Curious Dream

[Kachic]

My dream last night I was in a large mansion. Perhaps it was in the south or Colorado. There's something breezy and open about this place. It's late summertime and I am at this house to celebrate the owner's birthday. At first there are approx. 7-10 people. They are sitting on well-endowed cushioned couches and drinking glasses of red wine. I recognize them but cannot remember now that I am awake. I think the guys from "2 1/2 men".... but just Jon Cryer and the kid on the show. Only the kid is much younger, like 4 or 5. I don't see her, but I know Katie Holmes is there cos I am playing with Suri. In fact, all the children are flocking to me. Everyone else is on the porch drinking red wine in the fading sunlight, while I am on a bed in an adjoining playing and laughing with 5-6 children. I don't notice that there's a downstairs until Suri wants to walk around. When we do go downstairs, I see that there's many more people here celebrating. 100s more. It's night-time time and candles and the sounds of clinking are everywhere, as I am walking around. I don't seem to know anyone but don't feel out of place. I am noticing how old cottage the walls are for such a huge estate. The basement is some what shaped like a long, wide circle... very large and filled with plants and twinkle lights. I open a door, and suddenly I am mountain biking with my husband. He motions to me to follow him. I look down and I am on a steep inline of loose dirt and plants. I'm scared and not so sure I want to follow. I look up and see my husband biking on a seemingly non-existent trail along the incline. I am scared to follow him on the bike, but I see that he makes it down. The incline is shape somewhat like a bowl curving out to the right and then in front of me. It's like we are in a gigantic room, like a 30 ft. tall gym, filled with this loose dirt and plants. Far in front of me, at the bottom I see some sort of office and water with shore as I look straight down far off to my left. I decide the best way to make it down is to hold on to the rail on my bike and ease my way down on my butt and feet. I make it down, only to see my husband now beckoning me to go into the water. The water is dark, but very calm and I know for some reason its warm and inviting. He has pulled something out of a leather bag that he's taken into the water. I notice the symbols Xi Psi Delta, which I for some reason think says "Phi Kappa Psi" ... My husband is wading further out and still beckoning... his face holds a expression that he knows something I don't. I strip down to naked, only noticing my socks and shoes... I take another look up the incline from where I just came and back out to the water and my husband. There doesn't seem to be a wall as I look out to the water... only water for miles and miles. Yet when I look up to the left, I can see the door that I came from in the basement. I am naked but don't feel the cool air on my skin, nor seem to care that I have no clothes on. I only see my husbands face beckoning. So I follow.

and wake up.

When I woke up from this dream, I lay there and tried to figure it out. It seemed like something was trying to tell me something. That feeling exists today.

Any ideas?

[Athanor]

Just to start off by saying that especially with a striking dream like yours, it’s usually best to have extensive background information about the dreamer before attempting an interpretation. However, based on some fairly consistent dream motifs, a few general ideas can be tried out to see if they seem to click with your actual personal situation.

For example, dreams often start with an exposition to set a time and place as well as to introduce some main characters, just like in a play. I’m guessing that the opening part of your dream until the part where you start to go downstairs is an overall symbolical description of the current state of your life as a whole at this time.

The open breezy atmosphere and the large mansion tend to suggest that a certain attainment of ego goals has been reached in a successful manner. Perhaps there is even the slightest hint of being a little too self-satisfied about what has been achieved (presence of Katie Holmes).

A successful extraverted life might be hinted at by the crowds of people enjoying themselves and the children flocking to you in such happiness and content. But there might be an indication even early on in the dream that perhaps it’s time for a change and even a challenge. For instance, the cushy couches might symbolize a certain easeful approach to things overall. Also it’s late summer, another birthday has been reached, it’s getting dark, and there’s a lot of wine apparently being drunk, perhaps the latter representing an artificial seeking after “spirit” as opposed to the real thing.

Also, multiplicity in a dream (the huge crowd, the many children) is often a sign that an individual stance perhaps hasn’t been developed enough and needs to be worked at.

In this approach to your dream, Suri could represent a potential in yourself that needs to be developed, so she leads you lower down into your more unconscious and less developed side (the basement). A circle almost always involves the meaning of a greater wholeness and completeness of the dreamer being present as a necessary-to-be-developed potential.

