Dream Dictionary P-S

Paralysis – One of the most troubling dream events, and startling physical side-effects of REM, is paralysis. Large muscle groups often become paralyzed during a dream, presumably to prevent injury to the dreamer in case the dreamer’s instincts would cause a physical reaction to dreaming visuals. It can be troubling if the dreamer becomes aware of his body in a paralyzed state without being aware of the fact that the mind is still in a dream state. Suddenly stripped of every physical capacity for defense, the dreamer can experience great panic or victimization in the dream. This scenario is a troubling version of the lucid dream. Instead of mind awareness and body control, the dreamer has body awareness and no mind control. Hundreds of years ago, this phenomenon was observed and named having a witch on your back. The idea was that an unfriendly spirit within the dream had pinned you to your bed. Indeed, it is not uncommon to have a sense of spiritual oppression in a dream that includes paralysis.

Pets – Dreaming about pets is not uncommon, as they fill our lives much as family members (and often we like them a good bit more than family members!). Dreams involving pets often provide simple companionship for the other actions in the dream. However, there may be pet dreams that are either particularly meaningful or troubling.

Acquiring a pet that you do not have in waking life is a pet dream that may reflect your desire to have an animal. However, the dream could include an element of representation if owning the pet is symbolic of some other relationship in life. What kind of pet you acquire could be telling.

The death of a pet is another particular type of dream in this genre. This dream could symbolize an anxiety if the pet still alive in waking life. However, if the pet has died, it could be a dream of archetypal shift or a particular rite of passage that accompanied that time in your life. You may be recalling that shift or preparing for another one as you move forward.

The third type of pet dream involves having pets that either you have no desire to own or never have owned in waking life. These dreams are important for what the animals symbolize to you in waking life. For instance, you may dream of owning a snake as a pet, yet in waking life you are horribly afraid of snakes. This may project a desire to overcome or control a particular facet of your life depending on what that animal represents to you.

What role did the pet in your dream play-was it there for companionship, to impress someone, or just to shake things up a novelty?  

 

Pillow – The pillow is a central feature of sleep and works its way into dreams at times. Mainly, it is as an object of protection and security. Many times, dreams of pillows include either numerous pillows or rooms that are like gigantic pillows. The former is a desire to experience the world as benevolent. The latter version may be defined as a Freudian desire to return to the womb or motherly protection.

Some people believe that certain stones or crystals can be placed under the pillow as part of the dream incubation process.

 

Plants — Plants are often not a specific item of dream interpretation because most of the time they function simply as background scenery. The exception to this rule is when a particular type of plant is identified in the dream. Plants that are significant are those that have historic importance in literature or your personal experience. For example, you may dream of visiting a friend who is sitting in a thicket of hemlock. Obviously, this plant is significant because of the implications of hemlock and suicide in ancient lore.

Other plants that may be significant are those that remind you of a childhood memory, a particular place, or a particular person. In those cases, identifying the relationship of your current circumstances with your memories is important.

Playgrounds – Playgrounds are the scene of many of our most favored childhood memories. What makes a playground dream significant is who accompanies you and what age you are in the dream. It is not uncommon to have a playground dream where the dreamer is the only child among adults or the only adult among children. These dreams usually indicate that there is a disparity between how you are acting in the world and what a more appropriate disposition would be. You may need to either lighten up or take yourself more seriously, depending on some of the distinct images in the dream.

Equally important in the playground dream is the presence of particular friends or family members. This is especially true if they have passed away in waking life but participate in the dream as living characters (see dead people as live characters). Dreams of this nature are often pointing towards incomplete relationships that are either repeating themselves in waking life or need resolution.

 

Playing Sports – Individually – You may feel responsibility for your own success or satisfaction. Many times, entertaining ourselves stems from being neglected by others, so we dream of playing alone and enjoying ourselves in spite of them. Other times, it is a product of distancing ourselves from others, even if perhaps they would want us to play in the group.

Do you feel a sense of loneliness or comfort in the dream?

With Others – Dreaming of playing with others can be a symptom of your need to enhance your interpersonal communication skills. It can also inform you of the possibility that you have been neglecting communion with others, and that you need to seek more camaraderie in your life.

Was the game in the dream for fun or competition? 

