Richard,
I appreciate the detailed personal info. I am working on your dreams today and will try to have at least some of my analysis later today.

Question. You mentioned your Jungian analyst helped you discover what dogs represented in your dreams. Can you provide that analysis? And how it related to your life-long phobia of dogs? My sense of your difficulties with continuing psychological issues is related to not having yet resolved childhood trauma. Add all the negatives life has thrown at you {which in itself could impede positive personal growth} I can understand how difficult it would be to find balance and harmony. You are survivor if nothing else, psychologically and otherwise.

Jerry

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

Richard,
Here is my analysis of your first dream. It is focused on what you do not want related to your profession and does not comment on your creative aspects {but with those likely the underlying reasons}. Your old routine no longer provides satisfaction in life. There are likely issues related to developed personal attitudes but those are secondary. I do think your 'natural' creative spirit is a part of those attitude traits and I see those as a background message. Because the dream is so strongly focused on not having to work in the old routine of journalism would suggest it is a major issue in your life. The creative aspects are in the background but you are in need of resolving the issues related to having to work in the field you no longer have an interest.

A note about dreams. They are not controlled by ego but are your true feelings, your true self. Dreams are addressing emotional issues that are plaguing you at the time of the dream as well as addressing underlying reasons for the emotional energies. This dream fits with your desire not to be in the old position of regular routine.

Here is my interpretation of the images, actions and symbols in your dream.
-Returned as a reporter-once again having to make choices from a neutral position {centering yourself}
-to a daily paper I worked for in Florida-anxieties with a regular routine in the past
-I don't really want to work as hard at it as I did in waking life/no longer interested in doing day to day journalism-pretty much a literal application {which is not usual but occurs in dreams}
-enter newsroom-message from the unconscious
-large machinery don’t recognize-negative attitudes of being too mechanical
-some copy editors working at them-duplicating actions while being censored/controlled
-I can't tell how-unable to make a determination
-There are no desks for reporter-feeling limited in evaluating and weighting the issues
-no typewriters or computers-inner communication related to making choices about a lack of identity
-my old executive editor is there somewhere, but he ignores me-disregarding inner restrictions not being concerned about building a career {no longer important}
-I am in an office with my old managing editor-being managed by restrictions of the usual routine
-and he also pretty much ignores me-rejecting the old routine

Jerry

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

Thank you Jerry. I'm going to work with this and get back to you. On first read it resonates strongly, and gives me information I wasn't aware of.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 71 male North Carolina

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Richard,
I have completed my analysis of your second dream and it is in line with your first dream. I'll post that and provide a summary later {probably Sunday} since I work Saturdays for family construction business}. I want to compare your most recent info that includes childhood experiences with the dreams and see if there are commentary related to childhood influence to personality and attitudes. Often the negatives experience in early life unconsciously influence actions and attitudes in later life {as I noted I see all dreams as addressing both current emotional energies as well as foundational energies to personality and attitudes}. In the meanwhile you may find time to give deeper attention to my analysis as provided thus far.

-I am a freelance writer-liberated to compose
-I am in the offices of one of the alternative weeklies I wrote for in waking life-alternative to current position in life
-The office is full of young people who ignore me-expanded self taking new growth being neglected
-There is no place here for me to work either-current life not working
-No desk, typewrite, etc-unconscious communicating this is not your true position
- I leave and find myself walking around the city-exploring your inner self seeking to satisfy your true emotions
- trying to plan how I can make a living freelancing-a need to be more organized/disciplined to free yourself {also a literal application}
-But I face the same problem I faced in waking life-coordination between conscious and unconscious self
-I am an introvert who can't stand marketing myself, so in the dream I am trying to pump myself up for what I do not want to do
---I am an introvert who can't stand marketing myself-not projecting your true self
---so in the dream I am trying to pump myself up for what I do not want to do-stimulating the part of you that rejects the norm

Jerry

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

The material you are sending me is extremely helpful. Thank you.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 71 male North Carolina

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Richard,
I will look at your dreams on Sunday.

