Robert Clarke on the mythological/religious symbolism of dreams

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

My friend Robert Clarke died in late October in his hometown in England, a merciful transition from life with a cancer-ridden body. Though he and I only met twice, we corresponded by email and he became a valued friend, in the long-distance way so many of us have friendships these days. I firmly believe that he in his life, like Carl Jung before him, found a valuable key for the rest of us. Though he lived in obscurity, he had a rich inner life that included, by his estimate, 30,000 dreams that led him through the individuation process.

He wrote two articles for his local newspaper that I think are of wider interest. The first, he sent to me on April 4, 2008. Tomorrow I will post the second.

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Robert Clarke on dreams and the processes of the spirit

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

As I look through emails from my friend Robert Clarke, who passed over to the other side last month, I find this, which should be of interest. Perhaps it gives a glimpse of the depth of meaning hidden in symbolism of dreams and mythology.

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Robert B. Clarke

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

Robert Clarke, shadow and alll

Robert Clarke and I met virtually (i.e. by email) about a decade ago, through English author Colin Wilson, who was a friend of each of us. Hampton Roads published Robert’s first book, The Four Gold Keys, though I wasn’t the one to edit it. The following year, 2003, I traveled to England and made a point of having a day with Robert before going off to do other things.

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The Next Stage in Evolutionary Creation

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

A piece by my friend Robert Clarke, author of The Four Gold Keys, who lives in Stoke-on-Trent, England.

It was recently the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, who had connections with the area where I live, being married to one of the Wedgwoods.

Darwin is universally renowned of course for his theory of evolution, first propounded in his groundbreaking work, The Origin of Species. And he is not only renowned, but almost revered as a ‘wise old man’ figure, like Socrates and Plato – he even looked like them. Darwin opened up and made possible new understanding of the processes of life in matter, of how species grow and change and adapt, though others were doing pioneer work in this field even before him. But with knowledge of evolution and other great discoveries of science that were to follow, not only life on earth but man’s opinion of the whole universe, of eternal truth itself, was radically and drastically altered.

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The Mythological and Religious Symbolism of Dreams

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

My friend Robert Clarke sent me this article he published in his local newspaper — he lives in Burslem, which is one of the cities that comprise Stoke-on-Trent. Robert is an expert on dreams and dream symbolism, and at some point I will get around to telling his story, which is a fascinating one.

The Mythological/Religious Symbolism of Dreams

by Robert B. Clarke

We all have dreams, though some people fail to remember them. Often our dreams are about everyday concerns, our hopes, fears, desires, and ambitions, but now and then strange contents appear that impress us deeply, whether pleasantly or otherwise. This latter type of dream is what primitive peoples call “big dreams”, and if we take note of these over a sufficient period of time they are found to form processes, which, much to our surprise, can only be said to be mythological/religious in nature.

They cover a vast range, from the lower instinctual level (dragon depths etc.) to the higher spiritual, and anyone who follows the inner processes comes to realise that another spirit/soul reality exists behind the conscious/physical universe and that it speaks to us in symbolic language in dreams. Or it may come through to us in deep meditation, or occasionally even break through the veil as outer visions.

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