Analyzing Dreams and Uncovering the Subconscious Mind : Analyzing Dreams and Uncovering the Subconsc

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Hi Ken, This small boy represents how you see yourself right now. You feel small, alone and trapped in a corner with the inability to say what is going on in your mind. That could be because you are not sure what to think or how to feel about what's going on in your mind?

Tying the shoe over and over is intriguing but my first thought was that it has something to do with your standing in life. Where do you stand with your thoughts and beliefs about yourself? These thoughts keep running through your mind over and over because you may be uncertain.

You are praying for peace because you feel you can't totally help yourself right now. Until you understand what's going on inside your mind you may continue to feel this way.

This is not uncommon. PTSD is complex and has so many sub symptoms. One day I think I'm fine and cured, the next day I'm flipping out. Once you educate yourself on PTSD and understand it you will then have to accept it (a whole other set of dreams) then you might be able to get the dreams to stop. However, with your line of work I'm a bit skeptical, but wouldn't rule it out.

Take care
Tammy

 

[Noone.]

Although at times I do feel small and quite hopeless unable to help those who needed me the most. A sense of failure in a way but at the same time knowing it was out of my hands. The small boy I see in my dreams is real and his sisters life was taken at the hands of their mother that night. How could you hurt something so small. It makes no sense to me. Thanks Tammy. Ken

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Hi Ken, I'm sorry you have to see this on a daily basis. You are a great man for continuing to do this when it causes you so much pain.

In the form of dreams they are based on Carl Jung's theory that every symbol you see represents a part of you.

In other words, you project parts of your own identity/image/thoughts/feelings onto that symbol. In this case you felt like a child (not literally) but children have no control over their environment.

If you don't feel the way I described in that dream interpretation now, you probably did when that incident happened (I assumed you just had the dream recently). Dreams come to us 24-48 hours after the issue, and if it's trauma related they continue on indefinitely.

Usually trauma victims don't see the actual trauma they endured in their dreams, but some type of variation of it in the form of fear.

For instance, I was raped while I was in bed sleeping so my trauma dreams are about being chased, shot at, being held hostage. Then after I started facing the trauma the dreams changed to where there was actually intercourse in the dreams.

Now when I have the dreams I either shoot the perpetrator, find a way to free myself, or let them do what they have to do without fear.

I'm no longer a hostage to my dreams. They don't control my life anymore, but I control them. Instead of the dream symbols harming me I stand up to them by shooting or escaping or just giving in (because I face my trauma while awake)

On occasion I will have a brief memory and won't acknowledge it and it will show up in a dream, but it doesn't have that extreme negative charge it used to have and wake me up.

It takes a long time to get to this point and most people give up because they don't see an improvement immediately. It took about a year of extensive dream work before I started seeing a small improvement. Then the dreams started changing into other areas of the trauma.

Take care
Tammy

 

[midi]

I have a question. There are two recurrent dreams I had for nearly 20 years after I was repeatedly raped by one of my mother's friends--both were of this monster-man chasing me--and I always woke up before he grabbed me. I used to scream in my sleep too. When I worked with one particular teenager who had also been repeatedly raped (by her mother's boyfriend), she wrote about similar nightmares--a monster man chasing her. Is that a typical nightmare that rape victims have?

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Hi midi,
Yes it's typical. I've only been working specifically with trauma members for a year. Not to many of the members here stick with it, so I can't compare the images everyone sees though. But I can state that being CHASED is definitely part of the trauma.

The other dreams I've worked with were people who have less severe issues as well as people who have had a decent life.

I was raped and when being chased or held hostage in a dream, it was either a man that resembled the one who raped me, or some man in general who didn't have a recognizable face, or some unknown entity that I don't see. Monsters generally don't chase me in my dreams and I don't recall one chasing me since I started journaling my dreams.

This could be because I was 15 when I was raped and I didn't believe in monsters. I guess I should ask how old you were when the rapes started? If you believed in monsters that would make sense.

