Dream work for me is one way of connecting with my subconscious and the spirit world. Now and again I have one I feel has significance but in the beginning at least don't know how to interpret. Such a one happened the other night.The dream had several definite elements which I could look up in the online dream dictionary. Such dictionaries give possible meanings; they are not always the same from one site to another. Sometimes our dreams repeatedly have symbols that only will have meaning to us if we take time to study on from where it's coming. Sometimes we can not want to face a dream's meaning, and it takes a friend or someone who does the work to get past our blind side to the lesson.
With strong dreams, I hold onto them sometimes for years before I 'get' it. Maybe this one was nothing; but because it was repeated twice in the same night, it strengthened my feeling there was a reason.
My dream took place along the ocean, but nowhere I have been. I was a woman and had come from elsewhere. I might have come to be with a man because it appeared he (not a person I can identify from those in my life) had been there all along, but the area was new to me. My days seemed to be spent walking along the beach gathering shells from the water. I think partly because they were pretty and partly because of their food value. Some were beautiful big conch seashells, nothing like you'd normally find by wading. Others I can remember what they looked like but don't know their names.
The man was not always there and often I was alone. He warned me to be wary of quicksand (which looked nothing like real quicksand but instead was more like areas of fluff) that would be in various places. One time, he decided to help me gather shells and it was like peeling back a layer to find them. He went into an area we both could see was quicksand; but he thought he could safely enter it because he knew how. He sank in and couldn't get out as he began to be sucked under. We both knew he would drown as the tide was coming in and water rising to over his shoulders. Because of what he'd told me, I knew it'd be dangerous to help him and could get myself stuck but I was the only one who could. I stretched out and managed to pull him out.
The event played out twice that night. The important elements to me were, the sea, two (because of the repetition and about two people), seashells, pink, and quicksand. The dream dictionary gave the following meanings:
"Sea: To see the sea in your dream, represents your unconscious and your transition between your unconscious and conscious. It also represents your emotions. The dream may also be a pun on your understanding and perception of a situation. "I see" or perhaps there is something you need to 'see' more clearly. Alternatively, the dream may indicate a need to reassure yourself or offer reassurance to someone."
"Seashells: To see seashells in your dream, represents security and protection. You are not showing your true self, or real feelings. In protecting yourself from getting hurt and as a result, you are emotionally closed off."
"Pink: means love, joy, sweetness, happiness, affection, kindness. Being in love or healing through love is also implied with this color."
"Two: stands for diversity, partnership, soul, or receptivity. It can symbolize double weakness or double strength. There is a duality as in male and female, mother and father, yin and yang, etc."
"Quicksand: to dream you are sinking in quicksand, signifies that your assumption that you are on solid ground will prove misleading and you will slowly find yourself in an unexpected position. To dream you are rescued from quicksand by a lover, signifies a worthy and faithful lover."
It is possible that it was about my need to help a friend; but the longer I have thought, another possibility has grown stronger because of the duality. To increase my feeling this was not just about someone else, The Daily Om, the day after the dream, was on our masculine and feminine sides and how they must be in balance.
"Intuition, feelings, openness, and unselfishness govern the feminine side of our natures. The masculine side is characterized by logic, facts, systems, and self interest. If you are giving too much to others to the detriment of yourself, your feminine side might be overactive and your right side may need strengthening, to speak up on your behalf, protecting and conserving your energy."
This dream on one level is hard for me to see its meaning. I definitely did feel I was the woman and not the man. I was not stuck in the quicksand but had to decide if I helped someone else get out of it. But can we ever really do that for another? Have I tried to do that too much and it didn't work?
If I take it on the level that both people were intended to show me a truth, it would be that I must get more in touch with the 'inner me' and am letting my masculine (hard) side be weakened. I may be using the feminine (soft) side too much. I can recognize in myself these two sides are not in balance. The dream could have been saying my logical and get-tough side needs to be stronger if I want to not keep going in circles.
(The shells are mine, collected over many years along the beaches of both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The big ones... from stores)
7 comments:
Conch shells are very interesting because they are found in such diverse areas of the world and are valued by diverse cultures. The circling of their form is clockwise and in the East this has symbolic significance. The shell is equated with the movement of the sun and the moon and the cosmos. In Buddhism and in the religions of the Pacific Islands the sounds made by blowing into the conch call for a spiritual awakening. Looking at the conch reminds us of the female vagina. Picking up shells especially conch shells is realizing your own creativity as a woman. Saving the male side of your personality from drowning in quick sand must have felt empowering enough to want the dream never to end. A wish was fullfilled on the second dream. What a neat dream!!
It's not very often that I "get" any of my dreams. I may not be able to interpret them correctly or maybe it's just because I don't try? Some make sense if it's following a specific incident/situation in our lives. Regardless, this article brings answers to several that I've had lately. The dream you had was fantastic! How you pick up and remember those specific things is also something that alot of people have a tough time doing because they quite simply can't or choose not to remember specifics. I do believe, in the end, only we ourselves can truly know if we have "gotten" the meaning or not and your approach on how you interpret seems to work well for you.
Wow! When I was reading the dream and the interpretation, I was thinking that it was showing you that you had a really good relationship with your significant other (husband) and that maybe you really thought that you were on slippery ground there, and rescuing him was showing you that indeed you were really on the right track.
But then I am not a good dream interpreter. If I was I would be able to understand what my repetitive dream really meant!
What era were you in? what kind of clothes were you wearing? Is it a past life coming out?
I don't seem to dream very much, must not be very creative. We do have a friend in Eugene, OR who is really into the study of dreams. I think I have already sent you a link to her web site.
I agree with your choice of major symbols, but a man, one who seems to be in charge or who has long standing in the "place" seems significant to me, too. And you saved him. Just like we women collectively do that. But, we are all parts of our dreams and it is interesting to see it from the anima/animus. I have some shells very similar to the oes you post.
Those were very interesting comments as always from you all. I didn't know all that about the conch shells, parapluie. I have always liked them but had no idea all their significances.
You might be right, fran. Maybe it was about a man but trying to help others is darned hard.
and Mary Lou, the clothing seemed simple, not real buckskins but lightweight clothing, not like today. I didn't feel it was past life but you never know for sure. Maybe it was.
Sandy, a lot of nights I don't remember them either of they seem to link up to my days and I have no problem picking up on the meanings.
I'll have to contact your friend, Dick, sometime but haven't done it. I hope I bookmarked the name. You could post a link to her here if she has a site. Others might find that of interest.
Rain you always come up with the coolest topics.
Sandy, They say the trick to remembering your dreams is to keep a notebook beside your bed and write things down as soon as you wake up. Dreams are a way of cleaning out the crap built up in our psyche. I dont really remember my dreams unless I am sleeping in on a weekend or something. Then once in a while I have very strong dreams but that is pretty rare these days.
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