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Author Topic:   A Symbologist's Dream (no pun intended)
Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted February 19, 2006 08:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Okay, for all you interpreters out there, I have a very symbolic dream to share. If anyone at all feels the desire to comment or offer their personal interpretations I will most gladly accept them!

So in my dream I am living in a house with two people ~ a goth girl and a really sort of preppy gal. We live in a house that looks like a long rectangle with doors leading into other rooms at each edge of the rectangle. There are stairs going up onto a rectangular landing that overlooks the rest of the house and it is very dark and dusty up there, with things crawling around, old bicycles and paintings leaning against the wall.

My bedroom is this beautiful isoceles triangle-shaped room with two sides that have ceiling-to-floor windows looking into a forest. The other wall is made of stone. The floor is also made of some organic substance...rock I think. There is a stream that passes right through my room (which is rather small) and out into the forest. I feel in the dream that it seems uncomfortable for sleeping, but that it is very calming and beautiful.

So I walk back out into the main area of the house and the goth girl comes over to me and says "I love your tattoos." I don't have any tattoos and I tell her so. "But you do" she says and then points to my right arm where I see four tattoos between my shoulder and my elbow.

A couple of them are glowing and I know I am supposed to pay close attention to them.
When I woke up I could only remember two of them...one was the symbol for yin and yang and the other was the Tree of Life but instead of barren branches, sitting on every branch was a crow.

So, I know that houses are supposed to represent the soul, or higher self or sub/unconscious. I know that crows are one animal on my totem. I can see all the symbolism, but sometimes it helps to see it from another person's perspective so if anyone wants to throw in their 2 cents I would be most appreciative!

Peace!

Love xo

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Ra
Moderator

Posts: 891
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posted February 21, 2006 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Welcome, Love

I'll have a look at your dream as soon as possible.

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted February 24, 2006 12:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Thanks Ra!


Love

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 02, 2006 08:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
So I guess no one has any additional ideas to add? Ra, I think your theories on my other dream could also apply to this one in many senses so I will try to test them out and let you know what I think!

Thanks!

Love

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Ra
Moderator

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posted March 03, 2006 04:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Not so fast! I have plenty of them.

Hello Love

You weren't kidding about this dream being "very symbolic" ... that's an understatement! I've got a jumble of notes made about these symbols, and I'm now trying to put my thoughts about them together. There is so much interconnectedness that I am finding it difficult to express just what I see without going into great detail and explanation. So, instead of getting bogged down in the details and indulging in my own inclination towards detailed analysis, I'm going to try and keep this as simple as possible, and we can go from there.

This dream appears to me to be about the duality of self (goth girl/preppy girl), and of the mind/psyche (house), and the structure or basic nature of the self as it relates to the outer world (geometric shapes/rooms). So the geometry you describe is symbolic of the relationship between your inner and outer worlds.

There are two instances where it could be suggested that the connection with your higher self, or your spiritual aspects, is lacking in some way. First, the dark and dusty rectangular landing suggests relative inactivity concerning some of your "higher" aspects. Second, the ceiling-to-floor windows looking into the forest suggest that you certainly have an awareness about the spiritual/natural (outdoors/forest), but are perhaps somewhat detached from it, or separared from it by a nearly invisible barrier.

Your bedroom is triangular, suggesting the body-mind-spirit motif. One wall is made of stone, suggesting strength, or maybe a barrier. The floor is organic/rock, suggesting a well grounded and solid foundation. The windows, as stated, suggest an awareness of unconscious/spiritual energies, but at the same time indicate that there could be a barrier to an open connection here that you may have difficulty seeing. The stream suggests to me your "stream of consciousness", as it flows through/connects all of these elements, regardless of the barriers, which also suggests that ultimately, any barriers can be crossed. It symbolizes the link between your personal unconscious (bedroom) and the collective unconscious(forest).

A question though before I can complete my thoughts. What does the Crow mean to you? There are so many possibilities, so what is your personal meaning? And why do you suppose they were sitting upon the Tree of Life?

Well, so far, what do you think?

