Dreams and relevant interpretation I suggest
Dream No.151
In real life my first son was born three months ago, and now I often dream that I let him fall on the ground while I am walking on the street, however the baby does not get hurt. I cannot suggest a true interpretation to this dream as I know nothing about you, however I think it is worthy taking this opportunity to make some general remarks.
One of the characteristics of human nature is its capacity for nourishing OPPOSITE feelings to a same person. We can madly love somebody and, at the same time, feel more or less strong resentments against him/her. Usually we refuse to consciously accept the latter part that seems hardly admissible and acceptable to us, and as a result we REPRESS it.
What REPRESSION is ? In a very few and simple words, it consists of the disappearance of a feeling from the area of consciousness because a censure was passed on it. This feeling, however, does not actually and fully disappear, it stays in the unconscious part of our psyche and herefrom it originates a series of advserse effects going from a slight neurotic disorder to more serious, even somatic, symptoms for which psychotherapist’s advice should be sought.I used the conditional tense because very often, on the contrary and unfortunately, as a result of common and anachronistical prejudices ("insane people go to psychotherapists", and so on) people are afraid of doing so. My site, in its own small way, intends to make a contribution to fight these prejudices. After this long foreword, let’s come back to the dream. A few things may be picked out of it. First of all, its recurrence induces to think of a psychic situation to be still overcome as it is not solved yet. Second, you don’t say: "My son FALLS on the ground", you say: "I LET him fall on the ground". It would seem that you hold a direct and personal responsibility for what happens.
The story always ends with no harm to your son ("he does not get hurt") which means that your dream shows no aggressiveness to the child but, maybe, only a desire of NOT BEING A FATHER.
Which reasons can originate a desire in a man of refusing his role as a father ? I do not know the answer in your personal case but, in general, this feeling may be originated by at least three reasons:
- The most frequent and common case: a son may be born "unwillingly" and, consequently, he might order what once was called a "reparation" that is a wedding.
- The birth of a son might compel us to get out of the "non responsibility" world which is typical of teen-agers, namely it may force us to enter into the adults’ world. Adults must take care of somebody else and, unless we are mature enough, we refuse this role that we aren’t ready to play yet because we still would like to RECEIVE rather than TAKE care.
- When a child is born, a couple changes into a family in the full meaning of this word and, as the case may be, the idea of a family is likely to be associated to unpleasant memories coming from our childhood, from our family of origin.
I am aware I have served you a not too nice meal and most likely you will not find yourself in this interpretation.
Dream No.152 Published as received: I am writing to compliment your idea of putting on the Web so many information of interest to everybody and to submit two recurrent dreams of mine to your attention. I am a married woman aged… I thank you beforehand.
In my first dream, I find out that my house has many other rooms, besides the present ones. Actually, I discover another wing of the house. Often these new rooms are in poor conditions and cannot be used unless they are refurbished or rearranged, but indeed there are so many of them and unexpectedly I have much more room available.
In my second dream I find out that a new bus line was added and it comes very near to my house thus enabling me to move much easier.
My feeling is very much alike in both dreams: in both of them I find out that I can avail myself of additional chances.
These dreams seem to be by somebody following a psychotherapy and having attained the typical positive turning point: dreams covering "bad" things stop and the nice-beautiful-useful things hiding inside ourselves start to be discovered.If this type of dreams appeared since the beginning, analysis would last much shorter but, as we all know, with all one’s ifs one does not get very far. On the other hand, who wouldn’t like to harvest without having to hoe the field? It would be very nice but it is impossible.…unfortunately.... :-(
It is important to emphasize that the scope of a psychotherapy is to drive hands into "bad" things, sure, but only with a view to finally reach the stage so clearly described in these two dreams: enjoy many more opportunities, avail oneself of a larger living space, benefit from increased possibilities of moving and communicating. I will repeat it "ad nauseam": "The golden mine of dreams"… !
Dream No.153 Published as received:
Dear Mr. Badiali, After reading your comments to my dream about a killer (Dream No. 148), I have taken heart and I have decided to face my oneiric fears in a completely different manner, that is accepting and "embracing" them instead of fighting them.
I do hope that, in case you decide to include them in your Dreams’ Showcase, my oneiric adventures might prove as beneficial to somebody else as the work and attention you devoted to me were to me.
I thank you for now and send you my best regards. Tonight I found myself in my usual oneiric situation: I am near a dark room having a walled-up door (a sort of antechamber or preliminary test before reaching the killer) that has always terrified me and that I have never tried to open.
(When I was a child I used to pass by an abandoned house where, in my imagination, terrific secrets were being kept and at the same time I was fascinated and frightened by them; I could see the inside of a room through a window that was very much similar to the window in my dream).
