My dreams have been whack lately. Four words: Vampire Ants. Human Urine. Don’t ask me what that means, but I know that one destroys the others. Now, I do think our subconscious can tell us something, but what does this mean? Now, oddly enough you can repeal animals with human urine. And… in 2001… they discovered vampire ants. What does this all mean? I don’t know. You would think that when the word vampire is mentioned in a dream, you would see sparkles and the what not, but no… I had a rational conversation that vampires do not exist, but that I was talking about vampire ants. Somehow, urine, human urine, was used to dispel them and same a baby monkey. Does this I need to go to Madagascar? Is that what my dreams are telling me?
Earlier in the week, I couldn’t sleep because the dreams were so intense that I woke exhaust from the hours long conversations with those in the dreams. No, no… I’m not going to tell you who were in the dreams… because that will make it odd. Also, in one of those dreams, I received my SBL handbook, went to SBL… but it was at a state park or something. Log cabins, etc… abounded. No one was there… not even in the Markan section. I was heartbroken… I mean, it was a nice park, but no book displays, no real meeting… So, I guess I am worried that I will not get my SBL handbook soon.
Dreams are an odd thing. Some have come “true” and by that, I mean that they have served to start a conversation I needed to have. Maybe Plutarch was right about dreams and inspiration. Who knows, but while I do not think that every dream means something, I do think that our mind will race to solve problems we are experiencing.
There is a vivid dream from childhood that I still like to relish – yes, I do in fact remember many of my dreams. Too many, actually. I woke up in the Appalachian mountains, in a 1860′s military uniform. It was Christmastime. I was in a rather opulent home, and someone was playing the piano. I remember the carols and the snow starting to fall. The scene out the window gives me the impression that we were not in a hollow somewhere, but further up the mountain. I could see the tops of trees. War was coming, and you should know what war I am talking about. I loved the uniform, and still to this day, I can feel the wool on my skin, my hands in their butternut-colored gloves holding on to a sword. The pistol was weightless on my side, most likely because I had worn it too long. Dreams are wonderful things, but sometimes, they are meaningless.
Then, you have dreams about vampire ants and human urine that causes you to google such a possibility… finding both things related to one another… you just sit back and say nothing… nothing at all.
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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When fire ants started to invade Texas, many cattlemen did not know how to stop them. They were dangerous to newborn calves as the ants were attracted to the fluids on the calf. One cattleman tried everything. In his exasperation, he peed on a mound of fire ants…the next day he found the mound deserted. He called Tex A/M and research began in ways that would really stop fire ants. I still have not convinced my husband to pee on the mounds in our yard.
growing up in Louisiana, I can attest to fire ants… never tried to urinate on one, though
So there is a scientific basis for the term, “piss on it”? Or better yet, “piss on them”, when referring to politicians you do not like. Then how come they never go away?
umm….
you were wearing a blue uniform-right?
Blue does not match butternut
to the living, it often did not matter. it was a horrible bloody war.
Joel, please don’t pull a Swedenborg.
…..
I don’t dream. Well, I suppose I do, but I don’t remember them. I never have. The 2 dreams I’ve remembered were actually visions. My wife and I were married for 10 years and we never had children. (not for lack of trying). Then about 2004 I had an extremely vivid dream while I was pastoring a church and it showed me being a father to a bunch of children. I assumed it meant I was going to have foster kids or run an orphanage or something. I eventually forgot about the dream. Then in 2007 my wife went to the doctor because of the “symptoms” she was having. He said she may be pregnant. She said impossible. Well, she took a pregnancy test and fainted.
2 kids later and we’re ready for more. 
(She’s 43, so that window of opportunity is closing)