Thread: Melanoma, my favorite flavor.

I think that you already doing a good job to speeding up your maturity process by caring about looking deeper in the content of your dreams. My only advice would be that you may want to figure out what the actual disturbance is meaning for you. Why did it feel disturbing? And in what part of your life does that disturbance fit in, in your daily life?

Originally Posted by DreamyBear

I think that you already doing a good job to speeding up your maturity process by caring about looking deeper in the content of your dreams. My only advice would be that you may want to figure out what the actual disturbance is meaning for you. Why did it feel disturbing? And in what part of your life does that disturbance fit in, in your daily life?

Thank you for the positive comment. It's appreciated!

Upon reflection, I think this dream has to do with my dependence issues (on my parents), which, at the moment, are unavoidable. It affects my self-esteem, and I think this dream shows that. I've had a previous dream that showed a melanoma on my face. My mother walked out the door, and the melanoma was removed. My mother can be quite negative and controlling. It's hard to keep your dreams alive when you're surrounded by doubtful and critical people, and I think this dream reflects that as well. I like having their help (the flavor), but I know it's not good for me. It's also saying that I want what "tastes good" over what is good for me.

I'm not sure if this dream is suggesting there is another route, or if it's just pointing out my present emotional state/present thoughts.


Anyways, thank you for reading and helping.

Originally Posted by ThreeRainbows

I'm in a room with a woman I met once at a board game meetup (I thought she was very nice; she is also obese). We're playing a form of Scattergories. I have to guess her favorite yogurt flavor, and it starts with "S". After a few guesses I guess "strawberry," but she says no, it's "small sucker!" For some reason this makes perfect sense.

Then, I see my own favorite flavor of yogurt: melanoma! I dip my lollipop in the carton and taste it; it tastes just like vanilla. I like it. Then, the obese woman says "Nothing's going to stop me from getting MY TASTES!"




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This dream was disturbing! I recognize themes of immaturity, as yogurt is a milk-product, and lollipops (suckers) are for children. My question to you is, what part of my life do you think this dream is referring to? And what can I do to help speed up the maturity process?

Thank you.

Hard to know without knowing more background about your day-to-day experiences, although it sounds like the theme of the desire for more freedom may be involved. Try not to let dreams disturb you; I have dreamed about far more disturbing things that have never occurred. The fact is, dreams don't mean anything as far as predicting the future goes or anything like that, so try not to read too much into them. They are more a reflection of your subconscious in an altered, often incoherent state of mind.

Originally Posted by wormholejoys

Hard to know without knowing more background about your day-to-day experiences, although it sounds like the theme of the desire for more freedom may be involved. Try not to let dreams disturb you; I have dreamed about far more disturbing things that have never occurred. The fact is, dreams don't mean anything as far as predicting the future goes or anything like that, so try not to read too much into them. They are more a reflection of your subconscious in an altered, often incoherent state of mind.

Thanks for your input.

Whether or not they are precognitive (and I don't think this one is), I want to make sure I apply action to whatever dream interpretations I can figure out. So for this one, I'm going to take three bits of advice: 1). Don't get too attached to dependence on my mom, even if I like the help, 2). Show more respect/gratitude for the help given to me, rather than gluttony, and 3). Always put what's healthier above what satisfies the surface desires.


Thanks again for all of the help!

Although in order to provide a more accurate interpretation it would usually be best to have some additional general background information about you (and a description of events just before this disturbing dream), some ideas about the meaning of the dream can be tried out from reading your other posts.

For example, your dream about the scary robot which you hide from could relate to the very unfortunate molestation by a man during your childhood.

In a way, the robot, snapping turtles and alligators in the dream could possibly symbolize the “automatic” responses deep in your mind which sadly continue to operate long after the molestation stopped.

If so, this is probably something like PTSD where certain traumatic events take a very long time to be absorbed and to “turn off”.

In that dream, you prefer to hide in a room with a female friend while others try to get rid of the robot.

The other friends try to put some turtles in your room. As mentioned, turtles are usually partly symbolic of automatic responses of the nervous system.

You essentially don’t want to have them in the room, using the excuse that they need to be back in the water (although turtles alternate between land and water), and this could represent the idea that you understandably don’t like it when maybe certain memories and fears etc. sort of come out of nowhere.