Two nights ago, for the first time the room was lit up and through a small window I saw a woman laying on the floor, I did not know whether alive or dead, then I ran away.
Tonight I stopped to watch and I saw that the woman was moving: she was ragged and tired, shut up in this room for fear of the monster, eating what people, out of charity, used to leave in front of the window grates.
Being aware that I was dreaming, I decided to set her free by facing her terrific warden. From a cupboard filled with pistols and rifles I took an umbrella only (I do not know why, but I knew that it was the only effective weapon) and some holy water.
Soon after the monster came out and he had the typical form of a fire-spitting dragon. He knew that he was bound to be defeated because I no longer feared him, in fact it was sufficient for me to drive the umbrella into his snout and sprinkle him with holy water to see him collapsing down.
He was smiling and I hugged him with love: he said that it was worthy dying as thus he had met with love.
Afterwards everything disappeared and I found myself flying through a marvellous landscape at night, full of beautiful buildings having charming shapes.
I know that the dragon was a sort of warden, not a real killer, anyway the dream was really very rewarding and enlivening. Sometimes, when times are ripe, we need just a little to make up our mind and face the so-called MONSTER that, actually, very often shows to be someone SMILING at us that we can even HUG WITH LOVE, as in this case.
It is a warden, not a real killer, however you can be sure that even the latter, once we look in his face, will assault nobody and will simply fade away: read Dream No. 33 again.
A struggle with a monster-dragon is one of the main recurrent themes in any culture. This test is always presented as the only way to conquer freedom. You are nearly at this point, having bravely faced the warden this time. In the meanwhile, you are "flying through a marvellous landscape at night, full of beautiful buildings having charming shapes"….
I wish to congratulate you, you have been really good, brave and even….quick: your previous message dates back only to a few days ago!
Who is the woman laying on the floor? To discover this it would be necessary to start working at examining a long series of dreams, but then it would be a real psychotherapy.... :-)
Your dream will be beneficial also to other persons, to everybody who doubts of being able to stop escaping and, at last, to look at the ALLEGED monster-killer in his face.
Dream No.154 Published as received:
Have you some spare time to interpret a dream of mine? Please forgive my lengthy story, but the dream was actually very long and I could not make up my mind as to which details could be cut out being not important. The dream dates back to two months ago. Usually I do not remember my dreams and when I do, they are very long.
I was about to forget. Here are some personal details: I am aged … I am happily married to my husband. I have a wonderful daughter aged …
A million thanks.
The dream starts in black and white. I am
in an indefinite space. There is a group of persons: colleagues, friends, my husband. They
speak each other. I am aloof, I feel bored and somewhat uncomfortable because I would
rather do something else. I call my husband (or I seem to) and ask him to go away or do
something else. He answers that it’s not the right time.
My mothers appears and I find out that I have a magic wand. I make use of the wand. My
mother and I fly to a very beautiful atoll. The dream changes to color now. We are laying
in the sun. I am topless. Ours is not a daughter-mother relationship, rather a two-friend
relationship, on the same level. With no shame I get up and go towards a bathing hut-cafe.
A man is there and he starts kissing me. I accept it. It is very exciting. But something
(I do not remember what) breaks off or calls me back.
I come back to my bed in the sun. My mother disappears. Two snakes come out of a bush that
perhaps was not there before. I am troubled. The snakes are most poisonous, lethal. The
smaller one has some red (and maybe blue) rings, I am sure it is a coral snake. I must run
away.
I am running. The sand slides under my feet but I find myself always in the same place and
the snakes gradually increase their speed. They are very near to me. They are about to
bite me when a third snake comes out of the bush. It is big and strong, it is not
poisonous. It makes for the coral snake with the intent of saving me. It kills it with a
bite, then it kills also the other poisonous snake. I am safe, but this feeling lasts only
one second, now it wants to bite me too, perhaps eat me. I am struggling with this snake
holding it with my hands and trying to keep its mouth away from me.
Now the dream is black and white again. I find myself in the kitchen of the house where I
used to live with my family and where I have been living with my husband for two years (my
parents having moved elsewhere many years before). I am holding the snake with my hands.
Its mouth has now become similar to a mad dog’s.
I am afraid, but I understand that the only thing to do is to prevent it from biting, and
for this reason I keep its mouth closed, but it is very hard. I must manage to cut its
head. By separating its head from the rest of the body, it will certainly die and it will
no longer do harm.
My mother, my father, my brother and my husband are in the kitchen. Maybe also other
people. They talk each other. Nobody worries about what is going on. I am struggling for
life and at the same time I am angry because nobody helps me. In particular I am angry
with my father: "Can’t you see that I need help, take a knife, cut its head
!" I tell him. So he comes near me holding a knife. I keep holding the snake with my
left hand but I can’t remember if its head was cut by my father or me.
