Hi Gerard

Last night I had a disturbing dream. I dreamt my daughter (who lives away from home and is 33) brought home an old lady to visit and stay with us. She didn't say much and she seemed to be ok to have around. Later on in the evening I went into our bathroom where she had had a bath and the bath was half full of water and was full of her faeces. The smell was awful and I was horrified. I called my daughter to come upstairs to show her and told her that the old lady had to leave straightaway. She told me that she had nowhere to go. I said that it was impossible for her to live in our house when she was doing stuff like this. My daughter was very angry and upset with me. I cannot remember any more of the dream but when I woke up I was quite distressed.

To give you an idea of my present situation. I am married and have Beth who I have already said lives a long way from home. She is a teacher. I am now working but my husband is. Just over 2 years ago I had a very serious and rare form of breast cancer which I have recovered from but which still dominates my life to some extent (obviously) and my families. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 57 - Wales United Kingdom

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

Sandra,
Knowing about your bout with cancer fits with this dream. I appreciate your providing the added info. The dream is probably addressing the anxieties over the cancer, but may also be addressing issues with your daughter. I know about the cancer but not enough about the relationship with your daughter.

Dreams often express our waking fears and anxieties. But they also speak in a volcabulary of symbols and metaphors, often out of context as to what is normal language structure. And two things can be represented by one thing, as in past and present. And one thing can symbolize two things. I think your daughter and the old lady in your dream represent your anxieties about your cancer, and also the cancer itself {the stimulus of your anxieties, two meanings of the same symbol}.

Your dream is speaking to the anxieties about the recurrence of your cancer. The cancer would be symbolized by the old lady, which is you, with cancer. Cancer comes when you get older {old lady at 56?}. You daughter may represent your life's experiences, which in an analytical state would question what it was in your life that caused you to have cancer. You, as represented by your dughter, your younger self, may fill you brought it upon yourself perhaps through lifestyle such as smoking, etc. The daughter has left home {the cancer has left}, lives far way, but she returns and brings the old lady {your fear of a return of the cancer}. The cancer is not present, it isn't saying much physically in your body {it has left}, but psychologically you understandibly have these fears.

It {the cancer} already has visited you, and you are afraid it will take up permanent residence.

Bringing the old lady home could also symbolize the old emotions that have come back to visit you, your fears.

Bathrooms are where we eliminate those things that need to be gotten rid of, in your case wasted fears and anxieties {faeces}. Unconsciously {water} you have these fears, and the dream is speaking to the need to get rid of the negative feelings. You need to cleanse yourself of the anxieties. This is the wisdom body speaking, through the dream, knowing that deep seeded anxieties can cause certain cancers to return. The emotions when under stress can cause the body to lose its ability to fight off the recurrence. The immune system can be weakened by deep anxieties, something you probably already know. The smell probably has to do with the smells and odors from your cancer and perhaps the treatments you underwent.

She, your anxieties, can not just all of a sudden leave. What are you to do, not worry {no place to go}? The old lady represents not only the cancer but here also your anxieties associated with the cancer. The anxieties, nor the cancer can live in your house {you}. The anger that is shown by your daughter would symbolize you anger at yourself for having the anxieties, esepcially knowing it can bring about a recurrence of the cancer.

I think the dream is primarily addressing your anxieties over the cancer. But the inclusion of your daughter in the dream suggests to me there is something else the dream is trying to communicate. Is there some tension between the two of you? The anger shown in the dream can be real, in some aspect of that relationship.

Let me know your thoughts to the interpretation and the possible association to your daughter. We may be able to better understand the dream message.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 Murfreesboro, Tn.

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

hi,
on reading your post,i felt that your illness was at the heart aswell,but as jerry has said,your daughter is prominent to.
what has she brought home to you,that you find distasteful.
i could'nt help but feel the lady was a tramp,the smell,homeless etc.
do you have any anxieties about your daughters lifestyle,which may be conflicting with your expectations of her,the words,how could you do this to me!,came to mind,the fact your daughter was angry with you,to me ,reflected something you have built into your consciousness that is detrimental to your wellbeing and that of the relationship with your daughter,and needs to be got rid of(the bathroom).
i find this excercise helpfull sometimes,
what could you have done in the dream differently,to bring about a more possitive conclusion,this can give a clue as to an outer ressolution.hope this helps.regards steve

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 49 england

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

Hi SteveThanks very much for replying to my dream. My daughter and I have a wonderful relationship and always have. I cannot think of anything that has happened between us that would cause me any anxiety. The only thing that she is doing at the moment is she is buying the flat she lives in, so that may have something to do with it. I think Gerard has hit the nail on thehead as far as anxieties about the cancer is concerned. The old lady didn't seem like a tramp in my dream. In fact, she seemed a nice oldlady on first meeting her when my daughter brought her home. It was only what she did in the bath that made me mad!

