Thread: Burned up dreams

Little boy on holiday

Driving along a road perhaps in France or Cornwall or the Channel Islands. I pointed out a familiar group of old buildings on the right that the holiday centre was behind them. We turned right and arrived at a fairly basic building. I remember needing the toilet and found the toilet block. An old school friend was there too and there was a group of girls chatting by the doorway, although that didn't prevent me from using the facilities! A little boy came in and was urinating everywhere. He splashed me and I got angry and went after him. He ran to the next room which was some kind of cafeteria with long tables. His family or class or whatever were at the first table chatting and he went to cuddle them, all innocent. I wanted to explain how bad he was but chose not to. My last memories were the rows of empty tables in this bright and airy room, partially open to the elements.

The old buildings seem to represent my past and indeed the friend I saw there I did indeed once go on holiday with age 17. He must represent some kind of constant companion that links my past to my present. The little boy didn't know he was doing wrong. He was just playing really. But me the adult disapproved. It's a fact that I have trouble "playing" as an adult and for various reasons repressed my playful instincts at a young age. The cafeteria is something I'm not sure about. A big mainly empty room with no food yet available. A part of my life that has yet to be fulfilled? The welcoming of people into it perhaps?

Not sure what the girls represent although I kind of recall willing them to be there. Seems to imply my need for exposure??? And the little boy's family seems to be the nurturing of the inner playful child, which I find hard to accept.

Child and garage

I was playing with a child my pushing cars around this toy garage. My youngest daughter (age 12) came in to the room and watched us. I said to her "remember when we used to do this" and she was embarassed.

I don't think there's much to this dream. My toddler nephew is staying at the moment and was playing with the garage so I think this is just "yesterday's stuff" being replayed. However why did I need to embarrass my daughter? Is this another expression of my repression of the playful part of me and is it linked to embarrassment/shame?

Lost the plot

I was to read in church and the reading was on a piece of paper. I don't recall who was there but I was at the front and it was full. When it came to my turn to read I realised I was unprepared and then I dropped the script. I knew I would. I rummaged around trying to find it, aware that attention was about to turn to me (or the lack of me). Just as things were getting to embarassing I realised this was a dream and I could wake up. I tried and tried but couldn't, like I was dreaming of trying. Eventually I did wake up after a huge struggle.

There were no other solid DCs in this dream, although there was a group of people as found in a church. Could the congregation and the building collectively represent my spiritual side and my faith? The rest of the dream was like those "back at school and not done the work" dreams which tend to come to those motivated by achievement. But to feel that way in a place of worship is an interesting contrast. I definitely felt I had to perform/deliver or I would fail. There's a lesson about faith here somewhere. But where and what?

On a separate issue, there was a nightmarish side to this dream. As with a nightmare, I tried to wake up. But this time I couldn't, probably because it wasn't really a nightmare. I was embarrassed, not scared.

The silent parade

It was some kind of protest march comprising of "respectable" adults such as businesspeople and lawyers. They were walking slowly along the street in complete silence. The men all had greasepainted black and white faces (styled like Braveheart) and the women had natural faces but with very deep red shiny lipstick. Then I noticed (almost willed, in fact) that some men had the lipstick and some women the greasepaint design. The parade was slowly rambling past an airport or the front of a large hotel or something with a paved forecourt and shrubbery.

I then noticed that some giants had joined the procession. they were previously camouflaged and blended into concrete pillars etc. They weren't much taller than the people but they were very well built with large faces. More like Arnie than a fairytale giant. One turned to speak with me. His teeth were rotten and his words didn't make sense. I was a little afraid but more anxious as I didn't know how to relate to him.

This one has intrigued me for a few days. There are images about sexuality in there which I can't ignore. And when the characters take the make-up of the opposite stereotype it suggests to me that what I think of as male (black and white = logic) and female (red = life, passion) are in fact optional not predetermined. I think of myself as respectable I suppose, so these characters are aspects of my self I show to the world and how constrained into stereotype these have become. They're protesting or parading in silence. But that is also me. Keeping quiet and fitting in. The hotel or airport could both represent my professional life too. But what about the giants? They seem out of place. I think I'll take an optimistic outlook and suggest that these represent my potential. Why? Because they appeared from the shadows and have no apparent purpose but are capable of changing the meaning of the silent parade. Perhaps I'm stronger than I think? But I can't communicate with that strong part of me?