 

Poison – Dreams of poison often fall into general categories of power, suicide, or revenge. Poison is a powerful image for us, as from childhood we were all taught the dangers of it.  Power dreams often involve drinking poison without consequence. Many times, the dream world provides the ability to act without concern for outcomes and to assert free will over social constraints.

The poison dream can represent this, depending on what poison was consumed, under what initiative, and who watched the deed. Suicide-by-poisoning dreams often have little to do with suicide, but much to do with peer-pressure, difficult work relationships, or a lack of personal power. In dreams of this nature, the dream may be teaching you that a certain part of your life is self-destructive.  Finally, the dream of poisoning as an act of revenge may reveal latent or unexpressed anger towards the object of your revenge. Poison is a satisfying way to commit a crime because we often associate it with painful death and sneakiness.

 

Pregnancy — Pregnancy has two points of entry into our dream lives. The first is dreaming of oneself as being pregnant. The second is that you actually become pregnant in waking life and that trigger event creates this particular dream content. In dreams, anyone can get pregnant. It is not an experience that is limited by gender or age. Generally, it is a herald of creativity, virility, or wealth. However, there are numerous underlying themes that need additional interpretation.

If you are a younger woman who dreams of getting pregnant, but has no waking intention of doing so, it is likely that you are working through an archetypal transition into a new self-awareness. One of Jung’s archetypes is the archetype of parenting or preserving the species. To see oneself engaged in such activity is to grow from being a child to identifying more prominently with adults.

If you are sexually active, but without the intention for pregnancy, your dreams of pregnancy may occur in harmony with your monthly cycle. In these dreams, there may be a certain amount of what-if anxiety that needs resolution.

A man who dreams of being pregnant himself is often in a situation where his virility or creative participation in the world is in question. This occurs most among men who see themselves as less creative than they would like to be. The dream serves as a form of compensation to illuminate the more creative facets of their personality. Men who are pregnant do not give birth exclusively to children, but a wide range of objects that somehow support their mission in the world.

Becoming pregnant in waking life can conjure a huge variety of dream events. These range from the violent to the hilarious and almost everything in between. Since pregnancy conjures a wide variety of feelings in waking life, from euphoria to tremendous anxiety, this is not too surprising.

Other dreams that are prevalent during pregnancy include dreams of marital infidelity, death of the partner, chronic health problems, birth defects in the child, losing the pregnancy through accident or miscarriage, having twins or multiples, and dreams of heightened fertility where additional conceptions and gestations occur frequently or despite prevention.

Infidelity and death of the partner dreams often are played out in response to feelings of insecurity do to appearance changes or changes in sexual relationships during pregnancy. Dreams of chronic health problems and birth defects represent negative wish-fulfillment anxiety on the part of the woman.

Dreams of multiple-order birth and repeated gestation are the most complex dreams. Often times, pregnancy is overwhelming at some level for the woman. These feelings most often stem from fear to adequately mother. The onslaught of pregnancies may be a visual representation of this anxiety.

 Prison – Entrapment is a common and interesting dream event. While some would also classify it as troubling, the flip side of being stuck somewhere is relative safety from the threats of an unknown outside world. Often, this safety facet of entrapment is neglected because of our obsession with freedom. Being entrapped is often a dream about self-awareness. As the old saying goes, wherever you go, you take yourself with you. As this relates to dreams, being unable to escape usually is a picture of being unable to grow or accomplish in life what you desire to do. Jung’s theory of archetypal individuation may be helpful for interpreting this dream.

Entrapment can be portrayed as either an absence of choices or too many choices. The absence of choices is a one-room cell. You are alone with no where to go. Too many choices are the mansion with no exits. Wherever you go, you are still stuck. This dream indicates that while choices may exist, they are unsatisfactory for effecting the new freedom or opportunities desired by the dreamer.

Discerning the solution to your captivity may often be revealed by who your captors are or where you are being held in captivity. To gain additional insight into the prison dream, look for familiarity among the guards, the decor of the mansion, and your sense of why you need to escape. Are you just uncomfortable being told what to do, or is there an actual threat within the prison, mansion, or inescapable dwelling?

Some inescapable dwellings are protective while others are punitive. Which one are you trapped in by your dream?

In waking, did you assume a negative feeling about a place that actually provided safety and predictability in your dream?

