Saving the lion cub

Hey there,
The bad news is that I didn't post this immediately after waking up so I may miss something. But I'll try to add it later if i remember anything.
So, to begin with,I am a 23 year old male, single. My family consists of 3 members excluding me and I have a sister 7 years younger. I live alone far from them because of the university I attend and I already have a job like a security guard.
To begin with, i would like to say that when i dream and actually remember what I saw and was not a nightmare, the locations or plot between the dreams are connected, weird right?, or I notice a white clock with silver frame and realise it's a dream, but I won't go on about that.
So, I was taking my evening nap with a fan on because of the heat, lightly dressed
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I was in a huge room. It was pretty dark but I could see that the floor was covered with a red carpet. I looked around and realised it is very similar to a cinema. It was full of seats and the stairs that led to where the big screen was supposed to be were covered with a red carpet too. It seemed elegant. Maybe the movie was starting, that's why the lights were low. (By the way, all thoughts are in dream not irl). I could see figures on their seats but I was standing. I work here.
Suddenly a woman stood up surprised by something that was passing under her. I stepped towards her, she was dressed in green, wearing something like a victorian age dress and a small hat with a huge black feather. Next to her still sitting but staring at her feet curiously a man wearing a black suite with a red tie. It was some kind of formal event. My fellow coworker ran towards the woman from the other side of the room and tried to catch whatever was bothering the lady. He looked like the guys in hotels that take your luggage, all in red too but with gold details here and there. I moved closer so that whatever was down there would be trapped. It rushed towards me. I caught some kind of big cat. It tried to escape but couldn't. It was a little smaller than my arm from the elbow to the fingers, in length.
I rushed outside. Too much light. I can only see the light brown lion cub I was holding, still squirming. I'm next to the road. On my left side my car ( i don't drive irl. I use public means of transport), on the right a zoo. The lion was less active now but it bit my fingers. I felt distressed but it didn't hurt (usually in dreams when I realise I don't hurt while I should the dream turns lucid but this was not the case here). I felt its teeth but it felt like how a dog plays. Biting too softly.
For some reason I zoom or am suddenly in front of a smoking fat guy with a double chin. He seemed intimidating and hateful. He raises his arm. He wants the cub. He has no good intentions. Nope.
Back on the street, the cub will be safe in the zoo. It feels the right thing though I hesitate. Why do I hesitate? I am keeping it. Mine. I get in the car with the cub on the right seat. I'm going to the vet. Then home. Why am I not going to the zoo? It stops licking its paw and looks me in the eyes.
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I wake up.
I'm sorry for the long post,I hope I didn't put too much info. I feel intrigued about this dream because it was neither an actual nightmare nor one of my usual dreams that find a way to connect themselves.
Thanks for reading.

It’s actually best to provide a lot of detail about a dream and yourself when posting because doing so helps to make an interpretation much more accurate overall.

In your dream, the lion cub is the central image since it causes most of the action and conflict.

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 just like a quiet mother bear will suddenly turn very dangerous if her cubs are in danger.

Also, the red colour of the cinema’s carpeting and the uniforms is also symbolically related to emotions and values.

So the darkness in the cinema could symbolically be related to the idea of “being in the dark” and unaware of various ways in which you’re tending to handle your instinctive side as a whole.

Similarly, although you work there, you’re not really clear about whether it’s a cinema or why the lights are down etc.

It’s possible that the idea of its being a special occasion along with the red carpet on the steps to the stage could be hinting that some of your feeling side is tied up at times in seeing yourself as being an “important person”.

That is, it’s as if something inside you could possibly want to sometimes have the “red carpet treatment” of being welcomed as a distinguished visitor by crowds of important people, but you’re mostly unaware of any such tendency.

A cinema and a theatre also are related to the fact that one is often caught up in just being entertained by something without being involved in the end with actually changing one’s life overall in some way.

If any such situation exists in you, the dream apparently shows that these types of values and feelings as symbolized by the lady are “outmoded” (i.e. she’s wearing really inappropriate Victorian-like clothes since the dream is seemingly taking place in present times).

So she maybe kind of represents an incorrect model of how one should be connected to natural feelings and reactions just like Victorians were in general; that is, they put on an elaborate outer show of propriety when underneath, things were different.

The dream then shows the rich, proper lady as being suddenly shocked by something moving right under her seat.

