Parting the Mists

Here’s an interesting card for the day. Not all flowers are sweet, so take care. Blessings!

Opium Poppy – Dreams, Illusions

Keywords: Wild imaginings, for good or bad; dreams and daydream; illusions and delusions; intuition; magic and enchantments; an addiction; escaping reality; wonderful fantasies; myths and make-believe; all things fae

Meaning: Opium poppies are famous for their ability to induce colorful dreams and, sometimes, wonderful illusions take place under opium’s influence when the user is fully awake. Moreover, in ancient times they were engraved on tombstones, the afterlife being widely regarded as an eternal dream, a sort of dream experience par excellence. In JJ Grandville’s playful engraving, Opium Poppy is using her thick stems like hosepipe to “water” her insect friends, many of whom already appear to be asleep. But are their dreams pleasant? And will they work up?

Whether or not we use drugs of any sort, we dream. It is human to do so. Anyone with a pet dog or cat knows that animals dream too. Put technically, dreaming is neurological function. Psychologists know that we resolve a lot of emotional issues through dreams. In many religious texts, dreams have a prophetic or warning function; angels are often prominent in these, even the figure of God himself. Having said that, even the most rational atheist can have extraordinary dreams full of seemingly irrational events and images.

Not all creative people have been drug users like Thomas de Quincey or Samuel Taylor Coleridge (who most famous poem, “Kubla Khan,” is probably opium-induced) but may creators – poets, novelists, painters, composers – derive inspiration from dreams. The Surrealists made dreams the central focus of their art. Dreams can yield images and ideas unimaginable in our waking hours. For all of us, they are a rich source of inspiration and, sometimes, solace or wisdom. Each dream – even a nightmare – can be a wise teacher.

What, then, of illusions? There are optical illusions, of course, such as those found in the work of M.C. Escher, and there are natural phenomena-type illusions, such as rainbows or a mirage in the desert. But let’s focus on psychological illusions, on the sort of situation where we cary illusions about with us. Maybe we are convinced a certain person is in love with us while everyone else knows they are not: we are under an illusion. Or, contrariwise, we are wrongly adamant that someone on our circle hates us and is trying to make our life hell. Either way, to go about under an illusion for any length of time is not healthy because it can blind us to everything else going on. There’s nothing really wrong with us if this happens occasionally, the sensible and wise friends and mentors can help here too, by gently putting us right and enabling us to move on with our lives. Look at the one insect in the picture who is not overwhelmed by Lady Opium. He is carrying a lantern, a symbol of clarity and illumination like the lantern usually carried by The Hermit in traditional tarot cards. He can see clearly and is being totally sensible bout the situation. Let’s bear him in mind when we feel ourselves becoming caught up in false dreams and illusions.

The Victorian Flower Oracle by Sheila Hamilton, art by JJ Grandville with Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov