I know this dream has great importance, but the end baffles me.
The dream takes place in a royal palace, and I'm just a visitor at first. Then the king leads an attack against his own castle that begins in the basement, ultimately causing the death of his elderly queen on the second floor stairs landing. I watch down the hall while she's being killed, and she looks to me for help, but I feel no pity for her. In fact, I feel that if she dies, I can take her place. After she dies, I go into the room I was standing in front of, a bedroom, and start to go through the armoire looking for royal clothes to put on. Then I notice a bathroom in the back corner of the room, and for some reason it distracts me from what I was doing. I go into the bathroom, which is filled with an awful fluorescent light. There's a toilet, but it's got a cabinet built around it, situated so that the toilet seat is on top of the cabinet. I open the cabinet to inspect the toilet's piping, and when I do an impossibly pure, bright white light spills out from inside the cabinet.
I've read that a very bright light in a dream has very great significance, but the details of the dream confuse me as to what exactly that significance is.

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

mel,
It looks as if the dream is dealing with inner resources, as opposed to strictly ego-centered aspects. As for bright lights, all symbols within a dream hold possible significant meaning{s}.

The royal palace is most likely to be that royal palace with in you. You ya not have put a lot of emphasis as yet on this important aspect since you are only a visitor. Unconsciously there may be an attack on this aspect by some masculine identity or inner masculine aspect {see Anima/Animus at left column}. Basements often represent unconscious forces or aspects of the dreamer.
In your waking life there may be a male or masculine force that has launched an attack on your personal self, perhaps those principles you hold dearly. In the unconscious it would refer to those masculine aspects you possess that is attacking those higher principles, which would be feminine. The queen {which is you and/or your higher feminine aspects} has died, or possibily changed because of these masculine influences {inside and out}.
Does this fit somewhere in your life?

The royal clothes that you put on may have to do with the persona, how you want others to see you. If the queen is killed then the ego self can have its way, disguising the true self or true feelings about yourself. The cabinet around the toliet suugests that you are hiding things away that need to be eliminated {bathrooms and toliets are where you eliminate unneeded or undesired parts of yourself}. The top of the toliet is the thinking aspect. When you open up to these needed/undisired aspects you find the true self, which is the shining light within. The unconscious contents, those aspects about yourself that are true are let out. And when this is done you won't need to dress yourself up in royal clothing that hides this true self.

Look at your life and determine where you have possibly had to disguise your feelings or things about yourself. The masculine in the dream may have to do with some real male in your life but also to do with actions on your part that are masculine in nature, or your animus aspects. It is important to realize the true self and tocome a regular member instead of just visiting it and then hiding it away.

Let me know your thoughts to this interpretation. Perhaps we can expand on the possibilities of 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

Your interpretation seems to make sense. Most of the men that I've been close to, including my father, were angry, aggressive, and belligerent, which has humbled me somewhat, to say the least. The queen was very ladylike, spoiled, and frivolous, while I've been forced to be more humble and to not feel a sense of entitlement, so it makes sense that that part of my higher feminine self died in my dream. It's probably because of that fact that I'm becoming more angry and belligerent myself now, which I don't like at all. I wanted to take the queen's place, but maybe I wasn't ready.
As for the royal clothes, I never actually put them on. I only got the armoire open when I noticed the bathroom and became distracted, so I think that's probably a positive thing.
Overall, I think your interpretation helped put this dream in perspective, and was greatly appreciated. I just don't know if it's a sign of progress, or the opposite. It's good to have a balance of masculine and feminine, but could this be a sign that masculine aspects have actually taken control?

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

Mel,
By realizing that these traits have affected you in your adult life in itself is a positive. Also, in the dream at the beginning there is the passage, 'I'm just a visitor at first. This gives me the impression that you are becoming aware of that higher place where your inner queen resides and instead of just being a visitor you are accepting the higher aspect. Also the bright white light inside the cabinet spilling out is a positive sign. The pure bright white light is also that higher self.
All things considered I think this to be a very positive dream. Now all you have to do is to build on these positive aspects and not let those undesired aspects that are symbolic of the masculine rule your life. They only make you angry and if they rule that pure white light will dim.

And thanks for the follow-up post. If you have future dreams that you need help with, you know where to find me.

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