Plane Crash Dream: Post #2

The plane crash dream

In my last post I related a dream in which the dreamer witnessed a plane crash, and in the debris found the remains of a human baby which looked more like a doll. (See my last post, dated 2-15-16.)

Write the dream down

How does one go about deciphering a set of bizarre images like the ones in this dream? The first step is for the dreamer to try and divorce him/herself from the emotional impact that the dream has left. One of the best ways to do this is to write the dream down. This is an age-old technique which accomplishes three things. First, it helps the dreamer bring order to the often-disjointed images that he has witnessed. Second, it helps distance the dreamer from the dream experience so that he can work with it more dispassionately. And third, perhaps most importantly, when the dream is written down, it is easy to pick out the symbols for analysis.

Isolating the symbols

People often ask me how you know which the important symbols are. The easiest way is to pretend you are taking notes during a lecture. You write down the key words which become an outline of the talk. In a dream class, that’s what we all do as the dreamer is relating the dream. If the dream is yours and you have written it down in its entirety, then it’s simply a question of going back and underlining the key words.

The important symbols in this dream

In a dream class I insist that all of the dream symbols be considered; each one is important in its own right. For reasons of space, we will only work with the most important of them in this series of posts. Here they are: Lunch date with my wife; plane; crash; sorting through the wreckage; baby; showing my wife.

Dream symbols are metaphors

The next step is to understand each symbol as a metaphor. This is the “Tell me about it!” part of the dream interpretation process, in which I ask the dreamer to describe each of the symbols. Here are his responses:

Tell me about…

* Lunch date with my wife:  A social time with food and a connection to my partner. Enjoyable. Catching up with each other.

* Plane: A vehicle for going long distances. You fly high and go very fast to get to your destination.

* Crash: Something went wrong and the plane didn’t fly correctly. It was destroyed.

* Sorting through the wreckage: I am trying to see if there are any clues to what went wrong.

* Baby: Somebody’s infant—the furtherance of their life to the next generation. Their creation. A living being.

* Showing my wife: I want to share with my partner. It’s a way for me to process the tragedy.

Reassembling the dream

The next step is to retell the dream using the descriptions of the symbols that the dreamer just gave. I’ll show how that is done in my next post. Stay tuned!

If you enjoy these posts and would like to sign on to follow them,

scroll down to the bottom of this page for instructions.