The body of the snake, separated from its head-dog, keeps wriggling about and moving in
the room. Suddenly it changes into a naked child (same age as my daughter). Fear gives
room to distress and a sense of guilt. I realize that by mutilating the snake I have hurt
the child that now goes away from me, his back turned to me. As a consequence of the
snake-dog mutilation, the child has two gushes of blood flowing from the tip of his feet.
One red and one blue. I believe he will die.
I wake up feeling a terrible sense of guilt.
Which is the difference
between the black and white pictures and the color ones? It is an easy answer: the latter
are pleasant, amusing while the former are dull, depressing, boring, just as the first
part of the dream, the one where you are with your husband.
You tell your husband that you feel discomforted in that sort of married life but
he’s deaf in that ear….so you start cultivating escapist (in color!) and
extramarital adventure fancies in far-away, exotic places.. the magic wand can satisfy
your desires…
Why is your mother there? I cannot answer this question but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the kind of person who is not obsessively tied to the idea of faithfulness or, at least, if she was a modern/open-minded/emancipated person, as they usually say. The fact that you entertain a same-level relationship with her means, maybe, that you wish to be like her.
Snakes. One of the richest symbols as regards meanings. In this case, your struggle with them may represent your attempt to defend yourself from your own aggressiveness, that you haven’t leanrt how to handle because your father was not actually a "hero", and your father, when you were a child, did not represent a stout enough barrier to make you feel protected from your own destructive drives. We demand this too from a father.In this specific case, snakes could represent your "evil" drives and, at the same time, their object, that is your daughter. This would explain the presence of strong senses of guilt and distress. It is still to be clarified who is the person that first takes your defence and then turns against you. Maybe you know who he/she is. Why should you be crossed with your daughter, a WONDERFUL baby, born from a woman HAPPILY married? The dream doesn’t say it, other dreams would be required, we can only make some general remarks as we did with Dream No. 151.
As you are a woman, some other considerations can be added to those we have already made. For instance, the unaesthetic marks that pregnancy usually leaves on a woman’s body: stretch marks, dropping breast, a possible scar after a caesarian section hindering a woman from wearing a bikini, less time available for oneself, and so on.
It is useless saying that
these inconveniences can be avoided through adequate treatment. It is useless because, in
practice, this does not always come true.
I am suggesting such a "sharp" interpretation because you are not a patient, so
there is no risk that you might interrupt an ongoing analysis.
You too are likely to comment: "the usual abstruse ideas of analysts!" and the
thing will end up like that …with no harm. If, on the contrary, you will find
yourself, partly or totally, in this interpretation, this fact might be the start of a
freeing metabolization.
Dream No.155 Published as received: Hi, I am a netsurfer. Amongst various rubbish sites, yours is the only one deserving attention.
As soon as mine is ready, I will let you have my address (I hope you visit it).
I have a dream to tell you that I hope you will interpret…it has been a recurrent dream for many years now and it is as follows, more or less:
Often I happen to be
wandering about the town (in a dark and gloomy atmosphere) and every time I meet a very
old house, sometimes ruined, other times to be completed…and always there is a
sinister air together with the awareness that it is always the same house.
When I am near this house, I feel something coming from the building that attracts me and
at the same time urges me to go away and, unless the house itself does it, sometimes
people appear that hinder me from going inside.
In my dream I understand that if I entered into that house, I would discover things that
might upset me. It is not a typical mightmare because I have no feeling of fear, rather
anxiety, and I stay there in the hands of indecision.
Other times I am inside this house and try to get out. In any case, however, I am bound to
follow a compulsory track that is, either I go into or get out of the house, always my
look gets lost in the picture (much more alike a nightmare than the house) of an enourmous
quarry, a sort of excavation for a house foundation. Every time I pass it by to go into or
come out of the house, this enormous hole (whose dimensions and depth would be absolutely
impossible in real life) notices my presence and its walls start collapsing. Water rises
from the bottom of the quarry.
The best advice I can give you is to tell it to a psychotherapist working through dreams (not everyone does). Only this way you will be able to pick every very helpful hint out of it and maybe start a systematic work on your dreams.
Dream No.156 I am sitting on the rear seat of a car. I am wearing a wedding dress and am going to the church to get married. A baby and his nursemaid are sitting near me. Actually, this woman is about to get married to a man she considers so immature (the baby) that she feels she will have to be a nursemaid to him rather than a wife.
The problem is in the fact that she is still very fond of this man and, as everyone knows, love makes blind.
Love leads her to close her eyes in front of this side of their relationship. On the contrary, her unconscious shows her a faithful picture of the real situation.
