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My reoccurring dream

I have a reocurring dream that noone has entirely figured out yet. And the same goes for my cousin. They are not the same, heres mine:

Alright. its in the 1800s, I'm at a party in the South,my daddy owns a big plantation and he has a lot of money and the party is there, it might have been my birthday. not quite sure. but I'm wearing this gorgeous white and gold gown. my hair is brown and in ringlets. i look different, but pretty, but im still me
My house is very big, and sort of roundish. theres a huge balcony on the roof thats nice to sit on and talk in the evenings
Anyways, Im up in the balcony with two of my friends. One of them, I see as an old friend. the other is my cousin alex. (he looks different and is not my cousin, but i recognised his soul in the dream)One of them is a lover.
But they are both my friends and i love them dearly. we are all talking when one of them suddenly leans upong the railing
I tell him to get away from it, its not safe he could fall. He laughs goodnaturedly at me and tells me im being silly but he moves away from it. For hours we talk and gossip about the other guests. And then those bothersome gold heels start to hurt my feet
So I sit on the green bench near the railing. And i think how funny it was i didnt notice it before.
The Railing was gold with leaves intricately designed in it. I lean against it backwards, facing my friends.
And thats when I feel it give way.
It broke. The railing gave way and I fall 3 or 4 stories to the ground.
As I was falling I could see my friends faces. they were horrified. one of them tried to catch me and couldnt.
People scream and run down the stairs. and i hit the ground. I must have fallen on a stick or a rock
because there was a sharp pain in my rib. and my eyes close.I open my eyes and I see my friends faces looking over my body. The first time I ever had this dream I sort of float out of my body, till Im seeing myself. And i start laughing hysterically
My eyes turn red and I'm laughing, escept im looking at me, just my body. like an onlooker.and my friends and the rest run away into this mist. when it reoccurs everything happens the same without the red eyes and the laughing. but they still run into the mist.
My mother thinks its a past life. And i sort of believe her, because in th dream I know all these little details about things like so and so bought this hat today and these shoes and her sister is having and affair with whomever. I dont know, please help. I might post my cousins reoccuring dream later because she has had hers recently too.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16 Charleston SC

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Female

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Re: My reoccurring dream

Rachel,
I don't wish to burst any bubbles but dreams are not about past lives. That is normally. anything is possible. I don't want to say never but dreams are about the emotions of the dreamer at the time of the dream. Dreams are scientifically proven, we know what they are, what they are about and how to interpret them. The concept of past lives are not. Your dream does have an aspect of past and present but it is about your past in this life and prospects for your future life.

This is a bit long and involved so if you have questions feel free to ask them in a post.

There are two aspects to your dream. And a couple of observations about family members/relatives. The first part of the dream is about your life and development. The first part of all dreams set the stage for the rest of the dream. Yours starts out positive in this first part. But it ends on a negative in the second part. Hopefully I can explain the dream so you understand what i wish to provide and also determine if it fits into your life {as did the first dream which was a simple dream}.

Numbers are always important and I get the impression the 1800s may be addressing two aspects {dreams often is not always have at least two or meanings or applications}. 1800 may have to do with wholeness, the number nine representing wholeness in life {1+8=9}. The other application would have to do with the securities I will address further along in my interpretation. 1800 would be when you turn 18, an age where often you are no longer a child but an adult, losing the security of parents and having to go it alone. Both applications would fit with what I see in the dream as being the central theme and message of the dream.

I get the impression you have a secure life for the most part and are happy with it. But you growing up, and unconsciously if not consciously thinking moving away from those securities. These are natural fears for someone your age. Your parents have taken care of you, provided security but eventually that will end. This is a part of the first part but there are aspects that may suggest something is not as good as they seem on the surface {to others if not yourself}. These issues may simply have to do with growing up and natural fears of losing the security that parents provide. but there may be deeper issues.

First question. What do you have in common with your cousin? You state his is different but neither yours or his has been figured out {I assume noone should be none}. If you will explain what you mean by this it may help us determine what your dream is trying to communicate.

I sense there are issues of esteem and acceptance. As I stated for the most part life is normal for you as a 16 year old and such issues are also normal. But is there any experiences from earlier life that may affect your self esteem, your confidence in yourself and/or someone else?

There does seem to be aspects in the dream that doe seem to point to Alex and possible common experiences. He is mentioned by name and that usually suggests your relationship with that person. The old friend is unnamed which usually points to aspects of yourself, an old aspect of yourself. The paragraph before that suggests a good life {roundish house-the house is you and anything round symbolizes wholeness, positive qualities}. There is a balcony which would be an extension of yourself that may represent a need/desire to be noticed.
I go back to my question about your statement about cousin in the beginning of the dream {which I assume is Alex}. What is it that may be in common with Alex? Look at this statement in the dream and see if it has meaning that you can recognize.