Jerry

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

Richard,
Here is my analysis of the first dream.

Your statement, “I have done some work on changing my negative thinking, and have had some success” seems to be what this dream is addressing. The emotional issues run deep and resolving them is what you are attempting to do {current applications of the dream image}. It is difficult path and still requires great effort to resolve. The positive from the dream is you are working on the issues. You possess the skills and experience to achieve this but more work is needed. You must not let conscious fears get in the way. Looking inward is the right path and continuing this path will lead to resolution.

Note: My philosophy on dreams is there are always at least two applications {Jung’s also}. There is a symbolic/metaphorical {with possibly/probably more than one} and often a literal application. The literal is not always present in a dream, or not visible.

Interpretation of images, actions and symbols
I'm working in the office of a new publication about to publish its first issue
-I'm working in the office of a new publication-a new approach in measuring yourself against other's standards
-about to publish its first issue-visualizing and confronting original issus from childhood

There are two young women working there with me
-your own female aspects, and those with your mother {visualizing new approaches to mother issues}

They are sort of combined editors-secretaries-office managers.
-the two issues you are working with to resolve, the ‘managers’ of your emotions

I'm the only writer
-the only way to communicate with your unconscious

We are working for a man who in waking life I worked with until I got it that he was a cheap hustler, unreliable, untrustworthy
-literally the real person, metaphorically your father{?}

I have stories I need to get into the computer system
-bringing your personal history {unconscious} to conscious life

I'm so exhausted I can hardly function
-a literal depiction of your emotional life {and physical}

The women try to help
-benefits from resolving anima issues

I have stories I need to get into the computer system
-issues within your unconscious

I'm so exhausted I can hardly function
literal, magnified exhaustion

The women try to help
-magnified need to resolve anima issues

They try to set me up with a screen, keyboard and a computer that uses micro-tapes instead of modern media like hard drives
-being cautiously optimistic about getting to the unconscious message revealing your true self that drives your conscious life
{this points to your conscious effort in working with your dreams and seeking to resolve issues}

I can't manage to get the system to work for me
-difficulties in resolving issues as well as challenges life throws at you

I'm smoking cigarettes and wonder that the women don't object
-positive approach to your dependency on addictive attitudes

They or I suggest I take my work home and use my own computer
-using your inherent skills to resolve issues

I go home to my apartment
-consulting the layer of your unconscious related to your ego life

I share it with my ex-wife, who is not present and who I have the sense is very removed from me emotionally as well as physically
-resolving experiences past and present related to emotional/physical aspects

I want to take a bath
-emotional/physical cleansing

I approach the bathroom door and see that the bathroom wall, where it meets the floor of the living room, is sort of rotten
-needed cleansing has barriers. Related to aspects to negative support foundations

I open the door and see water flowing from the broken ceiling (I can see lathe work and broken plaster) throughaI giant hole in the floor, where the bathtub used to be, into a huge cavern beneath the apartment
-seeing within yourself you find broken parts with the mother {cavern/womb} being an aspect controlling your waking lif

The cavern has a glowing golden/amber light emanating from its walls, ceiling and floor
-positive illumination radiating from removing the barriers

It goes down deep and then extends to my right out of sight
-the deep unconscious which is out of sight of conscious reality

I see a workman in the cavern
-working on the unconscious issues

It looks like he is working on telephone, electric or water lines
-working on the communication between conscious and unconscious aspects that goes to emotional energies

He looks at me and says something about how long it will take to get the work done
-the time needed to resolve the issues

I worry my ex-wife will want we to do something about repairing all this
-conscious fears related to past emotional experiences

Jerry

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

Thank you Jerry. You put a lot into these interpretations and I appreciate it. I agree that my continuing issues are related to unresolved childhood trauma, trauma that I think was deepened by events in adolescence and adulthood. I'm glad I came back to doing dream work and that I found your help. I feel very positive and encouraged by how this is going.

