I dreamt:
My husband and I wanted to be alone, cuddle. We were naked. His penis turned into a snake, or a Fox. (Sort of like a Ferret). It was thick, the size of a forearm. It was having sex with him, long enough to bite his nipples and finger them with claws like Cat Woman (in the movie). It was the devil. Then I wanted him and my husband with his devil penis had sex with me from behind. Afterwards he was happy but I wasn't. I felt I had sex with the devil, not my husband, that it possessed his penis and had sex with me. It called me on the phone and whispered, "Strings are atttached." My husband was cheering with joy but it made glass shatter. I was afraid my mother and brother-in-law would see or hear us. My husband's sister was trying to get my husband to come home (after we were together.) The penis had a very pointed face with long teeth, and claws at the end of it's animal reptilian hands. I felt depressed after-even though it was satisfying. What does this all mean? Its so weird........ please help!

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35/abroad

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

May,
On a personal level this dream may be describing an internal conflict regarding male and female sexuality and the learned roles we play in that intimate aspect of a relationship. Perhaps you desire more non sexual intimate contact than your husband and/or that you wish to move sex from the animal instinctive reaction to a higher level. However, when non sexual intimacy is initiated the learned masculine response, animal instinctual sex, is the result. Also, do you have negative feelings, perhaps unconsciously, regarding female sexuality? Bad/good, sin, etc. That when you desire sexual relations you perhaps feel guilty as ‘good girls’ do not desire sex? That possibly you do not want to examine and address these issues (from behind) although this is perhaps the source of your unhappiness. The phone call & message may symbolize communication is required with both your Self and your husband to achieve the balance your inner Self desires. The shattered glass may represent an attitude you perceive in your husband that perhaps he won’t want to communicate about the issue, or even recognize it’s an issue, so shatters the chance to resolve it. “Strings are attached” could indicate actions being a result of outer expectations or learned behaviour, as in a puppet. Fear of others hearing could be that internal negative judgment of sex. The husbands sister could be showing a part of the solution in that for your husband to participate in this new attitude would require he recognize and honor the feminine within.

Let me know your thoughts. If this seems to fit your current life perhaps more dialogue can support you in working to resolve this. If this doesn’t fit, let me know. Perhaps with more information we can look at it again & see if we can get close.

Many thanks,
Kathy

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 43 Central OH

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

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for your reply, am so grateful! The strange thing about this dream is that I had it before I got married, so it was actually my fiance and not my husband. But I feel this dream contains keys to what my current situation is and that is why I decided to work with it. Also, it has really powerful symbology. I think what you wrote is absolutely right.

Maybe there is guilt there, at least unconsciously. Also, the "strings attached" made me think of a puppet as well. And it made me think that I, my psyche that is, maybe be paying an extremely high price for this relationship????? Also, in the dream my husband was happy, but I wasn't.

The 'from behind' made me think of something happening behind my back, behind my conscious awareness, or even being betrayed in someway.

Also, the fact that the penis had a life of its own and was having sex with my husband first, before having sex with me was strange. It actually made me think of demon possession. In some cultures, demons are said to possess the sexual organs of people and have sex with whoever they possess have sex with. This is not really a jungian interpretation. This dream really had me worrying.

What you wrote about my husband needing to honor the feminine within also resounded with me. Does this mean my husband in real life, or my masculine side? Probably both.

And I can certainly agree that further communication is needed.

I think there is some sort of connection between the glass shattering and 'strings are attached'. Its like my psyche is telling me that the masculine side's (as symbolized by my husband)happiness is at my expense.

I think this also has to do with how I was raised to view sexuality, in a conservative way, even though the society I was raised in was very liberal. Also, the sister-in-law to me represents an aspect of me that doesn't want to accept the relationship, wants to make my husband go home, instead of be with me, someone repressive and controlling. (Maybe wants to make my masculine side "go home" go away from me, instead of integrate with me? Also in the beginning of the dream we were looking for a place to be alone, as if we were "sneaking around". Maybe part of my psyhe is making it feel unsafe to integrate my masculine and feminine sides?

I do have a question though...what does integration mean... if i have a masculine and feminine side... can't they just peacefully coexist.. what is integration?
Thanks so much Kathy and please tell me what you think of my response.