 

Problem-solving – Problem-solving in a dream situation and solving waking-life problems through dreaming are two very different experiences. The former is a dream event while the latter uses the dream event to address waking concerns.

 

Quarantine – In dreams, the idea of being quarantined is the idea that others are prohibited from contact with you for generally secretive reasons. This is different from aloneness (which is voluntary) or abandonment (which is malicious). In quarantine it is often for your own good that others are leaving you alone. In these dreams it is the need to cleanse or renew the spirit that often creates this situation.

 

Quicksand – It is not unusual to feel as though the circumstances of life are pulling on us. Quicksand is unique in that it looks like regular terra firma until it is too late. Moreover, in waking life, the more one struggles against quicksand, the more entrapping in becomes.

In dreams, you may find yourself able to solve more problems than you normally do in waking. Problems that you can solve in dreams are virtually limitless because you are not bounded by logic. Many times this can work to the dreamer’s advantage. If you are able to solve problems effectively, it is a reflection of untapped competence in a particular area of your life.

The idea of problem-solving through dreaming comes from the saying, Let me sleep on it. The ego is designed to differentiate which ideas are allowed to enter consciousness. Consequently, some thoughts are dismissed before they even get a chance for deliberation. The problem is that most of us are prejudiced by our experience to eliminate potentially good solutions to our problems. This is due to the neurosis that is part and parcel of every personality.

By sleeping and dreaming about a particular problem, your mind accesses a broader variety of problem solving choices than it would normally have the ability to recognize. When you awaken, you may not remember the specific dream content, but the problem may be miraculously resolved.

Always take note of the methods used in your dream situations to solve problems therein. Is there any situation in life that may benefit by employing similar tactics?

 

In dreaming of quicksand it is important to ask yourself who or what led you into the trap. In addition, as you were sinking in the quicksand, try to recall what you were most worried about. Many times in dreams, what you are most concerned about is not the actual consequences of the quicksand crisis, but other circumstances similar to those you are currently experiencing. 

 

Rain – Weather in dreams is generally a detail that may be left unanalyzed unless it is particularly noticeable to the dreamer for some reason. Rain is one of these notable exceptions. The reason comes from the relationship between water and fertility that many cultures affirm. In dreams where rain and water-fertility are identified, there is usually an unique feature to the rain. This can be as mundane as a drought that is broken to rain that only falls indoors on one or two particular people.

Does the rain cause you problems of some sort or is it a welcome addition to the scene? 

 

Rats – Rats are almost universally despised in the modern world. Their reputation as disease-laden scavengers seems to precede them wherever they go. Some people own rats as pets and will, of course, perceive them differently.

For most people, dreams of rats reveal concerns of becoming destitute scavengers themselves-friendless and outcast. Another potential scenario is that the dreamer feels his or her social security is being gnawed away. In contrast to theft, when all is quickly and dramatically taken, the rats gradually erode their environment.

In your waking life, do you view rats as potential pets or potential predators?  In your dream, are the rats a serious threat to your health or possessions, or are they merely an uncomfortable presence?  

Relatives – (Images also include Father, Mother, and Sibling)

Dreams of family may affirm or undermine normal feelings about ourselves. Extended family relations are very significant in developing the family lore and ritual. As you mature and reflect critically on normalcy in your understanding of it, these rituals either affirm or work against the norms of your perspective. Who does what, why and when is often determined by influences in the extended family. The result is that we construct a family story that defines who we are in our family and what our family means in the world around us.

Relative dreams of this type lend themselves to archetypal interpretations that offer insight into how the dreamer sees him or herself in relation to the larger human community represented by the relatives. To interpret dreams of this kind, discern what relatives were in the dream and whether they are still living or dead in waking life. Many times, relatives who have passed away are alive in our dreams. Usually, one of two circumstances exists. Either the activity in the dream reminds you of a ritual aspect of the relationship with this relative, or your relationship with the relative is incomplete. Many times, dreams about relatives are recurring. These can have both prophetic and/or historic meaning. This is especially true in cases where the central characters are relatives with whom there is either emotional tension or uncertainty concerning their health. If there is emotional tension, the dream may be identifying the source of the tension to create an opportunity to resolve it. If there are particular relatives with precarious health, the dreams may resolve, or warn of, impending deaths in the family.

