"Know Thyself"

Γνῶθι σεαυτόν Know Thyself.

You can find this phrase over the entrance to the temple at Apollo (at Delphi).

I think in it's purest form, Know Thyself is this ideal of understanding yourself wholly - your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, aspirations. But ultimately to understand oneself is to understand others. Ancient Greek philosophers would agree that no one has this ability to understand the human spirit completely - so how then can you know thyself?

I think the Greeks have it right. Knowing Thyself is a necessity, but it's impossible to totally know yourself without understanding others... and since it's impossible to understand others fully, you may never fully know yourself! (wow, that was a mouthful)

From the theological point of view - Know Thyself is a loaded phrase! It adds this huge pressure to not only understand yourself, but to have an understanding of your existence on a deeply personal level...

I had a dream this week - my feet where rotting and decaying. I remember looking at one of my feet and feeling it. I could touch it and put my hand through it with no pain! It didn't hurt but I was so concerned and worried as to why I would be dreaming about this! Then I checked my other foot and it was the same situation! In my dream I rushed to show my boss (who is a doctor) - and I remember saying "Look! Look at my feet! Tell me what's wrong! What can I do?!" and then I remember waking up. Dream over. I immediately checked my feet. This dream was nuts - why did I have it? What did it mean? Why did it stay with me all day???

So I looked to history. People have been interpreting dreams since the beginning of time. The Greeks were actually some of the first to record interpretations of dreams. The Greeks saw dreams through a religious prespective - which is helpful since I happen to look at things the same way. (Ancient) Greeks believed dreams to be a direct message from the gods (or from the dead). Dreams predicted what would/should happen in the future! They held dreams to such high regard that they built shrines for people to visit (in hopes they would sleep there and recieve a message as to what to do - in whatever situation they were in) and dream interpreters accompianed leaders everywhere to assist. Aristotle thought dreams were a result of happenings of your body - they were able to diagnose an illness or disease!

So what about my feet? Here's what I found...

To see your own feet in your dream, symbolizes your foundation, stability and sense of understanding. To dream that your foot is injured or hurt, signifies a lack of progress, freedom, and independence. Alternatively, the dream may suggests that you have taken a step in the wrong direction. In particular, to dream that your foot gets cut by glass, then it indicates passivity. You may be hesitant or reluctant in taking the first step toward a goal or decision.

(thanks Dreammoods.com)

It makes sense. I've been searching and searching for a purposeful job - something I would love. I've been working a job that I thought to be temporary and fun - but turned out to be "permanently" temporary and horrible. I've lost all sense of who I intended to be in the first place. In the instability of life, I've learned that I don't know myself at all. What way do I go? What step do I take? My foundation is crumbling (thus the feet dream)... and now I'm panicked as to what to do...

Maybe the answers lie within our dreams....