May

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35

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

Hi Kathy,

I thought of something else after my last reply. I thought of the bluebeard archetype as a predator of the psyche, and maybe an exterior force as well. The symbols of devil, ferret and even fox are symbols of bluebeard too, and they took over the masculine force in the dream as symbolized by the penis. Also, the sister in law was not really a benign symbol. She was trying to seperate me and my husband (finance) by having him go home to her, rather than me. She and the devil symbol were really on the same side trying to keep us apart, the masculine and feminine from integrating. In the bluebeard legend, bluebeard gets help from the innocent bride, maybe that is paralel to the sister in law. Maybe there is something lurking in my psyche preventing integration. Please let me know what you think of this!
Good luck with all your work and take care,
May

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35

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

hi may,


jung stated the benefits of relating dream to a myth or fairytale,i think bluebeard falls into this catagory,
you have done this,and have opened up a new area of understanding,
regards steve.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 50

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

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your post. Yes, I agree that associating dreams with myths and fairytales is very helpful. I hope I can gain more insight into my dreams with that kind of understanding.
Thanks,
May

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35

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

In this dream I get a phone call from the devil saying, "strings are attached,". It was whispered to me. This made me think of the opposite phrase, 'no strings attached', which usually refers to no obligations, no hidden fees, free love, etc. So for me, I think 'Strings are attached' is alluding to some sort of hidden price I will have to pay for 'sleeping with the Devil', as that is essentially what was happening in the dream. Maybe the dream is talking about committment and married life, as opposed to a more carefree, no strings attached relationship. Also, it seemed like there was a price I would have to pay, hence, the 'attached strings'. Also, in the dream, my husband's penis had a life of its own. It shapeshifted from a penis, to a snake, a fox, and a devil. I don't view snakes in a necessarily negative light. Also, I'm curious about what the shattered glass might represent. I think it was the glass on windows. Also, the dream made me wonder what was going on behind my back, 'from behind', that maybe I'm being kept in the dark about something, or am in denial about something. It wasn't so much me and my husband having sex with each other in this dream, it was a third shapeshifting animallike entity that had sex with both of us, first my husband, then me. It had claws, and a face, I think. I'm wondering what that might be about as well.

Thanks so much,
May

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35

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

Hi Kathy,

My husband and I were re-reading these posts together the other day and he told me that it isn't helpful for me to say I agree with an interpretation when its not true just to be polite or whatever, because this is a learning forum and when people interprete dreams they need goodfeedback to learn and to make correct interpretations next time. He especially took issue with the idea that I might view female sexuality negatively or that I have any inhibitions in bed. I'm laughing right now, because he is right and I am just so open to hearing people's interpretations that I'm willing to consider all possibilities but he is right and that interpretation isn't true for me. I am comfortable with my sexuality and don't feel like a puppet or want less instinctive sex, or more affection, in both areas am content. So, in light of my dream I think the strings are attached might be more related to a post I put up earlier on this thread about committment. From time to time I find that rereading my dreams and seeing what comes up at the moment is also helpful..interpretations can also change, they are more fluid than fixed, but on this point my husband was right and we had a good laugh and I thought it would me more helpful to clarify that point.

Thank you ,
May

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 35

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

Hi May,

Thank you for your honesty & additional feedback. The dreamer’s feedback and thoughts on both a dream and interpretation are most important in the learning process here. Dream interpretation can be affected by an interpreters Psyche, especially true for me, when immersed in the ‘false reality’ of social life. It’s entirely possible MY past issues with female and male sexuality were projected in the interpretation. I have always enjoyed uninhibited sexuality with partners giving and deriving great physical pleasure although through this process, Individuation, I find sex was experienced solely on the physical plane and never spiritually. The animal without rather than the divine within. As my inner Self slowly develops, with sexuality an aspect of Self, I discover much about my Self, acceptance and a slow evolution in several areas.

Your recent response is supportive of learning in several ways: a balancing point in interpretation; my Self work; and in the human Psyche overall.

I too review my dream journal and find multiple layers of interpretations. Only recently I read the past two years entries to find connected and continuing threads of experience and meaning. I discover new dimensions and deeper levels of understanding. It is an amazing Journey!

Thanks ever so much!
Kathy

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 43 Central OH

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

Greetings May,

Could your dream be symbolic of an inner conflict regarding sexual intercourse and your sexual needs.?.

The constant influences on us regarding non-reproductive sex are from the extremes of religious organizations telling us that sex is sinful and evil (could that be the devil representations you saw) and from social conditioning by close relatives and friends who impose their views on us not to overindulge ourselves. On the other hand being bombarded by advertisers and the media and certain celebrities in the film and music industries that sex should be totally uninhibited and unconstrained and everyone must constantly be craving for it.

