RAT FISHING! And other dreams with questionable significance

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

TeaDidikai

Vertigo,

I personally have a different take on your dream.

(I'm into a slightly modified form of Jungian symbolism)

So- if we look at the house as a symbol of the self, we note that the building itself is of your grandparents but you liken it as your own. I would suggest that such would imply that you are comforted by your relationship with them and hold their guidence as an important influence in your life.

You're playing outside of this, but still on your property, your "home turf" as it were. So you're exploring something beyond the bones of your self image.

The fact that you are younger could represent an ideal image of yourself before the "weight of the world" was placed upon your adult self. You're running and playing- playing is often an expression of whims and can be seen as "mis-spent" time, or more likely in this case- it is an expression of freedom, compounded with younth- which allows one to feel unsullied by the world around you.

The arm with the knife stabs you- it breaks the flesh, and under the flesh is the reality of what we are- and it is messy. It also took out your leg- which is the foundation of movement (progression along the path?) and put a stop to your running and playing.

It may also point directly at a specific trama that affected you the most. It's a bit personal, so I'll PM you with the meaning that comes to mind so as not to offend you.

I got your PM, and I don't believe anything like that happened in my life. But, I do appreciate your insight.

The ironic thing is what you posted doesn't describe my life when I had the dream, but my life as it is right now. Growing up, moving away from home, forced to mature, etc.

It's too bad I can't remember much from my childhood or anything that was going on when I had the dream. Maybe it was something very simple that brought this dream, like starting grade school.  

[patch99329]

Last night I had a weird dream.

I was in a MASSIVE golden temple with an enemy (I was like lara croft xD) and we were going to race to the top of this temple by climbing up ropes.
I had my friend lydia to help me and hold the rope, but she had knotted it to herself in a really unsafe way. I had to make my enemy wait while I tied a double figure of 8 knot in my rope (I used to be a rock climber btw). The rope was actually more like a shoelace eek
I finally reached the top and got to what should have been the 'treasure'. Instead, this massive voice boomed out from nowhere saying 'Welcome, shadow ninjas' and me along with several other people and some large flags were suspended magically above the floor. As this voice spoke to us (it was obviously mistaken as to who we were. I think the voice believed we were these 'shadow ninjas'.) we were gently tossed upside down and side to side in a repetetive motion.
When the voice had spoken, we were released and a man came forward, a monk. He was evil and for some reason I HAD to get away; and I just knew the layout of the temple. I turned and ran through two grand wooden doors (They must have bee about a hundred feet high) Into what was meant to be a library. Instead it was more like a colossal golden amphitheatre, in which I sprinted down hundreds upon hundreds of stairs; worried I'd fall at ay moment.
But I didn't, and when I escaped the temple I was pleasantly surprised to find a small group of my friends, who were going to go up in a cable car to a mountain top swimming baths. The pools were only big enough for 2 people in each, but when we were up there we signed some odd petitions and sent them away to the golden temple.
eek

It was quite a graphic dream, the feeling of being suspended and the sheer awesome-ness of the temple were really obvious.  

[Fiddlers Green]

I laughed.
The entire dream.
It was like the Intro to Paranoia Agent.
I just stood there laughing.  

[TeaDidikai]

Vertigo_Kiwi

I got your PM, and I don't believe anything like that happened in my life. But, I do appreciate your insight.

Thank goodness- I am very glad to hear I was wrong on that one.

Quote:

The ironic thing is what you posted doesn't describe my life when I had the dream, but my life as it is right now. Growing up, moving away from home, forced to mature, etc.

It's too bad I can't remember much from my childhood or anything that was going on when I had the dream. Maybe it was something very simple that brought this dream, like starting grade school.

Could very well have been.

I make a distinction between "Sacred Dreams" and common ones and apply different tools to understanding them.

Best of luck with all that is going on right now.  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

TeaDidikai

Vertigo_Kiwi

I got your PM, and I don't believe anything like that happened in my life. But, I do appreciate your insight.

Thank goodness- I am very glad to hear I was wrong on that one.

Quote:

The ironic thing is what you posted doesn't describe my life when I had the dream, but my life as it is right now. Growing up, moving away from home, forced to mature, etc.

It's too bad I can't remember much from my childhood or anything that was going on when I had the dream. Maybe it was something very simple that brought this dream, like starting grade school.

Could very well have been.

I make a distinction between "Sacred Dreams" and common ones and apply different tools to understanding them.

Best of luck with all that is going on right now.

How can you tell the difference?

Plus, just what is a sacred dream? Does it involve deities, necessarily, or what?  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

Incidentally, guys, what are your thoughts on those 'Dream Dictionary' things?

According to Dream Moods, rats are symbolic of doubts, guilt, or envy, or perhaps revulsion. Fishing indicates that you're confronting and bringing up repressed emotions, and ice fishing in particular is for confronting difficult feelings - not that I was ice fishing, but I was just sort of standing over that hole in the street.