No way

I was walking in the Lake District (in NW England). We (me and not sure who else) had started following a marked path. Then there was a junction, possibly with an old railway trackbed or some kind of vehicle track, which the marked path crossed but it wasn't obvious. We wanted to go down the track but some kind of door or barrier prevented us. We opened the gate but felt a huge resistance. In some ways this was like a headwind but in others it felt more psychological. Like we couldn't move our bodies down that track but there was no apparent force opposing us. Some of the others continued somehow, but I didn't.

The Lake District was topical as I was talking about it with someone that day. The marked path suggests I'm not exploring new areas of my world. There is a metaphorical road down which I can't travel although I appear to have the capacity to do so as some of my companions managed to do this. But where could it lead? If as I suspect it was an old railway track then it's a journey which I could have taken years ago but can do so no longer, although some of me was able to take that route. I always feel sad when I think of dismantled railways. Intriguing.

Cocktail experience

I was at a cocktail bar of some sort. It was modern-looking and dimly lit. There was a promotion of various unusual cocktails which all seemed rather spicy and warming. I ordered a gin and apple juice. The woman behind the bar gave me the cocktail and asked if I wanted any mixer in it and put two bottles in front of me which looked colourless. I saw that one was something called "Ruschian" or something like that, which Schweppes brought out as a gin mixer many years ago. The other was something else, I don't know what, but would have made the drink taste a bit odd. Noticing the bottle was already open and half gone, I asked if I could just pour some in. The woman said I could. After doing so she said it would cost me £1.50 for the mixer. (Funny, I don't remember paying for the cocktail). She said it very sheepishly and she wouldn't meet my eyes as if knowing that asking for money was a bit of a cheek.

The whole sequence must have lasted seconds. I think the drinks mean pleasures and I'm trying out something exciting that I haven't tried before. I don't drink gin and I'm not even too fond of apple juice! The mixer dilutes the "pleasure" but it comes at a cost. But why £1.50? What is the significance of that number to me?

[Recurring theme of being in a new house]

Moved to a new house. Smaller than my current house and on a housing estate rather than a main road. Not a specially new house and the rooms were small. Patio doors led to the garden which was a kind of corner plot with island flower beds and no fence. I wandered around trying to find the sunniest spot to sit down. One spot seemed good and was well screened by trees from neighbours' views. The road outside had no cars and was featureless - just grey. It fed off another road which in turn led to a busier trunk route of some sort. For some reason I thought I was in Notts/Leics. (East-central England).

I always start by assuming a house represents my whole self. A smaller house sounds like I'm somehow constricting myself. The garden represents leisure to me as well as exposure. The roads are opportunities. I felt rather isolated and quiet in the dream. Not happy and perhaps a little anxious. Am I moving or have I moved towards this state recently?

New member

I chair a group connected to my church. Anyway, in this group meeting as is the way in dreams, was an eclectic mix of people. One I didn't really recognise although I felt a bit useless as if I should. I noticed his initials were MJB and he was about 30 with short curly ginger hair. Then I saw someone I trained with who knows things about people and she referred to him as Michael. Then I remembered he was Michael Bell or Ball or something.

No idea about this dream at all.

Where's my car? Where's my bike?

I was discussing with my wife whether to drive or take the train down south. [previous day's processing]. But we'd left the car in a car park somewhere, perhaps a long time ago. It occurred to me that I had two cars and one motor bike left around somewhere.

Next we were walking along Lothian Road [note - I often dream of this road] and someone with us (who?) suggested taking a look in this back yard where the students hang out. Sure enough scratched on the walls of the buildings were the reg numbers of cars which had been found. I didn't recognise any of them. Then I saw a pile of bags on the wall. (Must have been on a shelf of some sort). The bags contained cars which had been dismantled or were in kit form of some type and I saw the reg number of the first car I had. I was confused but pleased to see it and looked forward perhaps anxiously to putting it back together again.

But what I really wanted to find was my new motor bike which I bought a long time ago and had only used a couple of times. [previous day's processing - colleague has just bought a new bike]. It was a crimson and silver bike and although I didn't feel especially attached to it, I felt I ought to have it.

