But before I undertake the research, I would like to discuss key elements in critical dreams that played a role in the enhancement of my motivational model into a more aesthetic, efficient, and functional whole. The elements are too numerous to summarize here, and a thorough exegesis of my model in terms of these dreams would require a detailed review of dozens of dreams that lies beyond the scope of this web site. For now, I will confine my remarks to a few illustrative instances:

• a shell within a shell within a shell, the third and most interior shell contained a wedding band with the inscription of the name Harvey and the year 1936.
  

• I was given a book titled The Occupied Self.
  

• I crossed an intersection diagonally so as to cross two streets at once.
  

• After an amnesia, I was instructed by an old man to look at my watch so that I would realize I had confused midnight for noon.
  

• I was moving cross-country to my new apartment in California, from inside of which I stared outward through the glass door to the address printed on the other side, 2849. The 8 was not considered part of the address, as it was half the size of the other numbers and raised like a superscript.
  

• I brushed my teeth with a comb.
  

And Now…The Evidence from the Dreams

If we look at the model we see three levels of triangles. There is the one triangle that is synonymous with the whole motivational psyche. Just inside this triangle are three SMALLER triangles pointed in the same direction as its parent. And then there is the one INVERTED triangle interior to the three and at the center of the whole. This nesting of triangles within triangles -- triangles within diamonds – and diamonds within a triangle -- reminds me of the dream of the three shells and the wedding band. The shells themselves were cone-shaped shells with a sinuous exterior texture, such that you can trace a contour as it spirals in concentric circles around the exterior of the shell all the way from one end to the other. Similarly, if we draw out arrows depicting the counterclockwise movement within each of the three diamonds, we see a cylindrical movement akin to that of the contours in the exterior of the shell. It is also reminiscent of the tornado -- of which I dreamed frequently -- and of the black hole or tunnel of darkness that appeared in 980104 (dream on January 4, 1998). It is also reminiscent of the 'coil' -- the term I coined for the single most encapsulating motif within my dream history -- and which is discussed at length on the Dreams web page. This was also the same dream in which I confused midnight for noon, which itself is reminiscent of many aspects of this model. Non-digital or traditional watches -- like the one in my dream -- use one watch-face that spans a twelve-hour time frame to represent a 24-hour day. There is a 2-in-1 aspect to the model expressed by the watch-face such that the “other” twelve hour time period is hidden or dormant within the current twelve hour time period. Upon wakening, this was suggestive to me of the relationship between conscious and unconscious minds, but it was not until after I devised this model that I wondered whether it would be better to think of the unconscious not as a separate domain entirely but as one embedded in the structure of the conscious mind. In my dynamic motivational model, the unity of the psyche is depicted as TWO triangles HIDDEN IN ONE. Also, many watches – like the one in my dream – feature only the four cardinal points – and in this way resemble a temporal version of a compass – with 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. These are the minimum essential elements of temporal navigation and, as such, correspond to the four points on a baseball diamond. The 12 o'clock, like home plate, is the beginning and end of a cycle. Not only is the 12 placed at the bottom of the diagram as opposed to the top (as on a watch), but because the movement along the bases is COUNTERclockwise -- such that 1B would be 3 o'clock and 3B would be 9 o'clock -- we have what appears to be the OPPOSITE of a normal clock. This may be what the dream intended to tell me when I confused midnight for noon -- that the model I was attempting to develop of the psyche at that time in my life should resemble a 'counter-clock' -- that movement should be in the opposite direction. Incidentally, it has not escaped my attention prior to all my tornado dreams that the winds inside the funnel typically move in a counterclockwise direction.

