Combination of Dreams (prophecy)
The Combination of Dreams is a prophetic work of the 1240s traditionally ascribed to Jaimini, the Pattern Empress of the eponymous Combination of Dreams from 1253 to 1279 who is worshipped in the territories under the former influence of the Combination as a divinity. The work justified and lent its title to the nascent empire. Originally transmitted, in line with Bhramavadic tradition, on a primarily oral basis—though written fragments survive from as early as the reign of Jaimini herself, quoted in administrative documents and private correspondence—many divergent written versions of the Combination exist today, often, in recent history, associated with the differing objectives of Pattern Clerics. These versions typically share the same opening and ending: they begin with a commentary on the origins of the material Universe that leads to Jaimini's florid account of the overthrow of Sharadpur by her father Jayaprakash and the conquest of the empire that would be called the Combination, and her prophecy of the impending unification of the world and the establishment of the Pattern Emperors to carry out this objective through the manipulation of dreams; they conclude with the prophecy of the Last Pattern Emperor who will complete the combination of the dreams of humanity and usher in the collapse of the illusion sustaining the material world.
While there is evidence to suggest that the bulk of the opening section is transmitted authentically from the 13th century, the final section is usually dated by Messenian scholars to the period after the 1341 Covenant of the Orange Orchard, which historically suppressed the title of Pattern Emperor and effectively recognised the indefinite deferral of the unification of the world. Between these sections, there is a great deal of diversity in the composition of the various texts, ranging from mystical guidance on the interpretation of dreams and prophecies foretelling future and historical events to ethical and political regulations. Some of these extensive middle sections are attested as authentic contents of the Combination from very early on; others range in their credibility from plausibly original fragments to entirely spurious modern additions. From the Bhramavadic perspective, the fluid nature of the Combination is generally recognised, but not seen in itself as problematic: the retroactive altering of history and—in the absence of a unified Pattern—the overlapping of multiple realities are generally accepted features of the material world. Indeed, they are only to be expected in view of the immense and persistent thaumaturgical power of the divine Jaimini herself.