Dream dictionaries can sometimes be helpful. Cars can represent independence and ambition. That I've lost cars seems to mean I've lost independence. But I'm also trying to find my lost cars (and bike). I find myself in tis street which I associate with temporariness. Shops come and go and I dream a lot about it. So perhaps this is just a temporary phase I'm in? Numbers scratched on walls is interesting. Walls tend to mean barriers but here I think it's more about enclosure, being in a yard. "The writing on the wall" tends to imply fate so perhaps I'm looking for certainty? That would fit with my wanting back my independence and control. When I find my car it wasn't the one I was looking for. It was an older one and it was in pieces. I have some work to do to get back into control and even then it's a control I used to have. What I actually think I want is a new motorbike - new ambitions and independence but that seems rather cold compared to the warmth being in my first car again.

Hello again, my soul friend

I was at an outdoor tennis centre above the city one evening sitting in the sloping spectators area. I was listening to a talk being given by a person involved with rugby [topical - the rugby world cup is on]. He got angry in his talk and criticised fans of one sport jeering other sports (presumably meaning tennis and rugby) and how rugby should be supported by all as Murrayfield (national stadium) sees only 6 weeks of action each year. I could see the stadium in the city below.

the next bit seems a bit disjointed but tenuously links to the previous...

I then went to visit someone I had recently met. She was young and was living in a shack of some kind, sleeping rough. We were still high above the city overlooking the rugby stadium. There was space for two - two mattresses on the floor. It was already late evening and when I arrived my wife was already there and was just leaving. The girl was in bed and said she didn't want me to stay too long as she needed some sleep. We chatted. She said she'd had a child 2 years ago [presumably given up] and had she told me this before? I said "no" but wondered if I'd forgotten and she had. I then said "yes, I think you have told me that". Ready now to leave, I asked if I could kiss her goodnight. She said "yes" so I went over to her and kissed her, near but not on the lips. I made to leave but at this point I was waking from my dream and became aware I was in my own bed. Last thing I recall was trying to find my clothes before really waking up.

Notes - the woman/girl was young but difficult to age. Possibly late teens or early 20s. She had short fair hair and was medium to small build with a gentle baby-like face which as the same time seemed to have seen more of life than her years would suggest.

From time to time I meet a young female stranger in my dreams. A different stranger every time but the same general theme. Kind-looking, experienced, accepting and living a very basic existence. I have assumed in the past that she is my "anima" (a man's feminine "soul", according to Jung, whose manifestation in dreams indicates its state). As she seems reasonably healthy I take heart that my soul is in good health although her vagrant existence is something I have yet to understand. She's never told me she's tired before and again I wonder what this means. Neither has she met my wife before! She seems to be happy with her "life" however.

The rugby and tennis stadia could have personal meanings. My wife and children play tennis and indeed my wife appears in the next scene. The speaker is angry about unnecessary conflict between rugby (what I watch on TV) and tennis (what they do) and the stadia suggest places to view rather than participate. (I saw no-one actually playing the two sports in the dream.) When the scene moved to the shack I could still see the rugby stadium below. I was in the "tennis part of town" and my wife was talking to my soul. My outside female was talking to my inside one. Why?

Panned

I was in some kind of educational centre or field centre near the sea. I was possibly with people I know but they don't feature. Elsewhere in the building was a class of schoolchildren. I went to the bathroom andnoticed that the door wouldn't lock so I found a stool or chair or something (the room was big) and placed it against the door. I wasn't bothered about the door being unlocked (this is usual in my dreams) but I didn't want the children to see me doing my biz for some reason.

I saw some slugs in the toilet pan. These then became eel-like fish, 3 or 4 of them. The pan now became very large and I noticed there was also a child's fishing net and some clothes down there too. Whilst I was happy to flush away the fish I didn't want to flush away the child's belongings so set about hooking them out with something. Apart from an image of me walking on the sand in the sunshine, that's all I recall.

Presumably I'm tapping into some childhood memories here but nothing seems to ring any bells. I'm trying to hide from children and I want to rescue their belongings. Something prescious about childhood? But what about the fish and the toilet?

A quick name change

Probably the quickest dream I've had lately, during a snooze before getting out of bed. I dreamed I changed my name to "Toby A Pilgrim".

Difficult to think there's anything other than previous day's processing here. I was thinking about internet names and also about pilgrimages. Also it sounds like I'm trying to impress people by being amusing!!!

