My first interpretation of Dick Cheney's dream had a lot of personal observations I possess which are negative and {unapologetic possessions} may have 'shadowed' my interpretation to the point the observations became more apparent than the interpretation. Here is a 'sanitized' version with some additions and revisions to Cheney's 'I had a dream'. The dream was a part of a article from August 24th. There is a longer examination of Cheney's memoirs that includes the dream in today's Washington Post

Dreams of a Vice President
A Dream That Reveals Dick Cheney's Self Absorbed Personality

Dick Cheney's Dream while having heart surgery in 2010....“I had a prolonged dream,” he writes, “more vivid than any I've ever had, about a beautiful place in Italy.” In a country villa, he “walked stone paths to get coffee and newspapers, ” he writes.
Here is a break down of the symbols to help explain my approach to the dream. Plus descriptive comments that apply to Cheney's known character what is considered and fit with the dream symbols and its interpretation.

Italian country villa

Cheney's dream reveals his deep, controlling attitudes that denote his self absorbed personality, a denotation of 'one', symbolic of and with a focus on his personality. Whereas many of us look inward and see a 'village' {'it takes a village'} as definitive of the 'self possessing' accumulative and different aspects {our inner village}, Cheney's personality is different. I see this verified in this dream, the interpretation of the symbols as an 'inner' retrospection where the unconscious expels the true Cheney and not an outer explanation of being correct as Cheney wishes to do in his memoirs. The dream reveals his true self, verifying what already known by many of us.

The definition of a villa:

pretentious and luxurious country residence with extensive grounds



There needs to be an emphasis on pretentious and 'country', the inner residence {in dreams the house is the dreamer which represents the dwelling that makes up his total psyche}. Pretentious being the dream's focus on the deep seeded developed personality on self, the country as a 'whole self' application reflective of his strong affliction to God, country and self.

The 'villa' can also fit with Cheney's outer life, having lived in the throngs of power and luxury throughout his career {Cheney has seldom experienced the everyday existence an average person experiences}. It reveals Cheney's fragmented personality {dreams often reveal personality traits that, positive as well as negative}. Fragmented due to a lopsided world view that lacks experience in the real world. Cheney's life has been a 'villa', the benefits of power and wealth, lacking the nuances of a 'village' that would provide a 'wider' more comprehensive view of the world. Cheney's inner world can also be interpreted as a 'villa', isolated in a restricted world of self absorption.



The Italian

This is definitely symbolic reference since Cheney's ancestry was primarily English. Italian could be descriptive of the 'Godfather' Cheney, the hierarchy he believes himself to be a part of that oversees those lesser than himself. Unyielding power and the freedom to subject his 'enemies' to whatever unjustified justice he sees fit. No doubt Tony Soprano would be a favorite and descriptive character for Cheney.



pacing the stone paths

I would think Cheney did a lot of 'pacing' during his time in office and during his long career in government {four decades}. Plus the term 'pace maker' fits perfectly with Cheney's health condition, a body/mind connection, in a literal application. On the outside there is a calculating person that exudes strength and unyielding lack of faults. But on the deepest level of the unconscious where the soul takes its leave when suppressed by a strong unbalanced psyche, there is the 'reckoning' of consequences, nature's response to actions by a 'Cheney' type who abuses his powers, even while believing them to be correct and justified.

Stone paths.
Let's consult the dream dictionary to determine the possibilities of the meaning of 'stone':

Definition of stones: Seeing stones in your dream, symbolizes strength, unity, and unyielding beliefs. Consider the common phrase "etched in stone" which suggests permanence and unchanging attitudes. Alternatively, stones may relate to issues of moral judgment and/or guilt.


paths

We all have a path in life and over a lifetime we will explore many different paths of our emotional selves. Cheney's path in life has been 'unyielding' to anything other than his own 'unchanging attitudes'. He has been a person in power much of his adult life and especially when he was the VP. This is the Dick Cheney we have come to know, a term that is descriptive in in one word that is descriptive of his life and personality. That is in Cheney's mind. Either follow his path or you are on the outside.


to get coffee and newspapers

It would be difficult to put a symbolic meaning to Dick Cheney and his coffee since he would not be a person you would think who looked for 'insight and knowledge' before making a decision {Insight and knowledge being a possible symbolic meaning of coffee in a dream}. This is his own self serving attitudes that he melded to fit his views and decision making.
The coffee reference could be as much a literal definitive trait since he drank coffee. This can be verified from a Washington Post article Dick Cheney Loves Him Some Skim Latte. It does seem from the article that Starbucks was a favorite place for Mr. Cheney and when we think of Starbucks we naturally think of coffee.


