Hi. I had this dream yesterday in the wee hours of the morning. Some part of me in my dream suddenly became aware that I was dreaming - but I could see myself asleep on a single wooden bed with a white sheet & pillows, and tucked under a white duvet. And in the dream, I was dreaming again - of an old flame. I saw him clearly though right now I can't quite remember what his role was in it.
I woke up hours later and was wondering why I had dreamt of him suddenly again and then incidently, when I met up with a friend later in the day, that person mentioned it was Sept. 11 - and suddenly I remembered, it this guys birthday.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 28, Qatar

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

Cheryl,
Sounds as if you were lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming {also known as dream consciousness or conscious dreaming} is dreaming while being aware that you are dreaming. To actually have a lucid dream you merely have to recognize that you are dreaming. Lucid dreaming is seen by some as a way to control their dreams. But if you control your dreams I believe you loose much of the message contents that dreams have to offer. Lucid dreaming should be a secondary aspiration if you are a serious student of the dream.

As for the symbols in your dream, sleeping in a wooden bed with a white sheet & pillows, and tucked under a white duvet, these may suggest some reluctance to understand or accept a thought or idea that is fixed in the mind, embedded emotions about someone or some thing in your life. The white sheets and pillows would represent an innocence, or lack of understanding
or a willing to accept. You may be covering up some type of emotional pain. Or perhaps you are trying to repressed emotions from your past. The fact that the old flame's birthday was the 11th may have been the stimulus for the dream. But what is being repressed could be something else entirely. If you are able to reconstruct the full dream, as it played out and not with personal amplifications that may hold bias, then perhaps whatever is under the sheets will present itself with other symbosl and metaphors.

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

Well, thank you for taking the time out to reply. i'm not sure quite how to go by this because it seems to me like one can analyze it any which way since it is so open-ended. I think I will agree about the repression bit, but what exactly is being repressed, I think that will be hard to tell from the dream.
If one does not use the symbols in a dream with personal bias, I would think they (the symbols) could then stand for anything at all. Could you tell me how certain symbols came to have their meaning? Could you recommend anything helpful I could read??? How do I go about analyzing my own dreams. Thanks once again.

{ps. Incidentally I had another dream last night. In which I, my dad and brother are trying very hard to leave in a hot air balloon. However, I am looking for a wooden plank to line the baskets base. Turns out that the wood can only be found inside a room which I locked, which is stuffed with a lot of rummage. The room was locked in order to keep a rat inside. Towards the end of the dream, the rat tries to eat a little kitty, which is finally rescued and just when the rat starts to turn into a nightmare, the door is once again locked. And dad, me and my brother finally leave in the hot air balloon in relief.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 28

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

Cheryl,
Thanks for your folow-up post. I will look at your other dream later toniet or in the morning. I do want to comment on your response to my first interpretation.

Dream interpretation has to be open ended. Only the dreamer knows for sure about their life and what the dream message may ultimately be. If I were able to sit down with you and get to know all about you and your life, interpreting your dream would not be so hard to do. I am confident we could discover the dream message{s}. Other than the dream you posted the only thing I know about you is your name is Cheryl, you are female, 28 years old and from Qatar.

Since you do not have a understanding of how dreams function I suggest you look at the pages at Myths-Dreams-Symbols. Start with A Dummies Guide to Dreams {no reflection on you}. Jungian dream psychology is a science. There is much to learn to truly understand how dreams function.

As for symbols being able to represent just about anything. Not exactly true. A man in a dream is in some way a masculine symbol, either a real male in the waking life or as an masculine aspect of the dreamer {see Anima/Animus at left column}, or both. There are exceptions to the rule but the patterns most often hold true. Exactly how to apply the symbol depends on the individual dreamer. We are all different and a symbol for one person may represent something different for another person. That is where an education in dream psychology comes into play. And also an intuitive ability to read dreams. It is important to learn not to look at dreams with a personal bias. That is most important.

As for as repression. That can only be determined by the dreamer from a thorough investigation of their life. If you have emotional conflicts that are built up and you do not let them out in a way that leads to a resolution, then those emotions and the repression of them will show up in your dreams. The dream is trying to communicate to the dreamer those aspects that prevent the dreamer from living a balanced, harmoneous life. Dreams have a purpose and are not random images just having fun while you sleep. Read the link I provided and other pages at MDS. That is if you really want to learn more about yourself.

And finally. Interpreting dreams is not a perfect science. No one can say for sure what a dream or the symbols in a dream may represent except the dreamer. I have an ability to see into dreams and can be quite good at it, using Jung. Read some of the other posts, interpretations, and follow-ups. There are those times I may be right on in my interpretations and the dreamer doesn't recognize it. That is why it is important to have some knowledge of how dreams function. And of course there are those times when I get it all wrong. If that happens it is usually because I am engaged in personal activities that deflect my intuitive ability to see clearly. Just with interpreting your dream, I had to find time in my schedule to give a proper look at it. I try to give my best with every interpretation. Unfortunately I can not do this fulltime. I am also the webmaster of Myths-Dreams-Symbols and maintaining a website is important {I do it myself}.

Read those pages I have suggested. Then look at my interpretation and see where I may be right and what may need more clarification. I will look at your dream in this post either tonite of in the morning and compare it to your first dream. It there are patterns then they should expose themselves and perhaps give insights to what the dreams are trying to communicate.

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