The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams. Theresa Cheung

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СКАЧАТЬ end. The dream should contain clues regarding which phase in life is being referred to. If you are the dead person or the dead person is unknown to you, then some aspect of your personality or some issue in your daily life needs to be left behind. If a friend dies in your dream, perhaps that friendship has run its course, or perhaps your friend is about to get married and the nature of your friendship will change.

      LABYRINTH MAZE

      According to Jung, the enclosed labyrinth is a symbol of the unconscious, and a dream of entering a labyrinth represents rapid change and a journey towards self-discovery. As in the Greek myth of Theseus, who entered King Minos’ labyrinth in Knossos to kill the Minotaur, descent into the unconscious may sometimes involve confronting impulses we would rather ignore because they challenge or threaten us. If you see a maze in your dream, it may also indicate the need to find direction in life and the skills needed to negotiate change. If a map or chart of a maze appears in your dream, this may be a reassuring sign that you are on the right path.

      RUIN/DESTRUCTION

      If the dream centers on some kind of radical change such as revolution, war, fighting or combat, this suggests some kind of conflict in your life. Images of destruction can also relate to life changes that quite literally break with the past. A house left in ruins, for example, may suggest a family broken by divorce; fallen trees may symbolize a move to a new location. See also TREES.

      TRANSFORMATION

      Dreams in which obvious changes occur, and people and things are transformed into something or someone else, suggest changes in awareness. A landscape might change from dark to light (negative to positive), a person may change from male to female, or objects may take on human characteristics. These changes are often depicted as occurring immediately in dreams, like a speeded-up movie, and they reflect changes in waking life.

      Bizarre transformations of objects into living things, such as a pencil turning into a snake, a doll into a donkey or a table into a swarm of wasps, suggest untapped potential within you that can help you cope with change. To clarify what this potential is, refer to the symbolic interpretation of the objects that have been transformed. Shape-shifter dreams, in which people you know suddenly transform into something else, typically a monster or beast, represent unpredictable people in your waking life. For example, someone might be kind and caring towards you until they transform under the influence of alcohol. On the other hand, the shape-shifting may be some kind of moral test. Can you uncover the beauty behind the monster’s mask? What lies below the outer skin of the dream beast? Try to make a connection to your waking life.

      Sudden changes from winter to spring in a dream, or from night to day, may also suggest new directions and developments in the dreamer’s life. If the other way round, and the switch is from day to night, or spring to winter, this may suggest the need to confront and deal with dangerous impulses. If the landscape suddenly becomes unfamiliar in your dream, this can point to an unwillingness or an inability to cope with the new. However, if the new environment is welcoming and friendly this is a positive sign. A return to the comfort of the childhood home or a familiar environment is widely interpreted by Freudians and Jungians as a desire to return to the security of the womb during times of change and conflict.

      If something is transfigured in a dream, such as when an object or person is surrounded by light, this suggests that light has entered the person during a period of transition and they are becoming more self-aware. If you become invisible in your dream, it can indicate that you feel ignored in waking life—that you and your life are insignificant to others. It can also mean that you are hiding from others or yourself. If you have this type of dream, it might be time to look at how you present yourself to other people.

      TRANSITION

      The following dreams tend to be common during times of change or transition. A dream of waking and getting up, when in fact you are still asleep, may signal reluctance to face change or a new challenge—such as a new job or new relationship. Then again, perhaps this false wakefulness is the mind’s way of preventing us from waking up, thereby exemplifying Freud’s theory that the purpose of all dreams is to prolong, rather than interrupt, sleep. Dreams of a vehicle careering out of control suggest worries about losing all sense of direction in life, especially if you are the driver, passenger or bystander unable to influence the events.

      A rudderless, drifting raft or boat suggests loss of direction, but some believe that sometimes not knowing where you are going can be a way of discovering your true self. A raft is an image of survival and, in some ways, this image suggests the ability to ride out the sea of troubles rather than be overwhelmed. Strange reflections in the mirror are often said to suggest personal identity problems during times of conflict—if it’s your face, and your eyes are closed, this is a refusal to confront reality and if it is someone else’s face, this may indicate a sense of inadequacy when compared to them. No face at all is the ultimate identity crisis; a fear of death itself. If a bridge appears in your dream, this is a clear symbol of transition from the present to the unpredictable future. Crossing the bridge suggests that you possess the strength within to cope with life’s journey and with difficult events such as moving home, divorce or a new job.

      Conflict Scenarios

      ABANDONMENT/FEAR/LOSS OF CONTROL

      Dream images connected to feelings of abandonment, fear and loss of control all have some form of conflict as their theme. For example, dreams about missing a bus, train or airplane all point to some kind of tension in the dreamer about failing to achieve a goal. Dreams about being abandoned or left alone by a group of loved ones suggest feelings of anxiety about being left out, or being different from the crowd. Anxiously searching for the right road or path could point to fears about losing your identity. If you are happily wandering alone in your dream, this may suggest a feeling that the source of your problems lies outside yourself. Dreams about anchors and lifeboats also tell of the fight for survival in daily life. If you dream of being lost in dense vegetation, towering trees or tall reeds, you may feel that your progress is being thwarted by obstacles. As in the tale of ‘Hansel and Gretel’, this dream may evoke longing for the comfort and warmth of home.

      ARGUMENTS

      If you dreamed that you had a heated argument with someone, try to identify who that person was. Your dream may mirror real-life hostility between the two of you, or you may be consciously unaware of your aversion to that person or their aversion to you. Your unconscious may use the dream as an outlet to release feelings of aggression, or it may use the dream to alert your conscious self to the hidden aggression. If, however, you can find no reason for hostility between the person in your dream and yourself in waking life, then perhaps the dream argument represents an aspect of yourself—this interpretation is even more likely if you are arguing with someone you don’t know. Try to recall what the person looked like and what the argument was about. If the dream focused on a young person arguing with an older person, perhaps the dream represented tension between the part of you that longs to be more spontaneous СКАЧАТЬ