Dream of a Dying Whale in Blood

[Leonshi500]

Hi everyone! I've asked other people's interpretations on this dream and I'm still not fully content on the answers I've seen. Here's what I saw: In my living room, all of the furniture was gone and in its place was a giant whale on a pool of blood. I don't what type of whale it was, all I remember was that it was ginormous and was still able to fit in my living room (which is spacious, so it wasn't a killer whale but definitely not something like a blue whale). There was a hole on its body and blood was gushing out of it rapidly. Think of it like a fire-hydrant spurting out water, only imagine that it was blood coming from a whale. Change the color of the water coming out in the picture to a blood red and that would look identical to what came out of the whale. I was looking at this whale from the second floor of my house on my stairs. stock-footage-fire-hydrant-flowing-water-out-of-the-steamer-port.jpg This wasn't the blowhole either, it was on a wound hole on the side of the whale. The amount of blood coming out increased and with it the hole increased. It almost became ridiculous. No animal could have this much blood. As the amount of blood coming out of the whale's side increased, the force at which it came out became greater and greater. Eventually, the hole was very wide but little blood was squirting out now. All of the blood was out of the whale at this point. When there was no more blood coming out of the whale, I walked down my stairs to get a better look at the whale. My living room was filled with the whale's blood and it scared me. I'd like to emphasize the point that everything that came out was liquid. There was nothing solid, just blood, so there were no guts or anything like that. There was so much blood in my house that it covered me up to around my knees. I walked through it up to the hole in the whale's side, which was wide enough to almost walk into. I looked inside, and saw nothing but an empty, organic cavity. There were no organs, bones, or other things in the way. All I saw, just sitting there and not connected to anything was a big realistic heart with two holes on the top of it. They weren't natural either. They looked like they weren't supposed to be there. The picture I used is similar, just lose the water and the treasure chest and add in the random heart. 80242705_640.jpg That's it. I really hope the dream didn't disgust or upset anyone. It's not like I enjoyed this dream either. An interpretation would be appreciated.

[Darkmatters]

Wow, that is powerful stuff. Did any parts of the dream remind you of anything? Associations can be extremely helpful in figuring a dream out. All I can think of right now is that usually creatures from the ocean represent things from deep in the unconscious. So, some deep psychic aspect of yourself. It's been brought up onto dry land - sounds like it's been brought out into full conscious awareness. Are there any epiphanies you've been having about your innermost mind lately? Have you been discovering things about your own behavior that previously you weren't aware of? Hidden motivations or something? If so maybe it's telling you it's best to forget about it and let whatever it is slide back into its home in the deep unconscious - maybe it isn't ready to emerge or isn't supposed to be dredged up at all. It seems it's terribly wounded and apparently dying. This could be a dire warning. There might be something physical wrong with you - maybe a heart problem or internal bleeding or something else. I remember I read once about a man who dreamed of a dying horse and his psychiatrist was very alarmed and sent him to a hospital for testing. He wasn't sure if it represented a physical ailment or a psychic one, but he knew it was bad. I think if I remember right the guy was on the verge of a psychosis. Sorry if this alarms you, but I think the dream itself is pretty alarming. Though it might just be symbolic - it can be hard to tell.

[Leonshi500]

This is actually a dream I had around a year ago. It was this dream that sparked my interest in seriously interpreting how dreams are influenced by our desires, personalities and the like. I'm sorry if the dream being that old might screw up some interpretations. Around that time, I was worried that I was having dreams of the future. Some were symbolic, others were less so. I've seen dreams of myself in wars, escaping my old life into a new and strange one, and I've seen how I might look in the future years from now. Dreaming is a very important part of the day for me because it's the chance I get to better understand myself. Around this time, I also became infatuated with a friend of mine who didn't share any of the same feelings. We were really good friends, but eventually we stopped getting to meet each other at all. At that time, I would see her often in my dreams for a couple seconds per dream. I really didn't like it when she was in my dreams. I would usually wake up either annoyed or upset. Eventually those dreams stopped, but I actually met her again by complete coincidence and she actually brought up the question of whether I loved her or not. I said no because I really wasn't sure myself to be honest and just considered her a really good friend. That and she already has a boyfriend. After that, she began to appear in my dreams more often again and again. The dreams could represent that, but I don't understand how each part connects to it. I hate it when she's in my dreams, and I just wish I could become fully aware in my dreams more often so I could point out that I don't want her here and become lucid. As for health problems, I doubt it. I'm not excluding the possibility all together of physical issues, but there's nothing I've noticed that really points to that. Beyond that, I can't think of anything relating to physical issues. I'm surprisingly healthy despite how very little I exercise anymore. Some of my joints are slightly more sensitive to pressure than they should be I think, but that's it.