Perhaps the challenge merely slightly hinted at before now stands forth in the striking and sudden image of a door leading to a steep incline. It’s possible that the image is emphasizing the need to go even further “down” into risky, unknown and undeveloped aspects of your personality that scare you as they do anyone else who faces a similar goal, that is, the need to help integrate as many parts of themselves into conscious life as is possible.

Your husband likely symbolizes what one school of psychology calls the “Animus”, an inner so-called “masculine” aspect of a woman. In “Death of a Woman”, analyst Jane Wheelwright wrote the following definition that can provide a hint about the nature of this inner figure although it might take some time to mull over each section of the definition and relate it to personal experiences of your own:

“Animus: The archetype in the female psyche that is the inherited pattern of potential experience of the male instinct.

This archetype underlies and is basic to a complex which is affected by the individual’s early experiences of men, primarily her father, male siblings, and the collective images of men provided by her cultural experience.

The images and affects [emotions] that attach to the complex express what is other than her female body-ego identity, such as her own unconscious maleness, the unconscious, the inferior function [for example, if a woman tends to move through life chiefly using emotions and evaluations, then her inferior function would tend to relate to the use of thinking and the intellect].

The animus assumes a generalized image of the individual’s male ideal, which strongly influences her selection of a mate.

Consciously related to, the animus – presented in dreams as a single figure or a group – functions as inspirator or bridge to the unconscious as source of creative, mental, or spiritual initiative and well-spring of potentiality for development. The animus functions as guide to and expedites the pursuit of impersonal endeavours.

When not consciously related to, the animus causes a woman to be opinionated, argumentative, rigid, controlling, and excessively critical of herself or others”



It appears that the image of your husband in the dream is that of an “inspirator” who is trying to lead you to your creative unconscious (the water) and a kind of “rebirth”.

It’s possible that the gym-size room and the office could tend to symbolize for example some old habits of the ego that could help to maintain a certain structured firm grip on things as other aspects of yourself are gradually explored.

The only connection I can suggest regarding Phi Kappa Psi is that, having been formed in the 1800’s, this fraternity’s tenets are very patriarchal, and perhaps taking the letters into the water somehow is meant to symbolize the need to transform them as part of your own exploration and transformation into a more feminine experience overall.

Being naked suggests the need to go back to basics as well as the idea of being born again (baptism) into a new attitude although of course not necessarily related in any way to outer religion.

Looking back at the high incline is perhaps suggesting that “going back” would be a regression since going up a steep hill in a dream is often a symbol of such an inadvisable inner route being taken.

The interpretation above is partly based on the assumption that you could be around your mid-thirties, an age at which the psyche often begins to present a striking dream or two that encourages the dreamer to realize that in general terms, the zenith of a productive life has been reached and there will now be a very slow but nonetheless inevitable decline. Often, the period of the second half of life is a time for developing other aspects of the personality that had to be left behind during the first half.

If this idea actually fits your personal situation, various books by analyst James Hollis could be helpful in reviewing what could be involved in developing an individual approach to this challenge.

As well, many women find analyst Marion Woodman’s approaches to the inner male figure and other issues to be very helpful. Her books can be browsed on a site like amazon.com for example, or if you’re interested, various articles and interviews etc. can be read at Marion Woodman Links

It might take some time for you to discover the true personal meaning of your dream and it’s very important for you to explore it carefully and thoroughly before coming to a decision, but I hope that the ideas above will be of some help in starting off.

[Jennings]

There appears to be two main aspects to your dream. One connected to celebrating an achievement, possibly an academic or a political one; it also highlights social class and status. The other is connected to a subsequential journey to which you are alien and reticent but follow the flow. It seems to involve travel including a rise in status and prestige but where you feel welcomed. You are aware that you have moved fast from the spot where you started; most of life's domestic responsibilities have been removed and you are enjoying the occasion or the journey. The dream could have connections to your husband or someone close to you whose encouragement has lead you to feel successful and more liberated. My guess is that you have gained an achievement and are on the threshold of a new adventure. If this reading happens to be close to the mark then well done. If it is, indeed, connected to your husband's career, then bon voyage!

