Incredible Journey Of The Spirit
Dear Nancy: I had this dream last night and I wrote it down because I thought it was interesting. Can you tell me what it means? - Melinda
I am walking with some friends near a lake. Someone throws a ball in the water and I feel it is important to keep it with us so I dive into the water and retrieve it. The scene changes and I am walking up a wide aisle in an auditorium filled with women. I know there is a formal program on and, although I feel a bit self-conscious about my wet clothing, I continue on and walk through a door into a huge warehouse. As I walk toward the door at the other end, someone says, “Be careful. This is a wild part of town.” I imagine a ghetto with hoodlums and criminals, but when I look through a window I see huge lions, panthers and tigers across the street walking toward us. I’m shocked but not afraid. I step through the doorway.
Dear Melinda: This dream shows your journey and the different stages of your own inner growth. A sphere, depicted by the ball, is a symbol for wholeness. Wholeness is what you are striving for. Retrieving the ball shows that you are willing to do the inner work to gain this fullness of being. Passing through the auditorium, a place of learning, and then into and through the warehouse, a storage place for ideas and talents, shows you have attained knowledge of your abilities and talents. The huge warehouse suggests you have great potential.
Your self-confidence is apparent in the scene when you decide it is just fine to be wet and a bit disheveled. Then you reach the third doorway in the dream. Doorways suggest passages into new phases of life; these can be inner or outer changes.
This last doorway is to the “wild part of town” and stepping through the doorway shows you are ready.
Lions have dominion as “king of the beasts.” They have tremendous self-confidence and are regal and brave. Historically, carved lions guarded the entrances to sacred places and held a small ball under one paw.
I believe, Melinda, that this dream is showing you that you have gathered knowledge and gained the inner resources to go forward with strength and self-assurance on whatever path you choose. Bringing the ball to the lion is an incredible journey of the spirit.
Tips for readers: We all dream every night but the dreams we remember most easily are the ones that occur in the early morning. The key to remembering your dreams is to affirm every night before going to sleep, “I will remember and understand my dreams.” Your intent and desire will make it happen. You may only remember bits and pieces at first but that will improve over time.
The next step is to keep a dream journal. Write down your dream even if it is just one image or feeling. Often, I find that by writing the parts I do remember, more of the dream comes to me. Keep your journal beside your bed and, if you awaken during the night, write down any feelings and images in as much detail as you can.
Keep in mind that only you can interpret your dreams. Take into consideration what you were feeling. Were you happy, sad, angry, frustrated?
Your feelings are just as important as any people, animals or objects in the dream. Ask yourself, “What does this person, object or animal mean to me?” Trust any insights that come to you.
MEMO: Nancy Bloom is a Chewelah resident who has studied dreams for 15 years. Dreams may be sent to her, c/o The SpokesmanReview, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax, (509) 459-5098. Please send a short summary of the circumstances in your life and include your name, address and phone number. Nancy will call you if she chooses one of your dreams for use in this column.