Thread: 5 red bears

Although in order to provide a more accurate interpretation it would usually be best to have some general background information about you (and a description of events just before the dream), it’s safe to say that animals in dreams symbolize the dreamer’s connection with, and overall attitude toward, natural instinctive reactions, strong emotions, vague feelings, intuitions and even cold thoughts and actions that are sometimes needed to defend ourselves in certain situations.

A vehicle in dreams represents a complex mix of the physical body along with one’s interests, drives, wishes and beliefs etc. etc.; that is, it symbolizes a kind of body-and-mind unity with which the person moves through daily life.

In your dream, you’re shown as possibly not really being in enough control of the instinctive side of yourself because of the drastic image where you’re being driven along by a blind person you don’t even know.

In addition, the car isn’t strictly speaking “yours” since it belongs to your husband, maybe suggesting that certain ideas, beliefs and attitudes of your husband and others might possibly be influencing you too much, lessening your own unique and individual approach to your life.

Dreams use a language which consists of analogies and metaphors in order to express what they’re trying to say, so part of the image of the bears in your dream who have lost their fear of humans and accept food from you etc. probably mirrors how people are encroaching on the habitat of real bears, causing all sorts of disruptions.

While the interactions often start off by being just annoying (e.g. by the bears going through garbage cans etc.), eventually there can be dangerous confrontations where usually, it’s the bears who lose out in the end by being killed.

All of the impressions that you’ve consciously and unconsciously received during your lifetime regarding the image of a bear are being used by your dream to express part of its central meaning in a symbolic way.

You can try focusing on the images of the bears in your dream and write down every spontaneous memory, thought and emotion that comes to mind. Sifting through these can provide some basic clues about the meaning of a bear for you as an individual.

Also useful are the collective beliefs and impressions made by bears on people as a whole over thousands of years. Such ideas often appear in the dreams of modern people.

These include the idea in many cultures that the bear is the central basic image of a “wild beast”.

Also, its awesome strength and its supremacy in wilderness areas have often made the bear a representative of the whole of nature itself which is both nurturing and cruel.

And from the earliest times, bears have formed a central part of religious practices for many peoples.

Just like nature, a bear has two sides. It can be clever, prudent, “wise” and protective. On the other hand, if crossed, it can become extremely violent and destructive.

So in practical terms, if a person “angers” his or her instincts too much, an “attack” can potentially take the form of any one of an endless range among upsetting physical and/or psychological symptoms.

Our job is to meet our inner bear half way by respecting its wisdom while being wary that it could “rear up” in certain circumstances.

Your dream could be suggesting that you might tend to be playing a dangerous game of “blind man’s buff” with this powerful side of your psyche which could suddenly stop being placid and become very angry and aggressive.

This potential might be suggested by their unusual bright red color which is usually linked with strong emotions such as anger and passion.

Also, the idea of five bears instead of just one might suggest a far from “unified” and controlled state of your instincts at this time.

In general, the idea of “police” in dreams can symbolize a sometimes too strict adherence to “rules”, to “controlling” things and to certain collective beliefs and ideals etc.

While such an attitude can, of course, make a person feel more secure, it can also tend to limit the search for a unique outlook on life and how to live it fully.

Similarly, policemen, from the point of view of dreams, can often represent an attitude which is mainly concerned with keeping things running in a very conventional and orderly way, maintaining a sort of tidy behavior that will not be shocking to anyone.

So it’s possible that something inside you would just like to “put a lid on it” as suggested by the police in your dream regarding some uncomfortable questions related to your instinctive side.

If so, the dream apparently says that such an approach would fail.

Feeding your instincts with a “ton of junk food” might work for a while but something about this approach could potentially cause a flare-up of some kind, i.e. the bear throws the macaroons back into the car.

The dream then switches to the military base. The abrupt move might be a way of saying “Your usual way of dealing with the instincts won’t work”, and then the dream could be indirectly hinting at what is needed instead.

Namely, rather than your “husband” taking on the role of “peace-maker” and “protector” against possible “violent attacks” from the instincts through certain conventional police/military approaches, it might be better if, instead of passively allowing this approach to occur (e.g. just chatting with your friend), you became more actively involved with the “peace-keeping process” by working at your own assertiveness for example.

Anyway as mentioned, without knowing anything about you, this way of looking at your dream 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 dream.

Do you feel your husband is blind, like you don't know him? Or you can't see him.
You saw one danger, then maybe the danger of having sides, or maybe not being square, even, or fair.
The danger was vivid, not dull. Or was it passion that was in danger?

This danger of course followed you, so you wanted the correction.
But you saw trying to put a lid on it failed. You had to do the opposite and open it.
Which might be what you did or thought, in getting close to this danger, seeing it wouldn't harm you then, in facing it.

So, did you see it was junk to be selfish or solo, in this partnership?
As the only thing you could not feed this danger - which at the start was just one - was.....

A macaroon is a type of small circular cake, maybe with glace cherries, jam or a chocolate coating.

....maybe the sweetness of having no sides, or sharing. Because a cake is normally large for sharing, but this is for one, maybe with the hope of sharing.
So, tossing them back in the car can mean to motivate and maybe enlarge this.
The threat wasn't scary or upsetting though.

So maybe you thought you need to build up the relationship, awaiting if your hubby is acceptable perhaps to this order and unity.
But the military sounds cold, mechanical, not warm or passionate. By war or conflict, it makes peace.
Maybe this is a sacrifice or compromise you are willing to make, to know your husband again, be beside him, and connect.

You are using a rationale or way of thinking (car) - one governed by your husband's reasoning - with the goal of reaching a state of mind in which you can feel comfortable with your own opinions and beliefs. (driving home) But, you become aware of an unwelcome feeling, the bears.

The bear represents an emotional aspect of your own nature which gives you the ability or inclination to feel that you have something to bear; something to put up with or endure. Here this feeling is seen with some anger. (red bear) While having something to bear is at first seen as a positive feeling (1 bear) worldly thinking makes it a feeling that needs to be changed (4 bears more to total 5). This is a feeling you cannot easily get rid of. (bears followed you) [This probably pertains to your husband's military service.]

Using the idea that something wrong may be going on where the feeling of having something to bear exists, you attempt to simply put a lid on this feeling; keep it restrained or limited. Here having something to bear is not be restrained. As long as you do see and believe this feeling, it will not hurt you to have it. You have to nurture it but not so as to make it stronger or healthier. (feed bears junk food). What your emotional nature will not accept is being nurtured on the idea of getting your just desserts - getting what you have coming to you - or perhaps getting a reward for innocence & ignorance (cookies fed to children). The main point here seems to be not to insult yourself by simply dismissing a feeling. Just let it be, it is what you feel.