References to the triangle-within-a-triangle can also be identified in the dream material. The teeth on many long combs -- including the one I used in my dream to brush my teeth -- is divided into two sections: a half where there is a smaller number of taller and widely spaced teeth -- and a half where there is a larger number of shorter and more densely packed teeth. In this way, the comb is shaped like the cone, and these two words – it occurs to me just now -- even SOUND alike. The cone was wider at one end where the contours on the exterior were more widely spaced, and narrowed to a point at the other end where the contours were more densely packed. On the cone, the wide end is OPEN and provides for the entrance and exit of all things, like the unconscious motivations on the vertices of the broadest and most exterior triangle -- and the narrow end is CLOSED and contains what is inside the shell -- much like the conscious motivations of the inverted and interior triangle. In this way, one may view the dynamic model three-dimensionally as a cone-shaped shell, where the broadest triangle is the open-ended mouth of the model, where new material enters the model via the unconscious (from within) or the environment (from without). Here the width and openness is suggestive of a range of possibilities that is given free play with minimum constraints from the model itself. The interior triangle, by contrast, symbolizes the conscious mind and attitude, and corresponds to the narrow and enclosed end of the cone, where possibilities are most constrained and where there is an inbred form of determinism at work.

The cones themselves are synonymous with the year inscribed on the wedding band: 1936. 1936 contains the same numbers as the cardinal points on the clock. There is a 1 in 12 at the top, and then we have a 3, a 6, and a 9. The three is the common denominator here, especially between the numbers to its immediate right and left. 3 are the number of vertices in a triangle. Also as the common denominator, three can be said to play a relational role between the 6 and the 9. It is what the two numbers have in common, and it is also the difference between the two numbers such that 6 subtracted from 9 yields 3. Morphologically, 3 is also half of 8, which is what we would see if we superimposed 6 over 9 or 9 over 6. And like the wedding band, this is a unity indeed, for as one can trace the path of the wedding band around itself forever without leaving the band, the same could be said for the figure 8. (A horizontal version of this figure is used as mathematical shorthand for infinity). But 1936 as a year is a set of coordinates that transcends the precise year it designates. 6 is the year within the decade 3 within the century 9 within the millennium 1. Shells within shells. The interior triangle in my model -- or conscious orientation -- is the only triangle in the diagram which is not independent of the others, but which is made from the juxtaposition of the others. THIS -- is your 8 and your wedding band. Consciousness is the product of relationships between unconscious motivations. And here I have to wonder whether the motivation that corresponds to second base in each of the diamonds is also intended to serve as an intermediary between the motivations on the broadest triangle that it bisects. For example, does the attainment of Sensuousness -- as second base on the diamond where Transcendence is home plate -- serve as an intermediary between Self-Actualization and Self-Assertion? The fact this interior triangle points in another direction entirely may symbolize the purpose of consciousness as the attempt by the unconscious to transcend itself.

The Tube

The seashell dream also contained a reference to a tube of Ben Gay. At every point along the tube, the tube contains the same amount of substance. But this never appears this way from any one particular view. For example, from the side, the tube appears tallest near its mouth and shortest at the tip of its tail. But the horizontal dimensions you cannot see balance out the vertical ones. The tube is deepest where it is shortest, and shallowest where it is tallest. You would notice this if you turned the tube over to look at it from the top (or from the bottom), at which time a view presents itself that is contrary to the earlier one. The tube now appears widest at its tail and narrowest at its mouth. But as in the earlier view, this is just an illusion of perspective. At its mouth where it is narrowest, it extends more deeply into the hidden horizontal plane than at any other point. The point being made here by the dream is that the reality is a Sameness all over, and that reality is always hidden. It is as unseen – as inaccessible to experience -- as it is real. Any and all viewpoints – and this may symbolize the nature of consciousness – divide the pristine Unity into opposites. Opposite viewpoints divide up the sameness in opposite ways. The reality – the hidden sameness – the unseen interior substance – can be said to spiral down the tube from its mouth to its tail or up the tube from its tail to its mouth such that it no longer matters which end is which.

