Dream Analysis

[Little_Sticks]

I've been wondering what sort of themes pop up in your dreams. I noticed the more energy I put into repressing stuff, the more they come out in my dreams. Please share them here for me to read.

Disclaimer: This is probably self-indulgent, but I don't know how else to start this and that's kind of the point. ;P

guilt/breaking-off-relations
When I decided to never to see someone important to me again, I had dreams that made me feel guilty - showing this person's innocent side that I ignored to make my decision. But then at other times something bad will happen and it'll show up in the dream as something they once did to me and I'll immediately know why I decided to never see that person again.

inquisitiveness/discouraged
Sometimes I'll have dreams where I'm interested in something and another person will force me away from it. Usually this is represented by asking questions and seeking knowledge and then getting mocked for it, given apathy, told to do something else, or controlled away from it by the monetary desires of other people. Incidentally, this seems to represent why I distrust/dislike the Te function in general because this all stemmed from that in my childhood.

adventure/safe-haven
Other dreams seem to involve the wilderness. Usually the wilderness is a peaceful place where I either seek experience and adventure or a safe haven from something that torments me in the dream that's often a reflection of reality (like money or work).

emotions/acceptance
I also tend to have a theme of how emotions flow between people. An angry person will make another person angry or a happy person will make another person happy. Sometimes I'll see that an angry person becomes happy when they become more accepting of other people and my dream will show me how they have changed over time. But it's always centered around acceptance.

relationships/betrayal and loss
There's a theme that usually involves trust and betrayal and a shattering feeling of loss and meaninglessness with relationships. In one dream, I once made a robot that was to parallel a human being for the purpose of selling it to the military. The military betrayed me by trying to invade my compound and kill me to take the robot without paying; and then the robot protected me by trying to kill them all. I felt complete loss of affect because it was so lifelike and I didn't really care for it originally. I had lost something that actually gave a damn about me and trusted a group of people that didn't care if I lived or died. This is probably a reminder of why I see people as fickle (that involves how they reason other people as well) and amoral before all else and if I trust too much or too easily I invite justification for a metaphorical firing squad, while losing the people that are good for me.

What have you learned from your dreams?

 

[Silveresque]

When I was in high school and had a ton of homework, I had dreams that indicated I needed to relax and take a vacation. I also often have dreams where I'm in a mall, and sometimes it's the same mall that I've been to in another dream, a really cool giant mall with an amusement park in the center (like the MoA, only bigger and cooler). Supposedly, mall dreams indicate searching for your identity, which makes sense given that I'm a 4. Another one of my most common dream symbols is dinosaurs. I often dream of getting chased or hunted by them and having to hide. Dinosaurs are supposed to indicate an unresolved issue from my past.

I had a dream recently where my grandmother was trying to kill my pet tiger. There was no way I was going to let her do that, and I went to stop her fully willing to put my own life on the line to save my tiger (that makes no sense at all, why would my grandmother kill me to stop me from stopping her from killing my tiger?!). Anyways, I managed to rescue my tiger from her, and later I was sulking in a corner, and told her, "You tried to kill my tiger!". She responded by saying something like "I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish by telling me that," and my dad agreed with her. I felt really hurt and misunderstood. And that's the dream. Note that my grandmother is not that kind of person who would kill my pets, and I don't actually have a pet tiger. I have no idea what this dream means.

EDIT: Last night I had a dream where I and my grandmother were both bitten by some kind of venomous spider. I just looked that up on dreammoods.com and it says:

To dream that you are bitten by a spider represents a conflict with your mother or some dominant female figure in your life.

I'm noticing a trend here. But I haven't seen my grandmother recently, and I've never had any sort of conflict with her. I don't necessarily believe in these universal dream symbols, but it's still interesting to read about them and try to find out what my dreams could mean.

 

[Domino]

For years, I've had a recurring theme of a black horse. I call him Morpheus. I see him as my protector.

I generally have dreams that are ruled by Murphy's Law, and to ludicrous degrees.

 

[Silveresque]

For years, I've had a recurring theme of a black horse. I call him Morpheus. I see him as my protector.

I generally have dreams that are ruled by Murphy's Law, and to ludicrous degrees.

Here's what http://dreammoods.com says:

To see a black or dark horse in your dream signifies mystery, wildness, and the unknown. You are taking a chance or a gamble at some unknown situation. It may even refer to occult forces.