Treatment at strange hospital

I was visiting my osteo in new premises. Both my osteo and her dead husband were there, who used to treat me. I didn't know what to say to him so I acted as if seeing him was quite normal. I started stripping down but then realised that the room I was going into was already occupied. The husband went into another room and I saw no more of him in this dream. I then needed the toilet and started to look for it. My osteo said it was "under the stairs". I only had my underwear on and the corridor where the osteo rooms were led into a hospital foyer. I saw no stairs but I did see a sign saying "toilets first floor" pointing to a lift. I went into the lift and it went up a long way - far more than one floor before seeming to rise over onto the roof on traintracks. At this point it slowed as it approached a star-shaped junction where other such lifts were also approaching. It stopped before the junction and I walked over the various tracks just as another "lift" arrived and found a door leading back into the building. I never did find the toilets, as I then woke up.

I often dream of toilets although in this dream I don't actually see one. My osteo(s) know me well, almost intimately given the nature of the work. To me now reading this again I wonder if I'm visiting my attention-giving self given that I'm generally attention-wanting. But I don't get round to receiving that attention. Perhaps I'm not giving myself enough attention??? The hospital also suggests a place to look after myself. But the lift takes me away from all that. It takes me above the hospital to a futuristic rooftop experience. Or perhaps the main point of the lift is to take me towards consciousness and links to the feeling of waking up. I never really leave the hospital, though. I'm next to it, in its foyer, in the lift on its roof but never actually being treated for anything. Sounds like I'm avoiding something. Or perhaps I don't have an "internal hospital". Again, it sounds like I'm avoiding caring or unable to care for myself.

Originally Posted by Burned up

I saw some slugs in the toilet pan. These then became eel-like fish, 3 or 4 of them.

I was going to suggest you see a doctor about that, but then I saw this...

Originally Posted by Burned up

Treatment at strange hospital

Hope that takes care of your slug problem.

Originally Posted by Burned up

A quick name change

Probably the quickest dream I've had lately, during a snooze before getting out of bed. I dreamed I changed my name to "Toby A Pilgrim".

A thought dream; I have those a lot. Sometimes they seem to last for a long time, thinking about the same little thing over and over.

I like your anlysis. Very insightful, I think. It gave me some ideas about my own dreams. Maybe they do mean something after all, and aren't just random things happening until I get lucid and can control them! Were you lucid in the one where you changed the face paint of the men and women?

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

A thought dream; I have those a lot. Sometimes they seem to last for a long time, thinking about the same little thing over and over.

I like your anlysis. Very insightful, I think. It gave me some ideas about my own dreams. Maybe they do mean something after all, and aren't just random things happening until I get lucid and can control them! Were you lucid in the one where you changed the face paint of the men and women?

Hello Moonbeam. Well observed. There must have been a degree of lucidity there although I don't really go looking for it and I certainly don't try for lucidity. But I certainly felt that I intervened , yes.

Bu

Underground overground (Wombling free?)

I first recall being on an underground train in London, perhaps going to a business meeting. Must have been the Metropolitan line as its colour on the map etc was purple. I also thought I was somewhere near Baker Street, which is a nice old underground station although the train didn't go through there but was off on another branch. So anyway, the train passes through a disused station where I could see the platforms in the near-darkness and then stops at a station called Newby Park. [I presume this is a fictitious name]. At this point I said to my traveling companion that we've gone too far and have to get another train back the way. So we get off at Newby Park and go upstairs to street level. One side of the street was old and upmarket and completely residential whilst the other side was parkland or common land (like Wimbledon) or possibly a golf course. I could see a hill beyond which I thought was Hampsted Hill in London. I said to my companion that I'd driven past here before. We needed to get down to the other side of the the station to get the train and I showed my companion a passage I'd noticed through the station a street beyond. That was my last memory of the dream.

I often dream of trains or other rail-based vehicles. This was a journey in the darkness, below ground. I wasn't alone but do not recall my companion's identity. I branched off the line to Baker Street, which is a busy place and instead went first to a disused platform then to a station away from where I intended. The closed station sounds like a memory that's been lost and is no longer useful somehow. "Newby Park" is a curious name to make up. The name suggests somewhere nice (which it was) and somewhere, well, new (in my experience). So I've journeyed to somewhere new and unintended in my dream and have risen to consciousness in that place. It was only vaguely familiar (it actually looked more like a village I know called Elie but that's nowhere near London).

I can't help but wonder about the nature of my companion. He was male and probably my age. Was he basically me? The "observing me" was a know-it-all who went wrong. The "companion me" was happy to let the "observing me" run the show. It felt good to have him around. Like I'm not alone on this unexpected journey.

