@Priceless
Right - bear in mind I've only read #1, part of #2 and painted the living room pink on account of #10 (the last bit was a lie). As I said, I'm not sure whether this is happening in reality. It could be the result of a spell etc. but at the moment it's easier to read it as a dream (or a vision or something similar) - something that gives us access to Angel's unconscious.
The unconscious is a repository for wishes, fears and repressed memories that are unpalatable to the conscious mind. Dreams are the result of dream-work. Dream-work transforms latent or unconscious thoughts. What we "see" is the manifest content (the dream) - a disguised version of those thoughts. The manifest content appears via condensation (lots of different ideas condensed into one); displacement (a bit like allusion. Important things are made to seem trivial - I think BtVS does this all the time - that's why it's important to notice asides, casual remarks etc.). There's also "figureability". Abstract ideas are represented concretely. So "envy" might be represented by Mr Green (green with envy etc.). Finally, there's secondary revision. We reorganise disparate thoughts into a coherent whole - a narrative. Sorry for the schooling!!
😳 If it's not schooling, sorry for oversimplifying.
🙂 See the following for a more comprehensive explanation.
https://www.freud.org.uk/education/topic/10576/subtopic/40026/
Okay – the bugs could be literal - things from the past that are bugging him - unconscious thoughts (fears, wishes). His psychic defence mechanisms are breaking down (too thin) because he’s close to home (too close to home). Home in the unconscious is often the first home, the mother’s womb.
This - I don't think it's a real memory - I think it's made up of disparate moments. The bridge looks like the bridge over Deeper Well (deeper well was ALWAYS going to come back - "well" often symbolises the vagina). The tower is very phallic. The tree on the right - is this meant to be Galway? Would they have palms in Galway in 1700s? I think the palm is flagging up California. The book could represent his father. IMO, whatever his fear/wish etc. is, it's been following him throughout his existence.
Flowers – often symbolise female sexuality (think or see Georgia O’Keeffe paintings) – girls blossom, bloom (the flower when we first see it reminds me of the one Willow grew in S7 – everything connects?). This (below) could be vagina dentate. The toothed vagina.
It’s a myth to do with the fear of castration (I think the worm in Beneath You is also VD. Tons of the monsters in the comics are the same). Is it a vampire’s mouth? If so, it could be something to do with Darla (his other mother). This from Wiki just to show I haven't made it up!
🙂"Such folk stories are frequently told as cautionary tales warning of the dangers of unknown women and to discourage rape…In her book Sexual Personae (1991), Camille Paglia wrote: “The toothed vagina is no sexist hallucination: every penis is made less in every vagina, just as mankind, male and female, is devoured by mother nature”. In his book The Wimp Factor, Stephen J. Ducat expresses a similar view, that these myths express the threat sexual intercourse poses for men who, although entering triumphantly, always leave diminished.” I thing this simply means – the moment men are at their most potent – orgasm – is also the moment the penis shrinks. Basically, is it his fears about Buffy? Having sex with her diminishes Angel by making Angelus appear? It's not just Buffy - I'll explain at the end.
Unless you resort to magic, you can’t change the past – the past happened; every moment was unique. You can change
history though because history is simply what we know of the past – not the past itself. You change history by recovering lost moments thus revealing new truths about the past, or revisiting and reconsidering what you thought was the truth of the past. That way you change your behaviour in the future. The therapeutic journey is “time-travel” (obviously not literal!).
Illyria’s role: not sure. She’s an old one. She/he/it was in deeper well (see above. I also read deeper well as the unknowable core at the centre of self). Just realised the fact that she doesn’t have a gender MIGHT be significant.
“Scrying has been practised in many cultures in the belief that it can reveal the past, present, or future. Some practitioners assert that visions that come when one stares into the media are from the
subconscious or imagination, while others say that they come from
gods, spirits, devils, or the psychic mind, depending on the culture and practice”. This is the point I was making about not knowing whether it was actually taking place or not. Most surfaces used for scrying are reflective – bit of a bugger if you’re a vampire. Scrying often involves being in a trance. Could be it’s a more elaborate version of Spike’s LMPTM in 7. I always thought Spike needed a session with a psychoanalyst more than he needed a soul. Reflections have always mattered more to Angel than Spike.
#2 (notes from last night).
Gone too far back in time? Before he was born? Would make sense if he’s in a trance. Retreating from his problems – is he wishing Illyria away because he doesn’t want to know the truth – he’s retreating into the depths of his unconscious? Illyria’s past – I always thought he had a god complex – has he unconsciously become her – become an old one? Shit – Illyria isn’t a she. Okay – I think Illyria is also part of him – his unconscious is condensing the two. Illyria is Fred who wants to help him.
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The above was mostly written last night. IMO (this might change if I read the whole thing), Illyria is a condensation. She's Fred trying to help him; she's Angel himself, she's possibly Angel's dad; she's also herself. That's why he/she/it is important.
"The name Winifred is a Welsh name. In Welsh the meaning of the name Winifred is:Reconciled; blessed. Historically Winifred was a martyred Welsh princess;
traditionally the patron saint of virgins." Here's the thing (my thing). I read his love for Buffy as being a displacement of the love he had for his sister, Kathy (which most websites say means pure). It's the reason Angelus kills nuns (we've had this conversation). Look for descriptions of Kathy and look for the reason Angel was attracted to Buffy in the first instance. Possibly what we're seeing in Fred is another condensation - Fred is herself and Buffy and Kathy. What I'm guessing is - he'll emerge from this story with some knowledge that pertains to Kathy (in the same way Spike emerged from LMPTM with knowledge of his mother). This awareness might mean he can have sex with Buffy without turning into Angelus (the time he spent with Kathy represented perfect happiness - not Buffy). Where that leaves us then is anybody's guess.
😡
Talking of guessing - I'm fairly secure with the Freudian bits (VD, Deeper Well etc.). The names I looked up - it's not coincidence. Putting them all together?...I made up all that sh*t up. It's guesswork...and I've oversimplified.
🙁 I'd stand by it based on what I've read so far but reserve the right to change my mind if I read further.
🙂
I hate the way Angel has been drawn, like a 50's caricature
If it's Angel's unconscious, perhaps that's how he thinks of himself?
Fred says 'You're a good person Angel, the fact that doing good isn't easy for you proves it!'
Might not sound like Fred - does it sound like Buffy?
PS - volcanoes. Often connected with dragons (the dragon in Buffy 11 - also Cordy?). Also - was there a reference to Twilight in #2?
