Dreams and relevant interpretation I suggest
Dream No. 276
A NEW CHILD! NEWBORN! A GIRL!
I am holding her in my arms, bare naked. Something is missing in
between her legs and I am somewhat disappointed but then I understand there is no LACK. It
is an identity mark. She is a girl and this simply means that she is different from a boy,
it does not mean that she is less worthy.
I must feed her, dress her, caress her, I must change her napkin because she relieves
herself. In a word, she is there and needs to be looked after. Having her is like a
richness to me.
I am struck by her female genitals. After my initial disappointment I realize that her
genitals are made like that because they are meant to RECEIVE.
Here we can see the transition from an initial disappointed
reaction to the sight of female genitals of some women (as we saw in many dreams by now)
to a new way of perceiving and regarding them.
While at first they were perceived as a LACK, now they have their own specific value, that
is THEY EXIST IN THEMSELVES, regardless of any reference to male genitalis. Above all, the
dreamer says THEY ARE NOT LESS WORTHY than penis.
In this case femininity is associated to motherhood but this is not to be taken as the compulsory scope, there might be other ones. The key point is that ENVY was replaced by woman’s PRIDE. A healthy pride, not the hypertrophic and neurotic pride of some women thus trying to counterbalance the burning disappointment produced by the sensation that "down there" something is missing which, on the contrary, men own.
Now, instead, this woman has an exact idea of the role played by female genitals: RECEIVING. This means that from now on she still will refrain from aping men and, if appropriate, she will compete with men only as a rival in a specific field, regardless of sex. The other women, instead, the ones that envy men, never stop competing with them, rivalry being not confined to a specific field therefore never ceasing even if remarkable targets are achieved.
See also Dream No. 269.
Dream No. 277
My nose comes off and falls on the ground. It
upsets me and I pick it up, I make attempts to stick it again but in vain. I feel a sense
of guilt for causing its detachment, as if somebody (I associate my mother) was scolding
me for playing with it and breaking it.
I am impressed by the fall of my nose and my sense of guilt is very strong.
NOSE-PENIS association is known and ensues from at least three
analogies: a nose runs as a penis, a nose protrudes from the body like a penis, a nose is
"put in" as a penis (remember the expressions like "nosey parker" and
"put one’s nose in").
Playing with a nose is therefore the same thing as playing with a penis, this play being
equal to masturbation. The various terroristic menaces of adults to children to dissuade
them from masturbation include also the one referring to the fall of their penis.
Now the reason for the strong impression the dreamer felt and,
mainly, his sense of guilt can be easily understood.
Why does the dreamer’s mother appear in this dream as a strict judge? Because she was
the dominant character in the dreamer’s family.
Dream No. 278
I am attending a concert when, suddenly one of the
orchestra-players is seized by a raptus of madness and abducts the singer…. so we try
to trace the fool to free the female singer.
There are two "identical" (monozygotic) twin sisters: one comes out of the group
and starts running forward as if she had a brilliant idea with regard to tracing the
singer. The majority of the group follows her while I keep by the other twin sister (that,
on the contrary, is not a resourceful character) because I pity her and I want to protect
her.
A concert symbolizes the union of various parts harmoniously
cooperating to reach a common result, therefore it symbolizes also a "healthy"
and balanced person, a person capable of voicing all her component parts without removing
anyone of them.
The musician who is seized by a raptus of madness represents the psychic component that we
fear might "break harmony" and fling us in the same state as anybody being no
longer under the control of reason.
The singer symbolizes our capacity for winning shyness and placing ourself under the light
of reflectors, at the centre of everybody’s attention.
The two identical twin sisters represent two parts equally present in the dreamer, a
resourceful and brave one, and the other timid, vulnerable and requiring protection one.
The dreamer better identifies herself with the latter. At least for the moment....
Dream No. 279
.... soon after I see a car arriving and the unusual thing is that my mother is driving it, she who doesn’t even have a driving licence....
The dreamer thinks (at deep level) that her mother is playing a DRIVING role but without authorization, since she doesn’t own the required qualifications.
Dream No. 280
I was torturing a lizard with fire. After placing
it in a container with water and alcohol I fired it. I was upset in seeing it suffering
and in seeing fire expanding on the littler animal’s body. I was distressed.
Later, when I thought it was dead, I approached my hands to the container and actually
experienced the great heat that had developed. I inferred that the lizard was surely dead.
I went away for a while and when I came back I noticed that in the meantime the lizard had
moved and this upset me even more as I thought that it had greatly suffered. Then I took
the container to go and throw its macabre content into the trash can but, to my surprise,
I found an extraordinary washing machine near the can. It was very beautiful, all made of
chromium plated steel. In my opinion the washing machine was wonderful and most valuable.
My intent was to throw the container’s content inside the trash can but I noticed
that I was actually placing it inside the washing machine.
At that point I felt relieved, part of the former distress having disappeared.
Here is a representation of the conflict between the good part of
the dreamer and his aggressive-cruel-sadistic part. The clash between the two parts
produces suffering, upsetting and distress.
