In today's on line edition of the New Your Times there was an article previewing Dick Cheney's soon to be released 'memoir'. It was a brief article that verified a truth about Mr. Cheney being the 'narcissist' in charge during the Bush presidency.

But those tidbits of political history are not what I want to focus on in this post. Instead I wish to 'interpret' Cheney's 'prolonged vivid' dream {as noted in the article} during the time after he had undergone heart surgery {which begs the questions,how can a person have heart surgery when he does not have a 'heart'?... I digress} in 2010. The dream is as follows:

'he {Cheney} was living in an Italian villa, pacing the stone paths to get coffee and newspapers'.

There may be questions on how such a short dream could have a definitive interpretation. Easy to answer. Since dreams reflect the dreamer's true life, including personality 'issues' and traits, this dream is definitive of the true Dick Cheney we all have come to loath and dis-respect. Cheney's true nature can be found in his dreams. And as the article unfailingly describes Cheney, and I perceive the rest of the memoir will continue to do the same, the primary theme being 'while everyone was wrong, only the 'Dickie boy' was right. Typical of a narcissist personality.

The dream as it reveals the true Dick Cheney. I'll break down the symbols so to provide an 'indepth' interpretation.

Italian villa
Whereas most of us would look inward and see a 'village' {to quoteHillary's famous statement 'it takes a village'} as definitive of the self possessing accumulative and different aspects, the inner village, Cheney's dream reveals his deepest and controlling attitudes. The definition of a villa:
pretentious and luxurious country residence with extensive grounds

There can be no doubt the 'villa' fits with Cheney's life, having lived in the throngs of power and luxury throughout his career {Cheney's is certainly not lacking in material worth}. And is there anyone more pretentious than Mr. Cheney {definition of pretentious: making usually unjustified or excessive claims}?. Think of all the unfounded and discredited claims Cheney made leading up to the Iraqi war. Cheney's life has been a 'villa' from start to finish, lacking the nuances of a 'village' that would provide a 'wider' more comprehensive view of the world. The villa is the inner and outer world of Dick Cheney.

The Italian
This is definitely symbolic since Cheney's ancestry was primarily English. Italian being descriptive of the 'Godfather' Cheney. Unyielding power and the freedom to subject his 'enemies' to whatever unjustified justice he saw fit. No doubt Tony Soprano would be a favorite and descriptive character for Cheney.

pacing the stone paths
I would think Cheney did a lot of 'pacing' during his time in office and during his long career in government. Plus with a 'pace maker' the term fits perfectly with Cheney's psyche {and could have been the reason for such a cold heart had it been inserted earlier in life}.
The 'stone paths'. Let's consult the dream dictionary to determine the possibilities of the meaning of 'stone':

Seeing stones in your dream, symbolizes strength, unity, and unyielding beliefs. Consider the common phrase "etched in stone" which suggest permanence and unchanging attitudes. Some stones also carry sacred and magical meanings. Alternatively, stones may relate to issues of moral judgment and/or guilt

I think from much of the above Cheney would have to say 'guilty'.

paths
We all have a path in life and over a lifetime we will explore many different paths of our emotional selves. Cheney's path in life has been 'unyielding' to anything other than his own 'unchanging attitudes'. He has been a person in power much of his adult life and especially when he was the VP. This is the Dick Cheney we have come to know, as descriptive in as few words as we can give his life and personality.

to get coffee and newspapers
It would be difficult to put a symbolic meaning to Dick Cheney and his coffee since he would not be a person you would think who looked for 'insight and knowledge' before making a decision. That is outside his own self serving attitudes that he melded to fit his views and decision making. This could be as much a literal definitive trait, he drank a lot of coffee. This can be verified from a Washington Post article Dick Cheney Loves Him Some Skim Latte. It does seem from the article that Starbucks was a favorite place for Mr. Cheney and when we think of Starbucks we naturally think of coffee.

The newspapers would be easier to see as symbolic of part of his life. Both the inner and the outer. Making the 'headlines' was common place for Cheney whether he sought them or not. But it would be the inner headlines the dream would be focused. In this sense the meaning would be the 'seeking of knowledge and answers to a problem'. The problem would be his unbalanced psyche. Perhaps drinking more coffee will 'stimulate' his inner self to evaluate his outer personality and find better ways to solve the problems of the world. But that would never fit with the real Dick Cheney.