 

[Domino]

Yes, that sounds very much like Morpheus. A prophetic woman told me 12 years ago that she'd seen me in her mind's eye as a black horse struggling to free itself. I forgot about it. Years later, Morpheus began appearing when I was in trouble. He saved me several times, from water, from fire, from imprisonment. And we always get reunited, no matter what happens or how far apart we are. I think God sent him to help me.

 

[Silveresque]

Yes, that sounds very much like Morpheus. A prophetic woman told me 12 years ago that she'd seen me in her mind's eye as a black horse struggling to free itself. I forgot about it. Years later, Morpheus began appearing when I was in trouble. He saved me several times, from water, from fire, from imprisonment. And we always get reunited, no matter what happens or how far apart we are. I think God sent him to help me.

That's really cool. I wonder if he's a dream guide. Does he ever make you realize that you are dreaming so you can become lucid?

 

[nanook]

if you have an attachment (say to a pet) then that attachment is a part of you. if that is taken away, what's really happening is that the part of you, which is attached/is the attachement is being killed. killed as in:"you are not allowed to be that. its not allowed to live/manifest." if the attachment (the pet) is killed, and you are the attachment, then you are being killed ("too").
just a possibility.

a simple example of how psychological issues shift from dreamer to dream-character and back, during dream action (or exists on both sides simultaneously). happens all the time. because there is just one self, all characters tend to be different perspectives on the same issue.

 

[Silveresque]

if you have an attachment (say to a pet) then that attachment is a part of you. if that is taken away, what's really happening is that the part of you, which is attached/is the attachement is killed. if the attachment (the pet) is killed, and you are the attachment, then you are being killed.
just a possibility-

a simple example of how psychological issues shift from dreamer to dream-character and back, during dream action.
happens all the time.

Yeah, I think the tiger must represent some emotional aspect of myself that I'm attached to and don't want to lose. My grandmother in this dream probably doesn't refer to the actual person, but to some aspect of her personality that is occurring within myself. If I think of it that way, I can kind of make some sense out of it.

 

[nanook]

i would add: who is it really, who does the killing? technically your real life grandmother, but something in you is giving consent to killing the actual attachment, meaning something like: "i may never be allowed to have a cat/impulsive attachment again." death seem to be a symbolically definite conclusion/judgement.

maybe she is not some super specific part of you, but just one face, that your dream intelligence assigns on the fly to the act of abandoning this particular attachment.

because we humans are horribly fragmented. we just love to believe that we have entire parts. of course some of our fragments are recurring often in similar ways, appearing practically identical. but in the end, we are none of it. and we can be more. there can be endless fragments - made up on the fly. you can't really get to know yourself, in terms of "it's this part, and this one, super ego, inner child, there i have them all" ... well that's just what i have learned from dreams .... cause the thread is kinda asking about what we have learned. ....

 

[Domino]

That's really cool. I wonder if he's a dream guide. Does he ever make you realize that you are dreaming so you can become lucid?

I'm never aware I'm asleep. But he's one of the most real things I've ever dreamed about. I can smell him, feel him. The last time I saw him, we were in the desert and we were both covered in dirt, sweat and grime. He's always taking me to safety or coming to get me or showing me something important that might be hard for me to bear alone. I've never had anything like him before.

 

[violet_crown]

Yes, that sounds very much like Morpheus. A prophetic woman told me 12 years ago that she'd seen me in her mind's eye as a black horse struggling to free itself. I forgot about it. Years later, Morpheus began appearing when I was in trouble. He saved me several times, from water, from fire, from imprisonment. And we always get reunited, no matter what happens or how far apart we are. I think God sent him to help me.

Like Morpheus from the Matrix?

 

[Santosha]

Dreams the last two nights:

1) Before going to bed I found a huge, nasty spider in my closet. I am not afraid of most bugs or rodents, but spiders kinda freak me out (I've actually been bit by spiders alot, even the brown recluse and hobo that I have a nasty scar from). So I killed the spider and then for just a second, considered what it would be like to be that spider and be alive one minute, dead the next. The dream that followed: I WAS a spider.. I don't recall any human emotions or abstract thoughts, I simply was a fucking spider, moving around through some kind of debree, dirt paths, tunnels. Strong sensory input.. smell, feel, sight...I have never had a dream like this, where I have seperated so much from human-ness. The dream was somewhat hazy, but as I awoke my first conscious thought was "I understand. ...there is no thought, emotion, etc.. but such a strong survival tone. And it's everything! The spiders existance is everything to it, just as mine is to me! I will never actively kill a spider again."