[Jennings]

One is almost tempted to say here, come out from behind your mask Hillary; regretfully the dream is not a prediction; if it were I would be the first to make the wager. Obviously the presidential campaign is going to be a 'close run thing' between the femists movements and the coloured voters and the world is waiting with abated breath on its outcome. Whoever wins, it certainly will be a great day!

[Kachic]

Originally Posted by Athanor

The interpretation above is partly based on the assumption that you could be around your mid-thirties, an age at which the psyche often begins to present a striking dream or two that encourages the dreamer to realize that in general terms, the zenith of a productive life has been reached and there will now be a very slow but nonetheless inevitable decline. Often, the period of the second half of life is a time for developing other aspects of the personality that had to be left behind during the first half.

In fact, I am exactly in my mid-thirties. I find this interpretation pretty interesting, as many of the goals I worked towards, are now coming to pass. (marriage, buying house, job goals)

Originally Posted by Athanor

If this idea actually fits your personal situation, various books by analyst James Hollis could be helpful in reviewing what could be involved in developing an individual approach to this challenge.

As well, many women find analyst Marion Woodman’s approaches to the inner male figure and other issues to be very helpful. Her books can be browsed on a site like amazon.com for example, or if you’re interested, various articles and interviews etc. can be read at Marion Woodman Links

Thank you for the suggestion! I will check this out. Especially interesting, since my husband is indeed represent many of the "male sides" of myself. Do you think that suggests an inner yin/yang or male/female conflict on how Im handling decisions? Your post has given me many different areas that I didn't think of when I first started trying to self-analyze this dream.

[Kachic]

Originally Posted by Jennings

One is almost tempted to say here, come out from behind your mask Hillary; regretfully the dream is not a prediction; if it were I would be the first to make the wager. Obviously the presidential campaign is going to be a 'close run thing' between the femists movements and the coloured voters and the world is waiting with abated breath on its outcome. Whoever wins, it certainly will be a great day!

Nope, Im not Hillary. I'd have a LOT more money if I was!! I don't necessarily think this dream is prophetic overall for everyone, but it did seem like it was trying to tell me personally something... that I needed to do or that was going to happen.

[Athanor]

Hi again,

I think you’ll find that an inner yin/yang conflict does indeed involve so-called “feminine” and “masculine” energies which often are at war with each other but whose ultimate union provides a sense of completeness.

This smooth interaction of “male and female” can be seen early on in young children, but societies over the ages have seen the value of generally emphasizing sexual differences in order to best approach the first half of life.

In simpler times, a man generally left behind his feelings and a woman left behind thinking very much about the world in general. Later in the second half of life, the man would try to consciously salvage any emotions he had left, and a woman would attempt to think through her own beliefs to see if they were genuinely held by her as an individual.

Even in this grossly simplified summary of things, it’s important to remember that all along, a man didn’t really get rid of his emotions; they just intruded themselves uncontrollably at all the wrong times. Similarly, random thoughts and opinions would invade the woman and cause disruptions.

So the degree to which we can at least be aware of these less consciously-controlled parts of ourselves and slow down their more upsetting aspects, a more harmonious atmosphere can be reached in day-to-day relationships.

From the nature of the mature image of your husband in the dream, it looks like you have already reached a very high level of consciousness and control, so I’m sure that the future will be full of many satisfying inner adventures for you (and for him too!).

I hope you will enjoy exploring the work of James Hollis and Marion Woodman. Many of their books are quite slim, but are unexpectedly rich and complex. If you’d like to tackle interpreting your own dreams in more depth, analyst Robert Johnson’s “Inner Work” is a very reliable place to start as are books by analyst James Hall M.D.

Just to add that after posting my first reply to your dream, it also struck me that you had it just at the beginning of the year. If nothing very important stands out leading up to the dream that would have served to be a stimulus for it, it was likely the psyche’s natural affinity to being in touch with certain rhythms of nature such as the winter solstice and the new year with their symbolical connections with renewal and rebirth that caused it to present your dream at that time.

[Jennings]

Note the similarity between your dream and the recent win of Hilary's which keeps her in the race to the Whitehouse; I just thought that it was too coincidental not to be connected.