Abandoned Baby

January 28, 2010 By 1 Comment

Hi Dr Wallace, I wake up sometimes thinking I’ve left a baby I was looking after in the park by mistake or even worse sometimes I seem to remember a baby I’ve left by mistake in an attic days/weeks even years before….it is terrifying till I realise its not real.
I have a grown up family who are all away and I don’t look after anyone’s babies, never have, except my own and I was very careful and would never have left them anywhere!!
What on earth does it mean? ….Thank you…Babs  :o )

Dream Meaning
When we dream about a baby, we are often dreaming about something that is very close to us. The baby symbolises a precious part of yourself and represents a unique passion or talent that you possess. The attic symbolises some of your most valuable ideas for expressing this talent. However, you have been ignoring them and now these thoughts are trying to get your waking attention.

The abandoned baby in your dream represents something unique that you wanted to create through a process of love and labour. Due to circumstances at the time, you had to abandon this love but now you have the opportunity to rediscover and explore these ambitions from the past. This can seem terrifying to you because you realise that you that you have abandoned a part of yourself that was very close to your heart and an expression of your true identity.

It is never too late to explore your forgotten potential by rediscovering this love or passion from the past. When you laid these passions aside, for whatever reasons,  you did it in the hope that you would one day return to them and use them to fully express your talents and individuality.  That time is now.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , , ,

Angry Parents

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
Hi Ian,
Both my parents died when they were relatively young (47 & 56).I was 14 when my father died and am now 55.  I had an excellent relationship with both of them but whenever I have dreamt about them they are angry with me which is very upsetting.  Also in the dreams they are always suffering from their final illnesses.
Thanks
Mary

Meaning
When we dream that other people are angry with us, we are usually feeling angry with our own behaviour but  are finding it difficult or inappropriate to express this anger in waking life.  The frustrated feelings of anger that you are experiencing are probably a result of the sad loss of your parents at a relatively young age. Even though your parents could not help it, you still feel annoyed that they left you on your own.

The anger in your dream is a direct and honest expression of how you feel as you attempt to come to terms with your feelings of abandonment and the premature loss of their parental love and guidance.  Losing your parents at a young age means that you had to grow up quickly and some of your anger is caused by the loss of your own teenage years.

Dreaming of their final illnesses shows that even after all this time, you are still ill at ease with your own feelings of being abandoned. Although you had an excellent relationship with both your parents, you still need to acknowledge your own angry feelings so that you can finally begin to accept your loss and move on.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , ,

Avatar Blues

January 6, 2010 By

A number of my clients have been reporting a feeling of melancholy and loss after experiencing the dream like cinematic splendour of James Cameron’s brilliant Avatar. Although they feel uplifted and inspired by the film, it can seem a bit dpressing to step back into the normal world on planet Earth. Anyone who experiences Avatar will be immersed in an intensely beautiful world where they are utterly absorbed in a profound story but as they leave the cinema, they find themselves inhabiting a world that appears dull, grey and normal.

The world of Pandora actually came to Cameron in a dream and the whole movie is very dream like. The hero of Avatar, Jake Scully steps into the world of Pandora by entering a bed like incubation chamber termed the Link. After he fall asleep he wakens up as his dream character of the Avatar. When he wakes as a human, his dream character on Pandora loses consciousness and collapses. In the same way, we all enter an amazing world when we dream and that fades away as we we wake in the light of a new morning.

The remedy for the Avatar Blues is to realise that we all have the ability to lie down in our own personal Links every time we sleep. We don’t need cinema tickets or a multi-millian dollar production budget; all we need to do is dream. The more we explore our own dream worlds, the more vivid and profound our waking realities become.

Filed Under: Dream Diary Tagged With: , , , ,

Black Lion

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
Was at a busy what i thought was a zoo.There were many people outside of a lions cage,a little boy was playing near the bars,when the lion which was Black managed to break free.The lion was very menacing and scary and was approaching the little boy.All of the people were standing watching with fear.There was a spade in a mound of earth,i know that i had to pick up the spade and rescue the boy.Was walking towards the spade when i woke up!
Thanks for taking the time to read this message,hopefully you can help.
Yours sincerely,Paul.

Meaning
Dreaming of a zoo usually suggests that there is a situation in your waking life where you are trying to keep your natural creative instincts under control. Although you want to be able to understand and display your innate talents, you are concerned that expressing them will result in some wild and uncontrollable behaviour that might cause chaos for you. The little boy symbolises your growing awareness of your own artistic potential.