Rings (jewelry or magic) – Rings may be symbols of covenant or commitment, as in marriage. Often rings of this type reflect our deepest desires to make or receive commitment from others or in regard to a particular task.

Rings with magical vibrations may be about acquiring supernatural powers.

Rings of magic drawn on the ground, such as medicine rings or crop circles, may have more to do with protection, as the ring is often the limits to which evil may approach.

In dreams of this nature, you may be anxious that circumstances are pressing too hard upon you and feel that you need an intercessor.

Did you create or find the ring? Do you feel any sense of control over it?

Is there a ring that someone else is using to gain power over you?

Ritual Behavior – When dreaming, you may feel a need to repeat particular actions or behave in an unusual way at times. This is often ritual behavior. In your dream, the behavior is often necessary to avoid or undo some evil act that may occur.This is a reflection of the work of superstition in your life. If you are by nature superstitious, you may be getting a challenge from your subconscious to let go of a particular compulsion. Or, your superstitions may be receiving validation from your unconscious mind. In your dream, is the ritual empowering?

As you compare the ritual with your waking behavior, is it comforting or troubling that you participated in it during your dream story?

Royalty – Royalty is becoming more of a mixed dream symbol in contemporary dreams. Three hundred years ago, it would have been a universal symbol of wealth and power. However, as we become more aware of the struggles royalty face, it is more common to dream of them in relation to our own daily struggles.Many times our dreams are a search for persons who can identify with our inner struggles. As royalty divorce, grieve, and grow-up in the public eye, we look to them as symbols to reinforce our own daily crises. Or we dream of them in an effort to attach the splendor of their lives to our normal lives.

Becoming a member of royalty is often a wish-fulfillment dream for wealth. However, if your dream includes an element of returning to the era of monarchy, the dream may also include a desire to assert oneself more powerfully in a particular area of life, whether it be in a financial or emotional realm.

Looking at who serve in your court and in what capacity would be a worthwhile examination. Entering into the presence of royalty can be another version of the mirroring dream. However, it may also be a judgment dream, if you are holding secrets in your life that undermine your ability to function openly. Nobility often served as the final court of appeals in many nations.

Does a hierarchical society please or repulse your personal sense of social order? In your waking life, do your conversations include discourse on who is better than or less than others?

Ruby – Dreaming of rubies is often a dream of wealth, power, and energy. The ruby is viewed as the crystal of leadership and kings.

Are you receiving them as a gift, finding them, or stealing them? 

 

Saints or Sacred Figures – Saints and other sacred human figures in our dreams often appear as heralds of benevolence or as the morality police. While many times these are positive dream experiences, the dreams can also leave a feeling that perhaps you are not doing all you can to be an agent of good in the world. The dream may be inspiration to involve yourself in a particular cause through hands-on work or financial donations.  

The moral side of the dream is often a judgment on current lifestyle choices. When your psyche is in conflict between the desires of the id and the restraint of the superego, the superego can marshal symbols of judgment to strengthen its position. Often these will arrive under very peculiar circumstances. A dream of sexual desire may suddenly find the object of its desire cloaked in the garb of a priest, pastor, rabbi, policeman, or a particularly strict third-grade teacher you may have had.

If a saintly figure in your dream suddenly turns into a demon of some sort, or begins to resonate emotions that are non-traditional from such a figure, perhaps it is a sign that you need to check your morals concerning a situation in waking life.

Does the saintly figure in your dream appear as a helper or emotional benefactor, or does the character seem to be coming down on you as a law-enforcing authority figure?

 

Sapphire – The sapphire is the crystal of faith, peace, and good fortune. Consequently, dreams of the sapphire relate to receiving or discovering these attributes in your own life. Whether you find the crystals or are given them by another character in the dream is crucial to determining what the dream may mean. If you find the sapphires on your own, you probably need to plumb the depths of your soul to find the peace or spiritual insights lacking in your life. If they are given to you by another, it is a sign that some spiritual mentoring, guidance, or direction is needed in your life.

 

Sarcasm – Dreams are as open to humor as they are to any other part of your personality. Sarcasm is a particularly interesting facet of humor that emphasizes the shortcomings of a person. Consequently, whether you initiate or are the butt of the sarcasm shows something about your place in the dream.

