What Am I Giving Up?

The Dream: I have a baby. Another woman desperately wants one so I give it to her. I worry a little about what I've done, but when see how very tenderly the woman treats the infant I feel the child will be well cared for. Then another troublesome thought: The baby has been adopted. How will she bond with anyone after all these changes?

Interpretation: I feel that I should give away some part of myself that I treasure (the baby) to fulfill another's need. I trust the person to tenderly care for this part of me, yet I soon question whether I've neglected my responsibility by relinquishing it. This part has been adopted, implying that it is something I've consciously chosen. The unconscious warns that giving it away to another's care might hamper its development.

Don't Mask the Maroon

The Dream: A dream of abstract images. One is of a sequined, sparkling 3D mask in shiny maroon. The other translated a painting I am working on into abstract shapes.

Interpretation: This dream invites me to stay in touch with the earthiness of the feminine. My mask is maroon, the reddish brown color of menstrual blood yet sparkling, a hint that what women used to call “the curse” has its own inner energy. The painting that is abstracted is of Pomona, the goddess of fruit (fruitfulness, reproduction). In the dream I see these images as marvelous, a heads-up from the unconscious that my earthly, physical self is a wonderful thing. If I want to be complete (in 3D, fully dimensional) I need to live in all parts of myself, not only the spiritual and the intellectual.

The Twins

This dream highlights an inner conflict that is resolved in a surprising way.
The Dream: There are two women who are very different: one is brazen, free, and experimental; the other prim and conformist. These women operate undercover; they are spies for opposing sides. Their true identities are revealed when they whip off their disguises and it's clear they are identical twins. Their apparent differences have fooled everyone; in actuality they are very much together. The opposites they assumed were a part of their disguise.

Interpretation: The dream tells me about two sides of myself that appear to be at odds—different in every way and working for opposing forces. And yet, once their disguises are removed, it becomes clear there is no conflict here. That the true identities of the twins, once their outer trappings are removed, are the same—identical--tells me that what I consciously see as opposing traits are only so on a superficial level, at least at this point in my life. If I were once torn between polarities, that is no longer the case. My two halves are now very much together. I can be prim and brazen at the same time! The dream gives me the insight that qualities we think of as “opposites” can live in harmony, and that our inner core of being can be far more complex than I realized.

Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

This dream seems to say, "Hang in there! It will be okay."
The Dream: I'm driving through a long tunnel that turns out to be an enclosed bridge. Frosted glass windows, simple and contemporary in design, light its interior. I think the enclosure is never going to end, and then it does, opening through an arch onto a rural scene.

Interpretation: The tunnel evokes a birth canal, and the fact that it's a bridge reinforces the idea that I'm moving from one state of being to another. The frosted glass implies that while something is being illuminated, giving me a new understanding, what it is isn't perfectly clear at the moment. That the style of the window is contemporary tells me that what is happening now is instrumental in the transition, rather than something from the past. The passage seems to take a long time (I think it's never going to end), but the result, when it comes, is natural (the rural scene).

The Mute Child

The Dream: I've picked up the phone. I know it is my daughter and that she's upset. She says nothing. “Alice?! Alice?!!” I say. I know the news will be bad, but perhaps not as bad as she thinks; I know she tends to be very emotional. She still says nothing, trying to collect her emotions so she can speak. I awaken in fear, as from a nightmare.

Interpretation: When I pick up the phone there is, in a sense, no one there. This dialog is with myself. My daughter represents my own inner child who is unable to express her strong feelings. The dream tells me that she is trying to collect (gather together) her emotions so that she can speak (express them). These emotions are overwhelming to me, so strong that they feel like a nightmare. I awaken before I can confront them. The dream does not resolve the emotional difficulty, but it does call me on it.

I'm Stalled

The Dream: Mother and I are in an area of Manhattan that we don't know. We need a toilet, find one, and go in. As I use one of the stalls I realize the one next to me is a shower. I think it's nice, and progressive, that the city provides a place where the indigent can bathe. A woman takes advantage of this, and soon I'm getting sprayed with water coming over the stall divider. This is not pleasant, but I'm temporarily stuck where I am.

When I finish using the toilet I leave the stall in search of my mother. I don't see her, and I wander in circles yelling, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”

Interpretation: I'm stuck (in a stall) as I try to release some pent up emotion (relieve myself: go to the toilet). The water that splashes me represents unconscious material coming into consciousness, and while it isn't pleasant, I must endure it. The dream emphasizes the importance of this process by pointing out that the shower is for the indigent (someone in need). The little child within me cries for her mother as I get in touch with the well of grief I feel over her death.

A New Blend

The Dream: I am in a Goodwill thrift shop. I see one of mother's tablecloths. In waking life it's a springtime floral, but in the dream I see it as a Xmas pattern. I am excited to buy it. Clark says, “You gave it to Goodwill and now you're buying it back.” I buy the tablecloth as well as a blender with another motif that I think has a Christmas theme, although in waking life it's my nonseasonal china pattern, Castle Garden. I'm very happy about these purchases and excited for Christmas to come so I can use them, aware that I haven't felt this way for years. I'm so pleased with these things that I put them out when I get home, and someone points out that it's spring (or summer), and I have a long time to wait. Nevertheless, I think that once the drudgery of Thanksgiving is over I'll put out these Christmas items and prepare for the season. I look forward to this with happy anticipation.

Interpretation: In this dream I get close to resolving my inner ambivalence toward my mother. Christmas represents a new spiritual birth, and this particular birth blends together (the decorated blender) the things my mother gave me (the floral tablecloth) with my current life (my china pattern: something beautiful but fragile). I embrace this gift of goodwill that I had previously rejected (given away). There's still some drudgery to get through (the feelings of obligation symbolized by Thanksgiving: I must, everlastingly, thank her), but I can look forward to resolving these feelings as time goes on (with the change of the season).