The lion represents your pride in your ability to perform and to express yourself confidently.  Its black colour suggests that you have not fully recognised your  own creative potential and you are still exploring it. As the lion approaches the little boy, it shows that you are afraid about appearing too confident about your abilities and are concerned that you sometimes might be seen to be just showing off.

This makes you consider how you can honestly and authentically express yourself and you realise that the only way is through hard practical work. The spade reflects your need to dig down deeper into your own talents. The more groundwork that you do now, the easier it will be for you to establish a solid foundation for expressing your true creativity.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , ,

Changing Rooms

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
Hi Ian
My dream is being in a big house and finding more and more rooms as I walk around.  Feeling overwhelmed as I realise I have to clean it all myself.  My children are young again and I have to try to get them to help me but they make excuses and I wake feeling frustrated tense and in a hot sweat.
Ronni

Meaning
Dreaming of a big house shows that you are thinking about potential opportunities for becoming more personally fulfilled in waking life. As you walk around discovering more rooms, you are beginning to realise all the unrealised talents and ambitions that you possess. You are keen to put these talents to work and make a living from them and are currently exploring all the possibilities for doing this.

Although you are naturally talented, you realise this will require quite a lot of work to reach the point where you can begin to make a viable career from your skills. At the moment, all your talents seem like young children to you as they feel very precious and require almost constant attention. You are hoping that as you develop your talents, they will naturally begin to help you achieve a more fulfilling lifestyle.

However, trying to put your developing talents to work is making you feel frustrated and tense as you are probably trying to do too many things at once. Choose the talent that makes you feel most personally fulfilled and put it to work as soon as you can. This will then provide the resources to develop your other skills.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , , ,

Danger Stations

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
I have recurring dreams about train stations. The train stations in my dream are not familiar and i always feel in great danger. If the station is underground i usually have to go through the tunnel to get away from the danger but at the same time am scared that the train will come. I  am 25 and have been having this dream for about 6 or 7 years. Thank you.
Suzanne
Alexandria

Meaning
When we dream about trains we are often reflecting on how our career is progressing in our waking life. Different trains represent different career opportunities and the train stations symbolise how you can embark on those opportunities. The unfamiliar stations show that you are unsure of the best way to actually enter into a career that you would find personally fulfilling.

This uncertainty causes your feelings of anxiety because you feel in danger of letting your unique individual talents go to waste.  You would like to move on from your current job which you find unfulfilling but this requires traveling into the unknown. The tunnel represents this unknown path but you are scared to go through with it because of the weight of expectations that you feel you have upon you.

You are also concerned that if you take this unknown path then a real opportunity that you have been waiting for in your current job will come along and you will miss your chance to get fully on board with it.   The best way to get your career on track is to decide what work you would find most professionally fulfilling and then make a timetable to land your dream job.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , ,

Eagle Eyes

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
Dear Ian,
I have twice had the same dream and I was wondering if you could tell me what it means. My dream is that it is a beautiful day and I am inside the head of an eagle flying higher and higher into the sky, when I look out of his right eye I can see a beautiful lush green valley with the grass blowing in the wind but when I look out of his left eye I see the same valley only this time it is barren and bare and there are no leaves on the trees.Afterwards the eagle return me to what looks like an old church and then I wake up.
Yours
Robert

Meaning
Being inside an eagle’s head suggests that you have been thinking about your philosophies and beliefs in waking life.  The eagle symbolises your philosophical far-sightedness and the acuteness of your spiritual vision.  You are rising above the apparently mundane activities of everyday life and as you soar to a wider and higher viewpoint you begin to become sharply aware of some wider perspectives.

The valley represents your receptiveness to new ideas and ways of cultivating your fertile mind. The lush valley reflects the richness of your spiritual life and the barren valley shows how empty your life might be if you did not have this awareness. Seeing the green valley out of the right eye shows this as what you see as being right for you and the barren valley is left behind. Your lofty viewpoint enable you to see both sides of the situation so that you can put them in perspective.

The old church symbolises the fundamental spiritual principles by which you have been living your life. Your flight with the eagle shows that although you may have strong traditional beliefs you are very open to any other ways of thinking that will increase and expand your awareness.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Faithful Friend

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream
Hello Ian,
I have a recurring dream of sorts.  I have a very old dog who has arthritis has had a stroke is both deaf and blind.  In short he needs a lot of tender loving care. My dream is either someone is hurting my dog he is being kicked by a big man wearing hob nailed boots or we are in some sort of great difficulty (a flood).  Whatever the dream I have to save my dog.
Yours, Kerry

Meaning
When we dream of dogs, they often represent our capacity for loyalty and love.  Your dream suggests that you feel that your own capacity for tenderness and caring is being abused and it feels like somebody is tramping all over it in hobnailed boots.  You are probably in a situation in waking life where you feel badly let down by a romantic partner.

