Anonymous,
Dream symbols always have at least two or meanings/applications. Most often one application will point to foundations to the dreamer's motivations/personality while another will focus on more recent experiences. I see this in your dreams although the recent experiences stand out as the primary focus. Although a good dream analyst can point to the possibilities only the dreamer can connect the dots and apply them to where they fit in the dreamer's emotional experiences. Your interest in dream symbolism gives you experience in doing that and likely how you feel about their energies is correct.

Many images/symbols speak loud and clear. The stagnation I sensed in the dreams is definitely an issue in your current life but it too likely has associations {in form if not application} to your foundations, your childhood. How you feel, how you react to current emotional experiences will be influenced by foundations since those building blocks are what are imprinted on the developing psyche as a child. Being aware of this can alter the negative impact of how you do act/react and prevent wrong decisions/actions. The way to determine what these motivating energies are is to go back to the early years and see what the reasons were for the excessive violence and your behavior. The guilt and disgust you 'left behind' may have had the actual persons/environment removed from your life but the experiences remain locked within the unconscious. What has to be removed are the energies they possess that have become motivators/influencing agents in your adult life. This is what therapy is supposed to do. Dreams are the most direct link to the unconscious energies that live on long after the environment has changed.

As for the tiger symbolism. I often consult my dream dictionaries for any possibilities to the symbolism {and if I do not find satisfactory explanations there I look to the actual definition as well as the origins of the word}. The dictionaries state the possible meaning of the tiger as follows and this part of the HyperDictionary is where I see possibilities to your emotional life {that may fit with your dream action}:
Seeing a tiger in your dream, symbolizes repressed feelings or emotions that frighten you. Alternatively, the tiger represents female sexuality, aggression, and seduction.
Note: Not all listed definitions are proper. The definitions that have to do with wealth fame or fortune should be ignored.

You may want to look at your childhood and see if the 'sexuality' aggression and seduction' fit. What you have described about your early life does seem to have had experiences that would have associations to some very negative experiences as a child. Especially the guilt and disgust you spoke about.

As for the positive applications of the tiger. Those too must be considered. A tiger is a 'feline' which in most applications point to emotional energies. But a tiger is an aggressive animal which would also point to masculine qualities. The bold and strength may be qualities necessary in your journey in healing. You have taken a first step in trying to understand your inner world and even a more important step by looking to your dreams for answers. Where as your conscious life is an outer world and is influenced by ego bias, the unconscious dream is the inner world and is without bias. It is your true self. What has yet to surface to consciousness resides within the unconscious and anything that is out of balance will be the topics in our dreams. It is nature's way of bringing about balance and harmony to life. In mythology the hero/heroine journey is ultimately psychological. A person becomes the hero/heroine in their own life when they go 'inward', the psychological journey of self discovery. This may be where the positive qualities need to be applied in your life. You must be the 'tiger' in every sense that it offers. The negatives are imprinted and thus the positives must be accented.


Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 65 Cocoa, Fl

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