Research (Not a dream)

What I have neglected to do at all in this dream journal is write about the images I look up.

For example, a few days ago I had back-to-back dreams about being chased by an animal. I did not get caught, but I was being threatened. According to the two pop-culture dream image books I have, both of the animals in question - sharks and bears - have negative connotations when attacking the dreamer. This might sound obvious. However both also have a very specific negative connotation: that the dreamer is going to be betrayed by friends.

I found this to be a little disconcerting, naturally. If these sources are to be trusted, then my subconscious is feeling betrayed, or senses that treachery is near. It could be a manifestation of some hurt feelings I have right now. It could be my brain is trying to warn me about something that I do not see.

This is all based on whether or not I accept the dream imagery books or not. I am of the opinion that some dream images do have meanings that apply to all dreamers. Beyond that, however, I tend to think the image or object's actions in a dream, and how the dreamer relates to them while dreaming, are equally important. A certain animal might be considered a bad omen in theory, but if in the dream you are happy with said omen, then perhaps a different interpretation is in order. For example, when I was a little younger than I am now I dreamt about snakes frequently. I was indifferent to their presence, even when they were popping up throughout a dream. For the most part the snakes and I cohabited a dream space with neutrality, sometimes positively. Lately when I dream about snakes, however, there is more of a threatening aspect about them. At times I am even conscious while dreaming of the different tone when I see them.

Ultimately, I think that one has to examine the emotional overtone of the dream to pick out the best signal and potential meaning.

Yes, that sounds nice and conclusive...

One Million Pennies

I was at the Excalibur in Las Vegas, in the lower level where the arcade is. There was a set of slot machines there and a bar, which I'd never seen before. I decided to play the slot machines, and put in some money.  I pressed the button, and the computer tumblers spun. The theme on the slot machine was sort of medieval - pots of gold, rainbows, unicorns, and wild dragons that took up three spaces on a single reel. One of the icons that landed said "one million" and I thought I lost because none of the other images matched. But then the lights went on, and coins spilled across the screen, and I realized that I won one million pennies. I sat there, stunned, staring at the screen. I took a picture with my camera phone of the little pot of gold icon and sent it to my Dad.  A little screen popped up telling me not to go anywhere, since I had won so much.

Moments later, a cocktail waitress appeared and congratulated me, writing out a receipt for my winnings. I went and sat at the bar. For some reason, I computed one million pennies down to fifteen thousand dollars and some extra dollars. Then I was giddy. I thought of all the bills I could pay off, and what loans I could get rid of. I was trying to hide how happy I was as I sat at the bar. I wanted to go back to the slot machines, but when I walked back a young married couple had taken my seat. They were drinking cocktails and did not notice me. I was not very upset, because I knew I had just won, so they were not going to steal my luck.


***

I don't remember ever winning something so vividly in a dream. That sense of euphoria was intoxicating - the idea of debt being cleared.  Wishful thinking....

Stairs, a Bear, and the Evil Thaw

I do not remember the first part of the dream that well - I was on some sort of space station, and there were all these flights of stairs. I think Matt Smith/Doctor Who was there, along with D. We were running from flight to flight - looking for someone?

***

The second part I remember better. It was winter, and I was in a scrub forest that was also sort of a bog.  I was walking along with Billy Boyd/ Pippin from "Lord of the Rings" (sort of - that's what my mind said, even though it didn't really look like him). Suddenly, a bear awoke and started chasing it. It was a massive grizzly bear, and we ran through the brush and swamp. We jumped through a long narrow window made in the brush, and I landed in a roll that I didn't even feel. Round and round we kept running, the bear getting further behind. Then there was a man in gray robes - I guess that would be Ian McKellan/ Gandalf. He grabbed us both and pulled us against a table made of sticks, against a wall made of twisted sticks. The bear was not too far, and the man in gray cast a spell. The bear thundered past us, so close that I could see the light rippling on its fur.

We thought we were safe, and I leaned out from against the wall. The bear reappeared at a distance, and saw me. Now all three of had to start running. It was at this time I noticed the scenery changing. It was still winter, but it was melting. And the swamp-like trees and low scrub brush looked more and more like lean-tos and low-lying shelters. I found myself crawling under low roofs with no thatch, or ducking around walls made of crude carved sticks. Then the three of us found ourselves on an open plain of melting snow and yellow grasses. We got separated - the bear chased me back into the low-lying trees and scrub. Again I saw that what I thought was just tangles of dead branches were actually rough/abandoned dwellings.

At some point in this sequence, I sensed there was a sword in the hill. At the space where the melting snow cut a path down the hill there was a small hollow, and inside the hollow was a sword. I also knew that a man needed that sword - or had owned the sword before. My mind did not reflect on this too long, though I think Sean Bean's face flashed before me.