The co-worker in the red uniform who rushes to her aid might possibly represent a habit of defending against any change in certain habits of feeling etc. that she symbolizes.

For example, a uniform often symbolizes a certain fixed way of doing things while the red colour could possibly symbolize a kind of nice way of acting even when you don’t truly feel “nice” at that time.

At first, the dream shows you as also “protecting” this way of acting by grabbing the cat and taking it outside.

Maybe the very bright light outside after the dark cinema symbolizes the need to concentrate first on the lion cub, which is all you can see, because it’s crucial to understand what it can mean in the context of your connection with the inner world of your psyche along with the outer world of people.

The lion cub is then nibbling your fingers like a playful dog and just as in real life, this can be worrying at first.

But the dream might be implying that if you don’t pluck up your courage and make a friend with what the lion cub symbolizes, a part of the dark negative side of your personality, which we all have, could do something bad to the “cub” (i.e. the unpleasant fat man wants to take the cub for unknown reasons).

You rightly decide not to give the cub to the man and then the dream sets up another question: will you give the cub to the zoo or take it on as your own responsibility?

Earlier, the dream showed your imaginary car as being on the “left” side, suggesting your inner side as opposed to the zoo which is on the “right” or outer world side.

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.

So it’s a “personal” image as opposed to the zoo which is “collective”. For example, a large zoo is run by an organization or government etc. Also, people visit the zoo which is good but they don’t “own” the animals there in a personal way.

At first, you want to leave the cub at the zoo because it will be safe there and this is a logical decision, but then you hesitate.

Actually, a hesitation usually has its roots in an instinctive “knowing” as opposed to a “logical” decision-making process, so the dream is probably hinting that the crucial moment has arrived in your life at this time where you should begin to trust your instincts much more in perhaps some particular situation or maybe overall which is probably more likely.

You then automatically feel that it’s right to keep the lion cub.

At this point, you “take the driver’s seat” in your own car, symbolizing an important moment where it looks like you’re going to guide your own destiny in a meaningful, individual way in connection with the “cub”.

In outer life, a decision to take care of a lion cub yourself would be met with many nay-sayers and in most cases, they would be correct.

But in outer life, there are also a few rare individuals who could succeed in responsibly taking on such a task in some way, and maybe the dream is using this analogy to encourage you to try to take on your own “inner lion cub” although it won’t be nearly as easy as “turning it over” in a kind of safe way to following certain conventional approaches to handing your instincts (as probably symbolized by giving the cub to the zoo).

In your dream, going to the vet is possibly a way of expressing the idea that you would have to take a very responsible approach to personally “keeping the cub”.

Also, a vet would likely question your ability to properly care for the cub as it grows much larger. That is, doubts will likely keep appearing about why you’re taking on such a hard task.

The cub seems to sense your hesitation about wanting instead to maybe take it to the zoo (it stops licking its paw and looks into your eyes).

The way the dream ends seems to be saying something like “Can you really give up this deep, living part of yourself and not take on a personal role in its flourishing growth?”

Of course, a small lion cub grows into a lion and various instinctive drives and reactions can become much harder to deal with.

For example, in general, any compulsive attitudes and behaviour of a person can usually be viewed as untamed, powerful “lion-like” instinctive energy which can surface, for example, in excessive pride, compulsive sex, arrogance and an overwhelming need to dominate others etc. No wonder we’d instead prefer to keep our lion in a zoo mostly out of sight and out of mind!

But it’s better to face any such compulsive situation as mentioned above and a person should probably look at where, for instance, excessive “doing” could be getting in the way of reflecting on things and/or in the way of having good relationships with others.

Just “being” as opposed to always trying to prove one’s “worth” is often a better way to go.

The image of a lion is also often connected overall with the “regal”, symbolizing the “royal possibility” innate in every human being that consists of the potential uniting of the instinctive side with conscious awareness in order to become a complete person.

In a way, your first reaction of not wanting to keep the cub is natural because in the end, the ego never really wants to give up its feeling of supremacy and being in control which of course can be very hard to maintain when faced with powerful instinctive drives.

But if a person doesn’t try his or her best to face this primal bodily and instinctive side head-on over time, he or she won’t likely reach a feeling of wholeness and completeness in the end.

Anyway, 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 very important dream.

I appreciate your consideration. I'll have to spend some time thinking about what you said.
Thank you, truly.