A bullet in the head

[shaman sun]

Hey folks.

I recently had a dream, (about two days ago) about a confrontation with a friend and I. We were standing in a room, perhaps around mid-day. The room was unfamiliar but generic. My friend tells me that everyone has to be going, but that I couldn't go.

For some reason I acknowledged this, just going along with the dream as we all usually do.

My friend then pulled a gun on me, and shot me in the head. I was confused as to why he'd need to kill me, simply because I couldn't join everyone who was "leaving?"

I seemed to survive the gunshot, tried to get to the hospital and such, but before I did I confronted my friend and told him, "you didn't need to shoot me in the head, you know! Just because I couldn't come with you!"

He didn't reply, just kinda stared ahead blankly.

Now to put this in context, I recently showed a piece of writing I had done one afternoon, exploring a lot of scientific and philosophical aspects of the evolution of society (I'm a sociologist). He (a neurologist) had shown his friend (a biologist), and the two of them had spent an hour or so picking apart the piece of writing. The next day, we went for a walk and he presented all of the criticisms, pretty harshly, but he kept reminding me he was my friend and was only being critical to help, and that I was "lucky" we were friends, because, "this piece of writing was...*bitter silence*"

Despite the reminder that this was a friendly criticism, it came across harshly and somewhat arrogantly, especially since it wasn't a formal piece of writing, more like a mental exercise! Towards the end of the critique, and our walk, he told me that I needed to study biology before we continued the discussion. Although I appreciated the criticism, the harshness of it and the "picking apart" of so many of the words, simply because they weren't in biological language, made me feel a bit overwhelmed. My writing is stronger for it, but I guess the event weighed heavily on me.

I think I was feeling guilt (the writing being poetic, vague, mystical) and pressure (study biology!, as well as judgement (condescension) by their criticism. I think I felt it was far too strong and, "to the T," or perhaps in my case, "to the bullet," and hence being shot...

What do you think? Or am I overlooking something? I normally don't have such violent dreams between friends.

[Wolfjk]

Originally Posted by shaman sun

Hey folks.

I recently had a dream, (about two days ago) about a confrontation with a friend and I. We were standing in a room, perhaps around mid-day. The room was unfamiliar but generic. My friend tells me that everyone has to be going, but that I couldn't go.

For some reason I acknowledged this, just going along with the dream as we all usually do.

My friend then pulled a gun on me, and shot me in the head. I was confused as to why he'd need to kill me, simply because I couldn't join everyone who was "leaving?"

I seemed to survive the gunshot, tried to get to the hospital and such, but before I did I confronted my friend and told him, "you didn't need to shoot me in the head, you know! Just because I couldn't come with you!"

He didn't reply, just kinda stared ahead blankly.

Now to put this in context, I recently showed a piece of writing I had done one afternoon, exploring a lot of scientific and philosophical aspects of the evolution of society (I'm a sociologist). He (a neurologist) had shown his friend (a biologist), and the two of them had spent an hour or so picking apart the piece of writing. The next day, we went for a walk and he presented all of the criticisms, pretty harshly, but he kept reminding me he was my friend and was only being critical to help, and that I was "lucky" we were friends, because, "this piece of writing was...*bitter silence*"

Despite the reminder that this was a friendly criticism, it came across harshly and somewhat arrogantly, especially since it wasn't a formal piece of writing, more like a mental exercise! Towards the end of the critique, and our walk, he told me that I needed to study biology before we continued the discussion. Although I appreciated the criticism, the harshness of it and the "picking apart" of so many of the words, simply because they weren't in biological language, made me feel a bit overwhelmed. My writing is stronger for it, but I guess the event weighed heavily on me.

I think I was feeling guilt (the writing being poetic, vague, mystical) and pressure (study biology!, as well as judgement (condescension) by their criticism. I think I felt it was far too strong and, "to the T," or perhaps in my case, "to the bullet," and hence being shot...

What do you think? Or am I overlooking something? I normally don't have such violent dreams between friends.

Hi,
The dream indicates that you had a bad headache in the sleep this dream happened in. It is obvious that the hassle over your paper and the criticism caused the headache in your sleep.
Cheers Wolfjk

[_sorry4u_]

me myself, except i was shooting myself, I remeber the gun in detail, a 38 ca snub nose revolver, with copper on the tips of the bullets, I also remeber the feeling of dying, then I woke up, with a "metal" taste in my mouth, I am guessing, dying is like waking up, dont know ?