[Darkmatters]

Yeah, it sounds like it was probably about her, or about your feelings for her. The whale possibly just represented you, or your love, bleeding out. Maybe there was an element of your having outgrown the situation or the relationship or whatever you want to call it? Being a huge whale in a small living room suggests being too big for the situation to me. Also being trapped in an inappropriate environment. Would either of those fit your situation at the time? Why did the dreams annoy or upset you? You also said you hated them - I suspect the reason behind those emotions is the key to understanding the dream.

[Leonshi500]

The dreams upset me because I almost always feel sad whenever I wake up from them. Eventually the sadness is replaced by a feeling of annoyance at the fact I know I'll be dreaming of a similar situation again. I love lucid dreams, and I want nothing more than to confront her while I'm lucid so that I may talk to her. I haven't quite outgrown the dreams because I still have them so frequently. I'd say she appears in every other dream for at least a couple seconds. When this happens, my dream recall completely shifts from the rest of the dream to her, meaning that I forget everything else except her. I would like to keep a dream journal I struggle with dream recall and this certainly doesn't help. Take yesterday's dream for example. She was there again, except she was tall, taller than me (she's shorter than me) and she said "I miss you" in a teasing voice. How should I feel after waking up from that? Once the disappointment fades away, I'm just annoyed. I want to have blissful dreams, but they normally just take place in a disappointing setting, concluded with her appearance at the very end. I need to try to move on from this infatuation of mine, but I'm not quite sure how to do so. I'm not going to get the answer from some Wikihow page, and I think I'll have to try to meditate on the issue. Thank you for taking the time to responding to my posts.

[Darkmatters]

When I said it might represent you outgrowing the situation, I meant the infatuation with her. Well actually I left it petty open so you could think about anything you might have outgrown, but I was thinking that might be what it was. Could it be that you're actually over the infatuation with her, but now for some reason you're obsessed with the dreams about her? Like the term "I'm not in love - I'm in love with the idea of being in love". That was from some movie but I forget what it was. Anyway, I'm just throwing out ideas here. How about this question - if you two were to try to get together now, do you believe it would work out well?

[Leonshi500]

I really like the perspectives you're proposing here. I've constantly questioned my infatuation myself. I believe I'm infatuated with someone that doesn't exist, memories that have been over-exaggerated or potentially made up to make her seem more important to me than she should be. Still, seeing her again did make the dreams occur more frequently. I don't really see how I could be over her if these dreams are still happening. I doubt my subconscious mind is more interested in having dreams of a person as opposed to the person itself. I'm actually feeling the complete opposite of what you said. I'm hating the idea of being in love right now because that's what's happening right now. That last question is very hard to answer. Initially, I think it would be a wonderful thing, but I doubt it could work out in the long run. Our universities are too far away now and she already has a boyfriend. I would certainly love for it to happen, but with the current situation, there would be several problems that'd need to be figured out. It's fun to think if reality wasn't an issue, but there's very little practicality in the matter. I recently found a dream interpretation that said dead whales are a sign for a loss of something beautiful in one's life and for hard spiritual times. I think that's fairly fitting, but the dream was significantly overkill. The heart and all of the blood, what could that mean in particular? I'm assuming the whale represents what I found beautiful before.

