black witch: “i am such an enigma”

Lord, I saw this on my twitter feed a few weeks back, someone had a dream about Janelle Monae and they thought it was yet another one of their “layered, complex, and seemingly random” dreams (I seriously quoted that, copy and paste, no edit). Monae was a Marvel comic-styled superhero. Not something mega far-fetched, mate. Y’see, I don’t mean to single this one person out but he resembles a people that I all too commonly come across as a dream interpreter, the my-dreams-are-soooooooooooo-deep-Freud-would-have-to-name-a-new-theory-after-me-just-to-only-partly-understand-it type. Or in other words, the “speshul snowflaek” type.

Words by Black Witch

Ah, special snowflakes, they think they’re so unique. The term stems from the childhood chatter from adults that everyone is as unique and special as a snowflake because no two flakes are alike (although I am pretty determined to prove that wrong, I have been known to staaaare at snowflakes for hours on my black gloves, mentally cataloguing whatever I see until I get a match. No luck yet.), and hence are comparable to people, who have “unique” experiences and lives. Now, I’m all for making people feel special and happy. The problem is, is that this creates a sense of over-inflated self-esteem for those doing absolutely nothing but existing, hence the term “speshul snowflaek”, which is written in such a fashion that reflects the moronic qualities these people generally hold about themselves. Nothing is wrong with being unique but not when it’s for something not very unique. For example, this blog is unique in subject matter (albeit that is starting to dwindle in itself expectedly because other Black Pagan blogs are coming about) but not in the fact that it is a blog. There are millions of blogs on the ‘net. A special snowflake is a person who makes something so common or trivial seem grandiose, kinda like wanting applause for getting open a difficult jar of pickles. They are an annoyance to dream interpreters everywhere.

The mind is a very intricate place, granted. It is woven together from genes, experiences and personal revelations or lack thereof. If the mind were a simple box to tinker in, psychology would not be the expansive and perplexing field that it is today and mental problems would very rarely, if ever, reach to the point of debilitating without the aid of any pill or expensive session with a therapist. Mental institutions would be unheard of and most movies that talk about insanity would look like the very pieces of utter nonsense that most of them actually are. Dreams are the free (if you don’t count lucid dreaming) expressions of that mind and has its many symbols and deeper web of meanings so yes it’s going to be pretty baffling at first, uneducated glance. The reality is though, thanks to many centuries dedicated to understanding the mind inside and out, the mind is still a perplexing state but not nearly as much as it was 200+ years ago. Dreams are indeed layered and complex and seemingly random but seriously, you just described practically everyone, excluding those who may have a strong case of alexithymia, a disorder which gives those affected logical, rational dreams (as in a dream about a bowl of cereal is just a dream about a bowl of cereal) due to lack of imagination. I can tell you with honesty and experience from doing dream interpretations for others: no one has the weirdest or quirkiest dreams to rule them all. All dreams can be off the wall in their own respects, there is nary a dream that stands out to me with any “whoa” factor and I’ve handled hundreds. Not. One.

But still that does not stop a horde of people who claim so hard that they are indeed that speshul snowflaek, that one person with a mind so deep and amazing that they are indeed an enigma. An enigma like none other. That all who experience the intricate labyrinth that is their mind, they will marvel in response at the amazement of what their expansive brain can drum up during their mortal slumber…even if it is Janelle Monae in a cape drawn Marvel comics style – which I think can be spotted online somewhere, check fyeahjanellemonae tumblrs first.

There’s nothing wrong with taking fascination into dreams and the mind, I wouldn’t be doing any of this stuff otherwise, but please don’t think that you’re the uniquest of them all to walk the earth. If you have been raised in a culture that is acknowledged by someone in the psych field or psych-savvy over the course of history, I can probably explain away your dream with the help of a good dream dictionary and some background in both psychology and sociology. The mind is a puzzle but every puzzle, no matter how unsolvable, has pieces to them. Even if they don’t fit together perfectly or something is missing, they have something to put it all together with. That’s minds and dreams for you.

Got crazy dreams? So do I. So does Janelle Monae. So does your best friend. Obama too. We all sleep. We all dream. We all have dreams that make us sit up and go, “Wait, what?” They’re going to vary among us because of who we are and our backgrounds and some of the symbols are going to be personal to us because they affect us differently. Think about it: if Obama, Monae and I dream about the White House, a concert stage or a forest we’re gonna say something different each because of our separate statures in life – but they can be explained somehow or related to something. It just depends on how far one’s mind can reach to understand the links.

Don’t be a speshul snowflaek. Just be you. You dream. They’re weird. It happens. You’re a person with a functional mind so definitely feel free to mention your dreams and write them down and stuff because it’s very helpful in you getting a better understanding of yourself. But please, know that you’re not the only one who dreams of their favorite vocalist as a superhero. It happens all the time, trust me.

Oh, and I need to be better at putting down these enders to my columns. First and foremost, I will be attending the Afro-Punk Festival, I am very excited to see Janelle Monae! I love her sound madly – that and it gives me friends to catch up with in Wondaland. I am happy to see Cee-lo Green simply because I remember seeing him in my all time favorite movie [i]Mystery Men[/i] as part of the Not-So-Goodie-Mob and pretty much kept a bit of track on him. I am excited to hear that Bad Rabbits will be there, I quite like their music so far. Santigold is interesting, I really wanna see her live and very excited to.

It’s my second time at the festival, last year being my first. I do appreciate talking to people but I gotta note, I can be a ‘lil prickly at times because I’m quite an introvert so if I’m moody, don’t feel bad, I just need some quiet time to chill. And because I know someone is gonna ask me for divination – because it always happens without doubt – I have demands to A) Stave off potential askers and B) Get something worthwhile, otherwise known as a transaction.

Mah Demands!:

• Mochi, red bean (azuki) and covered in sesame seeds – My favorite snack
• Seafood okonomiyaki – They don’t have ’em in Maryland, I checked
• Taro Bubble Tea – love it to death
• Dango – tasty!
• Fruit Tart – Have you tried them? They’re gooooood
• A tie from Putumayo – My favorite lolita brand, I adore them so!
• And lastly, the icing on the cake: a full set of Alice and the Pirates’ print Dance of the Black Cats jumperskirt dress in black – it’s a pretty set, and has got to stop potential askers because the price is astronomical for the set of the bag, dress, headbow and socks.

Can’t meet ’em? Spiffy, that’s what Samhain Pickers Giveaway is for. Wait for that.

Now, I know I made some mention of a Black Witch book but it looks like due to wack circumstances that created a domino effect, I plan on moving the book drop date from Sept 9 to Dec 9. That should be plenty of time for things to iron themselves out. Also, check on the Black Witch wordpress for qr codes I designed and created for both the main site and for the Ask Black Witch submission form. They’re really cool! I’d slap ’em up here but I’m quite lazy, frankly.

And here are other Black Witch stuff such as the Black Witch Fan Page and Twitter (@thisblackwitch). If you want to tweet me an Ask Black Witch submission (questions are answered on the WordPress side, see?), feel free to mention me but also use the hashtag #askblackwitch. I shall answer as much as I can.

See you at the AP Fest!