Newspapers

The newspapers would fit as symbolic and literal aspects in his life. Addressing both the inner and the outer.
Making the 'headlines' was common place for Cheney whether he sought them or not. But it would be the inner headlines the dream would be focused. In this sense the meaning would 'being informed', seeking knowledge and answers' to 'internal emotional conflicts'. The conflict would be his unbalanced psyche. Perhaps drinking more coffee in the dream is to 'stimulate' his inner self to evaluate his outer personality and find better ways to solve the problems of the inner world. That would never fit with the Dick Cheney who possesses a neurotic personality but would with the deep inner self.


A suggestion for Dick Cheney. Never tell anyone your dreams because no matter how much you 'pretend' the dream reveals the truth. No matter how much a person justifies himself with self perceived views the dream is unbiased and never colors the truth. Dick Cheney, living in an Italian villa, pacing the stone paths to get coffee and newspapers. This is his present condition, the inner world and as well as the outer world. And although he will never admit to the inner truths, 'pacing the stone paths' is the dream revealing the inner turmoil that underlies his personality. What we can not determine from the Dick Cheney as truths, we can take to the bank the truths of the inner person as revealed in his dreams.


Here is the dream and a short interpretation.

living in an Italian villa, pacing the stone paths to get coffee and newspapers



The dream is saying 'Dick Cheney is a self absorbed 'Italian' godfather figure with unyielding beliefs who in his deepest unconscious is feeling the guilt of his actions. His outward path is one of 'permanence and unchanging attitudes'. He lacks 'true inner insights' and his knowledge is limited to the 'permanence' of the outer self. His 'inner headlines' are a 'reflection' of his outer world but the true inner self is weighed by deep unconscious guilt that because to his 'narcissist' personality can and will never be revealed.



And he likes Starbucks coffee.


The dream is revealing Cheney's true character as all dreams do of everyone everywhere.

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Maybe to nibble around the edges or add a couple nuances to your well crafted study of Cheney's present to us. I would suggest the notion that just outside of that luxurious villa, might be the dark Italy, the rabble of his repression amassed just outside that flimsy villa. His hasty behavior might be that he's uncomfortable in this region either because the darkness is so near, or that he feels trapped inside his little construct, confined to that little path, up and down. I do think the villa is a good symbol for a tyrant, as you pointed out. Seems to me possibly impressive that even in surgery he is not so vulnerable as to find himself in a villa in Iran.

Did you hear about Rush Limbaugh's little dream? Apparently he was an Egyptian slave working on a temple pyramid for Obama. To me that says, he has made himself a slave, 1/4 of his life asleep and dreaming, only to compensate for his neo-modern consciousness. Thanks Jerry

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History will ultimately pass judgement on the Bush/Cheney years in office but there are those who already have begun to 'deconstruct' the incompetence, and destructive nature, of the 8 years we suffered under the 'cowboy regime'. The Washington Post has a book review in today's edition that fits with my interpretation of Cheney's dream and personality. Take notice because there is another 'Texas cowboy' being groomed to do even greater harm to our country {which ultimately affects the world} and this swashbuckler offers a 'christian' view that would take us back to the Dark Ages. AS for Cheney, I suggest you read the review but save your money and not buy the book. My interpretation pretty much sums up what is in it.

Book Review by Robert G. Kaiser‘In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir’ by Dick Cheney

In the fallout from this self serving memoir Colin Powell responds to Cheney's revision of history and the personal attacks Cheney includes in his book. Here is that article:
Powell says Cheney takes ‘cheap shots’ in book

Post Mortem

In the days of the 'old self' I was an avid reader and follower of politics {as well as a couch potato where sports and politics were the staple in life}, always well informed and ready to argue my point of view. Today, in my new identity, I try to refrain from such 'thinking' and placing myself in negative situations. My new theory is 'if you stay away from negative situations in life, you don't accumulate negative baggage'. This applies 10 fold to the emotional life. An alcoholic doesn't attend 'happy hour', the METABOLICALLY CHALLENGED don't frequent an 'all you can eat buffet', and to eliminate negative aspects in life one doesn't put himself/herself in situations that would cause negative consequences. A simple equation but so hard to do.

As for this post about the evil empire of Bush/Cheney. Although I am engaged in the 'death and resurrection of the ego' as a part of my path to 'Individuation', I will never be a saint. Unless one is a Ghandi there will always, must be, an ego, to be truly human. Speaking out against injustice is imprinted on this liberal soul. This will always be a part of my personality, myself, and can be constructive when it is used to expose evils that threaten the freedoms we have fought for as a nation. Right wing extremism would take away my freedom to be 'a rebel' {a southern by birth, but not a rebel in the context of southern history} in defense of spiritual freedoms. I believe and practice WWJD but could never revert to my 'Christian' roots. I know better, having gained new knowledge, superior knowledge of the spiritual kind {gnosis}.

Jerry {meditate]

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