Hello Gerard,

My first post here, I hope you can help me sort some recurring issues/dreams.


In the first dream, I'm at work visiting except it's not my actual workplace. ( I don't work anymore). It's a big, big old Victorian house and it's very dark (as most of my dreams are)and sparsely furnished. I see some of my friends and they are playing with Meghan (my daughter) and I take my eyes off her for a second then I can't find her. I see other babies wearing some of the same clothes as her but it's not Meghan. In one prior dream, it was actual work and the other was this house. Last time, at this house, I found her and this time, I didn't before the dream ended. What a horrible feeling, I can feel it in my dream; panic, sadness and fear.


The second was kinda the same thing. Big old house, many floors, about four. My husband, Meghan and I were there, looked like there were people there for a movie, it was set up the same way. Everyone is watching the movie, having fun and there is a guy in the back middle of the theater, dressed in a devil mascot uniform. Body is normal but his head is huge with big horns and big eyes, intimidating but not really scary. After it ends, seems there is some routine about this, a recurring thing. Everyone runs and tries to get away from the mascot. The mascot goes through the house looking for people. No clue what happens when he finds one, never "saw" that in the dream. My husband and Meghan are separate from me and I get out on my own. Some people are going down the steps with white t-shirts completely covering their heads. My t-shirt is black and I don't put it over my head. When I can't find my husband and Meghan, I go back to an empty room (the theater room, up on the higher floor) and try to get away again, to find them. I feel a little eerie, kinda scared as to what's around the corner. I help a small, unscared boy, his parents watching me in approval, get out via a fire escape except it's not a fire escape, it's just a wooden porch off the floor/window that leads to the bottom. When I get to the main floor, there are some people running all over trying to get out. I don't know if they are just playing or scared. There are many rooms, different kinds and small and it doesn't look like they will lead me out when finally I get to the front door. I don't remember if I opened it to the outside or not but I felt safe when it(my search)ended.

Thank you in advance....Zam

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 36, New Jersey

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

Zamode,
If I were independently wealthy I wouldn't be
obligated to the social world of duty {making a living, paying the bills} and I could interpret all that you have posted. But unfortunately I am not and
there are those requirements and the demands on my time so I will take it part at a time and try to provide a complete job soon after. {I like to make excuses upfront just in case I am way off in my interpretations} Also my interpretation is rather long mso it may be best to digest a bit at a time. Your patience is appreciated and I apologize for not giving a complete interpretation in this post.

There are two real possibilities that I see to this dream. I will focus on one and mention the other. To verify whether I have put my focus on the right possibility, answering the question to the other possibility will do that.

One possibility is that there is some real apprehension about your daughter, a fear of her being harmed. Perhaps recently you experienced something that gave rise to such fears. If so the dream is addressing those concerns.

The other has to do with you as a child. Since
I see some importance in your dream {if I am correct in this approach} I want to properly address the dream with the best interpretation. This first interpretation is based on what you have provided in the first dream but I have looked at the second part to see if it would alter the possibilities. I don't see that.

The interpretation

Work often symbolizes responsibilites, obligations. Since in the dream it is not your actual workplace perhaps the dream is speaking to certain responsibilites/obligations that you feel are not yours. Let's see where it goes from that position.

If indeed the house is symbolic of the dreamer {the house is the dreamer} then the Victorian adjective may be referring to some aspect about you. Since the house is very dark perhaps possible metaphors of Victorian would be
something that is old or old fashioned.
{dark is also symbolic of the unconscious} Old in that is has to do with the past and 'old fashioned' as an adjective to your personality {which would be an effect of past experiences}. The dark may be addressing unconscious contents, perhaps a connotation of style as in Victorian of a repressed era of time. The repression may be what you are doing to in response to the past experience{s}. Sparsely furnished could be a referrence to personality, and/or to something that is not remembered, the memories are sparse, repressed.

{Dreams tend to speak to more than one aspect about the dream, there are always at least two interpretations to every dream}.

In this approach to the possibilities to the dream message Meghan may be symbolic of you as a child. You can't see this part of you, it is out of sight. Other babies would represent aspects that childhood should offer. You are wearing the name 'Meghan' but it is not really you. Wearing the clothes is putting on a front, not letting out some part to who you are deep inside.
You are having trouble finding that true self, repressing certain experiences. The horrible feelings you had; panic, sadness and fear may be from that time to do with childhood experiences.