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 03, 2006 05:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Hey Ra! Thanks for all your analyses! I actually had that dream quite some time ago (like maybe 2 years??) but it has not left my mind at all and every detail is still perfectly imprinted. Since then I have obviously grown quite a bit, however some of your observations are still true for me now. One of the things you said in your earlier post about my other dream question (about it always being dark)was that I was dealing more with the psychological than the spiritual and I think that is something that is still a challenge for me.

I think I tend to believe I am working on spiritual issues and at first I am but I somehow manage to drag myself into my psyche as opposed to my soul and so I think that was a very astute comment.

As for the crows, I have always felt a connection to them and they tend to appear in my life along with spiders (which is something I was actually going to post about today). Crows are supposed to mean working without fear in darkness, guidance while working in shadow and they also represent shapeshifters. Maybe the crows, then are connected to the fact that all my dreams occur in darkness...
The crow was also a symbol in medieval alchemy and I have felt that I had a past life during that time period...
I still have yet to figure out what they mean in conjunction with The Tree of Life....maybe something to do with spirituality simply needing to co-exisit with the mundane aspects of daily living? That would fit with your idea of bringing together the spiritual and the psychological, no? Just an idea.

I also totally agree with the triangle shaped room being representative of body/mind/soul and I never did think of that but interestingly enough I have found that every new person I meet lately is connected to the number three somehow so I think that is an aspect of the dream that is still perhaps being played out.
Also, my moon is in Taurus so the organic/stone floor as a solid foundation could maybe be connected to that.
Yeah I could keep going on here, but suffice it to say that you are a very good interpreter!

Thanks for your time on this. I have wanted someone else's opinion for so long. I really appreciate it!

Love

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Ra
Moderator

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posted March 04, 2006 03:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Have you ever read Osho? I think you may enjoy The Book of Secrets. It's a huge book, but it's not necessary to read it all at once. Just a little here and there. It may even be on-line somewhere.

The Crow can be a pretty powerful symbol, especially when you start talking about shapeshifters and the like. And I like the alchemical possibilty. I don't really know what it means alchemically, but I would guess that it is related to the first stage in the transformation process which is represented by the colour black. I should have asked you before about the Tree of Life ... what does it mean to you? If it were in my dream it would mean DNA/genetics, but I don't think that's the most popular conception. What does it symbolize to you?

I'm glad this means something to you. I'm learning stuff too, so thank you for sharing your dream.

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Moonshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 217
From: Jamaica, NY, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2005

posted March 04, 2006 04:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Moonshine9     Edit/Delete Message
Hello Love!
To say that your dream was symbolic is an understatement. I don't know what your state of mind was like two years ago when you had this dream but it seems that a lot must have been going on at that time.
I have a dream book that has been extremely reliable for me and others as well so I'll write some passages down for you and you can let me know what you think?
Ok. All these things that you've mentioned in your dream have a myriad of meanings. The house, the paintings, the bicycle and the forest can mean many different things depending on the conditions or state they were in so it's all really open for interpretation.
The stream I feel was an important part of the dream because first it is a good omen and secondly a stream would be considered the "general flow of life forces, so if in your dream the stream was clear and flowed smoothly, you can expect your life pattern to do likewise." The triangle is a good omen as well."New beneficial conditions and opportunities which you would do well to exploit is the omen in a dream featuring triangular shapes or forms."
The interpretation of a forest dream depends on the action, the circumstances of the dreamer, and other features in the dream.
The crow I find perplexing. You felt that it was a good omen in your dream and because it is your totem animal, then it probably was a good thing. My book however says that it is a bad omen. It says "This black fellow is an unhappy omen. He's usually a forerunner of sadness but not grief."
The goth/preppy girl part I'm not sure how to interpret that except that maybe it was representing the duality of your self?
Interesting dream Love.
I hope you didn't mind my interpretation?

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 04, 2006 04:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Ra ~ Thanks for the book recommendation. I will definitely look into that. It sounds intriguing. Strangely, a friend of mine who has NO idea i am into the idea of shapeshifting emailed me yesterday and toldme he bought me a book about it. So maybe there are more connections than I thought!
As for the Tree of Life I only know it is a symbol of the Jewish Kabbalah but i do have a piece of art symbolizing it and i also found a painting with tree with crows on it a couple years ago. Then about one month ago i met this guy from out west (in Canada)who told me he knows some shapeshifters and would introduce them to me! So who the heck knows at this point where this is headed.

