Fire in the Attic

[katydid]

Had this dream a couple of months ago. Not all of my dreams are this detailed, so it was interesting to me. This is a dream where I can't see the forest for the trees. . .so much going on I am having trouble turning it into an interpretation.

I was at a house, a big house, like a mansion. It has the feel of a vacation. There were a lot of other people there, but I don't think it was a hotel. It was red brick. All of the sudden there was some sort of panic and then we all got the message that there was a fire in the attic. There was a woman in the attic who was a little nuts and she had started the fire. She stayed in the attic; it was her intention to burn with the house. No one was worried or concerned about her, just the fire but everyone felt they had enough time to pack and leave the area.

Everyone started to pack their things up and started in the kitchen. I was packing up potato chips and pretzel bags when my youngest son said he left something in his bedroom and wanted me to get it for him. I remember I needed to ask permission first and then was worried that I had to take him with me up the stairs but I didn't want to be seperated from him. I had a very creepy feeling going up the stairs and just wanted to move as fast as I could. The feeling was almost overwhelming and IRL I can conjure it up and it almost makes me sick to my stomach! Dread, fear and panic all combined into one.

The stairs were very wide and made out of a very dark wood and covered with oriental rugs. There was all kinds of ornate detail in the woodwork and I was thinking what a shame it will be to have this beautiful house all burned up. I swear I could smell smoke, but couldn't see it. I could visualize the attic and the timbers of the frame of the house starting to burn.

We make it to the hallway and we start running down the hall. I notice all of the doors in the hall are closed and I get so engrossed in getting to the end, I forget to go into the bedroom and check for whatever it was my son left behind. We get to the end of the hallway and come to a balcony but I discover there is a lake off of the balcony and no stairs down. I had thought there was a back staircase but it wasn't there; but there is a speedboat. We jump in but don't start it we just drift off into the lake which suddenly becomes the back yard of the mansion. The boat drifts down to a fence, bounces off of the fence and heads back toward the house.

As I approach the house I look up and I can see the crazy lady in the attic clearly, the flames are getting hotter and bigger and have no compulsion to help her at all, in fact I am more engrossed in the beams burning and trying to figure out how much time we have left. I am feeling in the dream like "what is done is done". I head back to the kitchen and this time I am packing up bottles of pop as we have a long car ride. Orange and Grape Crush. The last thought I remember having in the dream was how messy and dirty the kitchen was but how it really won't make any difference because of the fire.

Any ideas?

[Wolfjk]

Your subconscious knows what is happening in your sleep and tries to help you to have a good nights sleep.
This is a complicated dream, however it has a simple aim: to keep you from waking up too early by diverting your attention from what is happening in your sleep. There are a couple of references to the cause of the dream:

I was packing up potato chips and pretzel bags

The above quote indicates that potato chips give you heartburn or indigestion!
The second reference:

I head back to the kitchen and this time I am packing up bottles of pop as we have a long car ride. Orange and Grape Crush. The last thought I remember having in the dream was how messy and dirty the kitchen was but how it really won't make any difference because of the fire.

My guess is that you had indigestion and heartburn in your sleep and your dream was trying to take your mind off it by entertaining you with this complex dream!
Cheers Wolfjk

[katydid]

Thanks Wolfjk but heartburn is not anything I ever have to deal with (guess I eat things that are right for me!) But thank you for your comments.

Anyone else out there key into any symbolism?

[Shirah]

Hello Katydid...

I believe your dream is about having so much to do but very little time to do. I believe your main worry from this dream is losing precious time with your son as you go about your daily activities. Several statements that you made indicate that you always rush around and want things just to get done. What you missed upstairs was the actual reason you went upstairs to begin with because you just wanted to get to the end. You also mentioned time a lot. This indicates to me that you are often stressed out from daily responsibilities. You must be a person who wears many hats. You may even believe that the way you are rushing through things in life without stopping to experience and enjoy things is dreadful and not what you wanted or planned. Schedule in quality time with your son so that you do not feel like you are missing out on his important milestones and so you too can enjoy life as you orginally planned.