Of course, both you and Gerard are right in that the bathroom is very important for the stuff that I want to get rid of and I have to look into that. I am having a good read of his interpretation and will post a reply soon. Thanks for the help and advice Steve.

Best wishes Sandra

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 57 - Wales United Kingdom

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

hi sandra,
i am happy to hear your relationship with your daughter is ok,and it at least narrows the field a bit,as jerry suggested ,it probably has a lot to do with your past battle against illness and the emotional residue that you still carry.as various members have stressed in the past,its what clicks with you,the ah ha moment,it will come.
regards steve.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 49 england

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

Hi Steve, Been having trouble with the printer on my computer and have now managed to print of Jerry's reply. Am reading at the moment and will be posting a reply soon. Thanks for your concern. Best wishes. Sandra

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 57 - Wales United Kingdom

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

Hi Gerard

Thanks for your wonderful interpretation of my dream. You have hit the nail on the head several times. Firstly, you are right to say about the anxiety of the cancer recurring. Although I had cancer over two years ago, as the time is going on I seem to be getting more anxious about it coming back. Also, next Tuesday I have an appointment with my COnsultant because at my last hospital appointment, I was not happy with the Doctor I saw. I felt she didn't give me a good examination, and it was obvious that she had not read my notes before she came into the room - she assumed that I had had surgery when I hadn't. I have been quite anxious about this too as I don;t really like to complain but for my own peace of mind, I had to make the appointment to clear things up.

Also, I have been reading a lot lately about the cancer that I had and apparently it kills 90% of women within the year to 18 months after diagnosis so I consider myself very lucky (I feel what happened to me was a miracle) so I have been anxious about that too. It makes sense about what you say regarding the old lady being the cancer and perhaps my daughter being a younger me.

The other thing that you are spot on with is the worry about old emotions and fears. I suffered terribly from depression and anxiety before I had cancer and was seeinga Psychologist at the time of my diagnosis. From the time I was diagnosed the anxiety disappeared, so did the depression, and I slept like I hadn't slept in many years. It was as if the cancer was the culmination of all the worries and fears I had experienced over the years. I have also been worrying lately that Iwill "fall into my old ways" and go back to how I was which is what I am dreading as I feel that it contributed to my illness. I am also going through some sort of crisis at the moment - trying to do things that I want to do but at the same time feeling guilty about saying no people if they want a favour etc. I feel quite selfish in that I want to do as much for myself now as possible and I have been in a dilema over this for several months.

I fully agree with you about the bathroom and that the dream is telling me to get rid of the negative feelings and anxieties because, as already said above, I feel these were a contributing factor to the cancer in the first place. Yu say that the old lady repesents the cancer and the anxieties and that she can't live in the house (i.e. me). So is my body telling me to get on with this. Is this the message, that I am telling myself that the cancer will not come back. The anger at my daughter being anger at myself for having the anxieties is correct as I have been angry for some time because I cannot seem to break away from these anxieties.

The only thing I cannot understand is the relationshipo between my daughter and myself. We have always had a great relationship and still have a great relationship. The only thing that could be associated with that is that my daughter has recently bought the flat that she is living in. Could it be something to do with that? We haven't had any disagreements over that. The other thing is that we have both been to the Genetics Departments of our respective hospitals, because there is evidence that the cancer could be hereditary, and obviously I have been worried and concerned over that, although I have now come to terms with things and am getting on with life. Going back to my daughter, there is no tension between us and I cannot remember when we last had a row or a severe disagreement, so there must be some other explanation. If she is perhaps a younger version of me, would I be angry with her (me) for what I am putting myself through? Or is there something more in connection with my daughter.

I hope you can shed some more light on that. Thank you once again for your wonderful interpretation. It is up to me now to start sorting these anxieties out.

Sandra

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Replying to:

Sandra,
Knowing about your bout with cancer fits with this dream. I appreciate your providing the added info. The dream is probably addressing the anxieties over the cancer, but may also be addressing issues with your daughter. I know about the cancer but not enough about the relationship with your daughter.