The way I viewed the man who was raping me was that he was going to kill me with a knife when he was done. So when I dream, the man captures me and is ready to kill me so I would scream and that would wake me up.

If your mother's friend didn't beat on you or threaten to kill you that could be why you wake up before the monster-man grabs you?

Dreams can be tricky to decipher and every person has a different way of reliving the trauma in their dreams. In dreams the people who abused us come in different forms and images, depending on your belief system at the time of the rape. Also, dreams usually have more than one meaning in it. Some trauma victims get chased by animals, bugs, tornadoes, satan, the real abuser or some variation of him/her, and unknown entities, etc. When your mind picks a theme (in your case it's a monster-man) that usually doesn't change until you start picking apart the dreams and the trauma.

I was bitten by a German Shepard when I was 11 and he almost ripped my leg off. I went into shock and had to have surgery. I was lucky they were able to save my leg. So sometimes dogs, wolves and lions chase me. (Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My) LOL....Sorry I couldn't resist that one.

I hope all that rambling didn't confuse you. Dreams are not black and white (logical) and are based on theory, so it's difficult to give you a fact-based answer. Most answers I give are from my own personal experience and helping other people with dreams.

The more information you give me the better I can figure out why a certain image is present in your dreams.

Take care
Tammy

 

[Noone.]

Alright this one I actually enjoyed, no trauma, blood, or screaming involved. I was on a ship below deck, it must of been night time because it was lights out. I was walking through the passages when I came to a small room, both hatches were open so no fear of enclosure. Inside the space was a small bar but there was no booze nothing, as I stood behind the bar the air seemed to move toward me, as it got closer I said, so how are you today, not expecting anything an old man appeared he had on a vintage sport coat, hat and he was wearing glasses, he did not have any eyes just black I said those are very nice glasses, can I see them? he took them off and as I put them on his eyes appeared they were blue as ice and seemed to cut right through you. He told me his name and where he had been (can't remember the details). Going by what he told me he would of been well into his hundreds so I asked him politely how long have you been dead? he leaned into the bar and with eyes as sharp as glass, although not frighting in any way, he said I'm not dead you are. Now as creepy as this sounds I don't believe the gentlemen to mean me any harm and if he's my interpretation of death then I would most certainly welcome him back. I do have to tell you the next day at work I had an accident and spent five hours in the ER. Perhaps a warning? or maybe too much twilight zone, what do you think. Ken.

 

[tude]

Ken, if that was my dream, I think it woulda creeped me out! Maybe because I'm afraid to die. I personally don't believe in or have had any premonitions, but that's not to say I don't believe it's possible. They still show episodes of Twilight Zone on tv? It makes me feel old remembering that tv show!

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Hi Ken,
I think he was a representation of yourself. He said I'm not dead you are. So you feel that you are dead inside (soul *eyes*)

The dream may have several meanings though.

Being in a basement of any sort, is where thoughts and memories remain in your subconscious mind. Also, other symbols of your subconscious mind come in the form of attics, elevators, and underground passages and there are more but can't think of them all off the top of my head.

The air (energy) moving toward you indicates an unseen force that is there to help or hinder you. It may be a warning coming from your subconscious mind. I know that I'm getting clumsier as I grow older

Yes, I agree with tude, the man does seem to resemble death. I've yet to read about someone who dreamed of their death then died. However, Abraham Lincoln told one of his assistants he dreamed he saw himself in a casket before he was assassinated. But in my personal opinion if I was getting "death threats" from thousands of angry people because I was going to make a huge change (free slaves) I would probably dream I was going to die too. That is mere common sense.

