Sorry...I cannot remember the beginning at all. I just remember a lot of gore, but the girl didn't appear until after that when I went right from the gore to the house.

I have a friend who has been working on me with some of my childhood "stuff" lately...mostly how I lost my desire to be creative because I was afraid I was not good enough. I had just had a session with my friend the day before I had this dream.

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Angie,
I'll provide a response in a couple of days. Starting my journey back to Middle Tn. this morning and will arrive home Tuesday.

Jerry

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No problem. Did you have a nice visit with your family?

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Angie,
Thanks for asking about my trip. It was very productive as well as being able to enjoy being with my son and family. This was the first time in two years I have seen them and I have missed my two youngest grandchildren. They grow so fast and I feel I am missing out on so much {I also have tow older grandchildren, 13 and 17, who live in Middle Tennessee for whom I had a lot of time with}.

As for being productive. My plans are to take early retirement next year and move to the 'Space Coast' area, most likely the Melbourne, Fl. community. I spent several days exploring the area, the housing possibilities, getting to know what to expect. Plus I attended Sunday church services at the Unitarian/Universalist church in Melbourne {one of the few denominations I feel comfortable with}. As expected it was a great experience, the people fitting in with my spiritual philosophy. 'Going back to church' is about having a 'family' of like minded people I can share with and grow with personally. A natural Jungian aspect.

Back to your dream. As I stated in an earlier post, the beginning of a dream is very important to discovery of what the dream wishes to communicate. If the young girl had appeared in the first part of the dream, the expose, it would likely be pointing to experiences in your early life. The young girl being present in the body of the dream could be speaking on the same message and is why I presented it as a possibility. It is often difficult to discern the dream intention if not presented with the whole dream. It would probably be easier to do so, interpreting a partial dream, if there was the first part of the dream available for inspection. Of course we have to go with what we have. Your response {the great thing about the forum is we do have the opportunity to respond} is helpful and provides new info to consider, lacking the whole dream.

Your initial response stated you could not connect the young girl to your early life. But in your response on Christmas day you stated you had a friend who was helping you on 'childhood stuff'; "mostly how I lost my desire to be creative because I was afraid I was not good enough". Can you expound on that aspect of your life? Could it have to do with the young girl in your dream? The 'not good enough' part calls for further explanation. Who would it be you needed to be 'good enough' for? Answers to these questions may provide insights to the young girl in your dream. Could the 'other young girl' have associations with the friend who is now helping you {being on explanation among other possibilities to the other young girl}. Perhaps the two of you share similar experiences.

I do appreciate your willingness to share your dreams and life with others and being so open. It not only provides insights to the dream but also let's me see how my interpretations play out. Feedback is the best way to determine if Jung's philosophy on dreams actually work. From the thousands of posts at the Dream Forum I have read I can state quantitatively they do. But each new dream post provides new insights, not only to what Jung saw and knew but also to my interest in the deep psyche.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to think of the Dream Forum as my 'internet couch'.

Jerry

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Thank you Jerry. Your move sounds exciting! The Unitarian church is the only one I feel comfortable in anymore too. That is something I miss these days is a group of like-minded people.

When people ask me to look back at my childhood, I have a difficult time with this, because nothing "bad" ever happened to me then. By bad, I mean things a lot of children suffer such as abuse, etc. But I also know I was not happy, and I'm not completely sure why.

When I was very young, I closed down much of my creative side. I remember one particular incident when I was around 5 or so when I was coloring in a coloring book with my cousin. She was 2 years younger than me and colored "perfectly" while I could not stay in the lines. That moment had a big impact on me. Also, I do not remember my parents ever telling me I was good at anything I did. They may have told me...I just don't remember. I liked to sing and practice piano but nobody else ever encouraged me, and I quit. I did not want anyone else seeing or hearing what I did. The people I felt not good enough for were most family (especially parents) and friends.

Anyway, I'm trying to access this part of me and having difficulty not being analytical/practical about it lol.

Angie

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Angie,
Your childhood 'trauma', as innocent as it seems, could very well be the focus of your dream. The incident of not coloring between the lines may have enhanced early life experiences of not receiving your parent's approval. It is so important to receive such approval, especially early in life when bonding must be established between parents and child. A great many people, including myself, had issues with parents {my father} where 'proper' love and approval was never given. These issues become unconscious motivators to personality and waking life tendencies in adulthood. Some say such thinking is an excuse but I believe there is empirical evidence to support the position.

My advice is to look to those early life experiences/influences when determining why the 'creative' aspects have been shut down. Abuse comes in many forms and early life psychology related to parent/child bonding can be classified as a form of 'abuse'. Perhaps not intentional, most all parents love and care for their children. But unskilled parenting can cause unintentional harm. Of course to better understand why parents act in this way we would have to look closely at their childhood. Often a cycle is formed {as was the case for me} and breaking that cycle is most important in living a balanced, harmonious life.