If we were to "weigh" the two components, we would come to the conclusion that
during this stage of the analysis the sadistic parts gains an advantage over the good one,
the "evil" action being completed.
The action of throwing the macable content inside the trash can is equal to a repressing
action, causing the outcome of "evil" to DISAPPEAR. The washing machine, on the
contrary, represents the ongoing analysis because it doesn’t cause things to
DISAPPEAR but it gives them back CLEAN after removing dirt. That’s why the patient
feels relieved and has the sensation that the washing machine is "extraordinary"
and "most beautiful".
Dream No. 281
.. I was at home, alone. Suddenly I discovered that in my house there was another room that was very bright. The light inside was strong and white. I would never have thought that there was such a beautiful place in that house. I was peaceful and happy.
We know what a house represents in dreams: the dreamer’s
personality. Analysis is long and very costly under any profile but if one persists the
result comes and patients find out that they own resources that they never thought they
had before. The place formely occupied by distress is taken by peacefulness now.
Does this mean that people that followed an analysis are always cheerful and gay? No, it
only means that the neurotic distress, the one produced by inner conflicts, disappears
while the distress which is intrinsic to the "trade of living" remains.
Comparing this dream with the previous one, it could be said in conclusion: before and after treatment!
Dream No. 282
I was a big, fat, adult man and I was walking with another person. Suddendly we came to grips with a criminal. There was a quick scuffle during which I quickly knocked the criminal out, then I went away feeling satisfied.
Here is a new awareness of one’s strength and
capacity for facing the dangerous situations of life. And without much fatigue, as the
dreamer stresses twice: a quick scuffle, he quickly knocks the criminal out.
The conquest is the more valuable as it is attained by a person that in the past was ready
to run away at any rustling of the leaves.
Dream No. 283
I was at the seaside……dipped in water and at the mercy of a terrific storm. Everything was grey but with a great effort I managed to master the situation and come out unhurt. I was on the high seas but I felt I could come out nearly walking.
Here too we meet the feeling of owning the capacity for getting through, for coming triumphant out of a situation of great danger, the dreamer is on the high seas but he comes out of water nearly walking, in other words "very easily".
Dream No. 284
…. a raped girl was found or, better, it was known that the girl was held in prison under ground. I could see her dirty, in a deep hollow. She was held prisoner in the depth of an ancient building. She was bare, dirty, soiled with other things…..she was telling me that many riches were in that deep well. As a matter of fact, around her and amongst dirt there were also many jewels. I thought that by going down there it would be possible to take also those riches besides the girl.
The girl held in prison under ground might
represent both a female figure and the dreamer’s feminine part (repressed for fear of
being taken for a gay or a soft man). The under ground location indicates the unconscious
where femininity was relegated and humiliated.
Afterwards, however, the other face of the medal is discovered. The feminine part may be
recovered and together with it all the riches around it.
Dream No. 285
While I was tidying my cupboard I found several vases full of flowers. There were so many of them that I had to give them as a present.
This woman, instead, discovers the riches of
femininity (a cupboard and a vase are female symbols). Tidying recalls the idea of an
analysis rearranging things that are out of place inside us.
It could be noticed that while the men involved in the previous three dreams appreciate
STRENGTH, EFFICIENCY and RICHES, this woman discovers that she owns FLOWERS symbolizing
BEAUTY, GRACE and FRAGILITY. And these flowers are so many that she has to make presents
of them.
This difference between men and women may seem a commonplace thing but that’s what
comes up from dreams. What can I do about it? :-)
Dream No. 286
As usual I go to my sitting but this time it
develops in an unusual way. My analyst is wearing a pair of pyjamas (certainly not first
quality) and while he is talking to me he goes to the balcony and urinates inside a
flower-pot. As for myself, I keep unceasingly tossing about on the armchair as children do
when they are restless.
I am not satisfied with the new form taken by my analysis. Although I realize that my
analyst has a friendly behaviour, I prefer to see him neat and dressed.
On top of this, other persons walk in his consulting room and he welcomes them while I am
there as if this was a most natural thing.
The scene changes.
I find myself during an analysis sitting together with a
colleague of mine who is very authoritative. He has taken the place of my analyst but when
the sitting finishes I look at my watch and I notice that it lasted only half an hour. I
draw my colleague’s attention to this pointing out that my sittings with my true
analyst last 45 minutes.
Then, I think inwardly that the standard of the sittings I had with my analyst is higher.
I am not satisfied and I also think I will come back to him.
At the beginning of an analysis and for a good part thereof, a
patient needs to think that his/her analyst is an "exceptional" person under
every viewpoint since only this way he/she feels sure, protected and confident to be
dragged out of his/her problems (the expression " to be dragged out" clearly
expresses his/her expectation).
An analyst knows this and plays because he understands that this element represents a
remarkable help during an analysis, at least until he deems that the patient starts to be
able to walk on his own legs.
Of course, the transition from the first to the second stage is gradual, therefore there
is always a period when the patient’s behaviour is a mixture of the "old"
and "new" behaviour, a need of protection and a desire of independence.