2)
my mom was doing something that upset me. I turned into a child, It was me but about 6 years old. I crawled into this space under our stairs and was crying. My mom came to the space to continue upsetting me, I stood up and grabbed her arm, and it caused her to shrink until she was palm sized. I held her in my palm, she was kicking and screaming.. I took her into the bathroom and put her head in the toilet water. I would dunk her head then pull her out and say "There are consequences to your actions, do you understand now?" over and over. I was saying it in my sleep when my boyfriend woke me up.

HaHa. Pretty fucking weird huh. =P

 

[Domino]

Like Morpheus from the Matrix?

ha ha, I believe even he was named for the god and shaper of dreams? (I believe the drug "morphine" is named for Morpheus as well.) But yes, very applicable, ushering me along and watching out for me. They say that Morpheus' brother, Phobetor, controlled the animal elements in dreams, but Phobetor is a crummy name for a horse.

They keep horses in our Matrix, do you think?

 

[violet_crown]

ha ha, I believe even he was named for the god and shaper of dreams? (I believe the drug "morphine" is named for Morpheus as well.) But yes, very applicable, ushering me along and watching out for me. They say that Morpheus' brother, Phobetor, controlled the animal elements in dreams, but Phobetor is a crummy name for a horse.

They keep horses in our Matrix, do you think?

They say that many of the same areas of the brain activated by external sensory input are stimulated when we dream as well. Our Matrix, in effect, is really no different than any other dream. Whether or not there are horses depends entirely on our Dreamer. A rational man would dream of horses so he wouldn't run the risk of becoming one, but Dreamers aren't usually rational men. So they keep horses here but not unicorns nor Pegasus, as we are but the fancy of a rather insecure and self-absorbed Clydesdale.

 

[Critical Hit]

I had a weird dream recently. The dream was a normal stupid random dream, something about breaking out of jail and a parking lot. At one point in the dream I was in my childhood room and I heard a loud pop inside of my head, and then I fell to the ground. I was completely paralyzed and I felt electricity surging through my body, and I stayed there for a good few minutes just staring at the ceiling. Then I woke up.

Did I have a dream about sleep paralysis?

 

[Domino]

They say that many of the same areas of the brain activated by external sensory input are stimulated when we dream as well. Our Matrix, in effect, is really no different than any other dream. Whether or not there are horses depends entirely on our Dreamer. A rational man would dream of horses so he wouldn't run the risk of becoming one, but Dreamers aren't usually rational men. So they keep horses here but not unicorns nor Pegasus, as we are but the fancy of a rather insecure and self-absorbed Clydesdale.

I am so down with that. I'll just have a chat with Clyde. He gets winter dysphoria in the summer sometimes.

Rex, my black horse came back last night after months away. I went into the yard, caught him by the bridle, and instead of putting him in the pasture, I got on his back and we jumped the fences. I'm glad he came by - I spent the last 17 hours sick and asleep when my medications hit back.

 

[Lily flower]

I had a weird dream recently. The dream was a normal stupid random dream, something about breaking out of jail and a parking lot. At one point in the dream I was in my childhood room and I heard a loud pop inside of my head, and then I fell to the ground. I was completely paralyzed and I felt electricity surging through my body, and I stayed there for a good few minutes just staring at the ceiling. Then I woke up.

Did I have a dream about sleep paralysis?

There is some actual condition where you hear loud pops inside your head when you are asleep. I don't remember what it is called, but I remember reading a news article about it once. The body is actually paralyzed during sleep, so it may be that you were actually aware of your paralysis. Interesting.

 

[Critical Hit]

There is some actual condition where you hear loud pops inside your head when you are asleep. I don't remember what it is called, but I remember reading a news article about it once. The body is actually paralyzed during sleep, so it may be that you were actually aware of your paralysis. Interesting.

I used to have sleep paralysis really bad when I was a kid. It was happening every other night at one point. I was actually afraid of sleep for a long time after that.

 

[Little_Sticks]

I had a dream recently where my grandmother was trying to kill my pet tiger. There was no way I was going to let her do that, and I went to stop her fully willing to put my own life on the line to save my tiger (that makes no sense at all, why would my grandmother kill me to stop me from stopping her from killing my tiger?!). Anyways, I managed to rescue my tiger from her, and later I was sulking in a corner, and told her, "You tried to kill my tiger!". She responded by saying something like "I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish by telling me that," and my dad agreed with her. I felt really hurt and misunderstood. And that's the dream. Note that my grandmother is not that kind of person who would kill my pets, and I don't actually have a pet tiger. I have no idea what this dream means.

