June 2, 1945.

Dear Lord Dowding,

Thank you so much for your letter. I think the Viking
motif is important in its wider application. I mean, yes and
no- if or not- whether or not, you are or or not
connected with that ship is a minor consideration. The point
was ; I had put aside the Fried material as the memories
were too poignant and as I said in the notes, the war was

on us. BUT, the idea of the Flying Dutchman, that is, a
phantom ship or a mystery ship might have tapped the
subconscious, might have made that particular runnel or channel
through which the pictures ( via Bhaduri) formed. This
of course, opens up a very, very wide field and if I ever
get as far as the Viking "notes", they must be introduced or
built up on the dream content or the subconscious material.

A pretty big problem. Only there must have been a reason for it at
last autumn, 1944,
the time. I really, you see, wrote the Freud notes long
after I had again, laid aside the Viking sequence. But there is
a connection, though the problem is one of bridge-building.

But I really don't agree with you about "past lives" - or
I think you think I take a superficial view of the matter. Why
should we not, at a certain stage "remember" ? The first
stage, as I try to indicate in the Freud notes, is to

remember our own personal past. As far as that goes, my own
father or my half-brother Eric, also an astronomer, might have
"projected" something of the Viking material, though I did not
and do not especially connect them with the sequence. The
sea- the sky. You- the sky! The Flying Dutchman, an air-man -

and so on! Actually between ourselves, in our private
work, I took pains to try to find out if the Viking
sequence, via Bhaduri, were a mere built-up phantasy or
fell wide of the mark. I was told that that was authentic.
life

" Each man in his time plays many parts" if I have got the
tag correctly. Even the Viking world might have contained
a half dozen "lives", or the Greek world. How interesting it
makes things. You remember that first lecture that I heard, you
gave a message," strike and strike quickly." So I did.

If the striking opens up a possible runnel or channel
for outside contact-

founded or based on actual
material life or so-called FACTS- that is the important thing.
Then what makes one happy is important- we have been soaked
and drowned in misery. The work or experiment with
Bhaduri did open a window- though here again is the catch. Bhaduri
can not follow the intricate psychological build-up; he can
see a picture, project it - then he "forgets" it. He can not
weave the threads into the background - but his gift is
unique and I have been happy to work with him, though now he
is not part of this very particular "inner work". Well, we
all need each other but the weaving of threads from one
pattern to another, from one state of being or perception to
another, is in a sense, my personal concern. But the Viking
sequence is far, far away- though I have been told not to
let it go altogether. Then will be, if there is meant to be,
time and space for that later. In any case, again all the best to
you and thanks