Fight of dreams
Recently, I went abroad for a limited period. Although I make many trips every year, this time, I had many dreams to calm down my internal revolt. In my country, I am unable to express or dialogue on these issues. My dreams pushed me to a dynamic dialogue with which I deal freely, without any police, political or religious control. The dream made me feel free and that we can meditate, analyze and criticize without fear or terror.
I dealt with an experience in an advanced world. In the dream, I had an internal struggle: comparing my life in a unrealistic situation, a situation progressing with precision in all life aspects, natural harmony, respect, moral relationships. We do not feel anxiety or fear while walking by day or night. An organized life, a discipline, a commitment to work, easily finding essential needs. My dream led me to compare with the unstable situation in Egypt since launching of the so-called revolution that displaced us from an era to another one and not from a reality to a hope. What we are actually living now in Egypt is an environment which pushes humans to tension, instability, trying to escape, emigrate and search for hope in other countries. Everything is possible in the dream. There are no chains, extremism, and frustrating thought, returning to obscurantism, making an amalgam of religion and politics, hyst2rical fundamentalism and imposing iron chains for clothes, arts, marriages and mourning!
My dream led me to the phenomenon of civil forces that had an influent and central role in Arabic movement and changing volcano in Egypt. As soon as we get rid of the regime which banned liberties and monopolized everything in the country, we faced the movement of political Islam that was eager to seize the historic opportunity to step on power. In this dark perspective, we are going towards greater restriction of liberties, sometimes in the name of a global ideology, or the necessity of preventive measures to edify the state and the society, or also under the effect of power and wealth. If the state of regression of the national march continues this way, we will fall into a deep pit of oppressing liberties and dignity, good management and living in dignity.
The dream attracted me to the ambitious campaign led by the national group of policies and culture in Egypt, in order to sensitize citizens to their cultural rights and mobilize the people to establish a new cultural policy for Egypt serving the society and adopting values of creativity, freedom and knowledge. Various intellectual and cultural currents and activists in cultural action in Egypt take part in this campaign which aims at affirming culture as a part of daily life of all Egyptians and as instrument of expression of identity and liberation from fanatics ideas.
Among subjects that I dreamed of was the phenomenon of emigration abroad at any cost during the launching of the revolution of January 25th, 2011. Youth raised the slogan "bread, freedom and social justice". They discovered afterwards that the situation in Egypt led to a transitional period marked by ascendance of political Islam and extremist groups. In my dream, I met some youth and I said to them: "I feel nowadays that a foreign regime is ruling us, foreign people write for us our constitution and appear through television's screens. They accuse us of apostasy or of following western countries. I feel like being a visitor in my country".
My dream led me to the recent report of the United Nations indicating that Egypt is actually a source, a passing point and a terminal point for human traffic for prostitution, slavery and children abuse whose organs are sold. This occurs although Egypt signed all United Nations conventions forbidding such actions.
The motive of such inhuman practices is economic situation, lack of awareness and education since young age. Although some Egyptian politicians are proudly repeating that we are the country of science and faith, I would say where are the science and faith? There is a gap between what we say and what we live!
The dream reminded me also about the system of extremist currents in the Egyptian society. There a real examples making us astonished and disgusted of practices of such groups that pretend religiosity and protection of truth… Among the unfortunate issues I dreamed about is that of kidnapping of a Christian girl in el-Dabaa, Marsa Matrouh, pretending that she has been converted and married, while she is 14 year-old, which is against the law.
The second issue: an NGO in Minia named "hand in hand" organized a concert under the supervision of the governor, including patriotic hymns, Sufi songs and Coptic songs. Attendants were revolted and said music is a sin. Security authorities submitted to their will and the concert was annulled.
The third issue: on a Sunday, people of Ezbet Marco, Beni Sueif, aggressed people of neighboring villages that wanted to ray in the church of the village. Extremists pretended those guests were annoying people of the village.
Unfortunately, we face obscurantism which deforms the Egyptian identity. Let us work and fight together with all our forces to get out safely from this obscure tunnel.
Conclusion:
Human biological life is submitted to particular periodic evolutions, among the most important is sustainability of states of awakening and sleeping. Sleeping duration is about 1/3 of human life. Motile and mental movements are remarkably reduced but not abolished.
During sleeping, mental activity is not totally silent. Some defensive nervous centers are in a state similar to deep hypnosis. Some of them is functioning and continuing their activity intermittently. External alarming factors and internal biological alarming factors may produce mental images seen by the sleeping. It is the so-called dreams.
The dream is always satisfaction of repressed desire. Many human desires take the dream as a illusive mean to be satisfied because they do not find in the reality what satisfies them directly. A popular proverb says: "The hungry dreams of bread's market".
Magdy Garas
November 2012