Dating Again
The experience in dating again and your anxiety could likely be a product of childhood experiences. Trusting men as an adult may be an issue you have problems with because of parental experiences/influences. There also could be unconscious stimulus involved with this particular relationship. Your frustrations may be from father/daughter relationship. But also consider 'intuitive' aspects. Did you unconsciously sense something about this person that gave you cause to question the relationship {I would consider this a lesser possibility}? Was there a reason given by the guy to why he was ending the relationship? Unconscious tendencies on your part, related to negative thinking toward your father, may have shown through and the guy sensed such traits. Do you have problems with relationship with men? It could be from childhood relationship with your father, carrying over to relationship with men as an adult.
The 'relief' you felt may be an element of the father/daughter relationship. There may be a defensive aspect about the worrying, not having to worry about relationships.

A lot of possibilities. But it is best to resolve them sooner than later. Whatever issues that remain unresolved will prevent you from living that joyous and happy life you seek. I strongly believe in Jung's philosophies especially his Individuation Process, the self examination of one's life and resolution of the unconscious forces that are controlling agents in the adult life. Examining your own life, something you are doing when you post your dreams for a better understanding, giving time to reflection on the whole life, is a self psychology. It takes a lot of time and effort but it can lead to that life you seek. And for someone who puts so much value in the creative self as you do, finding that 'higher 'Self' once again would be an invaluable asset in your life. At mid-life these issues are a normal happening.

Joseph Campbell had a philosophy of 'following your bliss. More often than not that 'bliss' comes from the creative aspect of the psyche. He often stated we have two opportunities to follow the thing in life we love most doing. The first comes early in life, the late teens/early twenties when we make decisions about career and the direction of the future. The second opportunity comes at mid-life when we begin to reflect, look back at our lives and wonder 'what happened'.

This was my experience, having a great interest in psychology but because of life's circumstances I never followed through in early life. Then at mid-life I happened onto Campbell and his 'The Power of Myth'. That was 19 years ago and I have been following that bliss every since. I found meaning in life because I did discover my passion, not just one but two loves of my life {Dreams and designing and maintaining my Myths-Dreams-Symbols website}. The muse, the power of the creative mind, this in my humble opinion is where we find true meaning.

People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life... I think that what we're really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive. Joseph Campbell

Jerry

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Sorry for the slow response on this, but it often takes me a bit of time to consider things. Anyway, when looking at this dream, I felt like I was trying to protect the young girl (part of me) from a "truth" that if she were to go onto the floor, she would be devoured by the "sharks."

I kind of put some things together in recent days. When I started dating last spring, I found that with some men, I would have horrible anxiety when I could feel them pull back (I'm highly intuitive and very easily feel these things), and I would 'freak out,' and it took me this long to figure out why. Each contact I would have would feel like an "approval" of me, and there was the part of me that never felt approval. They "liked" me; therefore I was good enough. Then, when I would feel one pull away, I no longer felt good enough. I did not want to feel this way...it felt silly and childish to me, and I was ashamed of it, and I was so angry at myself for feeling this way and rejected that part of me that was looking for approval.

My friend who is helping me with the childhood things, which I didn't even realize are related, was helping me with this also and said to try looking at this feeling that i have as a living, breathing entity and to tell it that "i am here for you, and I love you." It had never occurred to me how horrible I was being to myself. Amazing the things that are right in front of our eyes that we don't see.

Your question "Did you unconsciously sense something about this person that gave you cause to question the relationship?" The answer is a definite yes, and the relief was definitely that I did not have to worry anymore.

I love the world with dreams. I began studying shaminism, albeit slowly, a couple of years ago...that has become one of my passions. I am getting a little better at interpreting my own dreams too. You have been quite helpful in this regard.

I apologize for rambling a bit, but I feel I've made a big shift recently, and I'm a bit excited about it.

Take care,
Angie

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Angie,
Thanks for the response. As for being slow to respond, the fact you are thinking about these issues is what is important. Just as the Dream Forum provides a positive release simply by letting a person 'vent', getting the person to give serious thought to the issues a dream presents is also a positive. The dream is a direct link {often symbolized in dreams as a hallway, being on the shore by the sea} the unconscious and those emotional issues that have been repressed, retarded or forgotten consciously still remain as unconscious issues to be resolved. Resolution requires the dreamer to give serious thought to the issues and the dream. It usually takes time for such resolutions.

A floor is often symbolic of the person's basic foundations, those principles a person is brought up with in early life. The sharks of course would be aspects, emotional aspects that threaten to disrupt the conscious ego. The fact you did not have an abusive childhood doesn't mean there are not issues from childhood. Improper parenting, not enough attention, acceptance, loving environment, are strong issues that become basic principles within the unconscious psyche. Your feelings toward those men you feel pulling away would reflect early life experiences/influences of similar actions from close relatives. You did not get the approval early in life and unconsciously it remains an issue. And as often is the case these neglected issues are played out later in life, and throughout life.