Moonshine ~ thank you for your interepretations! The crow for me has never been a bad thing. It really symbolizes change and I always feel supported by the universe when I see a crow.
And you're right - it's a challenge to plow through this dream b/c there are so many connections but I thank you for your ideas b/c I need them!

Peace!

Love

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Moonshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 217
From: Jamaica, NY, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2005

posted March 04, 2006 10:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Moonshine9     Edit/Delete Message
I love crows too. I think they are so intelligent. I think my totem animal is the Meerkat. I've always been very fond of that animal and I don't know the reason why, I just seem to be drawn to them.

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Ra
Moderator

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posted March 10, 2006 04:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Hello Love

I am thinking that since the Crow is a personal totem, its appearance may simply be to get your attention, to be a calling to your awareness. About what? The Tree of Life. Whatever you feel the Tree of Life means, whatever you associate with it, this is what you are, or were, being called to pay attention to.

And I didn't make it clear before, but I was thinking that the geometry of the dream, the angles and straight lines (as opposed to softer forms), suggest more of a rational, psychological, right-brained/masculine type of approach to thoughts/issues of a higher or spiritual nature. In other words, when you become interested in some spiritual issue, you may tend to become diverted by the psychological aspects of it. Perhaps instead of feeling the spiritual matter, you think about it.

I think this is also why the tatoos were on your right arm, as another way of expressing the manner in which you embrace/handle/reach out to these issues - the right symbolizes the masculine, intellect, rational thought, etc.

Does that make sense?

So you tell me ... what does this dream mean?

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Ra
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posted March 10, 2006 04:25 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Oh, and of course we cannot forget the yin and the yang.

Balance, masculine and feminine.

I wonder what the other symbols were?

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 13, 2006 03:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Ra ~

You are SUCH a good interpreter! I think you are so bang on about everything you have said. You're right about the psychological aspect...I really tend to intellectualize things that are maybe better off being simply felt. I think that it's one of my only defense mechanisms since I am soooo sensitive and since I used to be a total sponge with no protective bubble, I over-think, perhaps, as a way to stave off the overwhelming feelings that I am subject to.

As for the yin and the yang, I remembered recently, that when I was little, I was obsessed with that symbol and I had forgotten until now. I have such black and white male and female qualities and I have been attempting, in the last little while, to more fully integrate them.

So maybe that is what part of the dream meant for me...to begin to more fully integrate these aspects in a less severe way...? I still am not sure what the Tree of Life means for me for sure. Maybe....it represents my spiritual self? And the crows sitting on it represent my animal totem...and since it was on my right arm it is, as you said, a message to my more masculine self...

I do tend to overthink things and maybe it's about learning not to indulge in that but instead to find a balance...I'm still not totally sure and right now I'm really just brainstorming here.

But thank you for giving me a reference point. I feel more directed now...i will (ironically) think about this some more.

Love

P.S. I wish I could remember the other symbols too...there were three that were glowing and one that was sort of dark, but I can't remember the other glowing one.

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Ra
Moderator

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posted March 14, 2006 04:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message
Perhaps you should try and feel it. After all, your name is 'Love', and not 'Think', right?

There is definately a yin-yang thing going on with you, isn't there.

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Love
Knowflake

Posts: 63
From: Canada
Registered: Feb 2006

posted March 16, 2006 02:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Love     Edit/Delete Message
Ra ~ yeah I am a yin and yang explosion waiting to happen. I guess since this is my Saturn Return year I am now being forced to balance and integrate.
I have had a challenge with simply feeling lately, for the first time, really. I am stuck in a situation which makes it necessary to repress some of my feelings due to a sticky work related love affair that went wrong. (I always vowed I would not do that - bleh) Anyhow, I digress...My name actually IS Love so you're right, I need to stop thinking and feel and golly gosh, I am trying!

Thanks for all your help...muchly appreciated.

Love

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Ra
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posted March 16, 2006 01:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ra     Edit/Delete Message

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