In your line of work it would be common sense that death enters your mind a lot, especially after you had an accident and then you see death on a regular basis


Take care
Tammy

 

[cookie]

hi tammy. hope you are well. i have a couple dreams to ask about. they are not troubling at all, kind of odd, i guess. i am not really sleeping right now, but when i do i am dreaming about cattle, lol. i know you might be busy, so put this on a low priority, but i'd like to have some idea of what's going on with my dreams if you can. i so appreciate your help.

first dream: im driving through a cemetary--headstones on the left--nice green grass, etc. all of a sudden, a group of cattle (one almost grown red one and 3 or 4 smaller calves, mixed group of red and black) run across the road in front of me. i glance over to the cemetary, but it is now a field of cattle (mixed red and black) grazing. it puzzles me that the fence is in tact, so how did the one group get out? i look for them on the other side of the road, but it is all dense, scrubby bush and they are nowhere. i wake up. no bad feelings, just weird.

2nd dream: someone is telling me to "slap it on the side of the head, and fight it". i look up, and there is a bull (grayish, with long horns, lol) sort of grazing in a kitchen, of all places. not even my kitchen. i don't recognize it at all. i am thinking someone is stupid, i'm not slapping a bull. i walk over and put my arm around it, pet it a little and lead it out of the kitchen, and it runs out the door. end of dream. wake up puzzled, and a little angry that someone wanted to see me fight with a bull that looked like it could hurt somebody--in a kitchen.
ok, that's it. whenever is ok.
thanks a bunch.
cathy

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Hi Cathy, In Bull fighting a man will flash a red carpet in front of the bull and it makes the bull mad and they charge after the person doing it.

Black represents your shadow, this is an aspect of your personality that is repressed. The mixture of the two colors means that you are suppressing your anger.

The cattle was in the cemetery first, and that could indicate this repression of anger want's to die off so you can nourish your soul with green grass (rebirth)

The fence is in tact and you wonder how the one group got out. Your subconscious mind is wondering how you can let your anger surface without intense emotions of feeling dirty or wrong about it.

In the second dream the kitchen represents nourishment for your mind, body and soul. The voice telling you to "slap it on the side of the head and fight it" is your own thinking.

It doesn't mean beat up the bull but what it does mean is to to take these emotions about your suppressed anger and fight them so they can surface.

Slapping the bull on the side of the head means this statement is trying to get your attention. If you get slapped on the side of the head that will get your attention. Also, slapping the bull will make it mad/angry.

You refuse to show anger and use love to deal with difficult situations. I think the dream is telling you that while using love works most of the time, you really need to let some of your anger surface just by acknowledging you have quite a bit that is repressed. It's not good for the body to repress anger.

Here is a book I bought that taught me a lot about anger and how to understand that anger is not always a negative trait. The book is called "Owning Your Anger" by Debbie Ford.

Anger is a "natural" human emotion that we need. There is nothing wrong with being angry as long as that anger is not used to harm or abuse someone.

Anger has brought woman out of suppression, it has given children the courage to turn in their perpetrators to the authorities. It helps victims stand up for themselves. It serves a purpose and should not be suppressed.

Even Jesus showed his anger when he went into the church and seen they were selling items. He turned the tables over.

Take care
Tammy

 

[cookie]

thankss, tammy. i would have never figured it out, lol.
cathy

 

[cookie]

ohh tammy, another dream. it is very troubling to me. i woke just shaking and have not slept since. already struggling some right now. if you have time, can you shed some light?

in the dream, i am in some kind of building, maybe an office building. only a few people i don't know walking around, don't even remember any of them. across from me, an elevator door (the elevator is all glass, you can see in it before it opens) is opening, and i see my husband, holding a baby (maybe toddler) i can only see her back, but she is wearing a white coat and hat. he holds her up like to talk or play, how you hold a baby up in front of you, and then right beside me i see a gun come out--don't see the person who has it at all. they shoot the baby, i can see white dust fly from her coat, and then i see my husband's head going back, and i realize that he might have been hit, too. and i wake. it is the worst feeling. and i am puzzled how i wasn't afraid of the shooter, and no one seemed to react with running or screaming, adn i wasn't worried about the baby, just my husband. she was not our daughter, or granddaughter, i know that much, but i do't know who she was. any help you can give, i appreciate.
thanks,
cathy