[karmicresponse]

Dear writer: In viewing your post I do not think the gun incidentin the first segment is connected to the second segment wherein you were unduly criticised. At the moment I cannot intrepret the gun incident, but I will frequently revisit a post if my intuition wakes up at a later time. The second segment is ringing all kinds of alarm bells. Basically it appears you have creative talent and need a venue of sorts to compare notes with other creative people. When one friend comes down hard on you and you feel really hurt, it would suggest to me that you might need to expand your social network. Granted its a problem for everybody to meet people who are intelligent, well read and creative. I myself was kind of given over to a bookstore in Seattle Wa operated by the theosophical society (spiritual), there were always well read and creative people at that location. As you get further into both posting enteries and reading other peoples works, you will discover a few who have great intellectual curiosities, and its likely you will get to send private messages back and forth as well as play hop scotch with each other in posting replies. Two of the folks I like a lot because they have a lot of electricity and basic courtesy are Mwyna and Nfojunkie. You might want to view some of their posts and replies to posts. Maybe a few months down the road you will discover other people with the same qualities. So you could return the favor and clue me in. Thanks for joining Dreamcentral.

[NfoJunkie]

Originally Posted by karmicresponse

As you get further into both posting enteries and reading other peoples works, you will discover a few who have great intellectual curiosities, and its likely you will get to send private messages back and forth as well as play hop scotch with each other in posting replies. Two of the folks I like a lot because they have a lot of electricity and basic courtesy are Mwyna and Nfojunkie. You might want to view some of their posts and replies to posts. Maybe a few months down the road you will discover other people with the same qualities. So you could return the favor and clue me in. Thanks for joining Dreamcentral.

Thanks for the kind words, KarmicResponse. I still have much to learn, but in trying to help others figure out their dreams by sharing my thoughts on the posts that grab my attention, I've learned a lot in the past month or so (since joining these forums), so it's been totally symbiotic (mutually beneficial) in many ways. For the most part I just browse for dreams that grab my attention, and whenever I post, I spend a lot of time reading, thinking, re-reading, and looking up things I wonder about, so I help where I can but I only end up with enough time for a few posts every day. If anyone has read my other posts and sends me a private message asking for my thoughts on their dream or questions, I'll gladly help, but since many other members here often notice things I might have missed & usually have interesting things to add, I'd prefer to keep conversations on the Public Threads wherever possible & for Private Messages to only be used to discuss things too off-topic to start a thread, or things you wouldn't be comfortable sharing publicly.

Originally Posted by karmicresponse

In viewing your post I do not think the gun incidentin the first segment is connected to the second segment wherein you were unduly criticised

Because 2nd segment began with the words "Now, to put this in context" I believe the first segment was the dream and the second was a recent event in Shaman_Sun's waking life that the dream seems to be referring to.

Shaman_Sun From the 2nd segment, it seems like you two have been friends for awhile and sometimes friends do grow apart as years pass. We all have different ideas on how things work and what life's for, & as we each pursue our own we sometimes end up with little in common anymore. Your paper seemed to touch a nerve with your friend (discuss something not compatable with his beliefs). Do you keep in frequent contact with this friend or not so much anymore, and if so has he recently been acting this way in general towards you, or just when you discuss certain sensitive subjects? Saying something like "You're lucky I consider you a friend because this piece of writing was..." (I wonder if you would have had this dream if he had finished this sentence) seems to be a warning not to pursue the subject, but sometimes we can agree to disagree and move on. When Jung met Freud (his role-model & inspiration in his line-of-work) & presented him with his ideas, it was a very similar situation as yours (from what I remember hearing in this 3-part documentary about Jung ), but they still were friends for years despite their different views. I think the dream may be saying that nothing can be gained from either pursuing the subject, or even continuing the friendship (if his actions continue to contradict his words)... but that's for you to determine, not me. Sounds like a very interesting paper. I wish you luck in your field and in figuring out this dream.

[unclesirbobbyrobson]

Well dreams refer to the violence in our own thoughts. Bullets can link to stringly held feelings. They are only symbols.

---------------

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Dream dictionary symbols - How to analyse and interpret dreams

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http://www.dreamsymbolism.info

[IrisRavenstar]

Hi shaman sun,

Yes, I think you already understand your dream fully! Dreams often use common expressions... your friends "shot down" your paper, your ideas. A dream takes that phrase and makes it literal. Often, someone will dream someone stabs them in the back... the expression means someone is gossiping about them behind their back, and that's what the dream means as well. We need to learn to recognize these common expressions when they're acted out, and that solves a lot of the puzzles!

Love & Light, Iris