Do the symbols of the devil represent your underlying feelings of guilt and shame imposed by residual religious beliefs i.e. a sinful and evil act ?. And the sister in law represent some form of social disapproval that you are subconsciously aware of?. You suggest that you enjoyed the sexual act with the mutated penis but could not face it - it that because you subconsciously don’t want to face it?. You stated in an earlier posting that, “my husband was happy but I wasn’t!”. Notably the tone of your later posting after you had discussed it with your husband was different. Are some of your sexual activities not really to your liking or not satisfying to your needs?.

Having sex may satisfy one of our primary needs but has to be considered in the context of our other primary needs of emotional, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual fulfilment which all require a degree of gratification by a partner in a relationship, depending on the importance and priority we give to those needs. What is the order of importance and priorities for your need fulfilment?. How well are each and all of those needs being met within your relationship?.

Was the glass window shattered outwards or inwards?. If it was outward, could it be that you want to break out of your present confines of need fulfilment?.

Sexual intercourse, whether for productive or non-productive purposes, is a perfectly natural function of the human body (i.e. as nature intended) and is not an evil act nor something to be indulged in solely for its own sake or because we are pressurised by others into greater expectation of quantity or of dubious quality. It is for each of us to decide what our own sexual needs are and how we wish them to be satisfied by a partner whilst reciprocating to at least an equal extent for our partner, recognising and respecting their wishes and preferences, and within the context of how our other primary needs are also being satisfied.

An exercise you can do quietly and alone, and without the influence of others, is to sit down and write out a list of your six primary needs, as stated above, setting out the priorities in rank order and then give each one a rating out of one hundred e.g 1, Emotional needs – 98, Social Needs – 90, Intellectual Needs – 75 etc. Then in another column, give a rating out of 100 to how you consider your current partner meets those needs.

This exercise should be repeated regularly and if we are honest with ourselves, can give a quick guide to the quality of a relationship.


Ciao,

Carlos.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 45 Sorrento

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

Hi Carlos,

Thank you so much for your reply, and sorry I was away for so long. Am back now for awhile.

Very interesting about the direction of the glass breakage. It broke towards the inside, that's how I knew it broke because the pieces fell very close to my feet.

I have another thought...there were so many animals and they changed very quicly into something else, one right after the other. Its almost like my unconscious wanted me to see a number of different traits ( I am going by the different traits that animals have) and linking them all together under the general idea of 'animal instincts'.

For me, this makes sense and I can see how the different animals all have different energies.

What I find interesting is how the penis embodied these energies as if it was a seperate entity. I do not see the different animals in the dream in a negative light. In fact, I love animals and I think all the animals represented have positive features...also, the snake and the cat are feminine energies. The fox could also have been a wolf. I think wolves are great and aren't foxes related to them?

I had this dream right before I got married so I thought it has to do with fears of committment...but from the inner marriage point of view it points to a negative animus problem which has been reflected in many of my dreams. Maybe the dream is talking about negative feelings I have had toward masculinity when it is distorted by the damaging mask of patriarchy..although the symbolism of the penis' face and claws...reptilian...catlike...is more feminine...interestingly. Also, the emotion...feeling depressed....signifies a lack of emotion....very different from feelings of guilt or inhibition...

I found your exercise that you offered very helpful. I will keep it in mind in case I ever need to use it again.

Thank you so much. So sorry for the delayed reply and good luck with your dreams as well.

Any feedback is welcome.

Best,
May

Hi Kathy,

Thank you so much for helping me interprete my dreams. Your responses are incredibly valuable and I have learned alot and grown as a result of my time on the dream forum. Thank you for being flexible and easy to be honest with! I so appreciate the time you take to help me out with my dreams!

A dream can indeed have multiple levels of meaning..and maybe others can see things we don't see...and maybe something will resonate at one point that won't at another point. I do believe that as I keep with my dreams their meanings will continue to unfold and the great thing about the forum is that we can always go back to our dreams time and time again and revisit them.

Thank you so much Kathy!

Best,
May

Dear friends,

Again, in hindsight:

The dream was a warning, a few months before marriage, (I am now divorced) not to get involved with this man, not to marry him, not to committ to him because to do so would harm me and cause disequilibrium in my psyche.

'Strings are attached'...the price for this relationship (for committing to this man) is very very very high, for a relationship that causes fear (I was afraid )and depression (I felt depressed after).

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 38

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