[Darkmatters]

If there were no practical issues involved - let's say somehow you find yourselves living close to each other and she doesn't have a boyfriend - so this time it's strictly a question of compatibility between you and her. Would you both be into it and would things go well? Another thing I thought of - possibly what you outgrew was your family situation - represented by the living room. Your house in dreams often represents your life or more specifically your family situation. Maybe you felt you were growing beyond what your parents thought you were and you felt confined in the family? You might be on to something with the dying whale representing something beautiful in your life dying. The idea I was getting at with the previous line of question is this - sometimes a person is infatuated or has a crush on somebody and likes to be in that person's presence, but knows that it wouldn't work out for them to have a real relationship, so they just want to continue the crush and seeing that person. Sort of loving them from a little distance. You might have been in this kind of situation with her, and when you could no longer see her, your mind started creating dreams about her so in a sense you could continue to crush on her, though at an even greater distance now since you're only seeing dream versions of her.

[Leonshi500]

would love to try dating her if we could, just to see if it could work in the first place. More than anything, I would love a moment of realization, one tidbit of information or an experience that really enlightens me that all of these feelings are either good or just stupid nonsense and move on. I've had moments like those before, or at least I thought, but the emotions kept reoccurring anyway after some time. I'd never even thought of my relating my family to this dream, but that really does make sense. I've definitely outgrown them and I really don't like coming back home that often except on some holidays when I know I should. Even then I feel uneasy after a while and usually want to go back quickly. I love them and they love me, but I don't like staying there for too long. Your last paragraph is especially helpful. That's likely exactly what's happening. I want for nothing more than my mind to move on, but the dreams say otherwise. I guess this means that, deep in my mind, I really do have feelings for this person, but the rational part of my mind tries to say that I shouldn't and it suppresses all of those emotions, causing mental conflict that is visualized in my dreams. The only question now is how to address that.

[Darkmatters]

Your last paragraph is especially helpful. That's likely exactly what's happening. I want for nothing more than my mind to move on, but the dreams say otherwise. I guess this means that, deep in my mind, I really do have feelings for this person, but the rational part of my mind tries to say that I shouldn't and it suppresses all of those emotions, causing mental conflict that is visualized in my dreams. The only question now is how to address that. Ok, I had a feeling it might be something like that. Here are my thoughts on that kind of situation. There's nothing wrong with just crushing on somebody that you can't have - we've all been there, probably many times. I think of it as the libido wanting to be attached to somebody. And by libido I don't mean it in the reductive and harsh way Freud meant it, strictly as sexual desire. I mean it in the more expansive and positive way. it's the life energy, but it includes sexual desire. It's a positive and reaffirming connection to another person that's somehow intimate and makes you feel amazing. And you can get it even in a relationship that's not reciprocal, like a crush, especially if she likes you too. Of course it's best when you can see the other person and be in their presence a lot - if they move away or you have to stop seeing them the connection is broken and your libido is no longer attached to a real living person. Then you feel isolated and alone. And at that point you'll start fantasizing about them or dreaming about them, because your subconscious wants to experience that amazing feeling you had but is now gone. One way to deal with it is to try to attach the libido to somebody different. It can work to a lesser extent to attach it to a celebrity, but of course that's not the same really. What you're really looking for is that flow of energy that can only happen between 2 people who like each other, whether or not they can have an actual full relationship. For an artistic person engaging in creative projects can also fuel the libido and make you feel amazing and connected.

[Leonshi500]

Thank you for taking the time to help me understand this dream, you're very good at your job. You explained things more clearly than anyone else so far. I'll try your suggestions and I'm also going to try to make her appear in a lucid dream and try to talk to her. Guess I have another reason to lucid dream now.

[Darkmatters]

Glad to hear it - and thank you! There's another way you can approach it if you aren't able to lucid dream on command. Let me see if I can find an article about Active Imagination- it's a lot like lucid daydreaming and can have a really strong impact. Here: Wiki article on Active Imagination Article on GoodTherapy.Org Or just do a search for it - you'll turn up loads of info on how to do it. There's a really good book about it that's probably the best resource really: Jung on Active Imagination