California Address 2849

I also dreamed that I had taken a cab cross-country to my new home in California. The apartment had a glass façade, and from the inside I examined the address printed on the outside of the window. But in the dream, due to the fact the 8 in 2849 was half the size of the other numbers and raised like a superscript, I considered the address to be 249, and at some points in the dream to 349, so that I was intended to awaken with an uncertainty as to whether the address was 249 or 349. But upon examination, both numbers – and in fact all three – seem significant. First, 3 – 4 – 9 is obtained when we sum the numbers for each of the base addresses: 3 from the sum of the numbers in 210, 4 from the sum of the numbers in 121, and 9 from the sum of the numbers in 2025. 2025 -- a former address I believe corresponds to 2B of the baseball diamond dream -- is related to 249 is an interesting way. The first digit in 249 is the first digit in 2025. The second digit in 249 is the sum of the first THREE numbers in 2025. Finally, the third digit in 249 is the sum of ALL FOUR numbers in 2025. Shells within shells. 249 is the encapsulation of 2025 by another shell -- and may represent a new shell to the sea creature that occupies it in much the same way HOME plate is a new HOME -- a new run -- a higher level -- for the team whose player reaches it. So 249 is 121 and 2025 at a higher level. 249 may represent the view from 2025 up another level. (This may be why 249 was printed so high up on the glass and why I had to bend my neck so far back to see it. I am looking ‘up and into' a new address. Also, the numbers were positioned in such a way that they could be read from inside the apartment, which means that from outside the apartment, they would have been in mirror image, which is how I described the view from 2025). Coincidentally, 249 is the address of my new home in the dream -- so the literal experience in the dream is suggestive here of a deeper meaning of 'home' that transcends the literal experience and even the particular dream in which it occurred. In a Chinese Checkers game the previous evening, I won with the color yellow, which was the color of the cab that took me from coast to coast in my dream.

So what about the '8' raised between the 2 and the 4? May this suggest the layout of the new baseball diamond, such that from home, 3B = 2, 2B = 4, and 1B = 9? Let us put this aside and address ourselves to the 8. The 8 is raised between the 2 and the 4. This reminds me of the role 3 plays in the number 1936, where 3 is the common denominator and the difference between 9 and 6 in an expression of simultaneous identity and opposition. The 6 is like an inverted 9 and vice-versa such that we see an 8 when we superimpose one over the other. The Chinese Checkers board is a superimposition of an inverted triangle over an upright triangle. If we place an 8 between the 2 and the 4, we get 2849 as an address. Squares connect the 2, 8, and 4, which is why 8 may be raised like a superscript. 2 to the second power = 4, and 2 to the third power (raised middle 8) = 8. Also, if you multiply 2 and 4, you get 8, so 8 is the product of 2 and 4, i.e. product and higher power. The relationship between 1936 and 2489 may be like that between a triangle and a diamond. In 8 we have an even number that is related to another even number --2 -- by the power of an odd number -- 3 -- which happens to be the number of vertices in a triangle. The transition from an opposition between motivations in a continuum (2) to a diamond (4) is mediated by a triangle (3). The 8 is a third -- an odd -- power of 2. I am reminded here of 2 x 2 x 2, the formula for what is now my motivational model, which consists of THREE PAIRS of motivations. The 9 is a second -- an even -- power of 3. This ALSO reminds me of my motivational model, which consists of TWO TRIADS of motivations -- i.e., the 3 introverted and 3 extraverted. Here we see a relationship between different sets of numbers. 9 and 3 -- denominator 3 -- are related to the 8 and 2 by the number 2. 8 and 2 -- denominator 2 -- are related to the 9 and 3 by the number 3. Here the numbers 8 and 2 and the numbers 9 and 3 are depicted as two opposite sides of the same coin -- or perhaps each is depicted as an inverted form of the other, which is reminiscent of the tube of Ben Gay (whose same mass is distributed into opposite shapes depending on the view from which it is seen). The tube appears in the same dream as the cones, and it clearly resembles the cone in structure, having an open mouth and an enclosed tail. The name Ben Gay itself is broken up into two separate words, each composed of three letters. The "Ben Gay" tube did not appear in the dream itself, but was the response of the woman who informed me she was in "Sports Medicine." I had asked her whether she was a masseuse (emphasizing Sports, i.e., the applied or casual -- or extraverted word -- in Sports Medicine) or a physician (emphasizing the Medicine, i.e. the basic or formal -- or introverted word -- in Sports Medicine). "Ben Gay" must be code for "depends on how you look at it" or "depends on what kind of person you are -- and you are one of two different types of people." Here there is an implication that extraversion and introversion are two aspects of the same whole, i.e. that the psyche is a confluence of the two (to which the use of the MBTI as a catalog does not do justice), but also that there are two different forms the confluence can take, which is what Jung REALLY meant by "introvert" and "extravert" if you read his PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES closely enough.