Sometimes, the entire dream falls into this category. The dream is almost a cruel joke played upon you. This may be a dream that sheds light on your relationships or potential in the world. This dream may occur when you are in a situation that could potentially place you in circumstances that are way over your head.

Dream sarcasm often has metaphorical meaning related to waking events and vice-versa. For example, a phrase used by others to torment you may become a central object in the dream that you either worship or loathe. 

Selling – Selling can be presented as your employment, as in selling to others in a retail environment; or it can be more personal, as in selling your possessions. Obviously, if your waking livelihood includes sales, dreams of selling will not be unusual. Unless you sell something particularly sentimental, most of the remarks here will not apply to you.

If you are employed in selling in dreamland, the emotional transaction at work is persuasion. The object you are trying to sell may be ridiculous or an actual consumer item. Depending on which it is, this may reflect whether or not you feel you will ever be persuasive. Your clientele also is important to this dream. Do they have something in common?

Do you see yourself as persuasive in waking life, or do you need to develop those skills more fully? If you are having a yard sale in your dream, you may be trying to creatively solve a financial problem or be feeling burdened by your possessions. If the yard sale has an element of emotional darkness, there may be financial anxiety involved that precipitated the need for downsizing the household. Dreams of this nature often try to show feelings of over extension. Heed them.

If you are selling items of great sentimental value, you may be seeing yourself as divesting from a particular relationship. This can happen at times of transition into adulthood or (desire for) marital separation. Many times, you do not actually perceive the emotional content of the items in your dream the way you would in waking. They are simply extras that you no longer wish to carry through life.

The act of selling in a dream, usually, is in the most general terms symbolic of some sort of emotional transaction that may be taking place in life.

Separation – Separation can relate to abandonment, marriage, friendship, career, or geographic upheaval. Many times, the subconscious impulses of personality are less mature in their problem-solving than the conscious, waking self. The function of ego is to filter these impulses so they do not get out into waking life. However, since the ego is turned off in sleeping, the immaturity of the id will have us walking away from our marriages, jobs, friendships, etc. at the drop of a hat.

Being separated is different than being quarantined, abandoned, or quitting in that it is often mutual. In dreams, other characters can be more cooperative, since it is our subconscious that is controlling their actions.

Who or what were you separated from in the dream, and did it seem like a permanent or temporary condition? Was the separation easily decided, or was it gut-wrenching?

 

Shared Dreams – There are two kinds of dreams that fall into this category: mutual and concurrent. In each case, two or more people dream of similar characters and activities. What differentiates them are the means by which the dreams occur. In mutual dreaming, the dreamers intentionally develop a desire to experience a shared dream through incubation. However, in concurrent dreams, the dreamers had no idea their content would be similar going into the night’s rest.

Mutual dreaming is an intentional movement toward influencing dream content. This discipline allows dreamers to design psychic meeting grounds for subconscious awareness of one another. This can be a seed bed for finding new facets in a relationship, from the ordinary to the sensual.

It is often quite interesting to get together with your mutual dreamer friend(s) and compare dreams. The best way to do this is for both or all of you to write down what you dreamt about the subject in question, then share the essays.

Concurrent dreams are often discovered by chance. You may be telling a friend about a dream you had, using vivid details, when all of a sudden she reveals that she had the same exact dream. This is a rare and mysterious occasion indeed!

 

Siblings – Dreaming of siblings can be pretty ordinary stuff. If you have brothers and/or sisters in waking life, it would be expected that in dreams of your family, they would be present. The important work of interpretation comes when either your sibling is missing, or if you suddenly acquire siblings in dreamland that do not ordinarily exist in the waking world.

If your real-life sibling is noticeably absent from a dream event, it may reflect your perceptions of your family at large. While either you or your sibling may be at odds with the family, a dream of an incomplete family is a picture of fracture in one or more of the possible relationships.

Sometimes, if you are experiencing particularly strong identification with a co-worker, they will show up in dreams as a newfound sibling. If the dream solution to the new sibling is a comfortable arrangement, this may herald a positive partnership. However, this event can be a little troubling.

In dreams of this nature, you may feel as though the new sibling is burrowing too far into your life and relationships.

