Wooden Man and Drowned Cat

**enorris** · 07-20-2017 11:54 AM

Alright. I had this dream a night or two ago, and I've had no real luck 'deciphering' it, so here goes.

A little about me, beforehand:

I'm 24/f, single - pending divorce (mutual, not contested, it's whatever, really), living with 2 roommates (1f/1m), basically asexual at this point in my life - just not interested in relationships or whatnot, not even friends, really. I ran into an issue this past week (coincidentally the same day/day before) where my former stepfather - whom I despise - basically took off for the border of Canada with my three siblings (all much younger than me). They're fine; my oldest sibling is a smart cookie, and they won't be getting over the border without the grace of whatever deity.

About my dream:

I'm living in a big house with a man (I couldn't tell you what he looked like, he was just sort of 'there', nor if the house was new or old) that is stylized after the home I'm living in now. The biggest difference is that the floors are all wooden except for 1 or 2 rooms (bathroom and garage). After a time, for some reason we learn that we can't touch the floors because, if we do, our life is...drained away, somehow. Like, the house shortens our lives by flesh contact. So, we start to wear gloves whenever we do anything, and socks and shoes and long-sleeved shirts, just in case. It's all rather odd.

Around that time, a strange man sort of appears. He's made entirely out of wood and is sort of a part of the house, and sort of not. He cannot go where there is not wood floors. He seems malicious at first - doesn't speak, just kind of follows me around. Not the man I'm living with, just me. He creeps me out, but the man (I'm just going to assume he's supposed to be some sort of nameless, faceless lover) doesn't believe me, just thinks I'm being crazy. Note - my lover has taken to wearing gloves and long sleeves and the like, as well.

After a while, I stop finding the Wooden Man so creepy, and actually lay down on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket so that I'm not actually touching the floor with my skin, and he tells/I learn (somehow) that he had a son, at one point, who died in the house. After this, I take to talking to the Wooden Man like he's almost some sort of friend. My lover is still there, just sort of as a bg character - there, but no real interaction. I don't have any sort of relation with him, in any way.

I find out that there is a cat in the garage, and I want to get it out and take care of it, so I go into the garage, and I try and capture it, but it bites and scratches my hand. The cat is black and white, long haired. For some reason I just know that this cat has rabies, and that I am going to die because of this cat.

The Wooden Man tells me I need to get rid of the cat, so I go into the garage, capture the cat, and drown it in my sink before I am ready to go to the hospital to 'die'.

The most nerve wracking part about this dream is that, I swear to God, I could feel the lub dub, lub dub of the cat under my hands getting faster and then slower while I drowned it in the kitchen sink. That's one thing I cannot get out of my head. It put me in a cold sweat. I jumped out of bed and I had this overwhelming need to check to make sure I hadn't smothered my actual cat or dogs in my sleep. It was horrifying, and I could swear I still feel the sensation in my hands after I had already woken up.

Any ideas would be awesome. I just can't get it out of my head.
Thanks!

**amateur** · 11-21-2017 06:31 AM

Hi, enorris. I have some ideas for interpreting your dream symbols, which is based heavily on your information you provided about yourself. My apologies if this isn't very detailed . . . it's getting late!

At first I thought this dream might be about what happened with your step-father and siblings, but I couldn't make it fit. I think it's more likely regarding your marriage, and it's pending dissolution.

The House = Your marriage.

The Lover = Your husband.

The Wooden Floors = The effect that you and your husband publicly admit the marriage is having on you and your husband. (Slowly draining your life away).

The Bathroom and Garage = Areas of the marriage which are not public, and should be "safe" from the life draining effect of the wooden floors.

The Additional Clothing = You and your husband have already attempted to make adjustments, which are restrictive.

The Wooden Man = Your husband's opinion of why the marriage is failing, which places the blame on you. (That's why he seems at first to be malicious. The intent feels negative, "mal", toward you.) Pinocchio was wooden, and not a real boy. You suspect this isn't the real reason. Think, "straw man argument".

The Lover Not Believing You, Yet Adjusting Clothing To Protect Himself Accordingly = "Actions speak louder than words".

You Lie On The Wooden Floor, And Learn More About The Wooden Man = You confront your fears, and inspect your husband's opinion about why the marriage is failing thoroughly.

The Deceased Son = You understand that there is a precipitating factor which actually caused the problem your husband blames you for. It is possible this is in reference to his upbringing/childhood experiences, since it's a "son", and not a "daughter". However, it could just represent something that might seem like a "little" issue, but it was actually a terrible thing, ie. death/end of something precious.

Garage = Part of the marriage where the stated issues should not cause a problem, if your husband's opinion is correct.

Cat = there's an issue in this other, supposedly safe, unrelated, part of the marriage, and you go to "take care of it", with the assumption that it's harmless. (Because of the long hair).

Cat Aggression & Rabies Infection = It turns out this black and white issue hurt you, and is life threatening to you.

Wooden Man Advising You To Drown The Cat = You've made peace with the blame being placed on you, and that gives you the courage to face/address the issue which actually caused you harm, and you do it by yourself.

Drowning The Cat = Your determination for putting this other issue to "rest", even if unpleasant, and even if you have to do it yourself.

I think that feeling the sensation in your hands after waking up is normal for a very vivid dream or nightmare. But while this one was horrifying in feel, I think the message could be positive for you. Sometimes nightmares are nightmares because our lives are kind of a nightmare, (even an amicable divorce isn't a pleasant experience) but when there is resolution to the negative aspects, I think it's a positive theme.

What do you think?

**Lugus** · 01-01-2018 07:15 AM

This sounds like it is a shamanistic dream.

The wooden man is probably Osiris. He seems to be your spirit spouse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_spouse

When the dreamer drowns the cat, she is rejecting the power of the 3rd chakra, which is often symbolized by a cat. “The Solar Plexus Chakra, located between the navel and solar plexus, is the core of our personality, our identity, of our ego.” Solar Plexus Chakra - Manipura

The coming death of the dreamer, which is a representation of the ego, is a common shamanistic theme.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

**Darkmatters** · 01-01-2018 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Lugus

The coming death of the dreamer, which is a representation of the ego, is a common shamanistic theme.

It should also be mentioned that in myth or Shamanism etc, the symbolic death does not mean the person will actually die - it represents a symbolic process of death and rebirth, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, or Christ rising from the dead. It refers to a big change in your life when who you were dies, to be replaced by who you are becoming.

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