When she had this dream, the involved patient was just going through that intermediate
phase where there are comings and goings between the figure of a
GIANT-STRONG-FATHER-ANALYST and that of a COMMON-PERSON-ANALYST.
During this stage of an analysis I always try to help my patient
to demythicize my figure of analyst starting to show myself as I am, without the halo
he/she placed on my head. And I did it also with her.
The first reaction of my patient was dictated by her old childish personality (…I keep unceasingly tossing about on the armchair as
children do) that still necessitates her usual
STRONG-MANAGING-AUTHORITATIVE father and therefore gets strongly disappointed (…my analyst is wearing a pair of pyjamas …
certainly not first quality… and…even… he urinates inside a flower-pot) and goes to search another AUTHORITATIVE figure, her colleague (that on
many other occasions she associated to her father).
The second reaction, though, the one representing her true final
choice, is represented by her decision to go back to her analyst.
To better understand this dream, it is to be specified that during her previous sitting,
for a series of fortuitous circumstances, she heard me talking over the internal telephone
about an ordinary thing, as any COMMON person coping with his everyday problems. I was
also compelled to get out of my consulting room together with her and we took the lift
together to GO DOWN to the ground floor.
A trifle is required to associate all this to the figure of a man that formerly looked
like a god of the Olympus that, instead, from up there lowers down to a common mortal
level.
Mind, I am talking of HER mental schemes, I want to specify it, one never knows… :-)
The story I have just told recalls another similar but more explicit story to my mind. A few years ago, a patient of mine met me in a supermarket and during her subsequent sitting she told me textually: "It was as if the whole analysis has collapsed over me, it was terribly disappointing!".
Last notation: in this dream there is also the disappointment caused by discoverying that one’s relationship with one’s analyst is not EXCLUSIVE and priviledged. In fact, the analyst entertains relationships with other persons and pays attention to them taking no care of the narcissistic wound suffered by the patient. This is what a girl feels when she finds out that she must share her father’s love with her brothers.
Dream No. 287
I invite all my colleagues to dinner. We get at a
restaurant where we are not received in the best way. I understand I made a wrong choice
and I see one of my most aggressive colleagues looking askance at me. He is surely about
to attack me. So I suggest that we all go to another restaurant where we will certainly
have a good meal.
On the other hand, it is not my fault if the first restaurant showed to be a
"sell". And then, even if it were so, I killed nobody. Therefore, if it is all
right with my aggressive colleague, he may certainly come, otherwise who gives a damn!
The dreamer was a woman morbidly susceptible to the judgement of
other people, she needed to feel always and anyway approved to calm her anxiety.
Now, instead, the opposite attitude starts to appear, the attitude of somebody who is glad
if the others approve of him/her but this no longer represents a point of vital importance
for him/her: if the others approve, O.K.; if not, who gives a…
The new attitude derives straight from a gained higher self-esteem.
Dream No. 288
I have a pistol in my hand and aim at my daughter
to kill her. I fire two shots that go and stick in her side without killing her. So I
decide to shoot again. I am prey to the deepest hate. My analyst intervenes to try and
calm me down, he says that it’s enough for the time being, in one week I may try
again aiming more precisely.
I understand that he is trying to divert my attention to prevent me from accomplishing my
criminal plan.
Consideration: most likely my rage derives from the fact that my daughter compels me to play the role of somebody who GIVES, that is the role of an adult person while I would like to stay in the position of a girl, that is somebody who wants to RECEIVE.
The dream interpretation was found by the dreamer herself. I have only to add that her daughter is just over one of age and the dreaming mother, after this dream, found out that she had a new and unexpected capacity for naturally accepting the "troubles" that a baby is bound to cause to her mother.
Here is another confirmation that when
possible aggressive drives aiming at anybody that we also very much love emerge, our
relationship with him/her results to be improved and strengthened, instead of being
jeopardized.
From a logical viewpoint such a result may seem absurd, but psyche is not
"logical"….!
Or perhaps it is logical under a much wider viewpoint than the one characterizing rational
mind. For example, in this case it can be assumed that by allowing an aggressive drive to
emerge, same is discharged, weakened, emptied. Furthermore, once an aggressive drive is
focused and takes a concrete form in a dream, the involved person can face it until he/she
elaborates and overcomes it. And it is not all, as no white exists without back nor hot
without cold, sooner or later an emerging polarity evokes the opposite polarity to appear.
In this case: HATE-LOVE, INTOLERANCE-ENDURANCE, IMPATIENCE-PATIENCE.
At this point the conversation could be extended
further on up to taking into examination the subject of efficacy or not of any educational
method repressing drives but this is not the right place to do it.
On the contrary, after reading such a dream we can say that it is easier to understand why
the figure of a DEVIL is often used in many dreams as a personified representation of
"evil" drives. For a mother tenderly loving her daughter, in fact, it is much
easier to ascribe her hostile drives to a devil (that is an OUTSIDE being) than accepting
the idea of their INSIDE origin that may be due, as in this case, to psychological
mechanisms quite easy to detect and understand whenever they are faced with the correct
means.