A dimly lit lamp, like the green one in the dream, means that I'm being overwhelmed by my emotions and I have lost the ability to find my own way. The color green indicates hope, growth, and serenity, and is symbolic of the fight for independence and recognition - and dark green represents an imbalance in masculine and feminine principles. A chandelier (which the lamp sort of was, since it was all hanging from the ceiling) represents a bright future.

Old, run-down houses are meant to signify old beliefs, old attitudes. (On a side note, the house in the dream was reminiscient of the house belonging to an old friend of mine, who I no longer talk to - and I was a very different person back when I was friends with her).

...Overall, doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. A bunch of the ideas on their own fit very well, but the way they're put together seems contradictory.  

[jaden kendam]

Kalyani Srijoi

Incidentally, guys, what are your thoughts on those 'Dream Dictionary' things?

I do not take much stock in them. Sometimes they fit just one image and not the rest of the dream in what it adds up to be. Other times the definitions just do not make any sense. I put very little stock in most of my dreams. Like for instance, this morning I dreamt that I was in a logging camp that cannibalized the townspeople. Big whoop on the dream dictionary for that.

Kalyani Srijoi

According to Dream Moods, rats are symbolic of doubts, guilt, or envy, or perhaps revulsion.

Case in point. If you were hanging the rats from lights after fishing for them, it seems like it would indicate that have confronted your fears, and are dealing with them. The lights, not sure if they have any sufficient meaning beyond where you were hanging up your fears. The woman could be a guid, a spirit who was kin, a spirit who knew your kin, or just some woman you had once seen and you later forgot. Doesnt seem like she was there to harm you, but maybe help you face your fears. The old house, could just be a place that you go in your dreams to get away from everything or it could be reminicient of your past and how you are hanging your fears in there so that you would not have to deal with them anymore. As for the whole in the ground leading to the sewer, that could be that you were bottling up your fears, and the woman, and her "kids", helped you open it up and deal with them.

Damn that was too long for a Sunday night.  

[patch99329]

I dreamt I was on a lime green rollercoaster. It was the best damn rollercoaster ever. It was really twisty and went on for ages and ages. Then suddenly at the end the track forked off, and the 2 different rollercoaster vehicles went down seperate tracks. The rollercoaster flew off the end of the track and the rollercoaster was left suspended by a bungee(sp?). When we got off (me and my friends) instead of looking at those snapshot photo thingies, we had to fill in a review of the coaster.

I'm pretty sure it's representative of something, but I'm not sure what it is yet.

--
In addition, I often dream that I am in a marketplace, it's always the same one. It's indoors with mustard yellow walls and some of the stall fronts are painted in rainbow colours.. It's dark, dingy and there isn't much space to walk; the air is also sometimes full of what looks like cigarette or incense smoke, but it dosen't smell.
Yesterday I dremt I was here with my dad drinking beer and my neighbours were nearby; I was bringing them beer too eek  

[Lotus Poem]

Kalyani Srijoi

Incidentally, guys, what are your thoughts on those 'Dream Dictionary' things?

According to Dream Moods, rats are symbolic of doubts, guilt, or envy, or perhaps revulsion. Fishing indicates that you're confronting and bringing up repressed emotions, and ice fishing in particular is for confronting difficult feelings - not that I was ice fishing, but I was just sort of standing over that hole in the street.

A dimly lit lamp, like the green one in the dream, means that I'm being overwhelmed by my emotions and I have lost the ability to find my own way. The color green indicates hope, growth, and serenity, and is symbolic of the fight for independence and recognition - and dark green represents an imbalance in masculine and feminine principles. A chandelier (which the lamp sort of was, since it was all hanging from the ceiling) represents a bright future.

Old, run-down houses are meant to signify old beliefs, old attitudes. (On a side note, the house in the dream was reminiscient of the house belonging to an old friend of mine, who I no longer talk to - and I was a very different person back when I was friends with her).

...Overall, doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. A bunch of the ideas on their own fit very well, but the way they're put together seems contradictory.

I have a few but I find them not very useful and sometimes downright silly. One definition of a symbol in a dream doesn't work for everyone or every dream.

I dream about being in the afterlife a lot but it's different everytime. Once it was like in beetlejuice but more boring lol, with a grey waiting room and a bored secretary and all that. Another time it was an alcove on the edge of an endless ocean. Inside the little alcove were two doors one on each side and the walls and everything were done in these ornate golden carvings. Also the ocean had talking dolphins in it. I also actually died in a dream once. smile I tend to have a much more interesting sleeping life than my waking one lol.  

[queertastrophy]

Kalyani Srijoi

Incidentally, guys, what are your thoughts on those 'Dream Dictionary' things?

According to Dream Moods, rats are symbolic of doubts, guilt, or envy, or perhaps revulsion. Fishing indicates that you're confronting and bringing up repressed emotions, and ice fishing in particular is for confronting difficult feelings - not that I was ice fishing, but I was just sort of standing over that hole in the street.