As far as my openning comments about obligations/responsibilities, there may be some thought that you owe it to someone not to open up and let the past out. Those childhood experiences mentioned above may be unconsciously protecting somebody from your childhood. But the dream may be telling you it is not your resonsibility, it is not you that is at fault and to remedy those tsill possessed deep feelings of pain you need to let it out. It is not your actual workplace so you are not actualy obligated to keep quiet.
This is common in many cases where as a child one is abused by someone close, a friend or relative}
The dream is telling you to open up to those past experiences and that which caused the horrible feelings you had; panic, sadness and fear. You can not cure what you don't know and repressing the experiences only makes it worse. Dreams seek to restore that balance in life we all desire and any leftover traumatic experiences that have not been properly acknowledged remain in the dark recesses of the unconscious. The affects on the waking life, throughout life, can be disabitating and/or destructive.

So what this dream message? If my interpretation is correct it would be some past experience during childhood that you have repressed, partially to coverup the horrible feelings associated with those experiences, and also so not to betray that person/s who caused the pain you suffer/suffered.

If this interpretation has merit you may already
have some idea to the experiences I speak of. You may
be consciously dealing with them. Let me know if I hit a 'nerve' and perhaps I can modify my interpretation, if need be. If the first explaination having to do with fears with your duaghter is correct, then the dream is merely stating a fear all caring parents possess.

I will give the interpretation to the second part of your post asap.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 Murfreesboro, Tn.

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

I just lost my post.... Starting over....

Thank you Gerard for your insight and for taking the time. I certainly understand time priorities, there is no hurry for the second interpretation but I do look forward to your thoughts.

Regarding the first dream, you are right-on. Being a new mother, I have concerns and worries but I don't have any particular instance to credit my fears to besides news reports of child abductions and molestations. There isn't much worry for me where I live, although my husband's friends often come in and out of the garage for lawn items and the one stores his car there so not knowing when they are coming and going bothers me ( I rarely hear them). He thinks it's not necessary to keep all the house windows locked at night when her bedromm alone would suffice. Personally, I think he's probably right. I wonder if the old or old fashioned would be referring to the childhood/upbringing I had or would like my daughter to have?


The second dream, well I had a normal childhood, no verbal or physical abuse and none of others in my current memory. I find some solace in the fact that despite all the distractions in the dream, I remained calm and didn't feel fear. I wonder if part of it applies to caretaking for my daughter, by myself and others and I think the mascot could also be my fears of how to handle another child and the current new responsibilities, not knowing what is ahead (around the corner, so to speak)? The sparseness of the house, all I can think of is wanting to simplify my life in a time that I am "on" all the time.

Most of my dreams are dark and I wonder what it is about me as the house that makes them dark. Anxieties that I am having trouble addressing. The night before last I dreamt of a white house, it was mostly empty and bright and there was no fear yet many rooms again.

Do you have any more insight as to what the parents in the dream could be and the levels in the house? Is the higher level my consciousness?


Thank you in advance.... Zam

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 36, New Jersey

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

Zamode,
Thanks for the reply and the additional information. If there was not any unusual childhood trauma that the dream was communicating then it maymust have to do with some other area of your life that cause your dreams to be 'dark'. In your dream of the empty house that is white, that suggests that some part of your life is empty also. What is the current status of your waking life? The darkness of your dreams most probably is trying to address some area of your life that you feel as being dark. If it were just one dream it would not have a profound meaning. But if most or all your dreams are dark that would suggest something is out of balance somewhere in your life.

Two questions on the first dream that may reveal clues to the darkness of your dreams. One is are you on any medication for depression? {you do not need to answer that here. if it is a private matter then answer it for yourself}. If so then that could mask any darkness that is a part of your psyche, such as depression. While the wonder drugs of today can remedy so many ills of the mind, they do not relieve the underlying causes.

The second question is to your answer about childhood recollections. You stated "there was no verbal or physical abuse and none of others in my current memory". Have you thoroughly looked at your past to see what is there? Your first dream strongly suggests something that may have to do with the past childhood. It could very well be repressed.

Your Second Dream

The big house suggests something from the deeper unconscious. The many floors are of course aspects of yourself {exactly in what manner is to be determined}. The number 4 often symbolizes wholeness/balance. With all the personal aspects of your life present {My husband, Meghan and I were there, 3 out of 4} there is a need to showcase other aspects of your life. Theatres are dark. This again says something about the dream and your life. The guy in the back middle of the theater {back middle may suggest something that was in the back of your mind that has progressed to the subconscious, but not yet conscious} is hidden behind a uniform. A mascot is a person or animal that is adopted by a team or other group as a symbolic figure. You are trying to get away from this aspect, which is masculine. Since the body is normal it is the head that is out of shape. This suggests something within the head that the dream is trying to communicate. While it is intimidating it does not actually frighten you. Perhaps this aspect is something you have becomes used to.
The mascot is looking for in the house for people {your other aspects}. "When he finds one", you never "saw" that in the dream. This suggests something that has been forgotten, perhaps repressed. "He" suggests a macsuline aspect.

