The man in our dreams?

Ever dreamed of this guy? This poster has appeared in public places in dozens of cities around the world - from Moscow to Rome, from London to Havana (as the one in the photo.)

Apparently 2000 people worldwide have dreamed the man in the last three years, according to a website where you can share your stories. The site also offers several theories and the history of how/when this began. The information below is taken from the site.

http://www.thisman.org/history.htm

So: is this some hoax? Or is it for real?

HISTORY
In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. In more than one occasion that man has given her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life.

That portrait lies forgotten on the psychiatrist's desk for a few days until one day another patient recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he has never seen that man in his waking life.

The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as THIS MAN.

From January 2006 until today, at least 2000 people have claimed they have seen this man in their dreams, in many cities all over the world: Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tehran, Beijing, Rome, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Dehli, Moskow etc.

At the moment there is no ascertained relation or common trait among the people that have dreamed of seeing this man. Moreover, no living man has ever been recognized as resembling the man of the portrait by the people who have seen this man in their dreams.

Some theories
ARCHETYPE THEORY
According to Jung's psychoanalytic theory, this man is an archetypal image belonging to the collective unconscious that can surface in times of hardship (emotional development, dramatic changes in our lives, stressful circumstances etc.) in particularly sensitive subjects.

RELIGIOUS THEORY
According to this theory this man is the image of the Creator, that is to say one of the forms in which God manifests himself today. This is the reason why his indications and the words he utters during the dreams should be decidedly followed by the dreamers.

DREAM SURFER THEORY
It is the most interesting theory and the one that has the greatest implications, but it has also the lowest scientific credibility. According to this theory this man is a real person, who can enter people's dreams by means of specific psychological skills. Some believe that in real life this man looks like the man in the dreams. Others think that the man in the dreams looks completely different from his real life counterpart. Some people seem to believe that behind this man there is a mental conditioning plan developed by a major corporation.

DREAM IMITATION THEORY
This is a scientific psycho-sociological theory which claims that this phenomenon has arisen casually and has progressively developed by imitation. Basically when people are exposed to this phenomenon they become so deeply impressed that they start seeing this man in their dreams.

DAYTIME RECOGNITION THEORY
This theory states that the apparitions of this man are purely casual. Normally we do not remember precisely the faces we see in our dreams. The image of this man would thus be an instrument which, in the subject's waking life, facilitates recognition of an undefined oneirical image.
Posted by Trish and Rob MacGregor at 7:00 AM
Labels: archetypes, dreams, this man

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6 comments:

Jeff said...

I think it may be a hoax. I looked up who owned the website and its owned by someone named Andrea Natella who lives in Rome and is apparently the creative director of a marketing company. With that in mind,it may be some kind of publicity stunt or viral marketing campaign. If you google his name (yeah, apparently Andrea is a guy), you can also find claims that he is a journalist and sociologist. So it could also potentially be a social experiment.

But if it's not a hoax, that's very interesting!
October 23, 2009 9:12 AM

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

Great sleuthing, Jeff. I'll go google this guy's name. It had the feel of a hoax because all the posters of this guy are exactly the same, regardless of the country where they appear. But like you said, it it's not a hoax, it's very interesting.
October 23, 2009 9:15 AM

staceyjwarner said...
Very interesting on many layers...it's interesting if it is a hoax as well...our world so much wants to believe in mystery...

much love
October 23, 2009 10:09 AM

Toumai said...

Dreams, lucid dreams/visions are such a cryptic/odd part of us. One that I think we should tap into more often- a great power source and unique link to and from the inner world.

On the rare occasion I have had mental images simply pop up out of the blue, so crisp in detail that it's shocking. One image many years ago enabled me to take action that I would otherwise not have taken, one that saved my daughter from great harm... perhaps even saving her life.
October 23, 2009 10:09 AM

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

I googled Andrea Natella's name, like Jeff suggested. And he is a marketing person in Italy. No one seems to know, though, what the purpose of this "campaign" is. But you're right Stacey, even as a hoax, it's intriguing.

What's the dream that may have saved your daughter's life, Toumai? That had to be a dramatic experience.
October 23, 2009 11:18 AM

Toumai said...

Though, when I look back to that time... hmmm about 13 years ago, I see the 'trickster' hand at play- amazing synchronicity coinciding at the same time.
The same thing happened to your daughter Megan-- when the first parachute that didn't open... the 'believed 88' appearing on her phone... the two (split tail)sparrows that dive bombed your windshield before the near disaster -- Trickster inner twin.

Now in trying to perceive the situation fairly, I find myself thinking that the inner world had no other choice but to use trickster tactics in order to get our attention, which when combined with present knowledge such as synchronicity, medical science, symbology, history/herstory etymology and the internet, would lead to 3+3=8... to them.
October 23, 2009 11:32 AM