Dream No.157 I know that I have to make a long journey but I do not want to go alone. I feel anxiety growing inside me and feel like crying. I beg my husband to accompany me in this journey, together with our daughter, but he looks askance at me, he is annoyed and tells me not to make such a fuss and start off, as he is not going to come with me. He seems to regard this journey as an easy thing, as if I had just to reach the square near my house but I know that it is going to be very hard, almost a non return journey. I feel alone and abandoned, my trust is betrayed. He does not understand the extent of what I am about to do. This woman, despite the fact that she is married and has a daughter, is profoundly immature. She regards her ongoing analysis as a hard and exacting job that will produce final changes in her personality. Above all, she feels she has to definitely abandon, that is to leave forever, her childish way of living and this frightens her, makes anxiety grow inside her.
An essential component of immaturity is the feeling that our own forces are inadequte to the task we are called to fulfil (in this case, the journey-change induced by the ongoing analysis). This feeling, in turn, gives rise to the need of leaning on somebody who can offer us back-up, help, encouragement and understanding. If the persons we were relying on refuse to grant us all this, we feel abandoned, betrayed, alone.
In these cases, the abandonement of childhood is experienced as a shock, a sharp loss, and there is no awareness of the tremendous price to be paid to extend one’s staying in the "small garden", that is the lack of independence and freedom, not to talk about self-esteem which is practically reduced to nothing.
Dream No.158 Lately, a certain physical attraction has developed between a colleague of mine and me. I am longing to kiss him but, if I did, I am afraid that things would not stop there and would go beyond. My main desire is to see him falling to my feet, madly in love with me but I feel that this will not happen, on the contrary I might possibly give in without obtaining his total submission. The inevitable comes true, I have been provoking him for many days. We are on the banks of a ditch whose water is much polluted and brown colored. He starts kissing me and I reciprocate his kisses very passionately. The situation inflames, I am feeling a heavenly pleasure, the pression of his advances grows high and my body betrayes me, even if my mind suggests me not to surrender.
I feel however that his manners are becoming aggressive and this is irritating me. I very much fancy making love to him but I am afraid of losing my control over the game. In fact, the situation precipitates, he sharply shoves me to ground, he tears my dress off and penetrates me. I do not dislike it but I would have liked it better to happen in a more romantic atmosphere, I feel I have completely lost my control over the situation. I knew that this would be the end of it. As regards sex, men lose their head and, men being physically strong, we, the women, fail to oppose. The dream goes one with other facts that I am disregarding since they aren’t of general interest. In the above reported part two importatnt and rather frequent elements should be noticed. A feeling of physical weakness and impotency that some women have versus men and their consequent desire of getting their own back on men using seduction and sex as means of power to bring men to their feet.
This feeling of impotency is marvellously described by Marie Cardinal in her book "The words to say it", namely where it is said (translated from the Italian text): "Which woman can prevent a man, who really wants to do it, from penetrating her and laying his foreign sperm inside her? No one".
But there is a big difference between the two attitudes, Cardinal’s and the dreamer’s: the first one refers to a SUFFERED that is UNWANTED sexual intercourse, on the contrary the second one refers to a DESIRED sexual intercourse which is refused only because "it causes a loss of control over the game and over the situation"!
The desire of getting one’s own back on men using seduction and sex as means of power may originate even from the typical penis envy, however during the ongoing analysis of this patient no element came up to support this assumption. At least until the time of this dream.
Dream No.159
My uncle... pointed out to me that the walls of my house
were unsafe. I wondered whether, instead of pulling everything down, it was possible to
build a support band at mid-height using reinforcing rods and cement. This band could be
placed horizontally but I was also thinking of adding a vertical one as well. I wondered
how I could connect one band to the other: perhaps I could leave some iron spikes on the
horizontal band and then connect the vertical band to these spikes.
Then I wondered if the iron and cement cage resulting from this repair would bring about
radiations that might be dangerous to people.
At this point the problem of "what to do" arises. Pull everything down and reconstruct all over again? In the dreamer’s opinion this is not necessary as a simple overall consolidation work might be sufficient. Anyhow he also wonders if this work might produce adverse effects to the elements of his psyche. In other words, he knows he has to do something but he is still very doubtful on how to do it without causing adverse effects.
Dream No.160 A special breed of pidgeons is shown to me. Their characteristic is never to go away from their nest. Therefore pidgeons can be kept free with no fear that they might fly away. I like them just because of this peculiarity of their own and I intend to keep them. An expert is controlling them near a small house-nest that he built. He explains to me that it is a pumpkin. To understand the meaning of this dream it is necessary to know that the concerned person has a problem: he starts thinking about one thing and, little by little, following the associations of ideas, he finds himself a thousands kilometers away from the starting point, thus losing completely contact with it (pidgeons failing to return to their nest). Let me make it quite clear that we all happen to have this kind of mental behaviour, but in this case wandering goes to such an extent as to seriously affect the productivity of his metal process. His thoughts constantly follow a CENTRIFUGAL direction that doesn’t allow him to get at a CONCLUSION. In the end, all this is very time-wasting and detrimental to him, obviously.