[katydid]

Thanks Shirah for your comments. . .they make sense in how things happen in real life around here! I appreciate your help. I do have two kids in real life and one is already a teenager and way too busy for more than a moment or two of quality time. The younger son that was in the dream is almost 10 and not getting any younger! I will pay close attention to the quality time issue. Good thoughts and good advice, thanks!

[sailrmc]

<I have come back to the beginning to explain that your dream at first, seems a bit casual in it's approach, but as it goes on, I realize that it is addressing something of major concern, to say the least. Just below I have described the technique that I have used and why the analysis is repetitive and dramatic. You are being told that something that you are all but blocking from your memory, is affecting your waking life in a dramatic way. Quite simply you need to aggressively seek resolution. The event being commented on is not blatantly spelled out but the symbolism leads down a particular path that points to eventual self destruction if not addressed. I do not know you or anything about you and I am putting my neck on the block by saying the things that I have read in this dream. Only you will know what fits, but there is an indication that the event being commented on, was so traumatic that you are or were attempting to block it from your memory. Your efforts to keep it a secret are not working. I mean to say that your mind is telling you that you can try to escape from the memory but in reality you cannot forget. Whatever this is, affects you greatly...etc. Read on, and I will be happy to address your questions on this forum, on email, or pm...you choose.>

Here we go:
The dream represents you and how something that has occurred in your life continues to affect you to this day. While a house depicts you and how you see yourself a mansion shows something a bit more....it shows the same thing but with somewhat of a different emphasis. It shows ourself as we are, but with features still latent, (something that is part of who we are but something that lies dormant until it is brought to mind by the subconscious mind).
At this point I have not read your dream nor have I read any other comments about your dream, but I see by it's form that it will be beneficial to evaluate it a line at a time or segment by segment. When dreams are analyzed in this manner the revelations may sound trite (emphasized over and over) but this will be the emphasis of your mind (and the way that you have written it out).

So we already know that this is about you and how you see yourself and it likely concerns something that may well be a comment on what hopefully is a temporary situation. This will need to be determined. All of the people present, represent aspects of you...each person symbolizes a small but significant aspect of the many intricate pieces or personalities that that make up your total psyche. There is trouble in paradise so to speak. One of the facets of your persona is pretty upset and gets a good portion of your psyche riled up. Now this aspect within you is so riled up that she just soon take all aspects of your make up with her as she self distructs...this part that is upset has the mindset that it does not matter if your psyche self destructs. Although your emotions are going to self destruct soon (likely a day or two before you had the dream) this dream is a comment about some situation that has been building for quite sometime. The parallel story line would be equivalent to you getting angry in real life, (loosing your cool) and the first thing that happens is that you do not care about how you react...you want to be heard or understood but there is somewhat of a domino affect going on within you...you are just about to loose it. One action or reaction to that which troubles you is that your creativity has all but shut down (now this could refer to something that you put a regular effort into or OR it could possibly be showing that your sexual drive is one of the first things that shut down (as a result of whatever is deeply affecting you). What ever it turns out to be, you are being told that it has affected you to the core...so this is pretty bad situation. I may have forgotten what the specific meaning of foods such as potato chips or pretzels (in the context shown), but it has to do with a process or ritual and so I will say that some ritual or process of the mind has been changed...there is something that you do not want to be associated with (because of your mindset of late). The indication is given, that what ever is being commented on now...is or WAS a normal and recurring event in your life and now just the thought of it turns your stomach. It is important to make this association...as you have been greatly affected and it has really changed other areas of your life as a result. You have come to a point of avoiding what ever is driving the emotions that incubate this dream.
The part of the dream that shows the stairs to be of dark wood and oriental rugs shows that the depths of you mind all the way back to ancestral or the origin is at stake ...showing that you are on the point of having a meltdown that will negate wisdom of the ages that resides within you (meaning that you are being affected to the very core). Still there is no indication as to what has caused this emotional meltdown, but it has been a long time coming ...it sounds very significant (even keeping in mind that the subconscious mind tends to overstate things a bit). I can see why this dream has gotten your attention...back to the dream. You are on fire, a serious fire lives within you (figuratively speaking of course) including the important framework. Whatever this is about you are eager for it to run it's course so that you may go on...but rather than deal with it you look for an easy way out. Be sure to place major emphasis on the fact that you are really struck by how much will go to waste...how much will be permanently or irreversibly ruined. (We are talking about your mind here). All doors are closed to you (meaning that your mind will have to deal with whatever is happening to you emotionally). It does not want you to find a way out, it purposely entraps you so that you cannot avoid dealing with whatever is to be the problem. You find a way out. You hope for resolution to whatever ails you but the avenue that you have sought to this point has not allowed you to release your feelings and emotions that are burning in your mind. You are holding something inside that threatens you to the core...it can tear you down and you know it. The part of the dream about the speedboat being trapped in the back yard etc. has to do with this memory and or situation that you need to deal with. It is trapped in your mind...it is something that you do not like to discuss and one might all but consider it a secret that you keep hidden away, but it does ping around like a pinball in a high energy machine.
There is no doubt that you have encountered a traumatic event that needs resolution but the indication is, that once again, you will be able to escape the dirty task of dealing with it. Your biggest concern is that you are curious as to what kind of permanent damage it will end up causing to you...the damage you fear is heavy emotional damage that is not repairable. There are details that point to abuse of some kind (there are specifics that I will not discuss in this forum but I will be glad to address via email or pm). You are aware of this but you have blocked memories and prior attempts,on the part of your dreaming mind, that would allow you to find resolution that could help you greatly.
Again, I mention that the subconscious mind does get a bit overly dramatic from time to time. It tends to overstate things but in this case I can tell you that what threatens your psyche is major and needs to be dealt with.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated by me.
sailrmc