It sounds like the 'hurt and misunderstanding' influenced you by making you question the validity of your own needs/perceptions/thoughts. Since you didn't know how to deal with it, you disowned the feelings, but the pain lingered. Something related to it at the time probably caused an anxious unconscious trigger that came out in your dream to help you understand where it was originating from. It probably forced you to re-evaluate the situation with a much more overall vantage point and re-own your needs/perceptions/thoughts as valid. You're so lucky. Those are the best dreams, imo.

For years, I've had a recurring theme of a black horse. I call him Morpheus. I see him as my protector.

Do you think the horse represents freedom? That seems to be its purpose to help free you when you become encumbered.

Dreams the last two nights:

1) Before going to bed I found a huge, nasty spider in my closet. I am not afraid of most bugs or rodents, but spiders kinda freak me out (I've actually been bit by spiders alot, even the brown recluse and hobo that I have a nasty scar from). So I killed the spider and then for just a second, considered what it would be like to be that spider and be alive one minute, dead the next. The dream that followed: I WAS a spider.. I don't recall any human emotions or abstract thoughts, I simply was a fucking spider, moving around through some kind of debree, dirt paths, tunnels. Strong sensory input.. smell, feel, sight...I have never had a dream like this, where I have seperated so much from human-ness. The dream was somewhat hazy, but as I awoke my first conscious thought was "I understand. ...there is no thought, emotion, etc.. but such a strong survival tone. And it's everything! The spiders existance is everything to it, just as mine is to me! I will never actively kill a spider again."

2)
my mom was doing something that upset me. I turned into a child, It was me but about 6 years old. I crawled into this space under our stairs and was crying. My mom came to the space to continue upsetting me, I stood up and grabbed her arm, and it caused her to shrink until she was palm sized. I held her in my palm, she was kicking and screaming.. I took her into the bathroom and put her head in the toilet water. I would dunk her head then pull her out and say "There are consequences to your actions, do you understand now?" over and over. I was saying it in my sleep when my boyfriend woke me up.

HaHa. Pretty fucking weird huh. =P

Hah, your spider dream is so Fi, lol. I had a dream like your consequence one once. It seems to be a way to resolve being treated unfairly or cruelly at some point by not dealing with it well. So the tables become turned in the dream. The dream let me express that anger about the situation that never got let out and reminded me how important it is to sometimes get angry, no matter if I rationalize that it will make a situation worse in some way at the time. Cause even if it does make a situation worse, it can feel better afterward.

Did I have a dream about sleep paralysis?

You mean like where you know you are dreaming and are partly awake trying to move your body and completely awaken, but you can't move, so you aren't sure really what's going on? I think there is a name for it. Supposedly it happens when you are exhausted, in a deep sleep, and get startled into waking; so you're cognizant and trying to move, but literally can't.

 

[EJCC]

A few, off the top of my head:

1) Mirrors
This started when I was a little kid; the first nightmare I remember having (when I was 5 y.o.), involved seeing my reflection in a window and realizing that it had an evil expression -- then trying to duck away from it, and having it follow me. For the next 5-ish years of my life, I had an irrational fear of looking into mirrors at night.
Even now, I can't think of a time when there was a mirror in my dream that wasn't malicious somehow.

2) Losing It
I've dreamed that I became addicted to drugs and my friends had to stage an intervention. I've dreamed that I've gone insane. (Usually this involves either looking in the mirror and seeing a crazed face (see #1) or hearing music in my head that isn't there and that I can't turn off, or realizing that people are afraid of me because I'm so out of control.)

And, recently...
3) Bi-curiousness
I blame this on having such terrible luck with men that my subconscious has decided that it's not worth even dreaming about men anymore. The last time I had a dream about dating a man was a few years ago, but recently I've had several dreams about dating women. Most of them involve my girlfriend becoming more in love with me than I am with her -- because I'm straight and just wanted a good time! -- and then me feeling guilty about not reciprocating.

There are more themes, but I can't think of them right now -- except to say that my dreams are always plausible, but not probable. There's almost never any magic in them, but there is often swashbuckling adventuring.

EDIT: Also, when I have more than one dream in one night, usually the first dream will involve me as myself, and then by the second dream the perspective will shift and I'll be someone else. Initially I'll be myself watching that other person from afar, and then the perspective will shift entirely and suddenly it's as if I was never anything but that other person. (Often, this other person is male.)