Gerard,

I am very interested in your insights on this dream from last night. I am standing beside a creek. It looks and feels like a particular local creek. I'm facing west. I look to my left and see some large animals or fish swimming toward me, upstream. They look like dolphins. There are about six of them. "Dolphins are swimming upstream!" I say. I'm surprised that they would be this far inland and in freshwater. A girl about ten years old, standing to my left, says, as if I'm very stupid, "Those aren't dolphins. They're mules." I look again, and they are mules. They are very small for mules. The stream is shallow, and their heads are barely above the water. I notice their big ears. They are not really swimming upstream, I now see. They're walking upstream. I'm surprised to see a very mean look in their eyes. I feel that if I went near them they would bite me. Harriett

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Harriett,
I sense the dream is addressing the path, probably spiritual {dolphins}, you have chosen. Your energy flow is concentrating on personal growth, and seeking guidance from the deeper Self {unconscious}. But you are going against the flow. It may require deeper investigation of spiritual principles to determine your true spiritual values, your true self {fish}. But there is stubbornness {mule} involved in this endeavor. The proper decision may not be as difficult as it seems. You need only to listen to the inner Self. Instead of taking the direction of what is true in the soul you may be giving in to pressures from outside your self.

The dream is probably addressing some of the issues of your spiritual path. Although you have chosen a different spiritual path than your husband and he is OK with that. others are less receptive to it. There also seems to be some indecision on what path to follow. The 10 year old girl {other than actual waking life experiences with such a person-is that a possibility?} may suggest an under developed feminine aspect which suggests you need to look deeper at the possibilities to spiritual beliefs. I had the same feeling in your last post, a need to look deeper into the true nature of spirituality {which in Jungian psyche is nature based-nature representing a feminine aspect of the psyche}. Overall I think the dream is addressing those experiences having to do with spiritual choices and reactions to those principles. And perhaps which direction you really want to take in spiritual matters {and perhaps in other aspects of your life}.

gerard/Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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Gerard,

Thank you for your insights into that dream. So part of me is going against the flow that is concentrating on personal growth and this is making me struggle upstream in a mule-headed way? When I thought the animals in the stream were dolphins, I had the same feeling I had in my recent dream about a visitation from amazing birds. I was again amazed that wonderful animals had come so far from their home to see me and communicate with me. But when I heard that they were mules, then I saw that they weren't relating to me at all. They were going about their own single-minded struggle upstream and didn't want anybody to bother them. They were isolated and seemed to want to repel any interaction with others, unlike the dolphins, who I felt were approaching in an eager and friendly way with something important to share with me. I think it is true that I often do give in to pressures from outside my self. The presence of the 10 year old girl in the dream may relate to this. Ten brought an important shift in my life. Up until that time I had played softball and marbles on the playground with the boys every day. In the fifth grade, my teacher called me out into the hall and said, "You're a young lady now. It's time you acted like a young lady." From that day on I was forbidden to play ball and marbles with the boys. I had to report to the girl's part of the playground and play wiffleball with the girls, who in those days couldn't play worth anything. I associate the clear-eyed girl in the dream with the girl I was then who knew what was what. After that I began to want to act in more acceptably female (as defined in the early 1960's) ways-- mostly being passive and pleasing. I think that part of my spiritual journey is reconnecting with that younger, more authentic self. Who was possibly closer to the deeper Self? I will continue to look deeper into these questions of spirituality. The spiritual path for me now involves dreamwork, psychotherapy, writing, drumming (something I was forbidden to do as a girl), active imagination, reading, and painting mandalas on hubaps I find when I'm walking or riding my bicycle. I appreciated what you wrote in another post about the importance of physical workouts as part of your spirituality. Thanks again. Harriett

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harriet,
The struggle is usually psychological conflicts and often brought about by having to adhere to what society requires. Dolphins would be that true Self, the spiritual, creative aspect that we all possess. The mules are animals that carry our burdens and those burdens are the inner emotional conflicts and the struggles in life. Society is most often anti-Self, it is ego bound, material driven and places on us burdens that are not what the inner self wishes for {following your bliss}. Nature, in the form of various animals {dolphins and birds}, is a portrait of our true nature. We came from the earth and will return to the earth, this is a fact. Metaphorically it is a fact {for those like myself who believe in the language of symbols and metaphorI think that part of my spiritual journey is reconnecting with that younger, more authentic self". If you hold to that thought, that idea, that goal of inner reality, I believe life will unfold in a 'natural' way that fits with the true self, and the goals you set forth that lead to harmony and balance in this life on earth.

gerard/Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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