The Psychology of Dreams<>On Line Since 2012

Jungian/Psychology Based [ GO ]

www.powerofdreams.net

Dream Forum
[Since 2005]
Myths-Dreams-Symbols    www.mydrsy.com    Since 1998
The Dream is to The Psyche

As the Immune System is to the body

Dream Analysis/Interpretation by Dream Analyst Gerald Gifford
Read: Methodology I Use in Analyzing Dreams,,,,,Based on Jungian Psychology
5000+ Dreams
    /a>
Interpreted
Please Support My
Rescue Kitty Fund

Click the Kitty

FREE INTERPRETATIONS: Please Provide Age/Gender For Proper Analysis.....Follow-up Response to Analysis Requested
By submitting your dream you have read & agree to our Disclaimer/Privacy Policy

The Dream Forum is Closed
Private Interpretations Available-E-Mail: mythsdreams@hotmail.com
Power of Dreams/MDS Dream Forum
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
Breath

Hello. This is my first post, so please let me know if the structure/information should be different.

The dream begins outside on a patio. I see a man (Adam the guitarist from Tool) standing outside. I am about to go over and say hi but before I can move a group of people rush over to him. So I decide to go inside.

Inside, I am holding a child – a little boy (who is not my child). The environment is a party and there are people dancing and music playing. I see a man (Maynard the singer from Tool) sitting on a stool, watching the party. I begin dancing with the little boy in my arms. We are talking (the little boy and I, though I don’t remember anything that is said) and enjoying dancing to the music. I notice the man is looking at me and the little boy and he seems so sad sitting there, so I want to him to leave his stool and play with us. The man says to me “So you think this little child will convince me?” (This confuses me slightly). I reply “No” but I’m thinking that this guy is an asshole. So then I turn to the little boy and ask him to give me a kiss, which he does. At this point the man smiles and walks over to us. He puts his arm around me and I think he’s going to dance with us but instead he puts is mouth on the back of my neck (sensation of heat of breath is vivid here) and although I enjoy it and I am not alarmed I pull away slightly. Then the man say’s to me “close but not quite” (or something to that effect). So he does it again, at which point I close my eyes and push into him and can feel his whole mouth (and again heat of breath) on my neck. Then he say’s something like “much better” or “that’s it” and he begins to sway to the music with us.

I have looked up the meaning of the symbols to this dream on this website: child, man, dance, kiss, neck, mouth, etc. However I am unable to put them together in a complete meaning. Perhaps there is not enough information. In any event, I appreciate any assistance with interpretation. Thank you.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 26, California

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

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? No

Re: Breath

Sophie,
Let's first address the symbolism of famous people since you mention two members of the band 'Tool'. Often the inclusion of famous people in a dream represents shadow aspects of the psyche but since you are female and the famous guys are male that doesn't readily fit {the Shadow is always the same gender as the individual}. My thoughts are they somehow apply to someone in your life, a male figure that you in some way associate with the 'tool' guys. Also we may want to keep in mind the word tool to satisfy any possible Freudian associations. There is also in your dream a mention of 'leaving the stool' {tools}. The dream may be using homonyms and word play to address unconscious contents/aspects. Dreams sometimes will do that.

I digress. Since men in a women's dreams often represent the animus we need to determine if this is the case in your dream. {my thoughts are that men in a woman's dream always represent some masculine aspect of a woman, if nothing else a minor role compared to the 'major' role of the symbolism that is being addressed}. Also, I take in consideration your age {26} when accessing the role of the symbols. Younger persons' dreams often use symbolism in different ways than people at mid-life and older.

I get the impression the men in your dream is more directed at some masculine figure in your life more so than it representing your animus. In your dreams the group of people rushing over to Adam from Tool may represent you're giving more attention to the this masculine person in your life {which could mean giving more attention to masculine aspects - 'animus' - of your psyche}. Going inside would symbolize looking within your 'emotional' self, one function of dreams.

The little boy {it would/could be important to know if you actually have a little boy or other associations in your life with a little boy} could be an undeveloped masculine aspect. But it could also represent a 'tool' in the relationship with males in your life {The man says to me “So you think this little child will convince me?”}. Are you in a relationship or have been in a relationship where some convincing on your, or his, part was necessary? There may be expectations where you expect to 'dance' and instead something else or something unexpected occurs.

