A Language Older Than Words

It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

William Blake, public domain

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One morning last week, while having our morning coffee, my husband and I were conversing about dreams and visions. He expressed the idea that, to him, it sounded like I was being very cautious with my words when speaking about memorable dreams and visions I’ve experienced. He remarked that I seemed hesitant in my statements regarding them.

I understand why, when speaking about them I might appear to be “hesitant.” This is because although I’ve encountered and interacted with other beings in various settings and times, I don’t know what to call them. Most of the words in our present day English language have multiple meanings and a great number of associations, many of them inaccurate, connected with them.

I don’t want to call them daemons, because too many people nowadays attach meanings to this word that are completely incorrect. I don’t want to call them extraterrestrials, because this word, too, has so many feelings, judgements and associations connected with it. I don’t want to call them angels, because many people have political, racial and religious biases in regard to this word.

(I will only say that they are presences. They are living. I’ve encountered them while asleep, while in a meditative state, while in a semi-conscious state, and while wide awake. )

Moreover, I often don’t know what words to use because many of my experiences lie outside anything commonplace. Beyond all this, although I have been in communication with someone, or some beings, or some presence, there is no exchange between us involving language.

When communications do take place, they are always telepathic. These beings simply know what I’m thinking. They, in their turn, somehow simply deposit their thoughts or ideas within me. I simply know what they are communicating to me. Their communication with me could be best described as an experience.

Yet, there are no words.

Dream Visions, by Albrecht Durer, 1525, public domain

Now, some would think this conversation between my husband and me an unorthodox one on a typical Friday morning. What is actually more remarkable, is that immediately following our conversation, my husband read a chapter from a book by Rudolf Steiner. The chapter he read out loud to us exactly mirrored the path of our conversation! Yes, the content, the development, and the way in which our conversation had chronologically unfolded was reflected in what my husband read aloud to us just afterwards. Steiner’s chapter in this book was a map of our conversation!

Steiner spoke of the interactions between humans and super-sensible beings and how these communications are beyond human language. He did say that, in particular circumstances, we human beings will translate these communications and manifestations into our native languages so that we can better understand them or so that we can comprehend their meaning. (1)

It has been just so in my own experiences. Generally, language has no part in them. This can make it difficult to relate such experiences to others since - at least in my experience - we humans don’t usually communicate telepathically, at least on a conscious level. For me, on several occasions, just before coming out of sleep or a trancelike state, I’ve “heard” a few words. I have written about a few of these experiences. For your convenience, and if you’re interested, please see the links for each of these just below.

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When I consider:

1.) my dream and vision experiences

2.) the knowledge I’ve gained by living through them

3.) my concerns about accurately expressing what I’ve encountered

4.) the uncanny validation of Rudolf Steiner’s writings about such things

5.) the enigmatic timing involved in becoming aware of Steiner’s thoughts and ideas on this subject

I am confident in asserting, yet again, what I wrote nearly two years ago in my article entitled, “Gossamer Threads:”

Visions and dreams are aspects of a greater reality highlighting the illusion of day-to-day life. They provide sight, more lucid and penetrating than that with which we see by the light of day. Visions and dreams allow us to hear more accurately and more keenly than we do while awake. They give us small measured sips of the ambrosial eternal life that runs - ceaselessly - through us. They present us with opportunities to touch, to feel and to see the threads, the colors, and the images of the tapestries adorning the inner walls of ourselves that depict who we are.

The brilliance (of dreams and visions) illuminates the illusions of wakeful life and casts materiality into the shadows. They are related in a language older than words and impart a knowledge deeper than intellect. (2)

A Dream of Crime and Punishment, engraving by J. J. Grandville, 1847, public domain

I’ve had dreams and visions and experiences that were not perceptible through any material process or means. They’ve changed my perspectives. They’ve changed my life. They’ve changed me. I completely concur with Catherine, Emily Bronte’s character in Wuthering Heights, when she states:

I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind. (3)

Have you had such dreams or visions that have “gone through and through” you? How have you related to them? How have they changed you?

Until next time,

K. M. Anderson

PhD, Metaphysics

PhD, Spiritual Counseling

Whisperia

NOTES

1. Rudolf Steiner, Guardian Angels: Connecting With Our Spiritual Guides and Helpers, Lecture One: Guardian Angels. (East Sussex, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000) pages 4-24.

2. K. M. Anderson, “Gossamer Threads,” Whisperia Substack May 15, 2023, whisperia.substack.com/gossamerthreads

3. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights. (Ebook #768, 2022) www.gutenberg.org. p. 63.