Dream No. 289
Published as received:
Hi Romano,
it might be superfluous saying that I find your writings very interesting. If it
weren’t so, I wouldn’t even tell you. I am not a very loquacious person and I do
not know what happened to me that made me overcome this barrier. Amongst other things, I
never wrote to unknown persons.
Please forgive the way I am writing as I am not Italian.
I downloaded all the material in the dreams’ showcase and read it carefully through.
The strongest emotion I experienced in the last few days was to apply your teachings to my
dreams.
Romano, you are smart and what I best admire is your age. It is very difficult to find
interesting and clever persons in your generation band. Thank you in advance.
A few days ago I had this dream:
I went to pay a visit to my neighbours (with whom,
in real life, I have a sort of diplomatic relationship restricted to essential
communications, we live in a row cottage, they live on the ground floor and basement and
we live on the first floor and mansard).
I was welcome. I took a present for their daughter that was born a few months before. Out
of all the conversation, I can only remember that he said that they had bought a device
for the garage allowing to elevate a car. This way all vehicles could be parked in an
orderly manner. I was glad because, as a consequence, order in the condominium would
improve too.
Now you must know that last March I started a psychotherapy and I
begin to lose my patience as I would like to finish as soon as possible (it costs me a lot
in all senses) and my psychotherapist keeps saying that it is not yet high time to leave
each other.
At first I did not pay attention to this dream, but it kept coming back to my mind every
now and then and at last I had a flash and I understood immediately that my neighbours
might be my unconscious and their order might be my order. Of course I would be more
satisfied to hear your opinion.
Tonight I dreamt that a new supermarket had opened and there were many interesting bargains. I went to buy something but no bargain was left….
First of all thank you for your appreciation
words. Granting that they are deserved, in my opinion it is not a matter of generation
band. Not all interesting peope die when they are young! :-)
As to your writing style, I will only say that it would save me a great amount of work if
all my Italian patients wrote as you do. And I am not saying so to pay a compliment to
you.
Now let’s come back to your dreams. In my opinion you "hit the target" and
I can but confirm your interpretation. I would only add a few remarks as regards the
"girl born a few months before" indicating your newborn part, the part that was
born thanks to the psychotherapy you are following.
I understand your impatience but, if you interrupt your analysis
now you run the risk of losing the girl: she is too young to walk by herself, you should
offer her the possibility of growing and and allowing her legs to grow stronger.
Analysis costs a lot in all senses but what it gives you back is priceless, in the sense
that it has an enormous value that cannot be calculated.
You were so lucky as to have the confirmation that something new was born inside you. This
means that you are in the harvesting time, so it would be poorly sensible to give up
grapes right now, after much working and sweating in your vineyard.
You should bear in mind that if analysis costs you a lot in ALL senses, it means that
there is something else that has to come up yet and on which perhaps you would like to
keep your eyes closed.
The second dream seems to talk about your feeling that in your
life (supermarket) you are excluded from enjoying some benefits and opportunities that you
believe other people have.
Best wishes and have a good work.
P.S. It would be better if you told your dreams to your psychotherapist. This time I had no problems in answering you since the second dream did not touch on really "crucial" points while you had already self-interpreted the first one. Moreover, it was a very positive-propulsive dream. However it is appropriate to avoid any outside intervention during an ongoing analysis as it can only cause harmful interferences, hence complications and.... indeed there is no need of them! :-)
Dream No. 290
There is an Egyptian giant who wants to kill me,
he is at least 5 m tall. I run away and hide myself but at a certain point I understand
that I am behaving like a coward, so I come out and face the giant.
He is huge and has a naughty look, I feel that my end has come.
I take a handful of sand and throw it in his face. Immediately he throws another one back
to me, I feel I am lost by now, indeed my end has come. I am in deep distress but when the
sand hits my face I feel that it is a sponge-cake. So my fear dwindles away and I
understand that I may even make a war with this giant but as a play that is amusing
myself, he is not as bad as I thought.
The initial situation is dramatic, dangerous, distressing and the
patients keeps repeating it as if it was never enough: "he wants to kill me"
" he is at least 5 m tall" "I run away" "he has a naughty
look", "I feel that my end has come", "I feel I am lost by now",
"indeed my end has come", "I am in deep distress".
And what is the end of the dream? The discovery of the sponge-cake, play and amusement. It
is a true overall overturning that occurred ONLY BECAUSE SHE STOPS ESCAPING!!! If she
continued escaping, anxiety, fear and distress would have kept consuming her.
Here it is not important to specify what the 5 metre tall giant
represents exactly. Firstly, because it would be necessary to tell the long story of the
dreamer’s life. Secondly, because here I am interested in pointing out that what
frightens us in the end changes into a pleasant thing. But, I repeat, only on condition
that we stop escaping and face the alleged bad GIANT.
It is also to be clarified that it is not a matter of urging and "pushing" a
patient not to be afraid, which would be useless as well as foolish, rather of working so
that he/she may feel increasingly stronger and self-confident. At that point he/she stops
escaping simply because he/she is no longer afraid or, in case he/she still keeps some
fear, because he/she can neutralize it with the new resources he/she owns now.
