I’ve been examining a recurring dream about walking through
a house, into a swimming pool. The dreamer has been having this dream
sporadically ever since she was a child. Scroll down to my last post to see how we
arrived at the following metaphoric retelling of her dream.
In retelling, one of the techniques is to insert phrases reminding
the dreamer that all symbols in a dream are aspects of the dreamer’s own
psyche.
Recurring dream
metaphorically retold
There is a part of me
that is young, not fully formed, but which already has a sense of who she is. I
am using the main way to enter a part of me where some aspect of me presumably
lives, but it’s not the central part of me. This part of me is boxy, and it all
looks the same. I can see through it, and it is slightly elevated. I’m in a
passageway that defines spaces within myself, keeping them separate from each
other. But there is one part of me that I have easy access to, and it’s
inviting. This part of me is having a social gathering, but I don’t interact
with any of the parts of me there. I don’t stay. I just walk through. Now I’m
outside of the boxy space in the most private, personal part of me where I can
be with (my) nature. I didn’t have as far to go this time. It was less effort.
Unexpectedly, I find myself swimming, which I love, and it is perfectly OK with
me, even though it was unforeseen and unpredictable to many of the social parts
of me.
Additional
questions
Whenever a dream is reconstructed and retold in this
fashion, the narrative becomes a bit odd. But a careful examination reveals a
definite story-line. In this case, the themes highlighted by the dream are
especially straightforward: The dreamer is visiting a part of herself that is
social and inviting, but which looks “boxy” and “all looks the same.” She doesn’t
stay there, and simply passes through. It’s easier for her to leave than to
enter this space. The instant she is outside of the space again, she feels she
is in her most private, personal domain. Suddenly, she finds herself swimming.
In the dream class where this dream was related, we found ourselves
wanting more information: The dreamer ended up swimming. What did that mean
metaphorically? This is something that often happens during dream interpretations.
A little bit of further analysis is sometimes necessary. The technique used is
the same one used to unlock the metaphors of the rest of the dream. I simply
asked the dreamer to, “Tell me about swimming.” She replied, “When I’m in the
water—especially when I dive under the surface—I’m always struck by how
insulated I am from the rest of the world. I can totally be myself without
interference from the influences of others.”
With that hint, tomorrow we’ll ask her what her dream is all
about.
If you enjoy these posts, please feel free to leave a comment.
Or, follow the discussion uninterrupted.
Scroll down to the bottom of this page to learn how.
No comments:
Post a Comment