M-P: Dream Decoder
Nagging
One of the reasons we respond so strongly to dream content is because it often is an exclamation point rather than a period. Dream statements exist in the superlative as often as not. This is especially true of the interpersonal relationships-some are revealed as the best; others as the worst. Over time, no interpersonal event is more draining than the nag. Who is nagging you and why? Some dreams include the nagger as a caricature of nagging, and the droning eventually becomes funny. Other dreams create a symbolic avoidance of a person because of a fear of nagging. The final version of the nag is the forward, ongoing sapping of your emotional strength through the dream story. There may be a facet of your waking life where you have chosen denial as your modus operandi. Nagging dreams may be a specific attempt to draw you back into dealing with it. More often, the dream is about a person that you are taking too seriously or not seriously enough. The interpretation depends on your waking relationship to the individual, the content of the nagging as it reflects actual waking priorities, and your honesty in the relationship. Are you meeting the expectations of others responsibly or do you feel inherently inadequate? Are others directly criticizing your inadequacy at certain levels?
Oxen
Oxen are the animals of agriculture and work. If you dream of oxen you may see yourself as wanting to return to a simpler, farm-based life, or that your work is never ending.
Are you bearing the burdens of others unnecessarily or unfairly?
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Paralysis
One of the most troubling dream events, and startling physical side-effects of REM, is paralysis. Large muscle groups often become paralyzed during a dream, presumably to prevent injury to the dreamer in case the dreamer’s instincts would cause a physical reaction to dreaming visuals. It can be troubling if the dreamer becomes aware of his body in a paralyzed state without being aware of the fact that the mind is still in a dream state. Suddenly stripped of every physical capacity for defense, the dreamer can experience great panic or victimization in the dream. This scenario is a troubling version of the lucid dream. Instead of mind awareness and body control, the dreamer has body awareness and no mind control. Hundreds of years ago, this phenomenon was observed and named having a witch on your back. The idea was that an unfriendly spirit within the dream had pinned you to your bed. Indeed, it is not uncommon to have a sense of spiritual oppression in a dream that includes paralysis.
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Playgrounds
Playgrounds are the scene of many of our most favored childhood memories. What makes a playground dream significant is who accompanies you and what age you are in the dream. It is not uncommon to have a playground dream where the dreamer is the only child among adults or the only adult among children. These dreams usually indicate that there is a disparity between how you are acting in the world and what a more appropriate disposition would be. You may need to either lighten up or take yourself more seriously, depending on some of the distinct images in the dream.Equally important in the playground dream is the presence of particular friends or family members. This is especially true if they have passed away in waking life but participate in the dream as living characters (see dead people as live characters). Dreams of this nature are often pointing towards incomplete relationships that are either repeating themselves in waking life or need resolution.
A 44-year-old woman reports this dream: I am on a playground … there is carnival music playing in the background. I am on the turntable apparatus that spins faster and faster. Suddenly, I vomit in front of my friends. I feel humiliated for losing control. I am very sad because I have on my favorite little girl dress. This dream is interesting because of the mixture of happy and sad memories. The dreamer does not report ever vomiting at a playground in her conscious memory. However, upon investigating the dream, she realizes that her father is the one making the turntable spin. She feels as though she was enjoying herself tremendously up until the crucial moment. Then she realized the dress she vomited on in the dream is one she was given the summer her parents divorced. |
Problem-solving in a dream situation and solving waking-life problems through dreaming are two very different experiences. The former is a dream event while the latter uses the dream event to address waking concerns.In dreams, you may find yourself able to solve more problems than you normally do in waking. Problems that you can solve in dreams are virtually limitless because you are not bounded by logic. Many times this can work to the dreamer’s advantage. If you are able to solve problems effectively, it is a reflection of untapped competence in a particular area of your life.
The idea of problem-solving through dreaming comes from the saying, Let me sleep on it. The ego is designed to differentiate which ideas are allowed to enter consciousness. Consequently, some thoughts are dismissed before they even get a chance for deliberation. The problem is that most of us are prejudiced by our experience to eliminate potentially good solutions to our problems. This is due to the neurosis that is part and parcel of every personality.
By sleeping and dreaming about a particular problem, your mind accesses a broader variety of problem solving choices than it would normally have the ability to recognize. When you awaken, you may not remember the specific dream content, but the problem may be miraculously resolved.
Always take note of the methods used in your dream situations to solve problems therein. Is there any situation in life that may benefit by employing similar tactics?
