.
• Obstacle dreams are very common, where you are having to squeeze through tiny openings or climb narrow ladders, and those dreams indicate frustration about not reaching a goal in real life.

I could go on and on, but I won’t.

Do you have a recurring dream? One that you still think about regularly?

My late husband had a recurring dream where he was living in the 1800s, wearing a coat and top hat, and he played upright bass. In real life, he never tried to play the bass. He often thought that dream might have been a glimpse at a past life. Who knows?

Let’s talk about dreams. Do you have one you’d like for me to look up in my trusty book?

©Jan Sikes 2022

My thanks to Jan for inviting me to share from her archives and I know she would love to hear from you.

About Jan Sikes

Jan Sikes is an award-winning Texas author who has been called a wordsmith by her peers. She openly admits that she never set out in life to be an author. But she had a story to tell. Not just any story, but a true story that rivals any fiction creation. You simply can’t make this stuff up. It all happened. She chose to create fictitious characters to tell the story through, and they bring the intricately woven tale to life in an entertaining way. She released a series of music CDs to accompany the four biographical fiction books and then published a book of poetry and art to complete the story circle.

And now that the story is told, this author can’t find a way to put down the pen. She continues to write fiction and has published many short stories with a series of novels waiting in the wings. Jan is a member of the Author’s Marketing Guild, The Writer’s League of Texas, Romance Writers of America, and the Paranormal Writer’s Guild. I am an avid fan of Texas music and grandmother of five beautiful souls. I reside in North Texas.

A small selection of books by Jan Sikes

One of the reviews for Saddled Hearts

writester 5.0 out of 5 stars This One Has It All

This is the third and (to my knowledge) final installment of the White Rune series. After enjoying the first two, I really looked forward to reading the third. Let me tell you, the wait was worth it.

This story focuses on Colt and Sage, with cameos by some of our old favorites in her earlier works. It’s always a pleasure to me to say hi to old friends, and it was no different this time. But her leads steal the show. Colt is a girl’s dream—part cowboy, part musician. Someone with a heart of gold who doesn’t deserve his misfortunes. But he’s got a bunch of them. An absentee father, a deceased grandfather, the potential loss of his livelihood, and the unwanted/unwarranted attention of the police for murder. When he and Sage connect, it’s because he doesn’t know where else to turn. And while some people might consider her gifts to be delusions or flights of fancy, he takes her seriously. Readers can see the sparks from the second they shared a page. She is kind and sweet and generous, his perfect partner in every way. Watching them fight every obstacle in their path is a thrill. And the climax of the story will leave you breathless.

While many works begin to lose my interest as a series progresses, this saga only gets better. The books can be read as stand-alones and in any order, but because of the recurring characters, I’m glad I read them chronologically. Whichever order you choose, I recommend them all. What a way to end a series. 

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And : Amazon UK – Website: Jan Sikes – Goodreads: Jan on Goodreads – Twitter: @rijanjks

 

How to feature in the series?

• All I need you to do is give me permission to dive in to your archives and find two posts to share here on Smorgasbord. (sally.cronin@moyhill.com)
• Rather than a set topic, I will select posts at random of general interest across a number of subjects from the second six months of 2022. (it is helpful if you have a link to your archives in your sidebar by month)
• As I will be promoting your books as part of the post along with all your information and links so I will not be sharing direct marketing or self- promotional posts in the series.
• If you are an author I am sure you will have a page on your blog with the details, and an ‘about page’ with your profile and social media links (always a good idea anyway). I will get everything that I need.
• As a blogger I would assume that you have an ‘about page’ a profile photo and your links to social media.
• Copyright is yours and I will ©Your name on every post… and you will be named as the author in the URL and subject line.
• Previous participants are very welcome to take part again.
• Each post is reformatted for my blog and I don’t cut and paste, this means it might look different from your own post especially if you are using the block editor
• If I do share a post which contains mainly photographs I will share up to five and link back to the original post for people to view the rest.

N.B – To get the maximum benefit from your archive posts, the only thing I ask is that you respond to comments individually and share on your own social media.. thank you.