But not “letting them in” can result in the turtles “getting angry” in a way (e.g. the snapping turtle bites your finger).

This situation can be worse than the upsetting pain of, for example, trying to work through some very unpleasant memories etc., but not doing so can tend to result in too many bouts of feeling down or in having some distressing physical symptoms etc. (i.e. how the “bite” can appear in a practical way).

So it looks like a part of your psyche (the other girl who throws the snapping turtle away which possibly falls beside a dead fox) represents a danger of “throwing away” some valuable clues that your own instincts can provide about how to relieve your painful situation.

The dream probably shows that you SHOULD be angry with this part of yourself but only in order to then move on to carefully exploring the dark river with its alligators and snapping turtles.

This likely would need some help from “others” inside and outside yourself (the various friends and the guy who are trying to help get rid of the robot).

By being brave and swimming across the water, you can then reach some “solid ground” again where some early “treasure” can be found, probably symbolizing a regained sense of wholeness and confidence overall.

To do this would apparently require going “very deep” (the ocean-like depths of the unconscious) and using your positive, reflective and thinking side (the guy) while probably working with a professional helper.

This kind of help would likely be needed to make sure the emotional “tigers” of your other dream don’t “tear you apart” while trying to soothe the terrible pain from your childhood.

So getting back to your dream about the yogurt, it might be hinting at the dangers involved in trying to do too much yourself in exploring this terrible trauma.

For example, you’re playing a game like Scattergories with a nice woman who is obese.

This game generally relates to letters, words and categories which suggests the idea of the intellect and thinking where feelings don’t come into things very much.

Yogurt is a milk-product as you said, but specifically, it’s made with a certain kind of bacteria which results in a sour taste.

Various flavors “cover up” this sour taste (e.g. you remember the woman as being nice).

Perhaps you could try seeing what spontaneous memories, thoughts and feelings appear when you focus on your guess in the dream of “strawberry” being her favorite flavor in order to see what part of your own psyche the woman might symbolize. By sifting through what emerges, hopefully a clue will appear about her meaning in the dream.

In any case, her favorite flavor of “small sucker” might sadly be a play on words related to somehow blaming yourself for “being dumb” and “giving in” to what the man may have told you etc.

So the idea could be that, unfortunately, an underlying “sour” feeling about yourself as a “failure” is too often being “covered over” by a nice bland feeling persona (e.g. “vanilla”).

In this way of looking at your dream, it may be that it’s kind of hitting your hand with a switch and saying “Stop covering up too much of what you really feel” because this could become like a psychological “cancer” that could sadly affect too much how you look to others if, for instance, sudden outbursts of rage appeared on the scene (melanoma is a skin cancer, so the effects are visible).

For instance, the dream where the melanoma on your face disappeared when your mother left the room could show that in her presence, you always hide your resentment and rage about her controlling ways and that this could “break out” at some point if not somehow “cured” although this is not easy to do in your current situation.

While covering up your “sour feelings” might work for a while (you like the vanilla taste on your lollipop), in the end things could go wrong if the other woman gets to keep her “tastes” (covering up what happened) and you become psychologically “obese” which could have consequences equivalent to the medical consequences which can happen to a person who becomes very overweight.

Anyway as mentioned, without knowing anything much about you, this way of looking at your dreams might not fit your personal circumstances very well, but I hope these ideas can be helpful in some way.

Please feel free to ask any questions or to make any comments about this particular way of looking at your dreams.

Thank you Athanor, for your response. It is very insightful.


After even more reflecting, my understanding of this dream is coming together more. The obese woman may represent a side of myself that wants what she wants right now, and is also prone to self-destructive behaviors (symbolized by her obesity).

Why was I trying to find her favorite flavor, and why did it happen to start with the letter "S"? This doesn't have to do with my mother. This has to do with the man I was in love with for 4+ years (it was not a romantic relationship - it was a friendship). His name started with an "S". I'm still recovering from the loss, even though I needed to walk away (and did, but not before breaking my own heart). I don't think either of us were mentally healthy, and the relationship was never going to progress past friendship. Two nights before the dream I had been crying about the whole thing, which doesn't happen too much anymore (it's been a year and a half of no contact).

