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What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

I dreamt of being put in a really small cell with my friend (a 17 year old girl) underground (like under a house). It had a dirt floor and black bars/locked exits. There were multiple people in different cells and each of them (including me) were going to be physically hurt in some way. I was trying to avoid this for as long as possible by making the others go before me somehow.

I think we were there and going to be hurt because we had been ‘bad’ in some way and my parents were punishing us for it. I think my parents lived in the house above these cells.

There was talk of ‘if you do something bad, she’ll [my mother] put you in there [a cell under the house] and shut the door and leave you in the dark all night’.

At one point my mother and I were up on a ledge and I grabbed her and hung her over it so that she couldn’t do the same to me or push me off. However, then she complained to my father (who has on the ground) so I put her back to where she was before and stayed close to the wall behind me so that she couldn’t push me off or anything. This ledge is one located in my house. Everything was mostly white here.

I didn’t feel much of anything during the dream, just fear at certain points but even that was dulled. Also annoyance at my mother during the ledge part because of her complaining and my having to defend against her and dread at the prospect of being physically hurt but again, these feelings were dulled. It was just kind of like a movie, but I was avoiding being harmed in it. I felt things to an extent but it was mostly like a movie.


What does all this mean?

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16 year old female, located in the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} I have not posted before

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? I haven’t posted before

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Me again, I meant I found the Dream forum through google.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Anonymous,
Let me point out that your dreams are attempting to help resolve emotional issues in your life. The dream language is symbolic and metaphorical of your emotional self {the house is you}. Consider what is actually happening in your life and the emotional issues those experiences are causing or have caused.

Are you having issues with you mother {or both parents} and restrictions she has placed on you? This seems to be the primary message of the dream, the cells representing being confined and not being able to do as you wish {in some aspects in your life}. The dream also seems to point to defiance on your part despite the restrictions placed on you.

But the dream could be pointing to deeper issues related to your mother in particular and parents in general. If the physical 'hurt' is real and carried out by your parents then the restrictions and your defiance my be related to those actions by your parents. It may point to physical abuse. Your added comments in your post of having been physically hurt. If this true you may need to speak to someone in authority.

Also consider standing on a ledge with your mother could represent a cry for help in desperate situations. Your mother may be in or have been in the same situation. You may be suppressing your feelings toward your mother because she may be complicit in the restrictions placed on you despite her having suffered the same emotional injuries as you {with your father being the aggressor}. The restrictions I allude to in my analysis would be on your personal growth as well as literal restrictions placed on you by your parents.

If my second suggestion is true then there are issues beyond just a teen not getting to do what she wishes to do {restrictions placed on you}. Physical harm beyond normal punishment is something that must not be allowed. Was the physical hurt caused by your father? Was it in line with normal punishment for something you may have done or was it something much worse? If so then you need to report it.

On the other hand if my first suggestion is correct then the dream would be addressing the normal desires of a teen and the restrictions your parents have placed on you. At your age such restrictions would seem overly harsh and the dream language is reflecting those emotions.

A response will help me better understand your actual life experiences and which of my suggestions apply. With the limited info I have about you {age and gender and limited added comments} I am only able to provide a general outline of the emotional energies {within you}. Let me know your thoughts.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 70 Altoona, Fl

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Thanks for the reply,

I have not been physically abused, although, I’m not sure my parents have been restricting me a lot, it may be that I feel restricted because of being a child and not being able to leave home or school because I am a child. Or it could be that I feel trapped in my life. These are feelings I have.

Being physically hurt or avoiding being physically hurt tends to be a recurring theme in my dreams so maybe that is just unrelated.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Me again,

Although, in my childhood I remember being afraid of being physically harmed or killed and trying to avoid this oftentimes. I didn’t have a reason to be afraid of this but this was a childhood fear of mine. Possibly, I am reliving this recently in dreams.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

I guess I do dislike being around my mother all the time (my father isn’t living with us right now and hasn’t been for a while). And I guess we have conflict sometimes. Because I often misbehave I admit. Although maybe sometimes it might feel severe because I struggle with things that she does not see and sometimes I misbehave because of this, for example, I often get poor grades because I am feeling depressed etc. however, we don’t experience this conflict often that much anymore. Maybe I feel that dealing with her is severe because I already have to deal with other stuff. I think I feel that way sometimes.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Forgot to say, my father isn’t living with us right now because he is away working is all, my parents aren’t divorced or anything.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Anonymous,
Sorry not getting back to you sooner. I am the caretaker of 16 rescued cats and have had many issues this week that demanded my time. I'll provide a response to your recent posts later today.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 70 Altoona, Fl

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Anonymous,
Let’s examine my analysis and a few of your statements in your responses.

My analysis:
Are you having issues with your mother {or both parents} and restrictions she has placed on you? This seems to be the primary message of the dream, the cells representing being confined and not being able to do as you wish {in some aspects in your life}. The dream also seems to point to defiance on your part despite the restrictions placed on you.

Your response about feelings restricted/trapped.
“it may be that I feel restricted because of being a child and not being able to leave home or school because I am a child. Or it could be that I feel trapped in my life. These are feelings I have.”

And your statement related to your mother.
“I guess I do dislike being around my mother all the time”

We are in unusual times and along with the normal teenager’s feelings of not being able to do the things they wish they could due to parent restrictions such feelings on your part are normal. Our dreams are reflective of emotional energies that cause conflict in our waking life. The reason for this is to help resolve the conflicts. It is nature’s tool. Just as nature provides us an immune system to help heal and protect the body it also provides the dreams to help heal and protect our psych{ology}. Along with the usual restrictions parents place on children the added pressures of the covid virus related to additional confinement and restrictions create strong emotional energies. You are at an age where parental rules feel additionally restrictive because you are developing your own sense of independence.