During the first stage of the therapy, when I cautiously drew his attention to this fact, he used to look at me with the typical surprised eyes of a person thinking: "But what are you saying?". Now, instead, he has become aware of his behaviour and, mainly, of the detriment to him. Consequently, he wants to take measures and modify his behaviour, so he has adopted a way of thinking similar to a person that goes astray from the original topic in order to explore all related possibilities and, without losing sight of it, afterwards comes back to the point saying: "To sum up…". Pidgeons represent his thoughts. This interpretation is confirmed by the fact that the nest-house is a PUMPKIN, that is a HEAD (as per the association usually made in Italian).
Dream No.161 I am thinking over an irrigation system installed in a large estate. Maybe it was built in a wrong way: in my opinion even a slight uprise of the water level might cause enormous damages and destroy an entire country. I think that even England might be overflowed with water and disappear. There is such a tremendous amount of water that it is largely sufficient to cause this sort of disaster. Afterwards, in practice, nothing of what was there before would ever be seen again. Water = emotions.
For the time being, water flows in the irrigation system and shows its useful aspect providing fertily to the soil. For the time being, emotions are CHANNELED and produce fruits but this situation is not perceived as being stable and final, it persists a feeling that there is still a possible risk that even a slightest thing might change into a real danger. The dreamer enjoys a safety and a "fertility" but he feels that they are unstable as they run the risk of a flood.
England is an island, that is a land surrounded by the sea. A perfect symbol of CONSCIOUSNESS coming up from UNCONSCIOUSNESS (sea) and always running the risk of being overflowed with water flows again.
At the time the dreamer had this dream, he had other dreams showing very strong and involving emotional elements that it would be too complicated to describe here.
Dream No.162 I am at home with my wife and, suddenly, sewers break and all liquid sewage starts spreading in the house. I feel disgusted by what I see. I try to solve the situation but I realize I am unable to, I feel powerless. At consciousness level, the dreamer knows that he has some reasons, even strong ones, to dissent from his wife, but the dream reveals that something more intense and "prohibited" than simple reasons of disagreement is involved. The disgust he feels is a clear indication thereof. "Sewers" are involved and, in addition, there is nothing he can do!
Dream No.163 I am in between two soldier teams belonging to the same army and I know all the members thereof. They are about to start fighting man to man but I stand in between them shouting: "Stop!" At this point, everything becomes reconciled. No better picture than this one could be found to represent the inner conflict between conflicting emotions that might cause a person to suffer.
In this dream everything becomes reconciled, and it would seem that everything is settled, but this is not true. In the psychic field, reconciliation cannot be obtained through an "authoritative" action (Stop!).
The route to follow is another one, it is necessary to give the parties (emotions) leave to speak and allow them to freely express through dreams. It is to be clarified that it is not a question of behaving according to the suggestions of emotions but, I repeat, to let emotions express themselves through one’s dreams.
After achieving this result, the stacked energy resulting from repression is unloaded and very often emotions having an opposite direction versus the repressed ones start to appear thus priming a natural "re-balancing" mechanisms that brings peace back to the inner situation.
(See also Dream No. 96).
Dream No.164 Here it follows a flash a patient had while making a yoga meditation exercise.
It is not a proper dream but it has the same value as a dream, its material being always "not built by consciousness". During my meditation I see a long corridor. There are many doors on the right and on the left but mine is at the end of it. I go ahead along the corridor as I know that it’s time to open that door. Then I suddenly stop, I am afraid of looking at what is behind, I am afraid of feeling sick.
For a short moment I think over my destiny and, with or without fear, I decide that the only solution is to go and see.
I arrive in front of the door and open it. A cage is inside the room. In front of the cage there is a chair and my analyst is sitting on it.
He smiles and invites me to come in and look at him. He is holding two white balls in his hands, one in his right hand and one in his left hand. Then he puts his hands together and the balls merge to become a single ball. My head opens and I receive that single ball into my head.
Then I get near the cage. A shapeless black being is inside it, I am at a loss to explain what it looks like. I watch it, it changes into energy and gets into my head in the shape of a thread of black smoke.
I am no longer afraid, I am happy that the dark thing has become a part of myself. Now I feel one single thing, I am well.
