Netherlings

An Emotional Reaction

Dream guides appear anywhere in dreams — both those that are brightly-lit and in dark dreams. They can appear where horrible things are going on, and they of course, appear in heavenly dreams. But there other types of sentient characters in the dream ecosystem.

One type seems to have only the business of eliciting an emotional response. For example, in a well-lit dream, I am sometimes approached by a small animal or a child. I’ll pet the animal or child, and in doing so, am exuding a caring and nurturing vibe. It is an emotion — the sheer pleasure of wishing someone well — but I don’t know if there is a word for it in English. In German, I’d say “Pflegefreude”. This goes on for not more than a half minute. Then the animal or child scampers away. There is no other theme. I do not recognise anyone.

There are other emotions on the human menu, and most of them are negative: fear, anxiety, shame, dread, anger, outrage… and there are sentient characters who are interested in eliciting these emotions. Some seem specialised for particular kinds. These never appear in brightly-lit dreams, for whatever reason.

I woke up from an unremembered dream once with the following words echoing in my head: “They don’t want to be called ‘netherlings’. They don’t want to be named.”

The Unwanted Wallet

My favourite illustration comes from a friend who dreamt that she was walking home on a deserted city street late at night. She began to suspect that she was being followed and changed her path. A large man in shadows behind her matched her changes. Finally, she broke into a run. When she rounded a corner, there was the man, magically before her. She whimpered, “I know what you want. I’m going to put my wallet on the ground and back away, but you can’t come forward until I’m at least ten paces away.”

She put her wallet on the side walk, and began backing away, but the man advanced toward her. “You promised!” she cried. Here is the critical part of the dream: As she backed away and he advanced, he eventually reached the wallet and simply stepped over it. He did not satisfy her expectations of her dream. She broke into a run, and he ran after her, careful to neither catcher nor lose her, but merely to remain at a fear-provoking distance. She awoke sometime later, still in flight.

I love the nightlife, baby

In one of my own dreams, I was standing on the sidewalk before a nightclub late at night. A homeless man approached me and asked to speak to, coincidentally, the woman from the dream above. I hesitated, but I thought, I’m a progressive, non-judgemental person, so I’ll take him to her. We went inside to her, but within seconds he began to molest her. I said, “Right. That’s enough.” I descended on him and pummeled him with blows. I became lucid. In wonder, I said, “Wait! What am I doing? I don’t want to be doing this. This is a dream!”

The man, seemingly caught off-guard, said, “No, it isn’t!”

Dream Abortion

Over and over, these dreams have two things in common: there is some triggering situation and someone who is administrating it or supervising it. It’s tempting to say that these are Freudian dreams; after all, we are seduced only by those dreams that correspond to our predilections. This is why I mention the animal/child dreams. These are anything but Freudian.

I am able to wake myself up from such dreams. It is nearly painful. It feels like a huge adhesive bandage has been ripped from my body. It’s a shame that I can still be seduced by these dreams, but I am at least no longer indulgent.

Coin Toss

Last night, I dreamt that I was hanging out with the adult sons and daughters of a bohemian Czech family that was touring in a van. In one of our conversations, I was told that one could dismiss netherlings by throwing them coins. Not handing them coins, but throwing a coin or two into them. I took this to be simply some magical fact about the dreaming world.

In a later dream, I was ascending a darkened stairwell to an attic party. I made my coins ready. A two meter tall hairy monster approached the landing to block my path. It was hideous. I threw a quarter into his pelt. He stepped aside and said, “Right, in you go.” However, I awoke. Seemingly, the exercise was over.

I want to take a moment to describe this example of dream logic. Tossing a quarter into the pelt of a monster might seem like nonsensical magic from a children’s book. However, consider what it isn’t: it isn’t an act of fear; it isn’t an act of aggression, and it isn’t an act of submission. It isn’t even a reaction to anything the monster might have done, other than appearing. It is a proactive attempt to disable the situation. In the end, any act that is not inspired by emotion is a signal that the dreamer is not to be had. The emotional branches of the dream have been cut off; there is nothing for the netherling to invest in. I present this as a good example of dream logic; things that might seem nonsensical, do make sense from a strategic perspective.