Finally, if we enclosed the two triangles that make up the Chinese Checkers configuration within a circle, as was done in my dream of 980205 -- in which this configuration of lights in the sky was supposed to be to me either a constellation or an alien armada -- and then enumerate the angles (both acute and obtuse) around the periphery, we see that there are twelve, like on a watch. If we place the 12 at the top, we see that there is a special relationship among the points designated by the numbers 12, 3, 6, and 9. 12 is the vertex of the upright triangle that gives it its upward-pointing nature. 6 is the vertex of the inverted triangle that gives it ITS inverted nature. And 3 and 9 are points that do not refer to vertices on either triangle, but perhaps hinges that connect them. In the dream of the stars in the night sky, the two triangles seemed to fold over one another within a circle as if connected on hinges. In this dream I concluded that this light form was either an armada or constellation at the opposite end of the universe OR an optical illusion that emanated from within myself and projected outward. Here we see a reference to a dichotomy between self and other – between near and far – between identity and opposition. There was also a sense that the light form was the confluence or unity of these oppositions – near yet far – self yet other – identical yet opposite – at the same time! And where else is that true but in the model I would later construct of the psyche.

In baseball, there is a home away from home, i.e. the homes from which our balls start and the homes at the opposite corner in which they finish. The object of the game is the dexterity with which one could replicate one’s triangular origin in a destination, maneuvering through the “traffic” in the middle (like Ishben’s ground ball, which found a straight line through the pitcher’s wickets and between the Yankee infielders, who were already playing to the middle and crowding the field). The baseball diamond is two triangles within a circle – like the light form. Ishben's hit up the middle, a path no batter or base runner is expected to take, signifies some kind of dichotomy between structural form and experiential activity (or what I also call ‘form’ and ‘life’). This also reminds me of how I crossed that intersection diagonally in another dream. I broke a couple rules here in doing so: (1) first, I crossed two streets at once and (2) as a pedestrian I traced out a path reserved for vehicular traffic. An intersection itself is like a baseball diamond with respect to this constraint, as base runners must also trace out a path reserved for them, which does not include the path a ball can take or that the fielders can take. I am not certain to what on my model these constraints correspond, but they may indicate that there are certain principles or laws governing the psyche which cannot be experienced directly and that, conversely, there are phenomena which in and of itself is never lawful. So here we have a distinction akin to that made between Kant's noumena and phenomena and Rychlak's vehicular and discriminal constructs. It may also describe the schism between two types of Psychology -- what I call Human Nature and Psychological Law (described in "Selection & Training"). Ishben's shot-up-the-middle to break the bases-loaded, ninth-inning, 2-2 deadlock, and the diagonal crossing of the intersection (both instances in which a diamond is divided into two triangles) symbolizes what is needed to develop a Psychology that captures a confluence of both these principles. In other words, the structural principles of the psyche cannot be reproduced in psychological life and conversely, structural principles DOTH NOT LIFE MAKE.

A Color Theory of the Psyche

I also dreamed that a woman told me her wise theory of the psyche -- that the colors red and green were associated with consciousness, whereas the colors yellow and blue were associated with the unconscious. When I awakened, it took me a while to realize this is a reference to the opponent-process theory of color perception I learned and taught in General Psychology years earlier. In this theory there are actually 3 pairs of opposite colors -- black/white, red/green, and yellow/blue -- reminiscent of the 3 pairs of opposite colors in MY motivational model of the psyche. If this weren't enough, I remembered, years before that, that I had read in the Luscher Theory of Color -- it was the first pop psychology book I read after Jung -- that red and yellow are "extraverted" colors and blue and green are "introverted" colors. So here we see not only 3 pairs of opposites from one source, but opposites in terms of extraversion and introversion by some other source, and my motivational model encapsulates both principles.

