Posted on Sunday, 9th April 2006 by Maritzia
I tend to be very introspective in the shower as I think I’ve mentioned before. Part of the reason for that is that my conscious mind has to be pretty well occupied to let my unconscious hold sway. It’s one of the reasons why I much prefer ritual prayer. The ritual gives your mind something to latch onto so your unconscious mind can communicate with you for a bit. I'm not one of those persons who meditate easily. There’s some studies that say a person is either born with that ability or not. Those of us who were not have to make do in other ways. So for me, it’s when my mind is occupied with other things: driving the car, doing the shopping, and..yes…when I’m in the shower.
So, today I was thinking about how dreams evolve. When I was in the convent, our novitiate had a lecture on dream interpretation. Since I’ve always tended to have very vivid recurrent dream, I found this quite interesting and have read more on the subject over the years. I’ve found I'm pretty good at interpreting not only my dreams, but in helping others interpret theirs. Anyway, as I was saying, I was thinking today about how our dreams evolve. Looking at our recurrent dreams over time can be a really good picture of how we are evolving emotionally.
For instance, cars in dreams tend to denote power. Being in a runaway car denotes powerlessness…i.e. things are out of your control. The bigger the vehicle, the more power is involved. This is a long term recurring dream for me. I've had it most of my adult life. What has changed about the dream over time is how I react in the dream. These dreams used to bring me heart-stopping terror. I was so terrified as to be completely unable to function in the dream. I'd usually wake up gasping for breath, heart pounding, afraid to go back to sleep. Over time, though, as I've come to accept that I can't control every part of my life (as much as I'd like to *laughs), the dreams have changed. I still have the dreams (although not as often as I used to), but these days, I'm not afraid in the dream. Sometimes I'm a bit tense, but much of the time, it's just not important that no one is controlling the car. I trust that it is going to get me where I need to be.
Another theme in my dreams has been being threatened in some way. Someone is following me, or I'm being shot at. You know the kind. Again, these used to be really terrifying dreams. I don't really have these much any more, but I had one this week. My boss came in earlier in the week in just the most abhorrent mood. While he's a loud, rather voluble man, he isn't usually a screamer. Well, he was screaming this day. Normally, something like that just shuts me down (having grown up in an abusive household, screaming was usually just a precurser to having the shit beaten out of you). However, while I was extremely tense that day, I was still functional. That night, I had the threatening dream again, one where I was being chased. But the difference was that, while I was tense in the dream, I wasn't really afraid. And as the dream went on, I became the aggressor. I stopped running and started hunting. Then it went off into this whole Battlestar Gallactica thing *laughs*, but I don't think that was particularly symbolic.
Our dreams can be an important insight into how we are coping emotionally in our lives. If you are a person like myself who tends to be pretty private and never show emotions, then probably you also have very vivid dreams. Because if we don't allow them expression while we are awake, they will certainly express themselves in our sleep.
Posted in Personal growth | Comments (11)
July 16th, 2006 at 6:15 am
Reading my way through the BC Carnival!
This is so neat, maybe you can interprete my dreams!
I have had that dream where I am being chased, but I am so slow I can’t get a way. It’s like I am running through water.
July 16th, 2006 at 8:49 am
I do the same thing in the shower (when the little one isn’t attacking my feet, of course
). Great carnival submission!
July 16th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Interesting – My dreams are always so vivid. I wake up and tell my husband. He thinks they are crazy. His dreams are never so realistic. I’m more of an introvert. He’s an extrovert.
July 16th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
interesting. I’ve never heard that about car dreams!
Visiting from the BC carnival
July 16th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Visiting from BC!
July 16th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
I just have two questions: was it the new Battlestar or the old one, and was Dirk Benedict there?
Here from the Carnival!
July 17th, 2006 at 5:01 am
I hadn’t thought about it, but although I do have life-long recurrent dream themes, my response has changed through the years. The one I rarely have anymore, though (and I wish I still did) is one of flying. Which was always funny to me anyway, b/c of my fear of heights.
~ Visiting from the BC carnival.
July 17th, 2006 at 10:13 am
I also have the being followed, or stalked dream. I used to have it a lot, not so much anymore. I’ve never had a dream, that i remember involving a car.
Thanks for sharing! Here from the BC carnival!
July 17th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Hello! Reading through the carnival on this Click and Commment Monday.
Next time you have the car dream, take hold of that wheel and take that bad car wherever you want.
God bless.
July 17th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Thanks for all the responses, everyone.
Anonymous: that stalking dream is usually a symbol of feeling persecuted or put upon in some way. Not being able to move expresses your feelings of impotence at being persecuted….well, usually, anyway. Standard symbolism doesn’t always apply to everyone, only you can tell if an interpretation is right for you.
Jana: *laughs* It was the new Battlestar Gallactica. Don’t remember much of it, but Starbuck was there. Man, though, I had a huge crush on Dirk Benedict when I was a teenager.
Robin: Flying often is a symbol of freedom! You must have felt very free then!
CyberCelt: *laughs* Yeah, I might eventually get to the point where I control the car. Sometimes I’m almost there, but not quite. I think I still have some control issues to work out.
July 19th, 2006 at 6:26 am
I’ve had a really busy last few days so I am just finishing reading all the Carnival posts. Really enjoyed yours. The interpretations are very interesting. I’ve heard some of that before, but had forgotten. It’s fascinating. Thanks!