I was at work, but it was Saturday, and I was wearing shorts and tennis shoes, no shirt. In the dream I was in pretty good shape, but I was a little surprised that so many other people were working in the office that day, so I decided to put on a shirt. A crowd was hindering my progress back to my cubicle, though, and a black man in the crowd I didn’t recognize seemed to know me, and moved in my direction through the crowd.

He began to explain that ‘they’ had been trying to show a DVD to ‘another department,’ but that it had exploded, 'kind of like the way a VCR tape explodes,' he said. I didn’t know what he meant but I said ‘I got it,’ then fainted.

But I seemed to be unconscious for only a short time, and after I came to I asked someone if I’d fainted. He said no, that I had been about to faint, but that a number of my friends had caught me before I fell.

Odd… and I've read that fainting in a dream can indicate a failure to recognize or address one's own feelings, so I've been racking my brain and my heart to try to identify what those could be...

Thanks,
Jim

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 52, Franklin, TN, USA

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Jim,
Are you are taking pressures from work home with you? We can assume from the dream narrative working on Saturday is not a norm. You had rather be immersed in recreational activities, the usual norm for Saturdays {shorts and tennis shoes}. Are you are being crowded out by emotions tied to work? Or a particular experience at work that is taken home with you.

There may be deeper issues involved also. A black man in your dream, assuming you are white, may suggest deeper unconscious stresses are also a part of the dream message. Along with the black man the 'other department', could suggest such a possibility. Something that has 'exploded' emotionally, reaching deep down into the unconscious to cause a response that is not the norm for you. Past and present experiences. The DVD may represent the current technology, or your life, and A VCR the past. In both cases there is an 'explosion'. The fainting may suggest uncontrolled emotions.

The final paragraph suggests a possibility of losing control. You are not there yet, your better self thus far having controlled those emotions. But you may be close.

What stressful situations at work, including the pressure of work itself, are there that may be causing to lose your normal self control? There may have been recent experiences that put you on the verge of losing control, perhaps anger, but you were able to resist the temptation or pressure to do so. Look at your waking life to see where this may fit.

Since there is the past and present comparison {DVD vs VCR} it may involve similar past emotions or stresses. Have you had an occasion in the past, or was there an incident from the past by others, where there was an 'explosion' of emotions? The DVD/VCR are most likely symbolic but could be literal also.

There may be elements of personality involved, aspects from earlier life experiences that are under control but could easily explode under the right circumstances. This possibility would involve early life experiences/influences, the deeper psyche/unconscious {black man}. It may involve inner anger at life in general, or early life situations in particular, something you have had under control but unconsciously exists and could cause an 'explosion' of emotions.

It is usual for dreams to have at least two applications/meanings. One would be concentrated on current life experiences and the second on earlier life experiences. The two would be related.

Jerry

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Hi Jerry,

Thanks for your thoughts. I've been away on vacation and want to apologize for my late reply.

First of all, you're right: working in the office on the weekend is not the norm for me. But I do often need to work during off hours, including weekend hours, at my home, and the distinction between work and home life is often blurred in actual life by the demands my job makes. So I frequently have dreams in which home and work run together.

As far as the stress I'm working under, the primary current contributory factor is my having recently been told that my job will be eliminated in a few months. My eldest is also starting college this fall, and he picked a college we can afford only when we're in good financial shape.

As far as self-control is concerned, I thought I handled the meeting in which I was told about my position being eliminated very well, better than the poor HR girl who had to tell me. And I've been through this before, so even though it's difficult it's not worth losing peace over. In spite of that, I've lost some peace anyway (!), b/c I don't think my company can do without my position (and in fact, they are reconsidering their decision as I write this post).

I am a white man, and tend to think of black men in my dreams as representations of my shadow. At least my interpretation usually resonates with some meaning when I do that, but I also try not to jump to the same conclusion each time.

And I believe that dreams point us in a direction toward wholeness, so I tend to view the black man in this dream (and, basically, all characters in my dreams) as friendly on some level (even if they seem antagonistic, I try to consider an interpretation that allows that characters who seem 'unfriendly' are actually trying to help me) - and that they represent aspects of myself as well.

So the other people who held me up when I lost consciousness equally seem to be aspects of myself...

Let's see, no, I've never lost control at work. And I should probably say I don't think I'm about to. :-) But Psyche can frequently surprise us; I would never deny that.

But I've had dreams recently in which I'm an amputee, and which seem quite vivid. I had a tumor in my left knee ten years ago, and in my most recent dream I lost most of my leg below my left knee. And I felt strong and vital after the loss, but felt strongly that I needed to be alone to absorb the loss fully, and mourn properly.

I also had a dream recently in which I seemed to be running away from God. Now, that topic is so unusual that it's unprecedented in my memory.

I'm mentioning these dreams just in case it may suggest anything to you, or in case you think they may be linked to the dream in which I fainted.

On a final note, I'd like to ask if you think it's possible that fainting may represent something other than refusing to face a problem, or the possibility of imminent loss of self-control. Could it be so?
:-)

Thanks,
Jim

P.S. Sorry to have started this as a new post... I'm trying to correct that by posting here.

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Jim,
I'll give more inspection to your response later this week but will offer my thoughts to them and the original dream in hope we can help solve the possibilities to this dream and the others you mention.

