A dream from my travels

[fabrisse]

If any of you are into dream interpretation, have at it. This is only a snippet.

I suppressed most of my dreaming quite a while ago; it has to be very strong to get through my defenses. This is one of the few that I've awakened smiling from.


It's bright daylight and I'm in a colored loose dress or skirt. There's a companion with me whose company I enjoy but about whom I can remember no details -- not even sex. We're walking through a park over a wooden bridge. I'm slightly ahead when suddenly a pilot whale pops up to my right (just as I'm reaching the other shore).

It speaks to me. I don't remember the words, but the mood is congenial, maybe even happy. My steps are light and my smile wide as I finish crossing and follow the whale's wake with my eyes. I think I feel my companion coming up behind me.

I don't remember anything after that, not even coming off the bridge. I know I don't turn back and that there are alot of people in the park -- mostly in groups or pairs.

The bridge not only arches over the water, but it has a slight curve to the right.

Comments

[eanja]

I know nothing about interpreting dreams, and I know whales aren't fish, but your dream makes me think of this.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I like that.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Jungian interpretation:

You are crossing into a new phase of your life. You are in bright colors (=happy), accompanied by your Shadow-Self. The pilot whale is coming out of the water of your unconscious, on the right (which if you're right-handed is the "good", non-sinister side), and that's the way the bridge is turning. The pilot whale symbolizes your inner, unconscious guide (=pilot), your wise, intuitive inner voice that can steer you right (=right) if you learn to hear it. It is guiding you toward a world where you can find love & connection to others -- the people in the park are in groups or pairs.

No wonder you woke up smiling!

[siderea]

Seconded. (Good job, mercurtin! I always miss the puns.)

The only disagreement might be I have a nagging feeling that your Companion is not the Shadow-Self -- but I'm blanking on what archetype it evokes.

I would add that there is a symbol of feeling unfettered, of feeling free, and that is the looseness of the clothing.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

You're right the companion here is less like the Shadow-Self or even the Animus than it is the Double:

Another archetype that can apply to all sexual orientations, although usually it is of the same gender as the individual, is the Double, which in Plato's Symposium is a symbol for male and female same-sex wholeness, as well as for opposite-sex wholeness.

This reinforces the theme of wholeness and unification in the dream: the bridge which unites the two side of the river, the whale that unites water & air, conscious & unconscious, and the couples & groups of people in the park. As siderea says, this wholeness is not forced or constrained, but free and unfettered: the whale swims yet breathes air because it is its *nature*, the bridge unites because that is the very definition of a bridge.

[moria923.livejournal.com]

I'mm so glad. Sounds like a wonderful dream. We miss you, and we're very glad the trip seems to be turning out better than expected. CAll me when you get a chance.

[shawn-club.livejournal.com]

I had things to say, but smarter people said them better.

It's good to know that you're dreaming again. If something that positive broke through your block, I'd say someone is trying to tell you something.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I'm completely ambidextrous, though in day-to-day life I default to right-handed. I even test out as ambidextrously brained (i.e. both sides are used equally for problem-solving.

Thank you. I'm leaning toward going to the Pacific Northwest, ultimately, and this park had that feel to it -- lots of green, lots of tall trees, lots of water, and a feeling of spaciousness.

Sounds like I'm going in the right direction?

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! The whale also is a reference to the Pacific Northwest, IMHO.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Even my footsteps felt light -- like dancing.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Will do. Maybe tomorrow. DSL should be working by Wednesday, too.