Authentic Dreams of Peter Blobbs

Written by my grandfather, Arthur John Hubbard. The text of the book is here.

Links

http://www.oddbooks.co.uk/oddbooks/blobbs.html

An insight and explanation of the pseudonyms by his daughter, my Aunt Frances, in her manuscript Victorian Hangover.

A poem

Dear nick@anotherurl.com,
 
  I came across your web page in my search for information on Arthur John Hubbard. I am a retired psychotherapist writing a book on dreams and dream interpretation from a Jungian perspective. Jung's first seminar outside Europe was in Cornwall at Sennen Cove in 1920, The topic was the Authentic Dreams of Peter Blobbs! No record of the seminar proceedings exists, to the best of my knowledge. 

  I found a copy of the Peter Blobbs book recently with considerable help from serendipity. The dreams were most interesting and I have been searching for more information about Dr. Hubbard himself and his family ever since. Dr. Hubbard writes that his family were great dreamers and gives some examples. Is there a record of family dreams or a dream journal in existence? Are there more dreams of other family members? I ask this not out of an idle curiosity but simply because the Peter Blobbs dreams are what Jung referred to as archetypal. They are, of course, personal, but there are impersonal and objective themes in them that link their complexities with those of myth and religious imagery. Very uncommon.  

  The Frances Hubbard manuscript has been very useful in sorting out some of the characters and motifs in the dreams. Many thanks for your time and trouble in getting them on the web.

  Looking forward to hearing from you.

  Michael Osler

Dear Nick,

  Thanks for the reply.

  I doubt that I have anything of much use to you; dates of publication of Dr. H's other books and a memoir by Joan Evans-Time and Chance- with information on Market Bosworth in the 19th century.

  I have been interested in Dr. Hubbard's personality, the most difficult thing to ferret out in a lifetime, let alone a couple of generations later.

Why my interest? Dreams seem to be of three types:

1. those that reflect waking reality, seen through the medium of the unconscious-rather like looking up when under water and seeing objects through refracted light; 
   
   
2. those that compensate for a waking undervaluation or overvaluation of some part of the dreamer's life; 
   
   
3. dreams that anticipate some future event-these are what Dr. Hubbard himself called proleptic dreams. They are seen to have come true only after the event. It is impossible to be absolutely sure before. Jung himself had two dreams in the summer of 1913 about a sea of blood spreading over Europe. There was considerably more detail in his dreams and he had no idea at the time that they were in any way a reflection of what was to come the next year. It is easier to establish the meaning or meanings of a dream if it is one of a series, not isolated, and if the personality of the dreamer is known.

Interpreting dreams of those who are dead and gone is often seen to be a quixotic attempt at coherence at best and rank stupidity at worst. I press on nevertheless.

  Something like 80-85% of all dreams are personal and of interest only to the dreamer. The rest reflect themes that are touched on in symbols and imagery-religious, literary, scientific-and evoke topics that are common to all of humanity. They may show that the unconscious of a whole society is about to change, has changed, or needs changing in some way not at all obvious to a waking consciousness. The Peter Blobbs dreams are in this category.

  The only material that you are very unlikely to have is a commentary on Peter Blobbs by Jung in a later seminar. This is published as an appendix to his work on children's dreams, which is, alas, available only in German. If you are interested in  what Jung had to say I will translate it for you. Please let me know. It is about twenty pages and will take some time. 

  Many thanks once more for the information and the circulation of my request. Families of talented dreamers are few and far between. I wish you all a good night's sleep!

Best wishes,
Michael Osler