Something I did not mention in my opening statement in my analysis is the language of dreams is symbolic and metaphorical {there are literal applications as well, literal experiences in waking life including in a dream}. To explain what I mean by metaphorical I’ll use your dream statement, “underground-like under the house’. The house is you {metaphor means the same as, you are the house}. Underground symbolizes your unconscious energies {emotional energies}. Your dreams are helping you in resolving your emotional issues even though you may not be aware of it while you sleep.

Why do dreams use such language? The development of the brain parallels the development of early mankind when the first languages were in symbols {example: the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics}.




Going back to your dream and the parts where your mother is a part and the dream language, “At one point my mother and I were up on a ledge.” A translation would be;
‘To dream that you are standing on a ledge indicates that you are feeling tense, anxious and/or excited.’
Add your mother being on the ledge points to the literal relationship with your mother. You feel she is pushing you, making you feel tense and anxious. The ‘ledge’ is “the one located in my house {your unconscious}. The dream language, “Also annoyance at my mother during the ledge part because of her complaining.” These are your emotional energies related to your relationship with your mother.

The reason I added the possibilities of ‘deeper’ issues is because of the dream language, “my having to defend against her and dread at the prospect of being physically hurt but again, these feelings were dulled.” What does the physical hurt relate to? Who cause the physical hurt and what was the reason?

Another comment in the dream related to physical hurt, “There were multiple people in different cells and each of them (including me) were going to be physically hurt in some way.” Metaphorically the multiple people would represent the various aspects of yourself that feel restricted {{different cells}. Literally it could point to being restricted by multiple people as in your mother and father {restrictions they place on you} and possibly other people in your life like a teacher. At your age such restrictions can be magnified.

What needs explanation is the physical hurt aspects in the dream.
Can you provide more about any actual physical hurt in your waking life? Or is the language purely metaphorical language pointing to the innate feelings of someone your age {innate a synonym word for physical}?

As for the being in a cell with a friend, a 17 year old girl. Unless there was an actual experience the girl is you, metaphor. Her being 17 may point to your future where you will be at an older age with expectations of greater freedoms but hindered by fears of the restrictions you now live with {I would need more personal info to determine exactly what this means}. The dirt floor would represent your foundations where restrictions are the norm {foundations for your personality and personal attitudes you grow up in}.

And finally your response statement, “Being physically hurt or avoiding being physically hurt tends to be a recurring theme in my dreams so maybe that is just unrelated.” If there is not literal physical hurt in your life then the fear of restrictive life may be what prompts such dreams. Growing up with restrictive rules may be an issue and because dreams tend to magnify such fears the physical hurt language may be representative of your fears of a restrictive life. Again I would need more personal info to provide a better explanation.

Hope this helps. I use Jungian psychology as a basis for my analysis/interpretations of dreams and of course when you engage in psychology you are entering a world that goes beyond consciousness. What is unconscious {underground} is always a mystery but when examined with a Jungian approach it is less so.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 70 Altoona, Fl

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Thanks for getting back to me again, I think I understand more now.

The person that was going to cause the physical hurt when I was underground in a cell was my parents, both of them. I was feeling dread at this prospect during this part. However, in the ledge part it was my mother. I was having to defend against her in that part because she could’ve pushed me off the ledge and hurt me and I was afraid she would. I’m not sure there was a reason she would do this but in regards to them both planning to hurt me when I was underground in a cell was that I had misbehaved or been ‘bad’ in some way I believe.

There isn’t any physical hurt going on in my waking life, however, there was often the fear of it when I was a younger child (ages 4-12). I didn’t have any reason to fear this nor did anyone or my parents ever hurt me but it was a childhood fear of mine for many years. My dreams recently have been replicating these experiences of being afraid and avoiding being harmed I think. For example, in an older dream I felt I was in danger of being harmed or killed by someone (I’m not sure who) and I was trying to be with my parents to gain safety and in another dream I was abandoned by my family and then promptly attacked with a knife by a ghost. The first example was something that happened often in my childhood (ages 4-12). The second example is something that I would’ve been terrified of happening at those ages, losing my family and therefore, losing any safety and being harmed or killed. I was afraid of being harmed or killed but I felt that I would be safe from this if I was with my parents. This dream also has the element of being afraid and trying to avoid being physically harmed.

However, I acknowledge these dreams could have a different meaning and that they may point to me feeling too restricted. I do feel that way in waking life. Also, I do fear that I will not escape living with my parents and will never gain independence as well, because I am not sure how capable I am to live in the adult world, so that may be the 17 year old girl part as well.

I’m just not sure about the physical hurt part still because I relate it to those childhood experiences but possibly it is not related and is just pointing to my feelings of restriction.

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Anonymous,
The whole part of the being hurt is pointing to mental/psychological hurt and not physical. That is what I was wanting to understand, was there actual physical hurt/harm by someone. As I noted dreams have a language that is primarily symbolic but with some literal depictions. If there was physical harm in your life that would/could be a part of the dream. If not then it would be symbolic of mental pain. The restrictions placed on you by your parents, and primarily your mother, would be the mental pain you suffered in real life. The cell represents restrictions and being on the ledge with your mother the tensions that exist between the two of you. Push you off could represent her actions pushing you to the point of anger. It is symbolic of the relationship and the barriers {wall} the restrictions caused. And it is as much as an unconscious thing which seems to be brought about by your father's instructions {father who was on the ground}. The ground represents your foundation and support system {father primary source}, experiences and influences in very early life that formed your personality and personal attitudes. The dream is about your feelings related to parents and the restrictions placed on you. At age 16 it is understandable emotions for someone that age.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 70 Altoona, Fl

Re: What does it mean to dream of being severely punished by your parents?

Ok, that makes sense, thanks for the reply.


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