We have already and many times seen how proteiform this "evil" presence inside us may be: a devil, a monster, a killer, a volcano eruption, a fire, an earthquake, a house flooding, a flood, a bomb (atomic or not), a wild beast, an octopus, a criminal, an extraterrestrial, a witch, Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, a deluge, every kind of accident, disasters, collapses, the end of the world, rapes, pedophilus, poisonous insects, snakes, a shark, cars running with no brakes and with no flying wheel. And, furthermore, anyhting apt to represent EVIL, WICKEDNESS, DANGER.
Dream No. 291
A few-month old girl was crying. The mother had identified her daughter’s cry and made for her. I went together with the mother and I saw the girl that was placed up there, high, in a sort of bed with no mattress. I was astonished at the sight of that baby left alone in that dangerous and uncomfortable bed. I very much wanted to fly into a rage with that irresponsible mother.
S. Freud said that the unconscious knows no
contradiction. Here we have an evident proof thereof since the dreamer flying into a rage
with the mother that left her daughter in a dangerous and uncomfortable bed is the same
woman that a few days earlier had the dream where she repeatedly shot her small baby
(Dream No. 288).
The three women represent the three parts of the same dreamer: the typical one, a loving
and protective mother; the moderately aggressive one that leaves her daughter crying in a
dangerous and uncomfortable bed; the burstling aggressive one of the previous dream.
I would have expected the moderately aggressive part to appear earlier than the violently
aggressive one but by now I am no longer surprised at the "irrationalitiy" of
the unconscious…:-)
Dream No. 292
I must go and study with a man in a far-away
country but I have some difficulties in going there as I only own an old moped that,
moreover, has no headlight. As a consequence, I proceed with great difficulty on the road:
it is dark, there are no road lights, I am afraid of running somebody over and even of
being run down.
Nevertheless I get through because I manage to follow the white stripe traced on the
asphalt. I even manage to get there earlier, so much so that I start looking for a
repairman in order to have my moped fixed.
The man it’s me, the analyst, and the
difficulties the dreamer meets to get to him are those she meets during her analysis: a
feeling of having scanty resources to cope with it (only a moped and moreover an old one);
a feeling that the run is uneasy and dangerous for herself as well as the others as she
can only see at a few meter distance (the headlight of her moped is missing and there are
no road lights) so she has no sight of the arrival point and no advance perception of
possible dangers. It is like going ahead in a thick fog.
Yet.... yet she does not allow the difficulties she meets to damp her spirits and she goes
ahead fearless.
For the time being she can only see the negative side of her way but she goes ahead all
the same grounded on her CONFIDENCE. Anyone who follows the white stripe traced on the
asphalt, in fact, does so because he/she believes that it indicates the right direction.
Her confidence and perseverance are rewarded in the end. She gets there even earlier and
takes advantage of the time she has available to have her moped fixed (her capacity for
moving in life). Of course a moped is not a Ferrari but, when you own a moped, the first
thing you want is that it works well. Then we will see....
Dream No....
I publish this dream as I received it, without numbering it. You will understand the reason later.
Tonight I dreamt that I saw four biers passing by
and I knew that they were children but I ignored who they were. I drew near the last bier
and saw that it was uncovered, filled with dust. While I was staring at it without
understanding, a girl came out half-length in spite of the fact that she was dead in her
tender years. I immediately understood that she was my niece.
She held out her hand to me and very sadly I kissed it but she, making a large no,
immediately drew her hand back and started to speak fast and laugh very much as if in a
few seconds she wanted to fill a gap of eight years.The four biers were brown-colored. My
niece was born on….and died on….
I would like to know the meaning of my dream and if it provides numbers that I could put on the lottery.
Thank you, S…
Non sono in grado di dirti il significato del sogno ma ne
approfitto per invitare tutti coloro che avessero intenzione di spedirmi i loro sogni a
farlo solo dopo avere letto la pagina "PRIMA DI PARTIRE".
Lì è detto con chiarezza con quale spirito e intenzioni ho deciso la creazione di questo
sito.
Per il Lotto c'è il libro "La smorfia" e io non voglio invadere il campo di
nessuno... :-)
I am unable to tell you the meaning of your dream but I take this opportunity to ask anyone who wishes to send me his dreams to do so only after reading the page "BEFORE STARTING OFF". Here both the spirit and intent I had in mind when I decided the set up this site are clearly stated.
As to the lottery, you should revert to the book "La Smorfia" (popular Italian book where it possible to find the numbers to be placed on the lottery, based on the events of dreams) and I do not want to encroah upon the field of somebody else… :-)
Dream No. 293
Published as received:
Ciao,
I do not know why I am writing to you, perhaps because I was impressed by the way you
address your interlocutors. So I overcame my reluctancy which is partly due to the fact
that I noticed that many persons writing to you are following an analysis and therefore
need much more support than a twenty-three of age, "normal" girl (much could be
said as to normality and pseudo normality parameters) who is maybe only experiencing some
sentimental problems in this very moment.
