Night Terrors in Childhood - Possible Zeus Connection?

[soul_434_]

Hello everyone - I will start off by saying that this post will be a recounting of a personal memory that became a foundational pillar in my life's development, I have spent days in total philosophizing and trying to define the experience. But I'm in need for novelty so I would appreciate some outside input or perspective, especially from fellow seekers.


To set the scene; I was around 4 or 5 years old possibly even younger, sleeping alone in the attic. The house had a sloped roof with a skylight / window on the other side of the room from where I slept. The street I lived in would best be translated into English as "Bird of Prey Street," house number 47.

I began experiencing what could best be described as night terrors or recurring nightmares, I don't recall exactly how or why they started but every night for I would guess a timeframe just about short of a month I would have the exact same nightmare where an Eagle (Not the archetypal American bald eagle, but a European eagle.) Would climb down into my room through my window every night to basically kidnap me. Note; this was not a normal sized Eagle, it would walk up to my bed, stand next to me, grab me by my shoulders with its claws and it would fly away with me out of the same window it entered through. I still vividly remember the sensation of its claws digging into my shoulders and seeing the streetlights below becoming fainter and fainter as it flew higher and higher with me. I remember the Eagle telling me two things: (translated into English) "You will never see your family again," and "You will always be alone." As the days with the night terrors / nightmares continued I would intuit a familiar presence in the room with me before I went to sleep and I would absolutely KNOW that on that night I would have the same nightmare again if I fell asleep.

Needless to say I was terrified, being too afraid to get out of bed in the dark I screamed for my parents until my voice basically gave out. Sometimes they would come upstairs in a few minutes, other times it took 15 minutes. A few times they didn't come. But even when they did they couldn't offer any real help, only temporary comfort. Basically telling me to just "calm down," and that "It would be okay."

On the final night whereafter the nightmares / terrors stopped, the Eagle basically "broke me." Normally I would just jump awake out of fear as we were flying when the eagle still had me in its claws but on the final night I just gave up trying to resist. The eagle dropped me off in its nest with its young, expecting them to eat me I just laid still, intending to let it happen. But its young never even touched me and I woke up. These nightmares basically drove me into a midlife crisis at said young age and I became obsessed with dissolution and the idea of (spiritual / physical) death.

I know from my own later experiences and have read on multiple occasions that the Gods are good to us and only seek to help us grow, so it might seem shortsighted or even disrespectful to assume that this was a manifestation of Zeus / Lucifer. But I also know that real tangible spiritual growth can only be achieved through dissolution. So I don't mind having been handed a "hard lesson" if that is what needed to happen.

One could argue the psychological angle, unmet physical or physiological needs manifesting as punishment by a solar / father archetype through dream state or the unconscious. But I know that would kind of be a cop out and I'm a big fan of spiritual theatre.

I hope I told my story well, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Looking forward to the replies!

 

[Pammy]

Hello everyone - I will start off by saying that this post will be a recounting of a personal memory that became a foundational pillar in my life's development, I have spent days in total philosophizing and trying to define the experience. But I'm in need for novelty so I would appreciate some outside input or perspective, especially from fellow seekers.


To set the scene; I was around 4 or 5 years old possibly even younger, sleeping alone in the attic. The house had a sloped roof with a skylight / window on the other side of the room from where I slept. The street I lived in would best be translated into English as "Bird of Prey Street," house number 47.

I began experiencing what could best be described as night terrors or recurring nightmares, I don't recall exactly how or why they started but every night for I would guess a timeframe just about short of a month I would have the exact same nightmare where an Eagle (Not the archetypal American bald eagle, but a European eagle.) Would climb down into my room through my window every night to basically kidnap me. Note; this was not a normal sized Eagle, it would walk up to my bed, stand next to me, grab me by my shoulders with its claws and it would fly away with me out of the same window it entered through. I still vividly remember the sensation of its claws digging into my shoulders and seeing the streetlights below becoming fainter and fainter as it flew higher and higher with me. I remember the Eagle telling me two things: (translated into English) "You will never see your family again," and "You will always be alone." As the days with the night terrors / nightmares continued I would intuit a familiar presence in the room with me before I went to sleep and I would absolutely KNOW that on that night I would have the same nightmare again if I fell asleep.

Needless to say I was terrified, being too afraid to get out of bed in the dark I screamed for my parents until my voice basically gave out. Sometimes they would come upstairs in a few minutes, other times it took 15 minutes. A few times they didn't come. But even when they did they couldn't offer any real help, only temporary comfort. Basically telling me to just "calm down," and that "It would be okay."

On the final night whereafter the nightmares / terrors stopped, the Eagle basically "broke me." Normally I would just jump awake out of fear as we were flying when the eagle still had me in its claws but on the final night I just gave up trying to resist. The eagle dropped me off in its nest with its young, expecting them to eat me I just laid still, intending to let it happen. But its young never even touched me and I woke up. These nightmares basically drove me into a midlife crisis at said young age and I became obsessed with dissolution and the idea of (spiritual / physical) death.

I know from my own later experiences and have read on multiple occasions that the Gods are good to us and only seek to help us grow, so it might seem shortsighted or even disrespectful to assume that this was a manifestation of Zeus / Lucifer. But I also know that real tangible spiritual growth can only be achieved through dissolution. So I don't mind having been handed a "hard lesson" if that is what needed to happen.

One could argue the psychological angle, unmet physical or physiological needs manifesting as punishment by a solar / father archetype through dream state or the unconscious. But I know that would kind of be a cop out and I'm a big fan of spiritual theatre.

I hope I told my story well, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Looking forward to the replies!

Hello,

I've thought about your dream for a short while. This may not be a new perspective. The strongest idea of this dream is (before the young eagles) you having no power over what is happening. Is that what you were feeling in your awake life? Has your will been violated about what is happening to you? This can be father (as you said), but also school principal or other authority. Then you are forced to sacrifice yourself. Were you forced to move to a new place and had to sacrifice for younger sibling/another student or something like that?

I don't think it is Father Zeus. Possibly it was something lesser that fed on your bad feelings.