The dream this morning takes place in China during the 1700's. I am the First Mate of a sailing ship; it could be a merchant vessel or privateer. I am wearing clothing exactly like that pictured above, with the captain, and crew on shore.
In the dream I see the captain and the crew to the right and I am standing alone apart from them to the left, off to the distance, a few miles away, I see a Catholic Mission. There is a school building, a tall brick Cathedral, and a factory.
What is made in this factory is not clear to me. There are 100 men who work there. The men from the factory are Christians. Their children attend school in the building across the street. Everyone attends Mass in the cathedral.
Suddenly, the factory has an explosion. There is a mushroom cloud, and the building becomes engulfed in flames. All 100 of the men inside are killed. Somehow, I am falsely accused of being the cause of this disaster. The Chinese emperor demands that I pay him reparations. He is angry that he has lost 100 good tax paying workers. His price is for me to create an orchard of 100 orange trees or forfeit my life.
So I set out to find and buy 100 nursery sized orange trees from the locals. I am buying them up 1 or 2 at a time from every farmer I can find throughout the land. I see trees neatly standing together with the roots tied up with burlap bags. I think I have collected perhaps 30 to 40 trees. It is far short of the goal. I feel like I have been set up to fail. The emperor surely knows there are not enough orange trees in the land to meet his quota.
The emperor sends an armored knight to come and demand payment, or he will terminate me on the spot. This warrior, however, is dressed in European medieval armor. He comes at me sword in hand. He pretty much intends to kill me. He moves awkwardly in the armor. He loses his footing and falls into a pool to his left. The edge of the pool is slippery with mud. I rush forward to try to catch the man before he falls in, but I too slip in the mud, and fall in after him. The pool quickly drains. It seems to be hundreds of feet deep. The knight disappears in its depth. My shirt becomes hooked on some sharp metal point, and I am clinging to a steel I-beam by my arms trying to pull myself up.
Meanwhile above me our captain and the crew look on in amazement at what transpired and assume I am dead. However, there is an attractive dark-haired European woman in our party that sees me in the shaft and knows that I yet live. I signal to her to not reveal that I have survived. This is when I awake from the dream.
The key element of this dream seems to be those orange trees. The emperor knew exactly what their symbolic meaning was...
The Orange became a symbol of their prosperity as it suggested great wealth, dreamy destinations and far-off lands. In Eastern history, orange trees have come to symbolize prosperity, and happiness. -Google August 2022.
How do I summarize the meaning of this dream? Orange trees are a high yield fruit tree, and they would, of course, generate a lot of wealth, and productivity over time. The emperor demands his due and I am in his way of his desire. His concern seems to be more for his wealth and then for the peasants. The orange trees seem a poor substitute for their lives. Although, I must admit he has some sense of justice as he sought to rebalance the loss of life with another living commodity, the fruit trees.
It seems clear to me that I was not at fault for the explosion that destroyed the factory. It is a mystery as to why it happened and who may have been at fault. Perhaps it was just a dangerous work environment? An industrial accident? Sabotage? Maybe the emperor wanted the Christians gone from his kingdom and this was his means to get rid of them and force the foreigners to leave. Historically this was true for hundreds of years in China.
This whole business of the armored knight that comes to execute me he might be a hired assassin of a rival European superpower. A mercenary hired by the emperor. Or working on behalf of another captain, king or the pope? It's political intrigue or corporate espionage. It all makes for a great story. Reminds me of the novel "Shogun" by James Clavell in many ways.
It's interesting that I survive the attempt to kill me. The dream ends with a literal cliff hanger. The suggestion is I crawl out of this pit and survive to restore my reputation and there is a possible love interest with a mysterious young woman. The hero's journey might yet continue.
I am always amazed at all the storylines the subconscious creates. Lately, I have this desire to return to writing. I want to become a published author. I have ideas for books I want to write. It would be awesome to write a movie screen play or a series of novels. Perhaps, when I finally become fully retired, I will have the time to put a full effort into writing. I hope I can.
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