Anyway I have decided to tell you a dream I frequently had, not only last night after
arguing with my partner who has decided to spend the New Year’s Day far from me…
Stop with idle talks, surely you aren’t a sentimental advisor.
I thank you in advance for the attention you will give me. With
my sincerest compliments for your site.
CIAO!
Well, I often happen to dream about snakes. I am almost always scared. I was scared also during the last dream I had, there were so many of them on the road that I had to go up many times (I do not know the reason for this repetition, however there was a colleague of mine nearby and I asked him if they were poisonous but uselessly, he just urged me to move). In some cases there was only their threatening heads jerking possibly in an effort to bite me, so much so that I wished to find someone (or something, a sort of "Strength") that would rise me high enough to avoid them.
I often had this dream in the past. Somebody told me that snakes
represent enemies and it is necessary to pay attention to their moves. Apparently they are
also phallic symbols...I do not know, of course I take your advice, also because usually
this dreams makes me distressed.
Ah, a last curiosity, is it somehow connected to my partner?
A Snake is one of the symbols most rich in meanings. In our
culture it represents the Devil, in other cultures it represents God. Not too bad, as a
variation range….! :-)
In between these two ends an endless range of nuances.
To synthesize as far as possible, most of the times in a dream snakes represent those
parts of ourselves that we consider "evil". Which these can be, however, it can
be found out through a continued work on a series of dreams, that is an analysis. As I
often repeat.
If you went through the dreams reported so far, you have noticed that the nature of these
"evil" parts change the very moment we get in contact with them. Or, if the
worst comes to the worst, they stop making us distressed. Not too bad, as a result!
My answer is too generic and, being such, it cannot satisfy your curiosity, I understand it but I am unable to be more specific. I could always suggest a combination of four numbers for the lottery… :-))
(I do hope that S…, see previous dream, does take offence at this joke of mine).
Dream No. 294
I lived in a building that the house manager had
decided to demolish and build up all over again.
I was worried because I thought I did not have the required money. Later, though, I
realized that I had already performed some major works in my flat: I could see it with
new, white walls and I saw that half of a room was already completed. I thought that it
was sufficient to complete the rearragement work, this way I could manage it.
The building we live in represents the
dreamer’s personality, as we know. Rearrangement works represent an ongoing analysis.
The house manager could be either the Super-Ego and the conscious Ego. "Money"
does not refer only to the money itself but it represents the overall resources required
by an analysis.
After clarifying this, the meaning of the dream becomes evident. The initial doubts and
perplexities disappear as the dreamer realizes that he has gone well ahead, that is he has
not to start from scratch.
Dream No. 295
I made a call on the new mayor. He was with other people, they were behind a long table on which many papers were placed and he was arranging them. He spoke to me about the difficulty he met in his new job and I offered to help him.
Here again an "arrangement" work is involved and apparently it is not an easy one. The new mayor represents the new Super-Ego engaged in this undertaking. The Ego has a cooperative position and this allows to be optimistic as to the outcome of the analysis.
Dream No. 296
While I was driving my car I thought that the
partner my mother had for so many years was very helpful to me, he taught me to become a
man, I mean he gave me the teachings a man can give.
On the other hand, if he wasn’t there I could receive the same teachings from my
uncle G…
I also thought that if neither the latter was there, nobody could teach me. Afterwards I
thought that I could manage it by myself. At the beginning of my contact with the world I
would perhaps be inexperienced but afterwards I would understand, I would learn.
The involved man was grown up in an environment where the main
characters were chiefly women. As a consequence he had always been looking for outside
male reference figures. At first he considers them absolutely essential, afterwards,
though, he understands that he could do without them, he could manage it by himself.
The dream is a proof that his confidence in his own resources has remarkably increased.
Dream No. 297
I was in a wood, with high and rare trees, that is
walking was easy. I noticed that a series of lights were stuck to the trees to show the
way. They were not very bright but they were sufficient to show the way. I also noticed
that they had been positioned more or less at a man’s height.
There was something like a big fire in the middle of the trees and it seemed to be
dangerous.
Somebody told me to put it off. I went and I realized that it was not a fire but a
radiator, therefore I did not experience the dangerous heat of a fire but the pleasant and
safe warmth of a radiator.
There was also a central-heating boiler fitted with a switch so I understood that it was
possible to put it off.
I have already had many opportunities of saying that the key
reason why an analysis lasts so long is our unconscious feeling that we have something
"dangerous" and "dirty" at the same time inside us. Sometimes we spend
all our life to protect ourselves from these elements that seem to alarm us.
If things are like that, the unavoidable consequence is that nobody is willing to draw
near an object which is considered filthy, dangerous, explosive (I said elsewhere that we
feel another menace emerging from "down there", that is an upcoming emotion
causing us to lose our self-control).
A wood is another of the several symbols of the unconscious. It
is the wood exciting fear in many tales.