A Recent Dream (010228)

I dreamed I was on the deck of my childhood home overlooking the development in the valley below. In the dream, the deck also overlooked the White House. I apprehensively watched as a tsunami flooded the development. Apprehension turned to anxiety as I watched tornadic winds circle my home. I did not see a funnel descend from above, which is why I informed my wife there was in fact NO tornado, but a smoky cloud-like substance of the horizontal winds – not to mention the sheer force of them – resembled that of a tornado. I was confused by this pattern and could not deny my own speculation that I do not see a tornado because I am inside the center of the funnel itself. I considered that perhaps one cannot see a tornado from within it. I opened the sliding glass doors to the parlor and ran into the house, instructing my wife to head for the basement. Once in the basement, I was chased by two black widow spiders, which advanced on me with uncanny speed. Somehow I was able to notice the red hourglass on the underbellies of these black spiders.

Interpretation
This dream makes reference to a number of symbols whose significance I have contemplated in recent days. The basement -- too foundational to be blown away – refers in Experiographic terms to home plate on the diamond and in Jungian terms to the foundation of a psyche, i.e. the Collective Unconscious and the myth-driven mission into which a human character is said to unfold from within (or from the ground up). I am drawn to the contrast here between the basement of my childhood home and the White House. As the temporary “home” of the person who occupies the most visible, influential, and representative office in the World, the White House symbolizes the public and political function of my book and website, which is perhaps the highest public function I will exercise in my own lifetime. I also believe the White House is a positive reflection on the merits of my work, and a reference to the fact that the height of a tree – and the breadth of its limbs – is a clear indication of the depth of its roots. In Experiographic terms, this is an expression of the relationship between second base and home plate, namely that Regression and Progression are intrinsically tied to one another such that one cannot progress further than one has regressed and vice-versa. (The fact I may be INSIDE a tornado may be a reference to the model in that movement along the periphery of a baseball diamond symbolizing the model is counterclockwise). Being in the middle of the winds may correspond to the pitcher’s mound between second base (White House) and home plate (basement). I refer to the White House as a symbol of second base because the White House is a TEMPORARY home, a pinnacle of progress (i.e., achievement and external orientation) that can only be sustained if the person returns to home plate (i.e., regression) in the natural course of psychological development. I am also intrigued by the appropriateness of the White House as a symbol here considering that terms of office are measured in units of 4 years and limited to 8 years. The spider has 8 legs and the hourglass on the underbelly of the black widow is a stylized 8. In fact, the hourglass itself is like two triangles connected at their vertices. If we separate the two triangles, we see that the top one points downward and the bottom one points upward. This strikes me as a symbol of unity – or of a constitutionally balanced system like my model of the psyche and like our system of Government. I am also reminded of the fact the inverted top triangle resembles a tornado, which is wide where it meets the clouds but narrow where it meets the earth. Conversely, the upward-pointing bottom triangle resembles a volcano. This brings to mind a 1996 dream in which the cloud from a volcano formed a tornado of lava.

There are also other aspects of the black widow that fascinate me. The spider is known for its exoskeleton. I have heard a representative of Orkin refer to it as a “hard shell.” The implication here is that the life is contained within the form. I am reminded here of the shells within shells dream of 980216. The black widow is also named for the female of its species, which is prone to consume its male partner after mating and its young after birth. I am reminded here of a more recent dream addressed elsewhere on this website (010110) wherein my mother and grandmother survive to escape a prison planet that claimed the life of my grandfather and many other MALES. The black widow may refer to an unfolding-from-the-interior – to a form of development from within where external contributions are assimilated. I have in the past likened spiders in general to introverts in that they do not seek out or accommodate the external world, but live solitary and sedentary lives in webs that capture or filter passing or wayward insects. So I remain uncertain whether the black widows in this dream refer to regression, the prejudicial attitude of the introvert, or to the unity of the system as a whole and its roots in our foundations.