Dreams often express our waking fears and anxieties. But they also speak in a volcabulary of symbols and metaphors, often out of context as to what is normal language structure. And two things can be represented by one thing, as in past and present. And one thing can symbolize two things. I think your daughter and the old lady in your dream represent your anxieties about your cancer, and also the cancer itself {the stimulus of your anxieties, two meanings of the same symbol}.

Your dream is speaking to the anxieties about the recurrence of your cancer. The cancer would be symbolized by the old lady, which is you, with cancer. Cancer comes when you get older {old lady at 56?}. You daughter may represent your life's experiences, which in an analytical state would question what it was in your life that caused you to have cancer. You, as represented by your dughter, your younger self, may fill you brought it upon yourself perhaps through lifestyle such as smoking, etc. The daughter has left home {the cancer has left}, lives far way, but she returns and brings the old lady {your fear of a return of the cancer}. The cancer is not present, it isn't saying much physically in your body {it has left}, but psychologically you understandibly have these fears.

It {the cancer} already has visited you, and you are afraid it will take up permanent residence.

Bringing the old lady home could also symbolize the old emotions that have come back to visit you, your fears.

Bathrooms are where we eliminate those things that need to be gotten rid of, in your case wasted fears and anxieties {faeces}. Unconsciously {water} you have these fears, and the dream is speaking to the need to get rid of the negative feelings. You need to cleanse yourself of the anxieties. This is the wisdom body speaking, through the dream, knowing that deep seeded anxieties can cause certain cancers to return. The emotions when under stress can cause the body to lose its ability to fight off the recurrence. The immune system can be weakened by deep anxieties, something you probably already know. The smell probably has to do with the smells and odors from your cancer and perhaps the treatments you underwent.

She, your anxieties, can not just all of a sudden leave. What are you to do, not worry {no place to go}? The old lady represents not only the cancer but here also your anxieties associated with the cancer. The anxieties, nor the cancer can live in your house {you}. The anger that is shown by your daughter would symbolize you anger at yourself for having the anxieties, esepcially knowing it can bring about a recurrence of the cancer.

I think the dream is primarily addressing your anxieties over the cancer. But the inclusion of your daughter in the dream suggests to me there is something else the dream is trying to communicate. Is there some tension between the two of you? The anger shown in the dream can be real, in some aspect of that relationship.

Let me know your thoughts to the interpretation and the possible association to your daughter. We may be able to better understand the dream message.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 57 - Wales United Kingdom

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

Sandra,
Sorry about not getting to your last post with my own response. I had overlooked it. My apologies.

The part in your dream about the tension between you and your daughter. By your response, both of you going to Genetics Departments, the concern over hereditary possibilities, I got a sense, intuitive for sure, that perhaps it was in addressing the opposites. By opposites I mean tension, conflict, which leads to opposition of one thing to another {stress can cause cancer-releasing the stress can heal}. You had cancer. This new person without cancer, doesn't want it again. It may be addressing that aspect.

Or even possibily, which I know would good news if it is true, the tension between your daughter and you represent the opposites.
The opposition, the metaphor of the symbol, was the tension in your dream and your daughter was the opposite to you. But in what way? My first impression as I read your response was the metaphor was saying that no, your daughter will not inherit the disease. The dream was communicating an inherent knowledge, was addressing whether you daughter had the genetics that would cause her to have the cancer. It could do that and at the same time address your situation also.

Let's say that I am correct in my interpretation { }. This is important for anyone who has a real interest to how dreams function.
This is not the dream predicting a future event, it is compensating what the body already knows. The senses within its human animal abilities, as in intuitive abilities. Let me explain.


The psyche has the natural ability to sense some things beyond normal comprehension. It is not a supernatural psychic event, it is our human animal composition, our makeup, our genetics. Dogs have strong sensory abilities that amazes humans. There is a recent study
that shows dogs sense certain cancers in humans. Their sensory abilities are 400 times stronger than humans.
If humans possess this same ability, albeit on a much smaller scale, it is natural that the dream would also possesses this knowledge. And the dream will communicate this to you, in your dreams, using metaphor and symbol.

I don't this for fact, that this is what this particular part of your dream is trying to communicate. I only hypothesize. Jung would not have dismissed the possibility. I do believe
in the intuitive sense. It is intrical to my reading dreams. I use it in my interpretations. Perhaps your dream, and the reality that is to come, will shine new light on the power of dreams.

Is there a test that can provide insights to the possibility of her having the cancer? DNA, test on genes, something in that line? Please keep us informed. Keep your health, stay positive.
Gerard