Now you "are on your own" suggests you are focusing on something that does not involve your waking life family. Most aspects of your life are positive {white T-shirts} but they are covering the head {obscuing your ability to see the negative?} This suggests that this negative aspect {dark T-shirt} is or is capable of affecting those positive aspects. Since the black T-shirt is not covering the head, it may becoming a conscious thing, brought up from the deep unconsciosu to the subconscious, and ultimately to consciousness.
You end up in an empty room. Your normal life is not present.

Cutting to the chase, the rest of the dream is repeating what already has been addressed. It suggests there is something within that needs to be acknowledeged. Only then will you feel safe.

The dream may be addressing your fears about your husband's friends coming and going as they please. This is a real concern, an intuitive concern that you need to address. I suggest you speak with your husband and come to some understanding. Intuitive concerns are real. The dream is intuitive. Listen to this possibility because you most likely sense something about 'these men friends' that poses a real threat, not just perceieved. Go with your instincts, they don't lie.

I see in the dreams some issues that probably involve the past, something that has been put away either out of fear or because it doesn't have the psychic energy to be important. It may a childhood experience that is rekindeled by present conditions in your life {the men coming and going}. It could very well have been a benign event but left an impression on you that continues to this day, albeit hidden. The more I think about this possibility the more plausible it seems possible. Since you can not remember any childhood abuses, the past experience may have frighten you but may not have been a reality. Perhaps future dreams will provide clues to this possibility.

In the meantime I suggest you confront your husband's 'men friends' situation. Even if it is benign it is never a good idea to have unknown people around children, or even in a close proximity that offers possibilities. Let me know yor thoughts on this and we can perhaps come to a determination if this is a real part of the dream message.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 Murfreesboro, Tn.

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

Hi Gerard,
Thanks again for your thoughts. I'm not sure why my dreams are usually dark, there isn't a reason for it, per se--perhaps just that I tend to get stressed easliy and have a tendency to overanalze things.

No, no childhood issues and I am not on medication for depression. I've thought it through and mentioned it to my sister, who recommended this site and she didn't have anything, either.

I have no problems with my husband's friends coming and going--I know they would never harm Meghan or myself. The problem I have with that, which is causing the overreaction of the window locking in the house, I believe, is that I fear people would come and go that I *don't* know. We live near the Delaware Water Gap and there are plenty of tourists in the summer and when traffic backs up (we are right off the Interstate), many pull off the road to turn around and for some reason, pass my neighbor's house and turn around in ours. Sometimes I don't even know someone pulled in until I see them leaving. We have a very long driveway and most just pull in and out but sometimes I see them parked across the street and my neighbor twice has had someone come to her door. We bought a detector and it worked but it also made the dog crazy with the high pitch so we are back to square one but I will find something that will put my mind at ease.

This might be a far fetched idea but at the time of the dream, I thought I was pregnant again and wasn't ready for it (was a "false positive"). I really feel the feeling of looking around the corner was me not knowing what would be ahead for me with two very small children so close in age. Is it possible the mascot represented that in some way (sperm/large head)?

As far as the white room is concerned, I think I am feeling some loss of myself, per se, as being a stay home mom. I love my daughter so much, she has brought more joy that I even expected but after working so long, it is a change and I am the sole one to care for her with my husband's commute and hours. At times it's easy to feel trapped in four walls. There are other means I'd like to explore for the future but neither that I can't start somewhat at home or find resources online.

Any additional thoughts?

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 36, New Jersey

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

Zamode,
Those exceptions to the rule that I speak of when discussing dream symbols and their metaphors; I think you fit with that rule. Darkness in a dream usually symbolizes some darkness in the dreamer's life. Constant dreams of darkness woould indicate something more than just a bad hair day. Since none of that is present in your life then the reasoning for your dark dreams remains a mystery.

But not to say that is a problem. If you are living a happy life with the ordinary conflicts that come with life, and have no childhood issues that remain hidden, then the darkness in your dreams must not be a personal trait that is not defined in the normal sense when looking at a dream. Sometimes little things can cause dreams to be dark. Being easily stressed could be a stimulus for your dark dreams. As we all know we are all different. Being an exception isn't necessarily a negative.

Let me know if future dreams have a change in their color, dark to light, or even earth tones. That would signify changes in your life. Perhaps those changes will provide clues to what caused the darkness. If you have future dreams that you believe are relevant be sure to post them. Dream interpretation can be a bit like Sherlock Holmes trying to unravel a mystery. I tend to look at myself as Sherlock Holmes 'closeted other brother'.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 Murfreesboro, Tn.

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