A suggestion for Dick Cheney. Never tell anyone about your dreams because no matter how much you 'pretend' the dream reveals the true self. No matter how much a person justifies himself with self perceived views the dream is unbiased and never colors the truth. Dick Cheney is living in an Italian villa, pacing the stone paths to get coffee and newspapers. This is his present condition, then inner world and perhaps even the outer world. And although he will never admit to the inner truths, 'pacing the stone paths' is the dream revealing the inner turmoil that underlies his personality. What we can not determine from the Dick Cheney who will be on the airways the next several weeks promoting his memoirs, we can take to the bank the truths of the true person that his dreams reveal.

Again the dream and the short interpretation.
living in an Italian villa, pacing the stone paths to get coffee and newspapers

The dream is saying 'Dick Cheney is a self absorbed 'Italian' godfather figure with unyielding beliefs who in his deepest unconscious is feeling the guilt of his actions. His outward path is one of 'permanence and unchanging attitudes'. He lacks 'true inner insights' and his knowledeg is limited to his 'permanence' of the outer self. His 'inner headlines' are a 'reflection' of his outer world and but the true inner self is weighed by deep unconscious guilt that because to his 'narcissist' personality can and will never be revealed.

And he likes Starbucks coffee.

Jerry

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some things you might not have thought about;

the villa could maybe represent the white house in its opulence, although that is a stretch but worth thinking about.Also i thought of the word "pacing" as dick cheney also had a "pacemaker" at one time. My final thoughts are about the stone paths. You see it as "guilt" but a stone also is a weight. he carried a lot of responsibility for the country. Don't let your political biases blind you to a dreams symbolism. the word "villa" could be a play on the word "villian" as many people such as yourself, also view cheney that way. ultimately i see this dream as a wish fullfilment dream for cheneys desire to have "new" thoughts (newspaper and stimulation (maybe hes bored by his marrige)anyway, the dream had a lot of "thinking and pacing" in it, and i think he wishes he could get out of that "loop"

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Melanie,
I was wondering if someone would question political views with an objective interpretation of the dream. Although the interpretation does fit with my political views, and now that history has shown the true scope of the deception of the years of Bush/Cheney, with those of the great majority of Americans, the interpretation is a proper one. Yes, the stones could symbolize weight but with his narcissist psyche it would be the unconscious weight of his deceptive mind. Remember, dreams reveal the true self. A narcissist would not recognize the truth. He/she would carve the world into what they would want to it to be.

As for the interpretation being proper, Cheney being the narcissist the dream portrays him to be. Most reviews I have read take the same line. In fact I have read at least one that used the word narcissist in the heading, a description of Cheney. If you should ask Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice their true opinion {something they would never disclose in public of course} I think there would be a confirmation of my assessment. Their public rebuke of his characterizations in the book were negative at best.

Take a look at the dream and the interpretation. Does the interpretation fit? The answer is yes. There is no better way to confirm an interpretation.

Jerry

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Since dreams are already about the self and narcissistic by nature anyway, your saying this dream is all about Dicks narcissism makes no sense. I never said he was my hero. He's a little creepy if i am to be honest, but i still believe you are letting your political leanings get the best of you here. any you said nothing about my other thoughts about the dream.....

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Melanie,
No offence to you in my last post. Whether it makes sense is left to the individual. It makes a lot of sense to me, having interpret thousands of dreams.

Looking back over some of my comments I can see where one would get the impression of a bias. The narrative would leave that impression. That is why I posted a second, revised and 'sanitized' version of my interpretation. Perhaps you did not read that post.

Dick Cheney's Dream-Sanitized, Revised With Additions


As for the word villa being a play on villain. Anything is possible but that would be stretch. Dreams can use play-on-words but I don't see that very often. I have the benefit of receiving replies to my interpretations which provides feedback. From the repsonses and feedback I must say my success rate is pretty damn good. Anyone can judge this statement by reading the posted dreams.

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I have a principle that I live by
Don't judge me by what I say, judge me if you must by what I do
Read my interpretations and the follow up responses. Judge for yourself

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Wish fulfillment. A possibility. He is all about power, his own career was built upon it. He may have wished to be president {many accused him of being a 'shadow' president, Bush being so inept and naive}. Of course the dream was so short it would be difficult to pen a definitive interpretation, if I did not anything about Cheney. But what we know of Cheney, I believe the interpretation is as good as any.

And your statement 'Since dreams are already about the self and narcissistic by nature anyway. That is not true, at least not the part about narcissism. Dreams are about the true self, the original self and would only expose any narcissistic tendencies. Dreams do not take a position pro or con. You are who you are. The dream will reveal this and the underlying causations and emotional conflicts that make up who you are.

Jerry

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