I am glad I went through that door. Here we can see the symbolic representation of the whole therapeutic route: initial fear to look at what is inside ourselves; subsequent decision to do so; help coming from the therapist; overcoming one’s splitting; recovery of the energy kept inside the "black-evil" part (in the SHADOW, as C.G. Jung would say); disappearance of fear; final wellbeing and happiness.
This does not mean that after completing the therapy, life will consists of smiles and amiability only, it means that all blocks, fears, sufferings originated by the repressed (not solved) conflicts will disappear.
Dream No.165 Hi. I found your URL written on a newspaper in a pub, last saturdary. It immediately excited my curiosity, mainly because in the last two months I am having two recurrent dreams so I wonder whether you can interpret them for me.
I thank you beforehand. My compliments for your site, it is very interesting indeed. I am getting acquainted with dreams.
Here is my first dream: I often dream of having to escape, by car. I am in a Caribbean country and somehow I have to come back home. I am together with my boy-friend and another couple of friends. I know however that it will be difficult to get out of this so exotic country because I know that a corpse is hidden inside our trunk, and the police could stop us any moment.
The others have asked me to keep watch of the trunk, but I cannot avoid that, from time to time, the trunk opens while we are moving. I do not know if the cars following us can see what’s inside the trunk. I am terrified but, in spite of my entreaties, the others do not want to stop to repair the trunk. They are absolutely quiet in comparison with me as I am in distress.
P.S. I do not know who the corpse is, I suspect I killed him, but I am not sure.
Dream No.166 Here is the second dream: I must absolutely ring (I am not sure whom, but someone important, like my mother, my boy-friend) to give a vital information, of life and death, as they, or me, are in great danger.Every time I dial the number, I select a wrong digit so I have to hang up and dial the number all over again. This is deeply upsetting me as I know I have very little time left to pass my information on … When such dreams come up, usually the involved dreamers worry because it is believed that an outer-real danger is threatening our own beloved ones. In actual facts, drives that I will generally call hostile are involved and are addressed to our beloved ones but they come from inside ourselves.
This accounts for the feelings of distress, threat, sense of guilt, fear of being discovered by the police (Super-Ego).
This sort of explanation may seem absurd and untrue, yet …
In your dream you are in a Caribbean country and this leads to think of a holiday time. In other words: you are trying to enjoy yourself but your fun is being spoiled by "evil" emotions threatening to come up (opening trunk). The others are absolutely quiet: of course, this matter is only your concern!
Dream No.167 .… I keep walking along an outside path skirting a fence wherein some horses are. At a certain point, a sort of swamp crosses the path and I do not know how to reach the other side. Water is stagnant and has a horrible greenish color. This color is due to the fact that, besides mud, some horse dung is hidden in the water.
And this is not all. Someone living nearby warns me to be careful because that water is putrid too; in fact, lately farmers were complelled to kill one or two old, maybe ill, sheep and their carcasses are still there, under the water that moreover is deeper than I thought. In fact, in my attempt to cross the swamp I have to dip almost up to my thighs to reach the path that continues on the other side. By now I have decided to go ahead even if it fills me with disgust and I am seriously worried about the possibility of getting affected with a desease. I feel all this especially the very moment I seem to be unable to come out of the swamp, because its very muddy bottom draws me down again and again. I am seized by anxiety that I try to allay in some way.
In the end I seem to manage to find my way out. Swamp, stagnant water, horrible greenish color, horse dung, putrid water, ill sheep carcasses, disgust, risk of getting affected with a desase, too muddy bottom that draws down.
On top of this, this concentrated lot of filth gets almost as high as thighs that is it gets dangerously near a very delicate part of the body as the genital area is. A woman is involved, hence a person having "open" genitals, that is running a higher risk of contamination from outer polluting factors.
As we already know, water represents emotions. Now, if emotions are experienced in the way this dream so well describes, can we be surprised if some resistances come up at the idea of dipping ourselves into them?
Here we can see with our own eyes the true reason why an analysis lasts so long. We are persuaded (at deep level, of course) that we have to put our hands in a true SEWER, in a the center of infection of pathogenic germs! The highly positive side of this dream is that the concerned person has nevertheless decided to go ahead, not to let disgust, repugnance and fear overwhelm he
Although the final prize does not appear in this dream, this courageous deed (that an analyst can foster but cannot entirely determine) will surely be compensated in the end.
The following dream provides an evidence hereof. It is by another patient that attained this positive phase only after going through stages very much similar to those described by the previous dream. I am saying this to clarify that other persons do not receive as a gift what, on the contrary, is requiring a great effort and tough job of us. Harvest and crop arrive for everyone on condition that plowing, fertilizing and hoeing are performed before.
And I say this because I know that after reading dreams like the following one, patients are induced to think: "Here it is, they can manage, but I can’t!" Therefore it is appropriate to clarify that the following dream describes the deserved reward coming only after working with patience, persistance and commitment. Nothing is given as a present to no one.
