Strange Reoccurring Dream (one of many)

I can't remember how it started, as is the case with most dreams. But the thing I remember which is most important, is that it was night. Completely dark out, save these small little white, glowing objects I had put on the ground to mark where I had been, just one. I have a black cat with me -- long, thin, with a shiny coat. The cat has dark eyes, but from a distance, one eye glows white like the tiny objects I dropped on the ground. The cat is friendly, a bit mysterious, but always stays with me. Yet I know the cat isn't "mine". I don't own the cat, but it's my companion all the same. It's not cold outside, but not hot -- nice weather. I'm running around this building, looking for answers to... something? I don't know what. I've had this dream with this cat before, and tonight's dream was a continuation of the story, but I don't remember what the other dreams were about, like what I was doing, or where I left off when I woke up. I just remember the cat.
After getting nowhere for a while, I turn to the cat and say "please guide me", and he (it's a male, I just know that) does just that. He waits for me if I fall behind, and always take the back route -- usually more difficult route -- to get to where we need to go. This is so we avoid the "enemies", whatever or whoever they are. I jump over a tall fence, and we're in a neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac (those round ended streets in some housing areas). There's one house at the end, which somehow my dream self just knows there's a nice, old lady living inside, and the cat knows her. I've passed the house before, apparently, because I turn to this cat and say, "I was wondering when we'd finally come here." Somehow, I knew we'd have to be there, eventually. I should also mention I was in my pajamas.
I started to wake up, but I was desperately trying to finish the dream. The last thing I did before waking up was bend down to pick up the cat and hold it close, like it was my comfort or protector. Then it ends.
I hope I get to continue the dream another night, soon.

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 (just like a quiet mother bear etc. will suddenly turn very savage if her cubs are in danger).
But just to also start off by mentioning that there are generally no rigidly fixed interpretations for a given image in a dream, and it’s always best to have the spontaneous memories, thoughts and feelings of the dreamer as related to each image and event in a dream.

That way, a better analysis is more likely, but having said that, there are some general symbolic motifs that appear in dreams which can serve as a basic starting point for discovering its meaning.

Also, it’s important to say that the language of dreams is one based on analogies and metaphors which can often be very complex and therefore can be hard to understand, especially if nothing is known about the dreamer.

In addition, dreams are the broad equivalent to those processes which keep our physical bodies in an equilibrium.

For example, as you know, automatic adjustments are continually made to keep a person’s temperature, blood sugar level, water content etc. etc. at appropriate levels.

In an equivalent way, dreams try to maintain an overall psychological balance which will allow for the gradual all-round self-development of the dreamer.

Also, looking at the stories, myths and art etc. about a given image as created by people over thousands of years (e.g. the special cat in your dream) can be very helpful in providing useful parallels which can clarify its meaning in a modern dream.

Your dream starts out in complete darkness, suggesting on analogy that there’s something about yourself and/or a situation etc. about which you’re tending to be very unaware.

Soon, a motif from fairy tales appears in the form of the little white lights that you put on the ground to apparently form a trail you can follow back to your starting point.

Originally, fairy tales weren’t in fact really for children (as Disney and others encouraged us to believe), but were more like stories told to the whole family.

Being themselves deep products of the psyche, they contain a distillation of human experience which can be appreciated only by including emotional reactions since they are so “irrational”. Therefore, they were in effect trashed by the rationalists of the Enlightenment and beyond, relegating them to the nursery.

But for example, as in Hansel and Gretel, you’re possibly exploring an area of the “forest” which seems dangerous to you, i.e. a part of your unconscious that you’re not very familiar with.

The small lights could partly symbolize certain useful insights and points of understanding etc. that you currently make use of in order to orientate yourself in day-to-day life as well as in more important matters.

But the dream might be showing that you should go beyond these albeit helpful “habits of thought” etc., and maybe trust your wise instinctive side more often (as symbolized by the cat whose one eye glows white like the tiny objects of the ground).

The dream then develops a clearer analogy between your inner cat and outer cats.

For example, we never really “own” a cat; we can provide a warm home, food and care for which the cat will show its appreciation by purring and licking our face (although it might just be marking us as its possession).

Similarly, the ego can’t “own” the objective instinctive side of the psyche, but can only respect and care for it.

In return, valuable intuitions and spontaneous subtle feelings etc. can guide us about what to do in various more difficult situations when needed.

As mentioned, looking at what others have believed about cats over the centuries can also help to understand their image in a modern dream.

For instance, one idea which might sound unusual is that a cat can represent the basic essence of a person.

But for example, the ancient Egyptians treated cats with veneration, and they were linked to various goddesses (that is, to inborn “feminine” energies). So this basic attitude toward cats often appears especially in the dreams of modern women but also in those of men.

(You might like analyst Jean Shinoda Bolen’s book “Goddesses in Everywoman” to find out which feminine psychological energies are most naturally part of your own personality.)

Cats are also strongly linked to the moon which often symbolizes the core, intuitive, feminine part of a woman and therefore the place of her true nature and vocation.

It’s possible that the cat also symbolizes overall the more feminine traits related to allure, enchantment and the ability to beguile through visual contact.

Additionally, many cats often get what they want with a certain ruthlessness and relentless determination, so perhaps these qualities appear in yourself.

A Japanese story from the 1600’s, “The Swordsman and the Cat”, also illustrates the central role of the cat in a person’s psychology:

In the story, a group of cats returns from a busy day of rat-catching and later respectfully ask the Great Cat if she will divulge her secrets to them for their benefit to which she replies:

“Teaching is not difficult, listening is not difficult either, but what is truly difficult is to become conscious of what you have in yourself and be able to use it as your own”.

So it’s possible the dream is showing that how you’re currently “trying to find yourself” isn’t contained enough, in an all-round sense, by your present set of habits, behaviors, beliefs and opinions etc. etc. (as symbolized by the building you’re in where you “don’t find any answers”).

In contrast, the cat knows exactly where to go once you ask him for help.

He also knows that you’ll have to avoid the “enemies”, perhaps strong doubts and hesitations etc. that could appear about a new way of approaching things which could send you back to old ways after not much of a fight.

It looks like you still could have to make a “high leap” to overcome things that might tend to “hem you in” too much (you jump the fence).

If you succeed, you could apparently reach your true, creative and feminine center as probably symbolized in part by the cul-de-sac (whose rounded shape resembles a kind of womb), and by the nice old lady whom the cat knows and who lives in the house that you somehow recognize.

The old lady likely symbolizes your overall, innate potential as an individual that can grow and mature into wisdom over time.

The way the dream ended is probably saying that you really will have to hold onto and “trust your instincts” so that you can move more effectively into life as a whole.

You might be interested in analyst Marie-Louise von Franz’s “The Cat: A tale of Feminine Redemption”. She also wrote extensively about the meaning of fairy tales which are unbelievably rich in meaning.

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

Please feel free to comment on, or to ask any questions about, this particular way of looking at your dream.