Thread: Two Dreams, Similar Symbols, please help

As you noticed, both dreams are likely touching on the same basic theme. The first one tends to be more direct and because it contains talking insects for example, shows that deep instinctive levels of the psyche have been activated.

The second one also contains important symbols but is more “removed” and indirect than the first (television drama) and this may be a way of commenting in some way on an attitude that followed upon some vague semi-conscious understanding of what the first dream was getting at.

In the first dream, you are shown as being in a tree, perhaps suggesting the idea of being too far above the “earth” and instinctive natural feelings.

Your younger sister might represent a “younger you”, maybe as aspect within that has to become more mature concerning some part of your own personality.

Your boyfriend could symbolize something along the lines of how you think about things and general opinions that you hold, perhaps even reflected in your first reaction to the arrival of the wasps (won’t hurt anybody).

But your general opinion in this case was only partly right. The key thing that’s shown later in the dream is that the wasps were afraid you would hurt them. Wasps usually sting only defensively, so the dream is hinting that some attitude or outlook which you have could tend to hurt your instinctive side (the wasps) too often and cause them to react in a way that would try to restore an overall balance.

Being stung on the neck, middle back, and lower back might be suggesting the underlying backbone and spinal cord. It’s as if the stings were in some way bringing attention to this biological structure inside you.

The brain stem and spinal cord look like a snake, an image that appears in the second dream. These images relate to our basic automatic nervous system where deep-seated instinctive reactions and processes live.

The wasps are also from this “lower” level of “automatic life” in a way, and have often been looked down on because of their unpleasant stings and the fact that they apparently produce nothing of value for humans, unlike bees that give us honey. But wasps pollinate crops and flowers, and they also kill damaging insects, so on this analogy, they symbolize valuable psychological “impulses” etc. that can spur one to new life at times if required.

For example, this may take the form of unwanted “stings” of a guilty conscience or feelings of shame. The “poison” of the middle sting could result from ignoring such feelings for instance, leading to an “infection” that could spread to the whole “body” of psychological life.

Diving into the water could symbolize the understandable wish to keep this entire conflict unconscious (under water), but the dream shows that this won’t work (wasps sting anyway).

The dream then shows a better approach, that is, dialoguing with these parts of yourself instead of trying to run away from them.

In the second dream, this idea of trying to avoid the problem crops up again (don’t want to watch the scary story), but an unknown friend within knows that you have to face it (won’t turn off the show).

In general terms, Victorians were known for not openly acknowledging natural instinctive feelings and they also always believed they were right” about everything no matter what. This indeed caused many “haunted houses” to appear, that is, psychological problems because so many normal and healthy aspects of the personality were suppressed and everything tended to become “black or white” rather than a mixture of dark and light. That’s also probably the idea behind the couple looking “odd”, sick (pale), and “pinched” (small lips, thin nose).

In this take on your dream, the boy might tend to symbolize something like these “Victorian” attitudes and opinions that may occasionally appear inside you but which you aren’t too aware of in general terms.

Such opinions (the boy), if too unconscious, would therefore be subject to further “seduction” by even stronger thoughts and opinions (the three women). The destructive, compulsive side (snake) that could appear is shown as taking over in the symbolic form of free sex, that is, it would feel exhilarating but would in the end be destructive (girl killed).

That is, if not moderated by common sense (the father), these compulsive thoughts and opinions about what “should” be done regarding study and work etc. etc. could tend to overwhelm a growing feminine self (cat killed, girl raped and murdered).

So the idea of your dreams might be that, strongly influenced by the generally “know-it-all” technological and patriarchal society around you (very similar in that way to Victorian society), your female self might be in danger of being cut off from its deep instinctive roots which could end in the long run with the “death” of any feelings of overall satisfaction and contentment.

Marion Woodman has written a lot about this common situation and you might like to sample her ideas at www.mwoodman.org

You might also like to try dialoguing with the “wasps” and other figures in your dream by learning the technique described in Robert Johnson’s “Inner Work”.

Anyway, I hope that these ideas about your dreams will be helpful in some way to unravel their actual personal meaning.