A dimly lit lamp, like the green one in the dream, means that I'm being overwhelmed by my emotions and I have lost the ability to find my own way. The color green indicates hope, growth, and serenity, and is symbolic of the fight for independence and recognition - and dark green represents an imbalance in masculine and feminine principles. A chandelier (which the lamp sort of was, since it was all hanging from the ceiling) represents a bright future.

Old, run-down houses are meant to signify old beliefs, old attitudes. (On a side note, the house in the dream was reminiscient of the house belonging to an old friend of mine, who I no longer talk to - and I was a very different person back when I was friends with her).

...Overall, doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. A bunch of the ideas on their own fit very well, but the way they're put together seems contradictory.

To quote Freud: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Rats could just be there because that's what your mind regurgitated for whatever reason. Same with the old house, the green light, etc.

And even if you feel that every element in your dream is symbolic of something, I've found it better to sit down and figure it out myself, than turn to one of those dream dictionaries. They seem to just cause more confusion, and usually don't make sense.  

[TeaDidikai]

Kalyani Srijoi

How can you tell the difference?

Practice and testing for the most part. I'm pretty good with lucid dreaming and I use that as a tool quite often.

Quote:

Plus, just what is a sacred dream? Does it involve deities, necessarily, or what?

Not always. Some traditions have very specific rituals that are done prior to the dream. Some cultures also use specific tonics, herbs and infusions.

My tradition isn't quite so formal when it comes to such.

The most recent Sacred Dream involved some of my departed family and a very special animal.

Some Sacred Dreams have rituals designed to draw you to specific aspects of your path. Key symbols and guided meditations before one falls asleep seem to be common in generic neo-pagan practices that I am familiar with.

A number of individuals have told me about being in a "normal" dream and then "yanked" into a Sacred Dream- the jarring feeling was distinct and the dream provided some darn near miraculous insights and tools.

I don't feel like I am answering your question very well, but if it makes sense- great. If not, let me know and I'll try to do better.  

[patch99329]

I dreamt about a departed relative today. Which is odd because he died at least 10 years ago. My great uncle bill.

He had come to visit me and my grandparents, to tell us about this experiences in vietnam in the air force.
The thing is, he was actally posted there for quite a while, despite being british. He'd never say what he did, and to be honest; I don't think anyone will know for another few decades. My dad has a fair idea of what he did, and had quizzed him on it before. But he'd never say.

In the dream, he acknowledged the point about my dad. He was also about 30 years younger than i'd ever seen him, in lightweight clothes one would wear in hot climates.  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

TeaDidikai

Kalyani Srijoi

How can you tell the difference?

Practice and testing for the most part. I'm pretty good with lucid dreaming and I use that as a tool quite often.

Quote:

Plus, just what is a sacred dream? Does it involve deities, necessarily, or what?

Not always. Some traditions have very specific rituals that are done prior to the dream. Some cultures also use specific tonics, herbs and infusions.

My tradition isn't quite so formal when it comes to such.

The most recent Sacred Dream involved some of my departed family and a very special animal.

Some Sacred Dreams have rituals designed to draw you to specific aspects of your path. Key symbols and guided meditations before one falls asleep seem to be common in generic neo-pagan practices that I am familiar with.

A number of individuals have told me about being in a "normal" dream and then "yanked" into a Sacred Dream- the jarring feeling was distinct and the dream provided some darn near miraculous insights and tools.

I don't feel like I am answering your question very well, but if it makes sense- great. If not, let me know and I'll try to do better.

So Sacred Dreams are something that you can call upon through your own will, in some traditions? Actually that's quite revealing - I had assumed that it would always be more of a spontaneous thing that happened totally without one's knowledge or consent.

Today's dream - I woke up this morning and told my mom that I was ill because I have a paper due today that isn't ready. She told me that I would have to call my driving teacher to tell her not to come pick me up at school.

So fine. I fell back asleep, and in my dream, I was sitting down at the end of my driveway, the way I used to when I was younger and I waited for the bus. A massive bus drove up. Somehow, I had the idea that my driving teacher was driving the bus, though I couldn't see her face. I looked up and had to shout that I wasn't coming to school. She said something about being dissapointed, and I bantered with her for a bit like always, and she drove away.  

[TeaDidikai]

Kalyani Srijoi

So Sacred Dreams are something that you can call upon through your own will, in some traditions? Actually that's quite revealing - I had assumed that it would always be more of a spontaneous thing that happened totally without one's knowledge or consent.

I believe that Cunningham published a book on the subject of Sacred Sleep. If I recall correctly, it featured rituals, practices and exercises.  

[Lotus Poem]

TeaDidikai

Kalyani Srijoi

So Sacred Dreams are something that you can call upon through your own will, in some traditions? Actually that's quite revealing - I had assumed that it would always be more of a spontaneous thing that happened totally without one's knowledge or consent.

I believe that Cunningham published a book on the subject of Sacred Sleep. If I recall correctly, it featured rituals, practices and exercises.

Yep! It's on my amazon wishlist LOL
Dreaming The Divine: Techniques for Sacred Sleep