 

Skeleton – The skeleton is a universal symbol of depletion, death, and secrets. Likewise, in dreams, it can appear in a variety of ways and reveal a variety of things. To discern an appropriate meaning requires examination of the context, and your reaction to the skeleton in the context it appeared.

The depletion scenario often occurs when skeletons are animated-their somewhat taunting presence will seem to exasperate you. Where are you when you find these animated skeletons? Combining the bones with the emotional image of the office, home, or a relative’s home will indicate a facet of life where you feel as though someone or something is sucking you dry. Interestingly, you may not be afraid of these skeletons and possibly may even enjoy them, intuitively realizing that you are related to them and don’t mind being their benefactor.

Death scenarios are contrasted to the above by the complete lack of animation. Often, there is more fear associated with the discovery of the bones as well.

Upon discovery, did you know whose bones they were and how they came to be there? These dream discoveries may offer insight into a person (or yourself) that is being symbolically killed by their circumstances. This death may be either emotional or physical.

A secret, or skeletons in the closet, is the last scenario. Bones of this nature often appear in very inappropriate situations, but don’t often generate much reaction among the dream characters. People know there are bones around, but they are not discussed in the dream. By assessing who is in the dream when the bones are found, insights can be drawn about the relationships and loose ends surrounding the person(s). If you are hiding something in waking life, the skeleton bones may appear in your dream in plain sight of some significant other in your life. The fact that that dream character doesn’t seem to notice your skeletons is the handiwork of your unconscious protecting you. However, such a dream image may be a warning signal that you either need to be more careful about exposing a vice, or cut it out of your life completely. 

 

Skills – At critical times in dreams, your faculties may become enhanced or limited. These include mental, as well as physical faculties. Suddenly, you find a great wealth of knowledge to resolve a problem, or acquire a skill to do so. Other times, you suddenly lose certain abilities.

Acquiring – The amazing thing about acquiring knowledge is that it is generated in your own mind in the dream. If upon waking the process used to solve the dream problem was logical, you may want to contemplate problems in your waking life that resemble the dream problem. Your mind may be accessing problem-solving skills that you have already eliminated from consideration, or never thought of in the first place.

What was the nature of the skills you received? Were they logical, practical, or completely impossible to translate into waking life?

Losing  – Of course, you may forget something or lose some faculty just as easily. In dreams of this nature, your insecurity about appearing incompetent is working its way through your awareness. In the physical realm, the loss of ability might be sudden weakness or loss of a sensory perception such as sight, speech, or hearing. Sudden weakness may result from actual body awareness in dreaming, as sleep paralysis affects motor abilities during the REM state.

Dreams concerning the loss of other physical skills, such as operating a car, throwing an object, or performing a job-related task may reflect a loss of memory or oversight of a particular detail concerning a problem plaguing the waking life.

Who is with you when the skill evaporates? What are you trying to accomplish?

How does this event correspond to your waking life?

 

Spirit Guides – The use of spirit guides as a means to acquire aid and understand a larger reality has become common in recent years. In these dreams, sacred or supernatural knowledge comes from a stranger who seems to have mostly human attributes but also seems to possess some supernatural quality.

To dream of such a guide often reflects a deeply felt need for mentoring, direction, and support that is not being given through conventional relationship. Or, such relationships may not exist in the dreamers’ life, hence the need for a spirit guide.

Spiritual Icons – Dreaming of spiritual or religious icons often reflects either power or unity. We want to feel united with the universe, and icons are a good way to symbolize that identification. Other times, you may dream of being in a situation where supernatural power is required to resolve the conflict. In this case, icons serve as the vehicle or symbol of that power.There are countless icon images available to all humans. The ones you find in your dreams will relate to your experience in life. (Some examples are: the crucifix, the full moon, the Star of David, Stonehenge, and the Buddha.)

Are your experiences with icons tied to sacred or supernatural events that you prescribe to in waking life? Are the icons revered or disdained by others in your dream? How do you feel about it?

 

Statues – Dreams of statues are fascinating. Whether you stumble across the statues, create them, or become one yourself, dreams of statuary can be challenging to interpret, but offer great insight in return for the effort. If you discover statues randomly, note the kinds of figures they are and the emotions they conjure for you. This type of dream may be a version of the skeleton in the closet dream. The statues may also be mythological or spiritual icons.