Anyways, Im up in the balcony with two of my friends. One of them, I see as an old friend. the other is my cousin alex. (he looks different and is not my cousin, but i recognised his soul in the dream)One of them is a lover

I am looking at the railing as a security device, something that keeps you from failing. The person who is threatened with falling is male which could be stating something about your relationship with Alex, or/and {it could be both} a masculine aspect about yourself is threatened {read about anima/animus}. There is security in the dream, and in your life, but it gives way. Can you think of anything that would fit with that in your life?

I am going to stop here and let you provide a response before I continue to the second part of the dream. The second part ends negatively. The stage was set in the very first part of the dream for what the rest of the dream will be about. The plantation in your dream is big and your dad has money which suggests very strong securities. But in the last part of the dream there is break in the railing, falling and hysteria. The dream may simply be about fears of losing those securities either because of having to be on your own {at 18 as I mentioned} or there may be other reasons that cause fear. Go over what I have provide and let me know your thoughts.

The second question I had seems less important now that I have given more thought to it while giving my interpretation. But I will ask it anyway since it is in the very first part of the dream. What is the relationship with your dad? Are you 'dependent on him' or is there a relationship where he provides but not so close? Knowing this will help in understanding the dream.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 63 Space Coast, Fla.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

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Re: My reoccurring dream

My home life has not a very happy one, my parents have been divorced since i was 3 and im only happy with my mother, not my father and stepmother. but yes! i do plan to move away when I turn 18, you're very right.
To explain a little:
By my cousin alex I mean that in the dream he looked different (physical appearance) but somehow I know its him. In the dream in the back of my mind I thought it was him and as soon as I wake up I know its him. Sort of an intuition I guess. And I also looked physically in the dream.
Alex and I live two states away. (he lives in Florida and I just visited him recently) I get along with him very well and he wants me to see him again and stay with him in his college apartment. We are good friends and just similar in the fact maybe we both love freedom and we think alike.

My relationship with my dad is very bad. I dont like him or respect him because he has done things. I pretty much hate him because of what hes done and said to my mom and what he still does even in court and taking money from her. and what he does/says to me. Hes not a good person at all and im very eager to get away. My stepmom is the same, when i turn 18 I plan on moving away maybe with my mom to live with her twin sister and my cousins up in maryland. Does this help?

Btw you're very good at this! You have talent, and im grateful for it. Thank you :)

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16 Charleston SC

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Female

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Re: My reoccurring dream

Rachel,
Thanks for that info. It does provide a lot of insights to the dream. I will provide more in the morning.

Let me say that it is more difficult to interpret a younger person's dreams. Dreams of a younger person are often different from an older person {and tougher to interpret} because an older person has more life experiences and emotional baggage to sort through and dreams will provide symbols and patterns about those emotional issues {in symbolic language} that are easier to read. A younger person has not had nearly as many life experiences and usually doesn't have the emotional issues built up {yet}. Plus a younger person's dream is often more about current issues {as with your love dream} whereas an older person is about those issues from their past and the underlying experiences/influences that make up who they are as adults. This dream looks as if it is dealing with deeper issues in your life. Your response and added info will help me better determine what the dream is about.

The first part of a dream sets the stage for what the rest of the dream is attempting to communicate. It seems the issues with your father are more than I thought {although my first impression was there are issues with him}. The description the dream gave of your dad, big plantation and lots of money is likely symbolic of how you wish the relationship were and not what it is in reality. The number 1800s does seem to be an important part as I suspected. I'll give a detailed response in the morning when my intuitive senses are are better {everything does better when you have good nights sleep}.

As for my abilities, I do appreciate the compliment. I have been doing this a long time and with responses like yours I can gauge whether I am giving correct interpretations. Anyone with a Jungian education {I've been at for 20+ years} and a good intuitive mind, and who has been working with dreams {for 15 years} can decipher the symbolic 'code' in dreams. Jung provide concepts about dreams {Freud helped} that allows us to understand dreams and competently interpret them. They are not the great mystery they once were.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 63 Space Coast, Fla.

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Re: My reoccurring dream

Thank you!