The purple line will have some relevance too. This particular line in London runs parallel to other lines in the centre but then branches out to nearby towns. I was at the start of the branch. It was like I didn't want to go any further as it was unknown territory out there. But it was exciting not to be on the main section along by Baker Street too. I think this dream is about self-discovery. About coming away from the busy metropolis that is my unconscious and taking one stop along the line of somewhere unexplored. The light and openness of the street contrasted well with the dark closed feeling of being on the train. And it's like I woke up knowing a little more about myself as a result.

Train jumping

I was on a train with some friends. It was a small train - just one or two coaches and we were getting off at the third stop. When we got there it was dark. I opened the door at the back of the train but there was no platform. On the other side, parallel to our train, there was an empty carriage i.e. no seats. I jumped across to it, getting in at the back, and the others followed. Someone was already in the "empty" carriage but we went past him and out of a door onto a platform.

Another of many train dreams. Something always goes wrong. Sometimes I miss the train or I get off at the wrong stop or... or I open the door and there's no platform. Here I have to jump to another train just to get off my one.

The small train going to the third stop could be implying anything about "three". I've had three years of training for example, especially so if there's wordplay going on. And now I'm getting off and passing through one more carriage (indeed I have signed up for a year more) before getting off at the other end.

I don't know the relevance of the person (an older man, I think, possibly a tramp) in the carriage. I didn't want to engage with him and was possibly a bit apprehensive about the possibility.

I was doing a little reading yesterday; I guess the Jungian idea is that all DC's are aspects of yourself? Is that how you try to interpret it?

Why don't you try for lucidity?

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

I was doing a little reading yesterday; I guess the Jungian idea is that all DC's are aspects of yourself? Is that how you try to interpret it?

Yes, that's exactly how I do it. When I see someone I know in my dreams I don't take it that the dream is about them. It's actually about an aspect of me that is being manifested as that person in the dream. Sometimes there are general guidelines e.g. that parents represent authority, values etc. But ultimately the meanings are personal, which can make interpretation of others' dreams a complex game.

Even inanimate objects are aspects of yourself. When I dream of a train or a house (two things I often dream of) what are these to me? Darkness seems to mean the deep unconscious, for example, as does depth.

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

Why don't you try for lucidity?

Why not indeed? I suppose I have a lot going on in my life just now that to take on another personal development project would mean my not taking it seriously enough. When I get round to it I'll give it a try.

Bu

Originally Posted by Burned up

Even inanimate objects are aspects of yourself. When I dream of a train or a house (two things I often dream of) what are these to me? Darkness seems to mean the deep unconscious, for example, as does depth.

I can totally see how you have to do the interpretaton yourself. It is very interesting to see how you do yours.

Originally Posted by Burned up

Why not indeed? I suppose I have a lot going on in my life just now that to take on another personal development project would mean my not taking it seriously enough. When I get round to it I'll give it a try.
Bu

Yes, you should. Just keep it in the back of your mind; someone as in tune to their dreams and with so many already recognized dream signs as you shouldn't have any trouble, I wouldn't think.

A night of random stuff

An odd night of snippets of dreams as I woke a few times, commiting each to memory rather unsuccessfully. The bizarre mix was:

- a dream featuring Microsoft Word
- a dream where I remembered just the words "socialist museum" and an image of giving a bundle of garden fleece to someone
- a dream image of two people: a black man and his young daughter
- another dream of two people: two young comedians walking along the street (no, this isn't the start of a joke) one of whom was called Billy something and I had the idea of Billy Bragg the singer in my mind and the other was a similar type as found in the Edinburgh festival. I recall trying to talk to them as they passed and they were making smart comments to me.

I'm not even going to start to interpret this bag of nonsense. I have no emotions I can recall nor can I say any dream affected me today in the way a memorable dream does.

Mud on road

I was in a villa in Portugal I once stayed in. Very upmarket (I was a guest!!!) and known to be favoured by millionaires. Anyway the 1970s band Mud were also there and the lead singer Les Gray was cooking. I discovered something about him. Perhaps he was vegetarian? Or an artist? Also the band were still together.

Good one this. If my memory serves well we're talking about 1973/4 here. I would have been 10/11 years old. I was very interested in vegetarianism at the time and indeed was vegetarian for much of the next 10 years. The presence of the villa was interesting. It represents opulence to me and presumably an area of my unconscious which is fanciful and perhaps pretentious. I can't think any more of this. Perhaps I'll post in the interpretation forum...

wow