I managed to lose the bear on the fields. However as I came over a rise I ran into a group of soldiers. The leader wore brass scale mail and green cloth. He had furs draped his shoulders, and a reddish purple beard.  He and his soldiers looked burly, and he shouted a word at me. I did not understand, and he shouted it again, putting a hand on his weapon. The only thing I could think to do was to genuflect, to show him that I was in league with him. I knew that with the thaw the armies would be moving back into this part of the land - that evil was returning. And that meant this guy must be one of those people. Before anything else could happen, a second group appeared. This group was led by a man in more Persian like garb - black boots tucked into dark red billowing pants. I could not see his face, for it was wrapped in red cloth except for his eyes, which were lined in grey ash. A third group was arriving, all in black tattered robes. The three groups stopped and eyed each other, speaking in a language I could not understand.

I knew the only way to survive and get back to my group was to pretend like I belonged. So I cheered with them, and the man in the red head scarf told me his name - it was two words and the first started with an S (Shagur Gaela? Salar...nope, don't remember it). I followed them back to the scrub brush, which was now full of people moving into the rough structures. Armies and individuals, but all with an air of "bad guys" about them. I made my way through them, trying to not draw attention to myself. At the far end of the group, a young girl with blond hair and a white t-shirt was giving wine to some men sitting on a strip of land jutting into the swamp. A solid wall stood next to them , though it had started to crumble. Each jug of wine had special properties, she said, and gave the man a red. He drank it, and immediately grew taller. His face elongated frontwards like a snout, and he took of jogging. I could feel his excitement, even as I was excited to be escaping.

******

This is the second dream in a row now where I've been chased by an animal. A similarity I notice between the two is that even though I'm running, and I am afraid, I'm not terrified. I don't panic, I don't run out of breath, I don't scream - I just run. It's like a lazy fear, like I don't have any doubts about my running. And I always seem to know where to go, even though I don't.

This dream was interesting also because on reflection I don't recognize the language used at all - it didn't even sound regional. It sounded made up.

There was something important going on that led to the transition - something about the first part of the dream. There was a woman, I think, or a play - but I seem to vaguely remember a frail body submerged in bloody water. I think we were trying to find that, but I don't know.

Jaws, Jaws, and the Infinite Blue Sea

This dream took place mostly in the ocean, and on cruise ships...

I remember I was on a ship, but something happened and I had to get to an island. The boat did not sink, but I was on the wrong boat or something, and decided to swim. But there were no islands around. I sank into the ocean, and it was empty but for a great white shark rocketing towards me with its jaws wide open. I darted out of its way, knowing that I had to out turn it. It snapped and disappeared, but there was another shark in the water - a white tipped shark. I knew from watching a documentary that they would try to surprise me from below, so I swam in a sort of panic, looking at the blue depths below me. When I saw it coming, I swam on the surface of the water (prior I was swimming below it), trying to confuse the shark. It chased me in the water, trying to surprise me, but it could not. It was very confusing.

I think there was a giant octopus at some point.

I was swimming and swimming, and eventually I came to a strange underwater tunnel. I recognized corals and other underwater plants, but the tide was very strong and I could see the waves hitting the sloping sand. And there was sunlight. I swam through the tunnel, trying to not get knocked against the coral or the beach. I think I failed towards the end - the water was too turbulent to protect the plants.

And then I was on a buoy in a harbor, and then in a shipyard. Ships were everywhere, and I climbed aboard the one I thought was mine. But then the ship was released from the dock and plummeted down into the water bow first. I slammed into the water, and thought the ship was sinking for sure, since it was half-submerged. There were those gentle ship bells going off, and the Captain apologized for taking things a little too strong.

It was at this point in the dream I distinctly remember wondering why I never needed to breathe underwater.

I left that ship, swimming again to another ship, and climbed aboard. It was also the wrong ship, and I knew then that the ship I wanted was going to sail by a lighthouse/ breakwall off in the distance. I was going to go in the water, but this Australian scientist stopped me, and pointed to all the seagulls on the water. "Those birds go where there is food," he said, and I knew he meant there were sharks in the water. So I decided I would swim around the gulls. I swam around a bridge, and there were more ships in the water. The water was turbulent, but I don't remember seeing any more of the sharks.  But I could feel danger all around me - there was tension in the air.

I reached the ship by the breakwall, and knowing there was a shark in the water waiting for me, I did not swim, but leaped from the ship to the island. There were other people on the island, a man and some children. It was like a scouting group. They asked me what I was doing, and I tried to explain about needing to find the correct ship. I had to go back in the water, even though they told me not to. I was so tired by then, but I swam up to another ship and was hauled in by the stern.

***

I don't know if I actually found the ship I was looking for by the end of the dream. I just remember climbing aboard, walking around, and realizing it wasn't the right ship. When I was in the shipyard I knew that everyone was trying to figure out why I was there. And I talked to a lot of people on land - but apart from that scientist trying to tell me about the feeding gulls, I don't remember any of it.

Then there were the sharks - lots of teeth. And danger - there was a lot of danger in this dream. Some I could see, some was implied. I think there might have also been a strange black worm thing with teeth in addition to the sharks, but I don't know if I dreamed that or saw it earlier and am now putting it in my dream.

And I remember that there was a lounge, either at the beginning or somewhere in the middle. A really big lounge in brown wood, leather and crystals. But it was broken down - there was a woman with curly red hair, and electricity.

I don't know why I never have to breathe in my water dreams. I am conscious of the fact that I should be drowning, yet I never do. I just exist in the water as I would in the air.