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16 Charleston SC

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Re: My reoccurring dream

Rachael,

Going back over your dream and looking at the opening part of it [with the additional info you provided}, the whole thing about the party {celebration], the big plantation {expanding your horizons}, and having a lot of money {self worth} may suggest wishful thinking for your future {age 18} despite your current realities in your life {living in the South {going south is a declining position} and despite the bad relationship with your dad {which we know is strained at best}. It is your birthday {18th} you are celebrating {hopefully things will change then for you}. The wish is for a positive ego life {white and gold gown} despite the realities {looking different for the future but for now it is still you as things really are}. The house {you} and the balcony would represent moving up the social ladder. The balcony may also represent a desire to stand out, and that would be an area that would involve your father. I can relate to your position in life since I too had a father that left the family and gave little attention to us. But that did not diminish the desire to be loved and accepted by him. This first part of the dream would set the stage for the rest of the dream and what the primary emotional conflict is about.

The two friends you have are one, yourself, and the other Alex. You and Alex think a lot alike {a named person in a dream usually represents someone you identify with}. Alex is on his own and independent and that is what you want it life. the other friend, you is that independent person you wish to be. this is an old soul because it is your true self.

I do think the railing is about security. and the 'he' is about your animus masculine aspects. It is not usual for a dream to use the same symbol {he/Alex-the masculine} in different context. The person you are warning in the dream is yourself. This would represent the possibilities of the fear of 'failing' to achieve what you wish for in your future. Without a strong masculine attitude you will not achieve these goals of independence. You are in dialog with your masculine aspects in attempt to boost them so they can support you {a need to have strong masculine attitudes to succeed}. There is a lot of fear of this failing you. A reason for such fears is because you have not had a strong masculine person in your life to provide instructions {neither did I and it caused a lot of problems in my early adult life, and throughout life until I discovered Jungian psyche}.

The gold railing is the rich security you seek and need for your future {again going back to the beginning of the dream which sets the tone for the dream is about}. The bench is symbolic of being passive and not taking the initiative. This is where the strong masculine attitude is needed, a strong 'railing' to support what you are wishing for.

Now the dream changes. This is where I left off in my first post.

The railing gives way, your security is gone. Falling 3 or 4 stories to the ground {your foundation} is putting yourself in a lower position. This may also represent going into the lower realms of the unconscious {on the balcony you are in the higher conscious world}. I'll address the numbers 3-4 later in my interpretation. Your friends {Alex and your masculine aspects} are horrified. If Alex is indeed a part of this then you may have discussed something to do with failing in your desire to be independent. Or he may have had experiences where he failed.

The failing masculine aspects may have to do with not having that masculine support as a younger child in your life. Without that masculine support you can not 'catch yourself'. This would be an inner fear you possess.

There may be a pattern emerging of an unconscious attitude, a complex, that has to do with the animus. There is a desire to be strong and independent but without the sufficient model in your early life it may be one thing that provides a strong 'railing' of security in your masculine self. Again. i had such this type complex because i did not have the father figure in my life as an example to live by. It is a common attitude that exists in a whole lot of people.

Continuing on.
Running down the stairs may suggest unconscious attitudes {the further down you go the deeper into the unconscious-read Jung's House dream}. The ground may symbolize your grounding, the principles and attitudes you life by {which are determined during early childhood}. A rock can be a symbol for 'permanence', the permanent attitude developed during early childhood {wood is also another strong permanent symbol}.

The rib is often symbolic poverty and/or misery. Close eyes may suggest the not seeing, the unconscious. The body is symbolic of self worth. Laughing is a need to let go of any 'hysteria' you may have. The mist represents confusion. At this stage of life you are in a state of confusion, desiring for freedom, independence and better things. That will require a strong masculine self. My sense this is what the dream is about.

As for the number 3-4. The age of 3 is when your father left you. The age of 4 is when a child first starts having childhood memories. Everything within a dream is meaningful, including numbers. The dream actions are symbolic language for what your emotional life is about, conscious and unconscious. Unconscious motivators are expressions within a dream that are meant to help you understand why you are who you are.

The earliest years in life are the foundations for which the rest of the life is built. It was once thought, contrary to Jung's position, that a child is born with a blank slate. Now we know this is not true. Just like all other animals, we are human animals, we are born with a set of instructions that govern life, including the different stages of life {Jung calls these instructions archetypes of the unconscious. Just as the turtle knows to go straight for the ocean when it hatches from its egg, we too know to go to the mother's arms and breast for security and nourishment. We all have masculine and feminine aspects,as we do a shadow and Self {the regulating center of the personality}. When something is out of balance then that becomes a part of our dreams. the intent is therapeutic, the dream is attempting to inform the dreamer of those aspects that are out of balance so the dreamer can correct what is causing emotional conflicts. This is what dreams do.