Folding the Sheets

I also dreamed I carried a folded comforter on my hunched back as I walked. I realize now what happens when a sheet is folded. If the sheet is rectangular, the first fold transforms it into a square. If we fold it a second time – but this time along the other axis – the rectangle is recreated at a smaller level. At this time, we have created interiority and by that I mean the sheets themselves now have an open-ended side and an enclosed end. And at the enclosed end is where the two “levels” are hinged where the fabric assumes the shape of a curve. (Incidentally the two levels are partitioned, i.e. clearly discrete, and yet they are connected). Also, between the two most interior sections of fabric within the fold, is a space that in one sense is INSIDE the fold and yet in another is clearly OUTSIDE. In another words, at some point, interior becomes exterior in much the same way the path from home to 2B becomes a path from 2B to home.

The Intersection: Dynamics Model as Cardiovascular System

The intersection is also an expression of four points, but while the diamond emphasizes movement along the periphery, the intersection emphasizes movement at the center. These two symbols may be inversely related to one another (like the upright and inverted triangle, metaphorically speaking). The intersection featured in the dream is that of Manhattan and another road, which splits into Andersen and Bluemont at its juncture with Manhattan. Andersen and Bluemont refer to different stretches of the same road. Furthermore, Andersen and Bluemont refer to the name of two academic buildings on campus, one which houses the Psychology Department, and the other which formerly housed the Psychology Department and which now houses the Administration. (Whatever else this may turn out to be, it is probably also a reference to the professionalization of psychology. At the time of this dream, I had experienced resistance from professional trends, but had not yet come to frame the nature of this resistance this way). Manhattan is also the name of the town, which was named after the city of New York and is referred to from time to time as the “Little Apple.” And yet to be here, you would know how diametrically opposite life in the Little Apple is to life in the Big Apple. (This may also be a reference to the relationship between the smaller inverted triangle at the center of the dynamic model, as the Little Apple was the center of my life at the time I dreamed it, and the larger upright triangle that is the periphery and shape of what is ALL the dynamic model. It is possible therefore that the intersection is a symbol of life INSIDE the interior triangle, whereas the diamond is a symbol of life as a whole).

BlueMont and Andersen may also correspond with the meanings of vein and artery. The blue in BlueMont may refer to blood that has been depleted by the body. (A days-earlier dream was specifically about my blood and the way my cardiovascular system operated. I should probably consult this dream for a future update of this web site). The “A” in Andersen may refer to artery. If this were true, it may relate the relationship between the two triangles – and three diamonds -- in my dynamic model to the cardiovascular system. Veins and arteries are entirely separate in the nature of the blood they transport and in the purpose of transportation. Veins carry blood toward the heart and arteries carry blood away from the heart. The presence of my friend Dave in this dream, a childhood friend interested precociously in Astrophysics, may be to jog my memory about the Doppler Effect, which occurred to me while I took up the matter of his appearance in the dream. The Doppler Effect describes color as a function of the direction of movement relative to the person observing the movement. Red is the color of light that is moving AWAY from the observer, and blue is the color of light that is moving toward the observer. The heart here – and possibly the center of the intersection – may refer to home plate, where the artery may refer to progression (movement away from home) and vein to regression (movement toward home). Or the heart (and possibly also the lungs) may refer collectively to the motivations that define the vertices of the broadest triangle, and the rest of the body may refer to the interior triangle.

A Bizarre Coincidence?

All the dreams I reference above PRECEDE the development of my motivational model. Five of the six motivations were already in my memory as part of my masters thesis, but they were just a list of what I called "benefits" that were not related in any way -- not until March of 2000 -- two years AFTER this constellation of dreams. Could working with these dreams have predisposed me unconsciously toward my model? Or could the dreams themselves -- independent of any memory or attempted interpretation -- have set the unconscious theory in motion to emerge two years later when the opportunity and the need presented itself.