Another statue scenario is the dreamer making a statue. In these dreams, the statue often represents someone you know (or some facet of your own personality) whom you wish to control or contain. This dream may be signaling a memory that needs to be brought out in the open for resolution.

The dream of being a statue often finds its inspiration in the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. Since we cannot move large muscle groups while dreaming, our brains assume we have become statue-like. In dream logic, it makes perfect sense. Being aware of yourself trapped in a statue often reflects that another is wielding excessive control over you.

 

Stranger – Strangers in dreams can be very puzzling. Most often they are simply displaced persons and images that are drawn from the list of persons we know by face and name (sometimes they represent our own anima or animus). Strangers can reveal a tremendous amount of information about how we are experiencing the world. Different theorists have offered numerous explanations of who these characters are and how they worked into our psyches. Organizing the cast list is a useful endeavor for interpreting any dream.

Anima/Animus as Stranger – Carl Jung theorized that in the Self there were female counterparts to the male personality and male counterparts to the female personality. These counterparts are psychic projections that appear to us in dreams. When a female stranger shows up in a man’s dream, her behavior can be a projection of the feminine side of his personality. This is conversely true for women who dream of male strangers. These strangers don’t often have sex appeal for the dreamer, though some may. What is more common is a soul-mate friendship.

Understanding these characters is helpful because we learn how we want others (particularly the opposite sex) to perceive us. The corollary is how we are afraid they perceive us.

A second dimension to the anima/animus character is the desire to express what perhaps we are unable to express in waking life. Women may have animus characters in their dreams who show tremendous anger to compensate for a feeling that they cannot show in waking life. Likewise, men may have anima characters who cry due to the pain of life — an emotion they may not feel the ability to indulge. These strangers are often benevolent to us. They may be helpful, protective, or supply information to solve a problem. When they are troubling, it is often because they are acting out in a way we wish we could.

Displaced Strangers – This is when your dream moves a person from one type of relationship to another. An example would be having a well-known celebrity become your brother or sister. A more common example includes boss or teacher as a parent. In addition to personality roles, emotions might get displaced. This is especially true in the case of anger or sexual attraction that cannot be expressed in waking.

 

Incubus/Succubus Strangers – These are stranger-lovers who appear in dreams to have sex with the dreamer (an incubus visits a female; a succubus visits a male). They often represent the extremes of the sexuality experience. Either they are idealized lovers in the emotional and physical sense, or they are demonic and repulsive lovers, employed to steer you away from a waking practice that you may know is bad for you.

 

 Shadow Strangers – These are strangers of the same gender as the dreamer who possess the negative attributes of the dreamer. Most often, these negatives are presented in extremes. It is a very useful situation for understanding ourselves. Each of us has negative traits which we try to cover-up in our public life. Sometimes, we may even develop denial defenses in our egos to refute that we have downsides to our personality. These shadow strangers appear in our dreams to show us our weaknesses. 

Subway Station – Being at the terminal of a transportation system (such as the subway) often indicates choices. Places of commotion and confusion often appear in dreams when choices are being confronted in life. Many times, the dream experience is a good place to test various choices with a more open mind than the waking world permits.

The initial question to ask about the subway station is: Do you have the means to ride any train, only some of the trains, or none of the trains?

Who is with you in the subway? Are they deciding which train to ride or are you leading them through the station?

 

 

Supernatural Powers – If you have supernatural powers in a dream — flying, magic, mind-reading, etc. — it is often a dream of regaining control. Very often, you will be the only one in the dream with these powers and you will use them to work towards a particular end: escape, winning a battle, or rescuing others.

Sometimes, these powers extend to or are opposed by others. In this type of case, your mind is tempering your powers with you inability to fix your own world completely and individually.

 

 

 

Another version of this dream is being quarantined for punitive reasons. If you are experiencing some ambivalence about your moral life, you may bring quarantine upon yourself in dreaming as a means of resolving the situation. You may be seeking a clean bill of health from others concerning the situation that has prompted the quarantine situation.

Basically, it is a way of testing taboos subconsciously. If your waking life has brought you to a place of moral uncertainty, your subconscious may govern a time of evaluation, while you dream of being separated from the person or circumstances central to the conflict.

If you can’t find what you are looking for feel free to email us at miraclesnmagic@comcast.net and we will be happy to help you out.

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