The last part of the dream, especially the context which it is given, sounds almost Freudian {sexual connotations}. Other than that the neck can represent the relationship between the mind/mental and the body/physical. The mouth is a 'tool' of expression. Perhaps if there is better expression there can be you will be able to sway with the music.
Let me know your impressions to my interpretations. Consider what I stated and compare it to your actual life. A good chance you will be able to put the pieces together to complete the puzzle.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 56

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

Re: Breath

Thank you Gerard for your interpretation. The mention of famous people is interesting. Last night I had a dream with Gwyneth Paltrow. I don’t remember the entire dream but she was sad because she lost her child, a miscarriage I believe. And I remember the dream ending with me hugging her and consoling her. (this trend of famous people is particularly interesting since I don’t have a television and therefore rarely watch t.v.) Could she be a shadow figure perhaps?
As far as men in my life go. I am in a positive and deeply committed relationship; we have been together for six years this August. That said my boyfriend (perhaps due to the recent event of his younger brother’s marriage) has begun to discuss our own marriage, which has been a disagreement between us. I am not interested in marriage. I believe this hurts him. Part of the reasoning behind this is ideology: I believe marriage is an institution created by religion and government. Also within the first six months of our relationship my boyfriend cheated twice, which I only discovered once we had been together for four years (I had my suspicious of course). I trust him now. We both have grown together. I know he loves me deeply and I don’t believe he would cheat again. However, this is most certainly an aspect in my rejection of marriage. It did take quite a bit of convincing for me to stay. And from time to time the seed of doubt rears it's ugly head. He is always willing to talk and this had made all the difference.
The second major masculine role in my life is my father, who I do not speak to. In our emails we discussed potential child abuse. I was psychologically and emotionally abused (still would be if I gave him the opportunity) by my father. My father is a hyper-Catholic. From the time I was five he told me Jesus wanted me to be a nun. About two months ago we had our last falling out. He called me to tell me that he loves me and that I am going to hell for being a fornicator (I am aware that my rejection of marriage ties directly to this relationship as well). Obviously, this relationship has effected my psychological development. If anything I believe it has given me a greater desire to grow and to heal. As a child I was very close to my father and it has been a difficult journey to realize that I cannot have a relationship with him.
In regards to children: I have never been pregnant. For a long time I didn’t believe I wanted children. I thought because of my past I would just “mess um’ up.” I was surprised to discover during the last year my maternal instincts are still alive and well; I do hope to see children in my future but not at the present time. In the last few years I have dreamt of little girls very often. I believe the little girl is perhaps a part of my past, my innocence – before my father-relationship became so tortured. I have never before (that I can recall) dreamt of a little boy.

The meaning of the word tool, stool and the thought that these men represent masculine figures in my life are not something I had considered. I was leaning towards animus. And I am still fuzzy on the boy being a tool in my relationship.

Your interpretation of dance hits it right on the head though I would say. Many unexpected things have occurred. Communication is fundamental. I have always believed that. I genuinely appreciate your thoughts Gerard.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 26, California

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

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Re: Breath

Sophia,
Thanks for the detailed response. As I have stated many times before, the Dream Forum is a learning place and the participation of those who post dreams is vital to those of us who wish to learn more about how dreams function. Your dream shows how experiences in life, both present and past, can intertwine with each other using the same symbolic language to address different but related aspects in your life.

As to your response. Gwyneth Paltrow would be a shadow figure if she possesses aspects that are opposite your persona. Otherwise she may be part of your dream simply because you have an interest, or perhaps identify with her in some way.

Cinderella is a shadow figure. She is ignored and neglected by her elder sisters. They go out into the world, but Cinderella is shut up indoors. This represents the contrast between the conscious ego (which relates to the outside world) and those parts of the unconscious that have not been allowed any part in one's conscious activity. However, Cinderella eventually escapes from her imprisonment and marries the Prince. This marriage symbolizes the joining together of conscious ego (Prince) and shadow (Cinderella), which is the end result of the penetration of the conscious mind by the unconscious and/or the penetration of the unconscious by consciousness. Symbolically - in myths and in dreams - consciousness is usually represented as male, the unconscious as female; and the sexual penetration of female by male is therefore a common symbol of the descent of consciousness into the dark cave-like depths of the unconscious. (Here is a splendid example of the difference between Freud and Jung: whereas for Freud all - nearly all - dream images were symbols of sexuality, Jung asks us to entertain the possibility that the sexual act itself may be a symbol pointing to something beyond itself.)


