Some background: I had little sleep last night as I went to bed angry with something my wife said. I sensed lots of tension in my chest and face muscles and it was like hours trying to relax. The dream probably took place at around 7am which is when my longest stretch of sleep was taking place.


I had taken a space at a therapy fair of some kind and was offering massage. It seemed to be in a school gym hall, possibly my own from teenage but they all seem to look roughly the same. It was dark outside and dimly lit inside and there must have been a handful of other tables with masseur(se)s around the room. Three people were waiting by my table, two men and one woman. The woman had already taken off her top but was otherwise covered up. She was perhaps a little younger than the men, in her 30s perhaps. It occurred to me then that I didn't really know much about massage although I reckoned I could just about fake it. I also thought I'd charge £5 for a 10 minute "taster" session.

My son (8yo) appeared and was eager to have a massage from me. The others were happy for him to go first. He went to a different table, which looked like an old wooden workbench with most of the varnish worn off. It was a bit high and I couldn't see how to adjust it lower. The organiser appeared and said "<my name> is using that one is he?" to which I replied "is that one free then?" referring to the black cushioned treatment table I started at. He said it was so we moved to there. I made up a pillow from three objects: a cuddly toy, a rolling thing like the headrest of an old dentist char, and a small cushion of the type one would expect to see. The woman saw the arrangement and said "ahhhhhh" as one would to a child. I was about to start when I saw he was tucked up with his pyjamas on. I asked him to take off his top. nothing. I asked again. Nothing. He wasn't asleep as his eyes were open but it was dark now and I woke up.

My first reaction was that there was a threesome waiting made up of two men and one woman. I've come across this combination twice recently, each time strangers and each time the woman being the one that catches my attention. I really can't think what they represent.

My son appears in a lot of my dreams at the moment. I have assumed that I'm dreaming of my own inner child and I think that's probably what is happening here. My inner child is longing for attention from my conscious self. He's wanting to feel good and to feel valued. He doesn't always do the right things but the need never goes away.

Why massage? I don't have massages myself although I have had them on occasions in the past. The idea of physical touch must surely be important here. Like, it's OK to touch someone therapeutically but quite different to touch someone for pleasure. I like touching people (yes, especially women with nice skin) and I wonder whether it's my own longing for a return to that nice skin of childhood. In the dream I was less enthusiastic about massaging my son's back and this probably reflects some kind of rejection of wanting to "touch" my own inner child, rather I look for the same experience by wanting to touch nice women instead.

Other parts of this dream tell me a few bits of additional info. He first lay down on an old workbench, suggesting that I feel like it's hard work to approach this inner child. The organiser with his cameo role sounds like my internal supervisor asking questioning what I'm doing. Do I approach this as hard work or as pleasure-giving therapy? The school gym hall may also represent to me a place in my unconscious that's associated with physical work. The £5 for 10 mins is actually a fairly accurate rate but perhaps the numbers mean something. Like we're talking about ages 5 to 10 - certainly cogent with my usual 7yo dreams, my own son being 8yo and my ages at primary school where I focus a lot of attention.

The pillow is fascinating. Three parts to it: a toy, something hard and something soft. Could these represent the 3 people too?

I need to do more research on these interesting threesomes. (Could be oedipal I suppose)