Dream No.168 In pitch-darkness, I see a strip of fire springing out of a very deep opening in a rock, as if a well was located in a cave. I get near, I am afraid it might burn me, on the contrary I find out that it does not burn me and, in addition, its proximity produces a great sense of energy in myself. Now I understand that getting near is the same as wellbeing and vitality. Pitch-darkness, very deep opening, well, cave. What else can better describe the unconscious?
Above all, which other reward can be better than this for a patient (and even for an analyst) after all the work done, overcoming moments of tiredness, disappointment, skepticism?
I will never get tired repeating that this type of dreams is reached only on condition of going inside the "swamp" described in the previous dream.
Last remark: what is found in the swamp is easier metabolized
than one would think. In other words, often we run away when we are in front of the
"swamp", thus giving up FIRE-ENERGY-WELLBEING-VITALITY for baseless and
groundless fears.
Unfortunately, it is found out that fears are groundless only after facing them!!!
Dream No.169 Published as received Speaking of dreams... I can well remember this one. I liked it. You should know first that outside the window of my room a very large size lime-tree stands out: indeed, it is a hymn to nature. I have a special liking to this lime-tree as I know it since I was a child. In full-moon nights we look at each other enjoying the moon light even if some orange lamps pollute it. Anyway, this is my dream: I am getting a glimpse of my lime-tree, while enjoying one of those marvellous days we sometimes have here during the Foehn days (it is a wind that brings hot and an incredibly clear sky with it. I can see the Appennines from my house!).
Looking at it I am surprised to see that yellow leaves are still on it. How strange, I think, we are well into winter and leaves have already fallen some time ago, on the contrary, there are many of them here, bright and clear, shining in the light of the early afternoon sun. At this point, I stop to watch more carefully: in fact, leaning out of the window I can see that the second half of the tree has its winter look on with no leaves. The other half I view again for the second time, instead, shows its autumn look. Suddenly, a blustering gust of wind strikes the branches still covered with yellow leaves thus causing very many of them to fall.
Wind appears as if to reassure me that there is nothing strange: it had only to finish its job, that’s all, some leaves were still missing, afterwards the tree would show its winter dress, as I expected.
Reassured by this thought, I take back from the window. Before starting with the interpretation of this dream I must foretell that the mother of this young man had left the house to form another family with another man.
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A tree is a symbol of life, therefore of the mother too: a tree bears fruits and seeds as a mother bears sons that, in turn, will bear other sons.
Moreover, that tree saw you growing, just as your mother did, hence analogy is even more à propos.
A WINTER tree losing its leaves symbolizes a mother who no longer represents heat, life and love.
Two positve sides are in your dream. On one side, you make a remark that would lead to sad thoughts but, on the contrary, you accept it quietly. On the other hand, the tree is not dead, only it fell into a winter state of letargy. At spring time, its branches will blossom again. Your expectation is that also with regard to your mother it might occur the same thing in the future.
_____________________ How interesting you made it! From now on I will fully enjoy dreaming!!!
I am touched by this interpretation! Indeed, I do not know myself!
How nice, how nice!
When I have another dream, may I…again?
Dream No.170 A man enters in the shop where I work, he takes out a pistol saying that it is a plunder. Then he starts shooting but his bullets are very small and don’t hurt. I try to explain him that plundering is not the right thing to do, so he gets out of the shop to go away together with his accessory waiting for him in a car. When the latter understands that the former is coming out with no booty, he drives the car away leaving him on foot. Now the man comes back to the shop and starts helping us to do our job.
All this happens when we are about to close but other people keep coming in, a lot of people that wants to buy things so we cannot close.
Also the shop owner arrives with her weeping baby. I ask her why the baby is crying and she answers that she had to hit her as she was very naughty. A thief with a pistol might induce to think of a male figure being experienced as aggressive but in this case it is more likely to represent the dreamer’s own aggressiveness that she is afraid of and therefore she projects outside. Afterwards she discovers that it is not really dangerous (bullets are very small and do not hurt) and she starts talking to this part of herself. At this point a change occurs: what was formerly a danger changes into a useful help in the work which ensues to be increased just when one would never expect it, at closing-time. A great lot of energy is kept in those parts of ourselves that we consider "evil" and as long as we stay at a distance from these parts that energy remains unused, on the contrary when we shorten distances and start talking to them all that energy becomes available to be used. It is to be added that aggressivenes is not always fully negative. Apart from the case when it is used to defend oneself from a danger, its deep nature is the same as the pluck allowing us to face and solve difficulties, to achieve success in life. It’s only a matter of "dosing", as only the quantity makes the difference.