The black man can of course be a shadow figure, if there are deeper issues that need your conscious attention. At your age such emotional issues will be a great part of your dreams. But this dream, at least the opening part {which usually sets the stage for what the subject matter/emotional issue the dream is trying to communicate} does not seem to be addressing deep 'shadow' issues but more recent waking experiences, as its primary focus. Since our dreams do tend to address two aspects of the psyche using the same symbols and metaphors {One being the emotional stress you bring home from work}, in some way it would also be addressing any deeper issues. Except the deeper issues are minor in scope to the emotional stress you are facing during you recent waking life.

If we can apply the 'shadow' to the deeper associations then there may be some type 'shadow' associations to your work environment that tap into the deeper psyche. Perhaps the reasons for the waking stress carried home have to do with personality, foundations to the personal aspects that make up who you are. The dream does the 'other department', the explosion possibly having to d with past influences/experiences that left an impression on your psyche to the point it is a controlling agent in your personality. Fainting is losing consciousness, albeit briefly. There may be elements about yourself, shadowy aspects, you are not aware of that have to do with your waking environment that are not conscious. WE all have such aspects. If you had your best friend follow you around all day filming your every action, then you watch the whole film later, you most likely will be surprised at what you see and hear. The losing control would not necessarily need to be you losing control consciously, it could be a lose of control having to do with such 'unknown' qualities.

As I have stated previously a good interpretation will at best define the periphery of the dream, define discernible patterns, and seldom give a literal account of your emotional conflicts. Only you know you and although patterns can sometimes define a person to a letter, it is more often a description or insights to the pattern that is communicated. From a dream I would not be able to name the exact experience that actually is in conflict, being used in symbolic form to describe a truth about you/your life, but I may be able to define the emotional metaphor that provides clues to those experiences and open up new insights to that part of you. Something you will likely consciously recognize that fits you/your life. 'Jungian psyche' offers a reliable method of interpreting these patterns and it doesn't take much for an intuitive mind with a good Jungian 'education' {need not be academic, intuitive 'Jungians' are just as capable with the proper learned knowledge}.

You were unconscious, not consciously aware, for a short time. Where would that statement fit in recent waking life experiences? There is a denial of that unconscious state. Falling is not about a literal act, it is metaphor of some aspect of yourself that may have been 'rescued' by another aspect of yourself, friends representing positive aspects about yourself. Look at the unfolding pattern of the symbolic language and determine where it might fit with you/your life.

The way the dream unfolds, my best sense is it has a lot to do with pressures from your work that you bring home but is also addressing aspects about yourself that is associated to those stresses. It may involve your own personality. What is one person's stress is another person's challenge. The 'black man in the crowd I didn't recognize seemed to know me' seems to better fit an unconscious association more so that that of a 'deep shadow' aspect.

Amputation. The real life experiences is being used to describe some aspect about yourself/in your life that has been cut off. The knee gives a level of support and left often points to mystical aspects, or even spiritual {right would be the social being}. This with your dream of 'running away from God' could be addressing spiritual aspects. Are there spiritual issues in your waking life?

At the age of 52 a great many of your dreams are going to be addressing the deeper emotional issues, those issues that are at the core of your foundations and the conflicts throughout your life. But many dreams will be about current waking issues with the lesser associations to do with the deeper aspects not being the focus of that particular dream. If at 52 you are still striving to fulfill those goals of the social being, something that is more often a part of earlier life ambitions, you may be neglecting other vital aspects of your psyche that would better fulfill your true desires and not that of social obligations. If work is still a big part of your life then you dreams will reflect this. Too much focus on that social being will lessen the desire/interest need for the spiritual/creative/blissful soul. This is prime motif of mythology, the hero fighting the system so he can be that true self, spiritual, creative, living the life that fulfills the soul and not social obligations/material worth.

Jerry

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Thanks Jerry,

I appreciate your input, especially your point (if I understand it correctly) that the black man could be a reflection of contents in personal rather than collective unconscious.

If I could speculate, I might even say that the explosion has heralded a period of the most vivid and frequent dreams I've ever experienced. Almost every night I have the most detailed dreams (with archetypal content) that I've ever had. Sometimes they're mildly disturbing, but I try to keep an open mind and embrace what I may not understand. I try to write them all down, but it's really not possible.

On another topic, what an amazing web site you've built here! There's so much content that even without the dream interpretations, you'd be a a source of great help to people from all over the world, but you're obviously doing even more by helping people with their individual dreams. This is obviously a very noble mission, and I've read some of the other dream posts here so I can see that you have a lot of expertise and deep acuity.

Thanks for all you do,
Jim

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Jim,
Are 'archetypal' dreams a norm or have they just begun? If they have just begun it may indicate a new phase in your life. The 'other department' may be denoting other aspects in your life that have become important {being at midlife, the changes that naturally come about are less to do with work and responsibilities and more to do with 'meaning' and finding wholeness and balance in life}. This may be one aspect of the 'explosion' in your life. Are there such yearnings, less responsibilities and more time for 'yourself' and those things that give 'meaning' to life?

People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That's what it's all finally about. ....Joseph Campbell

I appreciate your kind words about Myths-Dreams-Symbols. It has been a 13 year endeavor of creating a forum where dreams are the focus and understanding them the primary goal. When I retire I plan to make it even more comprehensive yet in a form that is more easily accessible and understood. Jungian psyche is a 'deep subject as can be dreams when there is the deeper analyzing. But the fundamentals are less so and when some effort dreams can be understood and interpreted by most anyone with a good intuitiveness. Their importance is another aspect I wish to expand on. Self discovery is on so many people's agenda and dreams are an excellent tool in that search. Knowing the true self is where wholeness and balance come about in life. The emotions are what rule our lives and dreams are about the emotions. Having a handle on the emotions is how I believe one takes control of their life and leads to true wholeness.

Jerry

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