Cat nightmare

Hi all,

I had a nightmare recently. I'll cut to the chase about what I saw.

Basically, my family and I were walking down the street in a poor city neighborhood on a sunny day, when we walk inside a pottery store. This pottery store is unusual, because the lady who owns it makes pots and bowls out of other people's ashes. One of them read "Helen Keller," which I thought was strange because I was very doubtful that a person like her could have found the ashes of Helen Keller.

She also showed us a tank full of eel/lamprey/worm things. They are very disgusting to look at and are very slimy. According to the woman, two worms can attach to each other to become one longer worm and function as one organism. I thought that was strange and gross. What happens to the minds of those worms?

The next scene in the dream was me and my family on a dilapidated-looking deck behind our house. Apparently we needed food and the grill was on, so my dad pulled out a black cat so that he could snap its neck. I ran at him and tackled him to the ground, and pulled the cat out of his arms and ran away. One thing I remember about this cat is that it was all black and had purple eyes. And despite the fact that I saved it, it was still very shy and didn't want to come near me. With some effort, I managed to pet it, and I sobbed over the fact that even though I saved one cat, my father had probably just grabbed another cat to kill.

~~~

This dream was scary for me because I am very close to cats, and I grew up with cats during my youth. They are very special to me. :(

This is a very interesting dream. We tend to dream about things that we are afraid of also, or fears in general.. so this may explain why the cat was going to be hurt. Also, do you have a fear of death, or corpses? And does pottery mean anything in particular to you personally?

Sorry for taking so long. I've been busy lately.

I'm not particularly afraid of death or corpses. I don't believe in an afterlife, but I do have a sense of humor that seems a little... morbid to most people. And I've always thought corpses were interesting, in a they-look-like-people-but-they-are-not-moving sort of way.

I like pottery, I used to play with clay a lot when I was little. It was really fun, but I'm kind of a neat freak so I didn't like it when it got all over my hands. I wasn't interested in bowls or vases though, I really liked making dragons and dinosaurs. So yeah.

Pottery can be a sign of wealth, so it's interesting that your family would be in poverty in the dream. Ashes are usually seen as a bad symbol, usually signifying bitterness or an unwillingness to let go of the past, but it really depends on the situation. I have never heard of pottery made of ashes, so its strange that these two would be combined. Worms are also interpreted as generally negative, associated with degradation and weakness.

The cat seems to be the main symbol in your dream. Cats can mean up to a number of things, but in your instance the cat can be symbolizing an independent spirit and creativity. When you rescue something or someone in a dream is representing an aspect of yourself that is being neglected. Since your father seems to want to hurt the cat, the dream can mean that someone of high authority is trying to hold back your independence or creativity. When you cry after you rescue the cat, you may be afraid that even though you have rescued this part of your independence/creativity, there is still the possibility that another part of it will be hurt anyway.

From what I gather, you are being put in a situation where you are not in control of your creativity or independence by some figure of authority, like a boss or religion. You are afraid that nothing you do will really change the outcome and that the situation is hopeless. If I am correct, I hope you will be able to resolve any of this.