Dreamways

The following is an excerpt of an article published in Science Daily at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091120084613.htm?sms_ss=ema....

Science Daily (Nov. 21, 2009) - Research by the University of Warwick and University of Manchester finds that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money.  The research has obvious implications for large compensation awards in law courts but also has wider implications for general public health.

The following is an excerpt from James Hillman's book DREAM ANIMALS co-authored by painter Margot McLean:

"Often I begin a workshop on animal images with the snake.  The snake works like a charm, freeing people of their insidious notions of snake symbolism, and therefore of animal symbolism in general.  The questions I ask sound like this:  "How do you understand a snake image?" "What does a snake mean?"  "What's your interpretation?"  I have assembled and condensed the replies:

Sarah Palin has suddenly, spectacularly and confrontationally leaped onto the stage of national American politics. Her name and image have quickly taken up an enormous space in the American psyche, much like a powerful and disturbing sleep-dream image. Like a dream image, Ms Palin’s appearance has disrupted the American status quo. Her selection as the Republican vice presidential candidate has stirred things up. She evokes extremely powerful reactions, both positive and negative.

“Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services. What could be scarcer or more precious than love? It is rare, hard to come by and often fragile.” With these words economic writer Ben Stein introduces some guidelines for what he calls “the economics of love,” combining financial savviness with wisdom about love. ( “Lessons in Love, by Way of Economics,” The New York Times, 13 Jul 08)

Bella, sent off to finish high school in the state of Washington, “catches the eye of a gorgeous boy in her biology class named Edward. He turns out to be a member of a commune of vampires, who have banded together to fight their inclination to drink human blood." So begins Gail Collins’ synopsis of “The Twilight Saga,” a series of extraordinarily popular books by Stephenie Meyer (“A Virginal Goth Girl,” The New York Times, 12 Jul 08).

The dance of shadow and light; known and unknown; familiar and other

"Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that.  This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week.