In this case, however, the wood no longer appears to be thoroughly wild, like an entangled
vegetation mass. A good part of the analysis work was already done and here is the result:
trees are rare therefore walking is easy: there are even lights showing the way and they
are placed at a man’s height that is they can be easily seen.
But… there is a but…a big fire that seems to be dangerous… that however, in
actual facts, reveals to be a…. RADIATOR delivering a pleasant warmth instead of a
dangerous heat!!!
And all this is not enough yet,
it’s not sufficient that the threatening fire has given room to a BOILER
(representing a "wanted" and "controlled" fire), even a SWITCH is
there, that is a device enabling to have a better overall control !!!
But when is it possible to make this pleasant and reassuring discovery? Only the very
moment when he FACES what he BELIEVED to be a fire. Only at that time what seemed to be a
danger reveals to be a very useful RESOURCE.
Right question: wherefrom can a patient take the
courage he/she needs to FACE the (alleged) danger as he/she never had it until that
moment? This courage is one of the fruits brought about by an analysis, it naturally comes
from an increased self-confidence as we saw in the previous dream.
Moreover, patients experience a feeling of safety deriving from the presence of their
analyst, a "strong" figure that allows us to perfom also all the operations we
wouldn’t be able to make by ourselves. The presence of an analyst, however, will not
be required forever: after discovering that the fire is a "boiler producing
warmth" (not a real fire), fear disappears and we are enabled to go ahead in the wood
alone.
Dream No. 298
Ciao,
first of all my compliments for your site! :-)
I am 21 and I am very interested in the subject of dreams and their likely
interpretations.
I would ask you to kindly interpret this dream that quite impressed me. Usually I do not
remember my dreams and, if I do, they never strike me too much.
I must foretell that lately I have become the owner of a horse, which always represented a
true "dream" for me :-), and I am facing some difficulties in mounting it
because of its peppy nature even if, little by little and with my trainer’s help, I
am learning and getting accustomed to its bad temper and to its unpredictable moves.
Here is my dream. It’s rather a tangle...however I hope you
can manage to understand something! :-)
Ciao, V…
I am in Val d’Aosta (Aosta Valley, Italy) as usual during
summer time since I was a young girl.
Usual walk, a torrent on my left, pastures on my right (often, when I go there in my real
life, I cover that stretch of road riding a horse I know very well).
I am mounting my horse that, in my dream, has a greater size than in real life. It is
perfectly saddled, as customary on a riding-ground (I do not believe that my horse ever
made a walk throughout its life, it is a competition horse). I go on at pace.
The scene changes.
There are some persons around, my horse is showing some difficulties but I manage to calm it down and it accepts my petting it. I go on at pace.
The scene changes.
At first I am in a market place, later in a supermarket. People
seem not to care about the fact that such a big animal is in a closed environment, amongst
shampoos and vegetables… I go out, I look for my family and find it. All of them are
there, including my mother (who died three years ago). Now I go away, they stay there. I
have a feeling of distress at the idea of leaving them but it soon disappears.
I am always riding my horse, from time to time in a supermarket, I get off and am
surprised to notice that I can mount it again with no difficulty.
I am going back and am galloping, it’s a wonderful feeling.
I stop to allow my horse to rest but it starts raining, so I cover it, somebody lends me a
nice violet blanket.
I am still galloping and I think that my horse will sweat and this will do harm to it, so
I uncover it, in the meantime it stops raining.
I am still galloping and I notice that my horse is no longer saddled, I am riding bareback
and it’s marvellous.
I go on galloping, this time I notice that my horse doesn’t even have the
crown-piece, it only has a halter with two small straps (like the ones fastening hay
bales) acting as reins.
I realize that this way it is hardly possible for me to control my horse but by now we
have gained such a high mutual confidence that this is no more a problem.
There are some hindrances along our galloping, things that I know frighten my horse in
real life, for example a sort of mirror placed on the earth, across the road.
I worry at the beginning but then I notice that obstacles are surpassed with no
difficulty…I keep galloping and I feel fully satisfied.
I know it is a dream and I would like it to never end, but the very moment I think so I
wake up!
A horse symbolizes vital energy in all its component parts,
moving, sentimental, emotional, sexual aspect, and so on. A rider symbolizes our rational
part which is in charge of driving our vital energy.
You are living the transition period from childhood-teens (Aosta Valley) to adult life
(supermarket).
This entails separating from your family and taking over your own responsibilities, for
instance managing a new, peppy-nature, competition horse which is trained to compete
(life) and not only to walk (childhood-teens).
At the beginning the idea of separating from your family causes you to suffer some
distress but this feeling does not stop you and you go on along the road that will lead
you to adult life.
You are surprised to notice that you have a capacity that in your
opinion you didn’t have, a capacity for getting off and mounting a horse again. If we
add that your horse is perfectly saddled, we can infer that you feel able to drive all
your vital energies. Your mastery feeling is also matched by the confidence that has
developed between you and your horse. Mastery and confidence increase up to the point that
you can afford the wonderful pleasure of riding "bareback", that is getting
straight in contact with your vital energy, with no diaphragm placed in between. It almost
seem untrue to you but in this condition of grace you manage to overcome also the
obstacles that in your opinion you were unable to overcome.