This was my experience, never having the needed approval from my father as a child and playing that neglected part in later life, especially in my 20s. I finally found resolution in Jung's Individuation Process, beginning in my early 40s after I had discovered Joseph Campbell {which of course was when I started my journey to a creative/spiritual identity as reflected in my Myths-Dreams-Symbols website}.

The process you felt from the men pulling away, the anger and shame, these reflect emotions from earlier life, in childhood. Somewhere in that experience there was a need for approval for which you never received. Understanding what those experiences were may be hard to come by, especially if they were a part of your very early childhood. It could be very early in childhood, when the psyche is capable of retaining experiences/influences but before memories are retained {studies show children usually begin to form lasting memories at about the age of 4}. Parenting skills may have not been as they should have in those years but improved later on. Or it could be the skills were never as strong as they should have been and those experiences have been consciously repressed/forgotten. Unconsciously they remain and will come up in dreams.

As for 'looking at this feeling that i have as a living, breathing entity and to tell it that "i am here for you, and I love you', that will help. But the real resolution comes when you discover the foundations, the floor, of these negative experiences. There again is where dreams are helpful. What is locked away consciously remains forever in the unconscious. And if the experiences were very early in life where you are not able to remember, exposing the inner feelings related to 'pulling away' is the next best thing. Plus, if possible, discussing your childhood with your parents and siblings. That may help with discovering more about your childhood {in my case, my memories are less than my 3 sisters who have filled in many blank spots in my childhood}.

And for creativity and spirituality {which are related in that by sharing your creative self you are giving of yourself, a spiritual endeavor}. Your studies in shamanism is a great path to be on. Especially if it a passion {as is dream work and my MDS website are for me}. Joseph Campbell introduced me to shamanism early in my metaphysical education. His Transformations of Myth Through Time is wonderful piece of work and I highly recommend it {Note: Campbell as a child took a great interested in Native American mythology which lead to his wonderful career as a scholar of myth and Jungian psyche. And of course his instructions to the rest of us to 'follow your bliss'. For me my bliss is my dream work and websites. For you, could it be shamanism and those related topics? Getting better at interpreting your dreams is likely due to these studies since both dreams and shamanism {myth} have a great reliance on symbol and metaphor. The big shift in life would be very positive if it involves your interest in shamanism.

Note: While writing this response my television is tuned to 'Home Improvement' show. Jill, the wife, is studying psychology and in this episode, and in several others, she uses Jung's Individuation Process as a part of her dialog.....synchronicity!!??

Another note about this program is the cookie neighbor 'Wilson' also uses Jung and Jungian psyche in several episodes. In fact in this episode, when Jill seeks his counsel he uses Native American references to answer her questions {Wilson would likely be considered a 'shaman' with his great philosophical knowledge. My guess is the creators of the show have a queen knowledge of Jung and his philosophies.

Jerry

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Angie,
Another page I have created for Campbell's 'Transformations of Myth Through Time' is an excerpt from the book title 'The Perennial Philosophy of the East'. This chapter delves in the 'universal ideas' or folk/ethnic' ideas that are related ro Jung's Archetypes. Here is a piece of that page that illustrates the richness of knowledge Campbell offers from this work.

Myth comes in the same zone as dream, and this is the zone of what I call the Wisdom Body. When you go to sleep, it's the body that's talking. What the body is moved by are energies that it does not control. These are energies that control the body. They come in from the great biological ground. They are there. They are energies and they are manners of consciousness. But we also have in this body this affair of the head, and it has a system of thinking on its own. There's a whole manner of consciousness that stems from the head-set, and it is different in its knowledge from that of the body. When a baby is born, it knows just what to do with its mother's body. It is ready for the environment into which it is put. It doesn't have to be instructed, these things happen. This is the work of the Wisdom Body. That same wisdom brought the little thing onto form in its mother's body. It was shaped by these energies that live in us, and of which we are the carnal manifestation. This wisdom of the dream, wisdom of the vision, is the wisdom then of the perennial philosophy. When you dream, your waking conscious aspect does not understand the dream, and so you have to go to a psychoanalyst, who doesn't understand it either. The interpretation is gradual and it comes from the exploration, by the head, of your won wisdom. And so we find that there is a kind of radical distinction between the perennial philosophy in its mode and axioms, quite different from the axioms and mode of the rational system.

---

Fascinating stuff. This book illuminated my psyche perhaps more than any other. Let me say also the book and related audio book and video {hosted by Susan Sarandon} has been remade and renamed. It is now called Mythos. The link i provided offers short videos.

Jerry

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Synchronicity is a wonderful thing :). I find that I have more frequently been experiencing this lately. A few weeks ago, I was driving and reflecting on one such amazing experiencing and thought to myself "wow, i just love synchronicity," and I kid you not, I went to switch radio stations, and the song "Synchronicity" by The Police was playing lol.

Looks like I have much reading to do. Thank you for all of the links.

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