If you have any questions or can comment on what I have provided please do so. Some of this may be hard to understand and I try to put into words that will help you do that. Unless there is a traumatic event {age 3 or 4} in your life i believe the dream is about the masculine aspects, not having a father {one of the required archetypes to be a whole person} in early life to provide guidance to animus qualities and about the desire to be free and independent later in life {which will require strong masculine qualities} . Look at yourself and see if it doesn't fit.

Jerry




Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 63 Space Coast, Fla.

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Re: My reoccurring dream

Wow, I think that all makes perfect sense. Except, my father didnt leave me when I was 3, he stole me away from my mother and lied and cheated in order to keep me. But you're right in that I want to be independent and get away. The balcony might be a stage, now that Ive read everything youve said, because Im hoping to be an actor, either in films or theatre. And my dad holds me back from these things because hes controlling and doesnt really want me to be that. unlike my mother who is supportive of me. So you're right in that I dont have masculine influences and support. And wishful thinking? yeah, possibly. I like dreaming big. I think ill be in the movies on the big screen in years to come. So you're right.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16 Charleston SC

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Re: My reoccurring dream

Rachel,
Thanks for the reply. Once you told me about your father I as able to put the dream into context. Because the dream did open with him, there had to something about that relationship that was central to the dream. What was different was how the dream described the atmosphere as a party which, without knowing the true relationship with your father, could lead a person away from the true association in your waking life. Once it was apparent it was a wish fulfillment dream it all came together.

Then there was Alex. It sometimes can be difficult to determine whether opposite sex images in a dream are solely in relationship with the dreamer or are aspects of the dreamer {anima/animus figures}. Usually with the person is named it is about the relationship. That turned out to be mostly true in your dream. But when it turned into a 'he' the dream began using the masculine as a reference to your animus. That is not unusual for dreams. A symbol can be one thing in one instance and then another the next. What helps distinguish what is what are the evolving patterns. As I mentioned the pattern that seemed to be emerging was an animus application. Once the flow is established everything should fall into place within the dream. That came together quite richly in the dream.

As for the message of the dream. Because there is a need for a strong masculine to achieve your dreams, you need to be conscious of that. When things seem to conspire to get in the way of becoming an actor, your dream goal, you must remember not to give in. You have to learn to develop a strong masculine self to be able to persevere, reach the heights you wish to reach

It might be easier to explain if I use as an example of the thing you wish to be. Acting, and specifically an actor as the hero/heroine. And the best way to do that is to introduce you to Joseph Campbell {himself a Jungian} and the concepts he established for anyone who wishes to fulfill their greatest dreams. The aphorism he used was to 'follow your bliss'. In all great stories, or in his case myths, there is the hero/heroine who is on a quest, what is known as the hero journey . To do achieve her goal the heroine will go on a journey, a quest. Here is how Campbell describes it:

Campbell: There's a certain type of myth which one might call the vision guest, going in quest of a boon, a vision, which has the same form in every mythology. That is the thing that I tried to present in the first book I wrote, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. All these different mythologies give us the same essential quest. You leave the world that you're in and go into a depth or into a distance or up to a height. There you come to what was missing in your consciousness in the world you formerly inhabited. Then comes the problem either of staying with that, and letting the world drop off, or returning with that boon and trying to hold on to it as you move back into your social world again.

I see a collorlation in your dream to the hero journey. Campbell's statement above fits with your dream journey. Dreams and myths often share the same images as metaphors. In your dream the height would be the balcony. Falling from the balcony would be descending into the depths. You have to let go of the secure life you are hiolding onto {railing} and 'fall' to the depths {falling to the ground} so to discover your true self. In your dream the true self is lacking a strong masculine aspect {what was missing in your consciousness}. What you will face in the furure are 'dragons' you will need to slay to achieve your goal of being an actor. You will have to let go of the social dictates {your father telling you you can't} and stay the path. Once you have accomplished the task, slay the dragons, you return to the world as the heroine in your own life. You become the actor, achieve your goal.

But there will be many dragons in your life that will require a strong masculine. The idea is to hold on to you 'bliss' and not let go. Dreams will allow you to see where you are in your psychological life and in turn reveal your 'true self'. If there is something lacking, like a strong masculine, dreams will reveal that to you. Not only that it will provide the reasons why {as this dream did}. It is all very compliacted, until you decide you do wish to be the heroine. Most people submit and the dragon wins. But most people have no idea about their true self. Few people pay any attention to their dreams.

Here is my page on Campbell's Hero Journey. It will provide insights to the hero in mythology which many of the same motifs as does dreams The Hero's Adventure. It may be interesting to know that George Lucas was a stuednt of Joseph Campbell {as am I} and his Star Wars trilogy is based on Campbell's Monomyth, the basic patterns in the hero journey.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 63 Space Coast, Fla.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

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