I remember two dog dreams from analysis that seemed to make the difference for me. I do not recall any childhood trauma involving dogs. It is my understanding that sometimes a phobia is about transferring anxiety created by one thing or event onto something else, as if the something else is a kind of representation or metaphor for the original. As I write this I suddenly remembered a bear's head that my grand parents had that fascinated and frightened me and how it looked to me like the head of a big dog. I had some trauma at my my grandparents' place also. I would be sent there alone for a week or two in the summer and I never felt safe there.

In the first dream I am in a basement under a house. In front of me is a beautiful wood working shop, small, low ceiling, paneled in gorgeous blond wood with small drawers made of the same wood set into the walls. There are only hand tools and they are very old and very well maintained. But there are no projects in sight. It has the feel of a place that had been unused a long time.

Behind me is a wide, narrow, horizontal opening through concrete that looks down into another cellar. The ceiling of this cellar is at about my head height from were I am standing and the floor is about three or floor feet below. In this cellar is a very large poodle, with its hair cut in that French style. It is a male poodle and he is barking loudly, insistently and angrily. I do not feel afraid of him.

In the analysis of this dream my therapist and I concluded that the workshop represents a part of me that was working on developing my personality, that the workshop still exists but that it has not been used in a long time. The poodle represents a part of me I buried in that other cellar. Poodles, with those French cuts, appear feminine, and I have a lot of feminine characteristics like intuition, compassion, empathy and passion. Yet I also had, when I was a child, some male characteristics like assertiveness, defending those who needed it, and a powerful urge to attack lies, unfairness and injustice. Early in childhood those particular male characteristics were denigrated. The male characteristics that were encouraged were things like bullying, getting over on others, over-powering those who are weaker, cheating and lying and getting away with it.

Poodles appear feminine, since that's the way we cut their hair and that's the way we treat them. But they were originally bred for hunting lions. Our conclusion was the dog in the cellar represents strong, masculine, power of mine I locked up down there and it is trying to get my attention and get out.

The second dream involved two German shepherds, a breed that I was particularly afraid of. In the dream there are two areas of lawn enclosed in chain link fencing. The fencing creates two squares, one inside the other. I am lying on a lawn chaise lounge, outside the fencing. I am watching as the two shepherds are leaping in and out of the squares. They are playing, having a great time jumping out of the inner square into the outer square. In the dream I am calmly watching this.

We concluded the dogs represented wolves, a primal, powerful part of me I had fenced away – doubly fenced away so that they were not only fenced in from the outside word, but also fenced in from my awareness. Although the dogs easily jumped the fence, they were no threat to me and could remain in my consciousness but would not jump into the outside world on their own. I had the sense they were demonstrating I controlled them and they were happy with that.

I have not had any fear of dogs, including shepherds, since we worked with those dreams.

My oldest brother, ten years older than me, was my nemesis. I was supposed to be his clone and I could not be, which brought me a lot of shaming from my family. In therapy I was asked to draw some scene from childhood and I spontaneously drew a scene in which my oldest brother is verbally tormenting my middle brother while my mother watched with approval. While that was actually happening I was just a little kid. I was running from my room to the room this was happening in and throwing my toys at my oldest brother. In the dream I drew my oldest brother as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. About as primal and powerful as you can get. So it seemed that my natural assertiveness was shamed by my family and I saw my aggressiveness as tyrannical like my older brother's and I buried both.

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Richard,
I will look at the other dreams you have posted in the next couple of days. Undoubtedly they are focusing on the same issues but there may be something more we can gain from their message that could be helpful.

Jerry

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

Please note new email.

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Richard,
Will need more time to analyze your dreams. A missing cat {who returned 3 days later} and a sick male feline has required my attention since last Saturday. Add the normal requirements taking care of 16 of the fuzzy felines leaves too little time to focus on my dream work. Have noted your new e-mail and will contact you via that method.

Jerry

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

Thanks Jerry. I am in no rush so please don't be concerned about it. I have never done it but I understand herding cats can be near impossible.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 71 male north carolina

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