Your hugging Paltrow could be a recognition, or a need to recognize and accept, parts of you that have previously ignored or even repressed. The lost child symbology probably relates to you personally, an aspect that perhaps as a child was not given proper nourishment and now is revisited because of circumstances in your present day life. You spoke of your relationship with your father, his psychological and emotional abuse. This may be directed at that aspect of your life, the miscarriage being the death of undeveloped child seeking love and acceptance and instead receiving emotional abuse in its place. These experiences tend to go with you throughout your life and often have an unconscious control over your life.

In your dream you wrote about the contact between you and the unidentified man. This may symbolize both your father and the current relationship with your boyfriend. For your father the neck symbology may be mind to body, addressing the emotional abuse he put on you about moral values {giving in to the desires of the body}. As a child you may have tried to abide by his rule but as you grew older, and he grew more insistent and abusive, you pulled away from him. You probably can describe your father in terms of being an 'asshole', thus fitting with the dream.

But the symbology could very well fit with your current boyfriend also. The conflict over marriage may very well place him in the category of an 'asshole' if his attitude toward your feelings are negative. Plus he cheated on you thus reinforcing your own attitudes toward marriage and perhaps a trust in men. You are fortunate that the two of you can talk about it and thus defuse the situation before it returns to a real conflict.

Also this part is what I may have sensed in your dream having to do with personal aspects now occurring in your life. Unconsciously there will probably always be that distrust {from experience I have witnessed this is women, they tend not to forget}.

And the sexual content from your dream. You have stated {in your e-mail} that there was some sexual conflicts with your father when you were younger. I gathered this was the mental abuse, probably his insistence on the moral standards he wished you to live by but you found too restraining {if there were actual sexual abuse that would be the theme that is being addressed}.

The only aspect of the dream that is elusive is the little boy. This may represent an undeveloped or under-developed masculine aspect that is a result of the conflicts with your father as a child. This would be reinforced through past relationships where men were unfaithful. The bi-product could be a distrust in men, an unconscious attitude that resides within you and will not let you fully trust men {from time to time the seed of doubt rears it's ugly head'}.

If you will assimilate what I have stated in this post and compare it to your life, I believe you will begin to have a better understanding of the dream. I dare say that I am right on about the full meaning but if by chance I get close to the possible nature of the dream content as opposed to your real life experiences, I believe you will be able to put the pieces together. Thanks again for your detailed response and if you wish to comment further 'we' all will look forward to that.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 56

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

Re: Breath

I reflected on your interpretation of the original dream I posted. Indeed, the pieces began to come together. My boyfriend and I share a young male cat, our baby. In the past, when I discovered his infidelity, my boyfriend argued that I couldn’t leave because I would be breaking up our family. I hadn’t considered that piece until last night when I asked my cat for a kiss (a trick my boyfriend taught him) – I hadn’t realized the possibility that I could project my cat as a little boy. Once I considered the possibility the dream made complete sense.

I believe the recent arguments with my father have perhaps drudged up some insecurity and doubt about my relationship. Once I can push myself into “him” (my boyfriend) and really feel connected to our relationship (breath), perhaps again we will be able to dance again.

Thank you Gerard!!

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 26, California

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

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Re: Breath

Sophia,
Thanks for the response and clarification as to your 'little boy'. I can identify with him. I have several of my own, and also several feminine felines. As you stated, we are a family. And yes, they are just like kids.

It all comes clear once we put the pieces together. Looking back at your original post I can see where your 'Tom' fits perfectly. Perhaps you can't remember what was said while you were holding him because he is a cat. But the language of expression always comes through thus you automatically pick him up and play with him. Cats always seem to have that sad look.

Something you might want to ponder when you have some extra time. Not that it seems all that important. Jung tells us that dreams always have at least two meanings. One fits the ego life, the everyday routine that affects us in more than just a transitory way. The other addresses deeper aspects. If this is true {my experience shows that it is} , your little boy in the dream will have some other relationship. It could be something of recent experience. But often it reflects some past experience that left an impression on you. Is there any relationships to other 'little boys' in your life? Look back in your life and see what may be there.

Besides that, the little boy in your dream is surely your cat. And the whole relationship between you and your boyfriend seems to fit around it. And as far as your father and that relationship, the dream seems to be addressing that in a lesser way. So too perhaps the little boy, in a lesser way, and in a more distant past.

Hope the family does well,

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 56

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


stats from 7-14-10 to the present