Your experience is so beautiful that you would like it to never end… but…
Does this dream express only a fulfilled desire or a real possession of these capacities?
Knowing nothing about you, I cannot answer this question but, at least, I can say that you
are fully aware of what you need to become an adult and to be in harmony with all the
positive and deep elements of your psyche.
____________________________
After publishing the above interpretation, the dreamer wrote to me as follows:
Hi Romano,
First of all I want to thank you for interpreting my dream. I wish you to know that it
gives me a great confidence. In my opinion, dreams can really help people even when their
interpretation is unknown.
As a matter of fact, after I had that dream and before reading your interpretation I went
to the riding ground and succeeded in jumping with my horse. It was only a small 60 cm
high obstacle but this is a very important step for a rider.
Don’t let your opinion spread too much.... otherwise I will
end by being unemployed :-)
Apart from my jokes, dreams might anyway have a least positive effect, even if they are
not interpreted, but it is a "least" effect, indeed.
If it was otherwise, we could do without all the work by S. Freud and C.G. Jung. On the
contrary…
Dream No. 299
I was at my analyst’s, sitting in front of
him, in front of a beutiful and valuable wooden desk. I was struck by the great value of
the wood.
There was a monstrous crocodile on it and at the beginning it frightened me but afterwards
my analyst showed me that it was a greatly valuable candle and I touched it fearlessly.
Later on my analyst asked me to make a written exercise, I was tense, I thought I was
unable to do it but then I relaxed and everything went on very well.
Here again, as in other dreams, we can see a patient shifting
from his FEAR of a monster to the GREAT VALUE of a candle spreading light-knowledge. This
result is achieved thanks to the analyst’s work, that is thanks to psychotherapy.
I will not repeat what a crocodile-monster represents because I have already said it
hundred and hundred times.
The whole story ends with the gain of unexpected capacities: it is the arrival point of an
analysis.
Dream No. 300
Two criminals arrive at high speed in a red,
powerful and sparkling car. I know both of them, one is a well known criminal, while I am
surprised at the other one since he always seemed to be a good family boy, a good worker
and a quiet fellow.
They arrive in front of a house featuring a beautiful architecture but inhabited by other
criminals. On their arrival they bump against a parked car.
I notice that objects start to be flown in that house, perhaps pans, and this causes an
about 10 years old boy to cry for fear of what is going on.
There is somebody near the boy trying to explain him how to behave in such a circumstance.
As for myself, after seeing all that, I think that I no longer wish to live in such a town
where criminals dwell and I want to go and live in a quiet place together with my dearest
ones.
The woman that had this dream is still in a phase of the analysis
preceding the one depicted in the former dream. Here fear has not disappeared after
discovering its groundlessness. Here a projection of one’s evil parts to the outer
world persists and the only envisaged solution is an escape to a quiet place. The dreamer
doesn’t know yet that there are no quiet places since "criminals" are
inside her, therefore they would follow her everywhere!
Furthermore, she is discovering NEW "evil" parts inside herself that she did not
suspect (the good family boy). These "repressed" parts are coming up now.
She is experiencing the same fear as a boy who is frightened by some occurring phenomena
of which he does not know the origin. He can see their effects but the relevant causes are
unknown.
The dream supplies also a meaningful hint: she would like to go to a quiet place together
with her dearest ones. She would like to protect these persons as they are the same ones
that her "evil" drives are threatening.
I want to report hereunder a consideration made by
a female patient.
It is not a dream, nevertheless I think it is worth reporting it because it allows to have
an idea of the positive changes of one’s personality that can be obtained by working
on dreams.
I will use a different color in reporting it to highlight the difference also under a
graphic viewpoint.
_______________
I am tired. I feel I am living a life not
belonging to me. I would like to leave my scene mask. I am tired of my extranumerary role.
I would like to start being the main character in my life.
If I stop to listen to the bustle of thoughts crowding my head I run the risk of going
mad. I don’t have a single thought actually belonging to me. I live on other
people’s remainders, often even poor remainders.
I feel the desire to assert myself but, before taking decisions, I go and peep in the sack
of other people hoping to find a dress that might perfectly suit me. But the others’
dresses will never be mine, sooner or later somebody will knock at my door and ask them
back. So I will remain bare naked. I never had any dress of my own. The others’
dresses, that I have obstinately tried to withhold, were torn away from me. Sometimes I
have even tried to give them back myself because I could no longer wear them easily.
Then my body started to rebel. It felt cold, it feld naked, my bowels were writhing for
fear, fear to be asked to spend my own resources to buy a new dress.
At last I am aware that the others’ dresses cannot
suit me, even if throughout my life I used them unknowingly. Now after understanding, now
after feeling the need of taking off the others’ dresses I have to decide alone, only
by myself, which dress to wear.
I am not accustomed to choose and manage myself, so fear is the only emotion I feel. It
covers me, it wraps me, it seizes me, it tears me to pieces, it kills me.
I feel I might be duped only by a fear not to get through.