This dream is showing how I can be tempted to want something that, while having a pleasant taste, is deadly to my emotional self. Additionally, I did not include this in my original dream report, but the after-taste of the "vanilla" lollipop was a bit sour, and that part I didn't like. I distinctly remember it now. The same smell of a baby spitting up milk - that was the after-taste. Or plain yogurt with no sugar.

I think the strawberry represents my desire for love with this person. It's hard to kill the hopes (and the love) that linger on even after a break up. Even though I know I do not want to be involved with this person anymore.

I'm sure this is all rooted in my childhood trauma, and my battle with passivity, and if I can address those issues, things might start healing from the bottom up.

I've got a therapist. Haven't seen her in a year, but it can't hurt to talk to her again. She did once recommend I see a hypnotherapist about the molestation. I never got around to it, but maybe that would help.. Recover the memories, feel the feelings, then hopefully things will get better, yes?


Thanks again Really can't express that enough, especially for looking at multiple dreams of mine, Athanor.

Hi again,

It looks like your ideas of what the obese woman symbolizes seem to be correct in some ways and that this inner figure influenced your unfortunate choice of the mentally unhealthy man.

The latter might also have mirrored certain “unhealthy” self-hurtful opinions and thoughts about yourself which might tend to be barely conscious at times.

Your decision to end the relationship, although painful, probably shows that there’s a growing sense of self-esteem and assertiveness which can be built on.

It also fits that “strawberry” is connected in your mind with a healthier approach to romance and love since fruit partly symbolizes the rewarding “fruit” of working at one’s own unique personality over time, protecting it from “drought”, “pests” and other obstacles so that love can take root.

The roundish shape of a strawberry also emphasizes this overall “roundness” of a personality which is “sweet to the taste” by providing feelings of calm and self-worth.

I think that your dreams are saying that it would be best to get back to some therapy, including hypnotherapy if you feel comfortable with the idea.

You might also be interested in reading a couple of books by analyst Dr. Donald Kalsched. One is called “The Inner World of Trauma” which has become a highly respected overview of dealing with early trauma.

Not very long ago, he followed up with “Trauma and the Soul”.

Both books contain a lot of examples of dreams related to trauma and also even show how certain fairy tales contain deep insights into the nature of trauma.

Unfortunately, even the paperbacks of these books aren’t all that inexpensive but maybe you can find them in a local library.

And if by chance you might want to try another therapist if, for example, the hypnotherapy doesn’t seem to work very well, I sometimes recommend that a person could consider contacting what’s called the “Jung Referral Service” because the Jungian school of therapy is very well versed in dealing professionally with various trauma-related issues etc. through analyzing dreams and other methods. The service can usually help to put a person in touch with a local therapist. This is just a suggestion and I’m not connected in any way with this service.

You don’t need to present your dreams to a therapist if you don’t want to but doing so is often the best way to go.

To see if this course of action could be right for you and to find out more information and details about the Referral Service, you can visit the website of the New York Association for Analytical Psychology at Jungian Therapy by New York Jungian Analyst, Therapist

The service is free and confidential and can be accessed through the Referral Service Co-ordinator, Dr. Maurice Krasnow at 1 646 522 6922 or by e-mailing [email protected]

In either case, a reply will be received within 24 hours and a free personal telephone call with a trained analyst will be arranged to discuss your situation, location, preferences, financial considerations etc. (e.g. some analysts work on a sliding scale depending on the person’s financial situation), and a referral can be scheduled within a week.

Although based in New York, referrals to analysts anywhere in the United States, Canada and other countries can be arranged.

Anyway, I hope that these additional ideas can be helpful in some way.

Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

Thanks, Athanor, for all of the help and references.

Perhaps I'll read those books when I'm done with the other one I saw you recommend ("Inner Work" by R. Johnson).

Originally Posted by Athanor

Your decision to end the relationship, although painful, probably shows that there’s a growing sense of self-esteem and assertiveness which can be built on.

One more thing - thank you for this comment. I agree. It takes a lot of self-esteem to walk away from a bad relationship when there is also love. I know many people (men and women) who are in horrible relationships, where they are treated quite badly. They stay in them, even without love. It's odd to me because some of these same people look at me, and my situation, and assume I'm weak, or have low self-esteem. But I walked away. You really can't do that without decent self-esteem.