Hi Gerard - I'm hoping you can help me with another dream.

I am with 2 other people, an older man (40s-50s) and a younger girl, 20s with blond hair and fair skin (which is not what i look like).

I think we are inside of a castle, but I'm not sure because I never see the outside. There is an empty armour suit in the room with us. We are all dressed in some kind of light armor, like we have just come from a battle of some kind.

Somehow, I know that the older man and myself are angry with the younger girl. I'm not sure what the exact reason was. But it has something to do with her taking something too far, or abusing her position/power. (The only way I know how to compare this would be something like a group of soldiers burning down a village, or doing something extremly cruel, after their original reason for being there was satisfied.)

In the dream, I know that the man wants to kill the girl. I see him draw his sword, and I watch as he approaches her. Right before he stabs her in the chest, she reaches for her sword, but he had moved it previously. I am crouched in the corner, and can see the blood staining her shirt and she is crying in pain. I am a little frightened in the dream, but I know that it needed to be done. And then it ended.

So, I know this dream is really about me and that the man and girl are parts of myself. I am having trouble identifying what part of myself is like the girl. I guess it has something to do with being mean or not being conscious of my actions?

What are your thoughts? And does the castle/armour/battle theme have a significance?

Thanks again.

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drshell,
The older man is probably your animus, which when used properly can be an asset, and the younger girl an unrecognized aspect that perhaps represents sensitivity . The castle, and the empty armour suit may represent some defensive mechanism that is being used as protection against certain emotions. The light armour suggests you are not well prepared when confronted by conflict. The conflict was probably something recent in your waking life.

The older man being angry may be the animus {anger is masculine}wanting you to be less sensitive to conflicts in your life. Perhaps you tend to show emotions too easily. The masculine {which would be a wiser aspect} seeks more control wants you to be more forceful and less emotional.

This masculine aspect wants you to change {killing the younger girl}. The real you is the sensitive type{the heart} and is a part of your personality {which makes changing very difficult}. The sword is for cutting away this aspect {the heart, the chest} and your defensive mechanisms cannot remove the need to be more forceful, less emotional. The pain is probably emotional pain.

Have you recently been confronted with some type conflict in which your feelings were hurt? You probably wish you were more forceful toward the aggressor but that is not your personality. Let me know your thoughts.
Gerard

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Hi Gerard,
I agree that the man was probably my animus and that the wiser part of myself is wanting to get rid of something that the girl represents. And I also agree that whatever it is that she represents must be a big part of my personality, hence the violent death.

But I wouldn't really describe myself as emotional or extra sensitive, and 99% of the time, I would definitely defend myself if I was in some kind of conflict. Did you think that she was sensitive because she was crying at the end or was there something else? Or is that what the heart/chest means?

In the dream, it was almost like the 3 of us were fighting for a noble cause, something that was very important to us. The older man and myself were angry with her because we felt she had done something that indicated that she was no longer fighting for the same cause, or had somehow jeapordized what we were fighting for... by turning others against us or making us look bad. Also, I remember that the armour was light, but at the same time, the light armour was sufficient b/c we weren't in trouble of being wounded. I would almost say that it was part of our uniform, or the way we wanted to represent ourselves.

Perhaps, in my waking life, I am getting too caught up in certain ideas, and losing focus of what is really important to me? And perhaps I've chosen to wear the light armour, even though I have access to a full armour suit? I'm still a little puzzled by this. I will definitily be thinking about it emore. Thanks for your input.

PS - I read your dream posting. I think you should go into the other "room". You will never know what's inside if you don't look. You can always decide to leave if you don't like it. (Yes, I'm one of those people who like to give advice all of the time!)

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drshell,
Perhaps if we replace the phrase 'too sensative' with ' being too caught up', the metaphor would better fit the image. And instead of using 'being less emotional' we should use the phrase 'you need to be less caught up in certain ideas and losing focus'. Does that fit better?

As for my posted dream. I am not afraid to enter the other room, just very cautious. She was a very attractive woman for sure. But I have been in that room more than once and even though I handled myself well I ultimately ended up not doing the right thing. Through Jung's tutorial I have discovered the unconscious motivations to 'why'. I will forever be the cautious type. No matter how attractive she may be.

Hey! Give all the advice you want. This forum is lacking in good advice and your noteworthy experience is appreciated.
Gerard

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Haha! Noteworthy experience? I'm defintiely not an expert. But we can think of this as a trade off, you analyze my dreams and I give you advice. Sounds fair to me!

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Your dream title caught my interest and the symbology is very interesting, to say the least. Having watched "Arthur" recently (and "Troy", as well,) I associated your dream with the images of huge bloddy battles and heroes and villains and quests and so forth. I.E., BIG DREAM, archetypal dream, not what happened yesterday at the grocery store - which speaks of transition on the horizon - choice between sides -- good vs. evil and which side are you going to chose. The collective or the individual (Arthur's quest of the grail!)

From your last reply to Gerard it seems there is still doubt that all has been uncovered. I offer an off to the side view to see if something clicks.

One approach I suggest is: Suppose the dream is a compensatory dream, i.e., telling you what you are not doing, which renders you perhaps lop-sided or unbalanced. That is, in the dream you are identifying with a Group, a team effort of some sort, in a calculated way, i.e., with a purpose or allegedly noble cause, with no further emotion than the purpose of the cause. On the otehr hand, the girl which does not identify with the group's cause is judged as overacting to the detriment of the cause, making the group look bad. Which one is really you and which one may be compensatory? One overacts (over-compensates?) and gets executed; the other crouches and is frightened but being on the part of the group survives.

Where are you positioned between these two extreme cases: Have you neglected being an individual and following your own emotions by putting a group's cause before your individuality? Or have you been the self-absorbed individual that places a group in danger? These seem to be the two "you's" in the dream.

The empty armor witnessing the "execution" stands out in my mind. I tend to think of the invisible person/entity in a dream as your true Self, not the "higher self" that we often refer to in dialogues of this nature. Why? Because the true Self will always be a mystery, that's the nature of the beast. I regard those "higher selves" we talk about as idealizations of what we strive for, based on our value system of good vs evil. In keeping with this line of reasoning, is the empty armor empty because this is where the invisible witness (true Self) is? This armor that is not being used...could this be a tool that is being provided and you may need to consider availing yourself with? You also mention that during the dream, you were not afraid of being wounded with just light armor, is being part of a group, i.e., power in numers, compensating for self protection?

To summarize, archetypal images, big dream. Therefore, Transition on the horizon; choices to make. Identification with group consciousness or individual identification with your heart. Are love matters possibly involved? (chest/heart/love, spilled blood/passion?). Last thought: the action of the dream begins at the end of a trial (battle) and the end of the dream is in essence a trial (judgement.) There is an accused, a jury (you believe she is guilty), a judge and executioner (the man) and even a non-acting witness (the empty armor) Lastly, note that the victim is collective, not an individual.

Hope these thoughts will help you "free associate" and perhaps a lightbulb might come on.

Victoria

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