Need Help Interpreting a Dream

Hey, I am new to this site, but need some help interpreting a symbol in a dream that I had, there are a lot of elements to it and I don't know how to link them together. In this dream there was a spirit that had a divided face, the left half was a skull, and the right half was rotting away. It had long flowing white hair, and was smiling (in a way that i felt was menacing). I don't recall the body of the figure, but the face was the most prominent thing anyway. It also had shackles with chains hanging off its wrists, and a dagger in its left hand. Can anyone shed some light on the meaning behind this? The whole figure seemed to be white, though the rotting portion of the face was darker than the skull.

Was it in a nightmare? If so, the figure most likely embodies some very strong fear of yours. Judging from its nightmarish and deathly appearance, it was most likely an embodiment of your fear of death. Could this be true? If you are subconsciously afraid of dying (not necessarily in a concretical sense, you may just be afraid of a metaphorical death, for example, losing something that is strongly a part of you, like an ability of yours that you cherish, or a person you hold dear).

White can represent a lot of things. White death could suggest a new beginning through, well, death and rebirth. A painful one, surely. Also, in a metaphorical sense I hope. Dagger could mean betrayal (someone you love betrays you, maybe?), and skull may also represent secrets among other things.

About those shackles and chains, perhaps there is something about you that you are trying to hide from those around you (a secret?), and you are afraid of the consequences of this (a painful new beginning?). I'm pretty much just overanalysing things based on stereotypes, but I hope this is of any help.

I'm not an expert at all, but I was you, I'd meditate on the things that I fear the most. If, for example, you know you are afraid of losing your job, said fear can be traced to the simple fear of failure. Try to find the root of any conscious or subconscious fear that you may have. This is all simply deduction and not expertise on the matter, so if you have phobias, I can't advise on them as they are not logical in nature. If you face said character again in a dream, nightmare or otherwise, you can probably DILD since you recognise him. After becoming lucid, if you succeed that is, proceed to interrogate him. Don't fight or run. Ask him who he is, and why is he haunting your dreams. If he becomes hostile or threatening, you could try to hug him, in a way; wrap him around you. When I get dreadful visions in dreams or hypnagogia, it works for me.

When I get visions that make me afraid, I try wrap them in a small space, and make a mental image of conpressing all of them into a very small object. I put the object, which usually takes the appearance of a dark blue bead or stone, on an anvil and crush it into pieces with a hammer. It generally shatters into small fragments, and I crush every single one of them aswell. After this I can usually sleep quite well. :D