The baby weeping because she was hit allows us to understand that this dream does not speak of aggressiveness in general but aggressiveness to children in particular. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that this woman had frequent dreams where children were running great risks. This immediately induces to think of a rivalry and jealousy amongst brothers and sisters.
Dream No.171 I am in my house and there is a lion that wants to play with me, it holds my hand in its mouth, it keeps near me. By istinct I would like to run away but I rationally say to myself: "If I run away, it can see that I am afraid and will run after me". So I comply with its wishes and allow it to play. Then my dog arrives and it exchanges kisses with the lion. The situation is completely different from the previous dream’s but the substance is similar. The contact with one’s own aggressivenss is involved.
Three elements are different:
- In this case, a greater amount of aggressiveness is involved, a lion being more dangerous than a thief.
- Here fear strongly persists while it disappeared above.
- Here there is no perception of the benefits deriving after establishing the contact.
The following dream is by the same person and confirms that her progress in the therapy is at an earlier stage versus the patient that had Dream No. 170.
Dream No.172 A wolf-dog gets inside my house at night, it goes into the kitchen, it opens the fridge and eats all food supplies. Next morning I notice this and chase it away. Then I go out in the garden and I can see that it is still there and other animals are there too. On the spot I try to chase them away by throwing small stones at them as I have nothing else at easy reach but later I realize how inadequate my action is. See previous dream for interpretation.
It should be noticed that the wolf-dog gets inside at night. It means that aggressiveness is still far from the consciousness level. Remarkable is also the fact that the wolf-dog "eats all food supplies". This means that at deep level this person understands that her repressed aggressiveness steals and wastes all her vital energies (food).
Dream No.173 I can’t exactly remember the background of my dream but, suddenly, I notice that the volume of my breast is incredibly increased. As a matter of fact, it is a little out of proportion to the standard of my body, nevertheless I am proud of it and immediately point it out my mother (I think to myself that it is even greater than hers). But she gives me no satisfaction. On the contrary, she says that it does not suit me and that, anyway, it will come back to its usual size. I think she is envious of me. Here is an example of a competition with one’s mother as regards femininity. The envy ascribed to the mother is more likely to belong to the daughter that projected it outside as she cannot detect it in herself.
With regard to envy, it can be said that this is absolutely the most rejected attitude. It is easier to admit of having killing drives than being envious. Why does this happen? Most likely because admitting that one is envious of somebody else means implicitly admitting that one is LESS than another person in a certain field and this rankles terribly!
The meaning of the following dream it opposite to this one.
Dream No.174 I exhibit my penis to daddy to show him that it has become big and impressive. He looks at me and his eyes express a mixture of fatherly pride, satisfaction as well as content with me. He seems to say: "You are grown up now, you can make it yourself". In my opinion comments are superfluous. We can take this opportunity to touch on another subject: to prevent that sex may become a taboo for their children, many modern parents go around the house naked, take their bath together with their children, leave their bathroom door open, etc.
On one side, indeed this behaviour helps to makes the sex topic less dramatic and makes children accustomed to experience it in a sound and unbiassed way but, on the other side, it may originate an inferiority complex lasting up to adult age. In this delicate field there is no simplistic solution, as the following case shows. A patient realized that her genitals had the same value and the same importance as her mother’s only when she was forty: in fact, when she was a baby, she had seen her mother naked and she was very much impressed by that "mop of hair" (her own words) and by its size. From that experience she had drawn the (unconscious) belief that only her mother was a TRUE WOMAN and throughout her life she bore this inferiority complex that persisted even when she too had that mop of hair.
Objective data that can be checked in real life are not sufficient, in fact, to "dismantle" an unconscious belief that was built up when we were children.
To tell the truth, the last consideration can be applied to any belief we build up in ourselves at any other age following childhood. We can experience this every day…!
Dream No.175 A big black hair has grown in the middle of a mole on my face. It vexates me. I want to remove it and I notice that I can uproot it using my hands only. It is as thick as a knitting needle and it is as twisted as a snake. Now I think of the pain I will suffer when uprooting it. On the contrary I find out that it comes out most easily and with no pain. A feeling of having something spoiling our image, a wish of getting rid of it and a sharp pain forecast in doing this. A mole is usually regarded as a beauty-spot but it can also be regarded as a FLAW spoiling one’s beauty, especially if is joined to a very thick snake-shaped HAIR.
Also in this case the pain she IMAGINED when she was thinking about the clearing operation disappears the very moment she starts executing it. The pain forecast, that reality proves wrong, originates from the fact that we react to our inner conflict just as we did when we were very young, weak and vulnerable. Time goes by, we grow up but apparently our unconscious seems to take no notice of this. S. Freud stated that the unconscious knows no time.