Nightmares & Dreams

GUN DREAMS

To see a gun in your dream , symbolizes aggression, anger, and potential danger. You may be dealing with issues of passiveness/aggressiveness and authority/dependence. Alternatively, a gun can represent the penis and male sexual drive. Thus the gun may mean power and impotence. To dream that you are loading a gun, forewarns that you should be careful in not letting your temper get out of control. To dream that you shoot someone with a gun, denotes your aggressive feelings and hidden anger toward that particular person. To dream that someone is shooting you with a gun, suggests that you are experiencing some confrontation in your waking life. You may feel victimized in some situation.

ACCIDENT DREAMS

Your accident dream is not necessarily a premonition of the future so do not jump to conclusions. Nightmares of this type reveal deep anxieties and fears. The car crash may symbolise your emotional state. Are you driving yourself too hard? Perhaps you should slow your life down a bit. If your life feels like it is set on a course for disaster, examine your mistakes and resolve to set a new and better course. If the accident happens to someone else in your dream then examine your heart for you may have suppressed hostility towards that person. Unexpressed jealousy resentment or hatred may be finding its release through your dream. Perhaps also the dream refers to accidents of a different kind such as accidentally saying the wrong thing or accidentally forgetting your anniversary.

Buildings DREAMS

Buildings, castles and houses are symbols of yourself. The upstairs represents your conscious mind and the lower floors and cellar your hidden self.

The cramped feeling of the cellar indicates frustration and a need to expand your activities or thinking. Decayed dirty or crumbling buildings indicate that your self-image has suffered. Get your hair done, buy a new outfit and treat yourself to a few activities that make you feel good about yourself.

Different parts of a house may symbolise different times. For example, modern rooms may represent the conscious mind whereas the oldest areas may represent the ancient mind- the unconscious. Also the condition of the building may express how you feel about yourself. In addition it can also represent your physical health. Sometimes decayed buildings are the prelude to the onset of an illness.

Flying DREAMS

To dream of flying is usually a pleasant experience and is accompanied by a sense of exhilaration and freedom. It usually feels completely natural as if we have somehow always known how to do this. Rarely is the dream accompanied by a fear of heights or of falling. Flying may symbolise liberation from something that's been troubling you. The obstructions and shackles that have held you down have been released and you can now experience the same sense of freedom that we see in the birds that soar in the sky. The sky may symbolise consciousness and spirituality so to dream of flying can represent the expansion of your awareness and the unfolding of your higher self. (Freud of course took a more materialistic view: to him flying dreams represented sexual release.)

Nevertheless, flying also has its perils. The ancient Greek myth of Icarus warns us not to fly too high. Your dream may show that you are being over ambitious.

Death DREAMS

Dreams of death represent the ending of one phase so that a new one can begin. It can show forthcoming finalities such as the end of a marriage or career. These are symbolic dreams and are unlikely to forecast an actual event. If the dead person is someone you know, consider what aspect of yourself that person represents. For example, if you dream of your mother dying could it represent the 'death' of the motherly side of your own nature. Perhaps you should try to be more caring and maternal or perhaps plans you have should be nurtured rather than killed off. Alternatively, you may also be expressing your hidden feelings about the person shown. Do you have a secret resentment towards them or desire to be independent of them? Dead animals may also represent aspects of yourself. They indicate that you may be rejecting or repressing your instinctive side.

Teeth Falling Out DREAMS

Dreaming of teeth falling out may represent insecurity. These dreams often occur at a time of transition between one phase of life and another. When we lost our milk teeth, we also gradually lost our childhood innocence. Loosing your teeth therefore show that today you have similar feelings of uncertainty and self-consciousness as you did in childhood. The dream could also highlight your worries about getting older or your sexual attractiveness.

Animal teeth may represent aggressiveness and false teeth may represent concern about your self-image. The dream could also be triggered by subtle toothache that you are not yet consciously aware of. Dreams about loosing teeth may represent a retreat to the innocent times when you were a toothless baby and dependent for nourishment on your mother's milk.

Falling DREAMS

As a symbol, falling highlights a loss of emotional equilibrium or self-control. You may fear "letting go" in real life. Anxiety usually accompanies this dream. It may represent your insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, a fear of failure or an inability to cope with a situation. There could also be a literal interpretation. You may have noticed something unsafe- a loose stair rail, wobbly ladder or insecure window. Check it out. The dream may be a warning.

Being Chased DREAMS

This is a metaphor for insecurity. Circumstances may be closing in on you or he may feel at the mercy of feelings that get out of control. you may have feelings of guilt or fear of being caught for something you have done.

Children who have this dream may be being bullied at school. If the problem persists and you notice unusual or extreme behaviour in your child speak to your GP who will put you in touch with someone who can help.

Like dreams of falling, being chased reflects the dreamers feelings of insecurity. The dreamer is running away from something. Freud had a heyday with this one. Men were running away from the fear of castration he says and women from sexual attackers who symbolised her secret desires to be wooed.

The figure that pursues the dreamer is most likely to represent an unresolved aspect of the dreamer's circumstances or personality.

Nudity DREAMS

Many sleepers are embarrassed to find themselves dreaming of being in a public place and being either naked or wearing only their underwear. These dreams often express feelings of guilt or inferiority. It is a metaphor that exposes the dreamers perceived faults or feelings of vulnerability to some situation in their life. In the above example, the fact that other people are oblivious to the dreamer's nudity indicates that they should discard as groundless any fears that they will be rejected if their real self is revealed. If you dream of being ashamed or frightened of being naked this may indicate a fear of relationshipsor of showing your real feelings. (Sigmund Freud once said that his favourite dream was being naked in a crowd of strangers!)

A dream of being disgusted by the nudity of another person suggests anxiety or aversion at discovering the 'naked truth' about a person, a situation or even about yourself. Acceptance of the nudity of others indicates that you see through people and accept them for what they are.

Nudity can also represent your longing for the lost innocence of childhood. It represents the real you stripped of pretence and imposed social conditioning. Nudity also has spiritual connotations: it is an expression of beauty and divinity. The ancient gods such as Venus the god of love, Diana the god of the hunt, or the three Muses who inspire the artist are all usually depicted naked.