[katydid]

Sailrmc,
Thank you and I need to digest your response and collect my thoughts on what you have said before I can properly respond. I appreciate your in-depth anaylysis and this is what I was looking for as this dream seemed so much more significant than many of my dreams and just keeps sticking with me. I just wanted to make sure and publicly aknowledge your work and I will either email or pm soon.
Thanks again,
Katydid

[unclesirbobbyrobson]

Well it is a dream with many symbols. Its often best to reduce it to the major ones. Mansions and big houses tend to link to issues involving other people. It shows the world shaping and pushing you in a certain direction. Dreams to me link very much to the day before. So link to some highly involved situation involving you and others.

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With experience you can start to understand how dreams work. The basic rule is this - if something big happened the previous day then you can almost guarantee that you will dream about it. So this is an ideal way in which to study how your dreams work. So if you had an argument with a trusted friend the day before then its likely that your dream about a dog biting you it directly linked to this.

My own website contains many such dreams which it is felt are understood. So from this bank of dreams symbolic meanings can be explored. These dream studies have shown that dream symbols have many and varied meanings. They can have a positive and also a negative meaning. The symbols may have several different usage's. In fact its possible to say that dreams use symbols in the way that people use words. Do not think that one symbol has one simple meaning. So when a soldier appears in your dreams try to think how that soldier can in some way connect with your thoughts. Could the soldier represent hardship in the way that soldiers have to endure hardship whilst undergoing warfare. If so think of ways in which your mind would use the word hardship right now. Was the previous day a real struggle? Did someone mention how things have been really hard recently? Try to make any association with that word. But remember that a soldier may represent something other than hardship. Soldiers can represent rules and the need to be disciplined. So again try to see how rules and discipline feature in your current mindset. Has someone been trying to instill into you a set of rules and the need for discipline? If so the dreams meaning may connect to that. If not then try to make some other association. Do the same with all the symbols in the dream. Finally see if you can get various symbolic meanings to fit together in some consistent form. Try various ideas out.

These pages are especially helpful in showing you how to interpret dreams

Dream symbolism and dream dictionary interpretation - How to interpret dreams Interpreting dreams
Dream symbolism - How to use dream symbols Triggers for dreams
Dream dictionary - A modern and well researched dream dictionary showing how symbols can be interpreted in practical analysis Dream dictionary

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