The flood  indicates that this is a very emotional situation for you and it is making you anxious that you will be overwhelmed by your feelings.  The overriding desire to save your dog suggests that you are keen to maintain your own dignity and self respect. Although you would like to kick out at the person who is causing you this hurt, you are putting your values of love and loyalty above all else because these are the principles you hold most dearly.

Your dogged determination to remain faithful to your deeper principles demonstrates that your capacity for love and loyalty is stronger than ever.  Even though you feel these powerful qualities are currently being abused, they will give you the ability to bounce back and share your love and loyalty with a person who will truly appreciate them.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , ,

In The Rough

January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dear Ian,
I keep having this dream that I am out playing a game of golf. The funny thing is that the course is only one hole long. Every time I tee off I sliced the ball into the rough and as soon as I stepped into the rough to play my shots the grass suddenly grows above my head and it feels like I am in a deep forest. I get really anxious that I won’t be able to find my way back to  the course and I can hear lots of rustling and scuffling in the undergrowth. I am scared to take my shot  in case any of these creatures hear me and I give the game away.
What does this mean?
Eddie

Dream Meaning
When we dream of playing golf, we are often thinking about some task that we are trying to accomplish in waking life.  You are very focused on this task because your dream golf course is only one hole long.  Whatever this task is, you feel that it is currently the most important thing in your life.  You are aware of the outcome that you desire but you are also terrified of failing.

You are afraid that when you commit to this decision you will find yourself negotiating a rough patch in waking life and you doubt your own ability to navigate it successfully.  Forests represents the unknown and you are anxious that you will get out of your depth if you make this commitment. The rustling and scuffling that you hear are your own anxieties starting to overwhelm you at the thought of making this decision.

All these doubts are making you feel like a bit of an impostor and that you will let yourself down by giving the game away. In any sport, successful competitors keep their drive focused on the rewards of success rather than be anxieties of potential failure, so be bold and confident in your decisions and actions.

Filed Under: In Your Dreams Tagged With: , , , ,

Lost In Translation

January 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A friend texted me this morning to congratulate me on my dream analysis that was featured in this morning’s Daily Express.I had to admit to being slightly mystified as I couldn’t actually remember doing any work for that particular newspaper. After finding the Daily Express article and reading it, it all started to make a bit more sense. I had done an interview and a dream interpretation for a freelance journalist, Flic Everett, nearly six months ago at the start of August 2009. Flic had got in touch after hearing me on the Chris Evans show but I heard nothing more after replying to her. As I read through my interpretation in today’s Daily Express, it didn’t ssem to match with what I had sent to her. After checking my original email, I realised that my already succinct interpretation had been quite heavily edited. Here is our initial correspondence with Flic’s request and dream…

Dear Ian,
Thanks very much indeed for agreeing to be part of the feature on dream analysis. If you need any more details, let me know.

Here’s the dream:
In my dream, I was looking through old magazines that I’d been writing for at the start of my career. I suddenly decided that I was going to make biscuits. I spent ages getting the mixture perfect, and mixing the dough; but then I couldn’t find biscuit cutters or baking trays. I went to look in the drawer under the stove, when my grandparents (now deceased) appeared and said, “But you didn’t finish the last biscuits- you didn’t even eat them”. I opened the drawer and there were trays of of old, crumbling biscuits, all in different shapes like animals and witches.I was very surprised to find them, and realised I’d have to clean all the trays to make my new biscuits. I was about to do it, and I woke up.
Flic Everett

…and my reply and interpretation…

Hi Flic
Thanks for getting in touch with your dream. Here is my interpretation of it.

Your Dream
When we dream of magazines we are thinking about the transient information that we absorb in waking life. This information may be colourful and exciting and is regularly replaced by new information. Looking through your magazines symbolises that you are thinking about your writing career in waking life and what you have achieved so far with it. The sudden decision to make biscuits represents a sudden opportunity or realisation in your waking life.

When we dream of food we are often reflecting on how we can fulfil ourselves in waking life. Food nourishes and energises us in the same way that having a definite purpose does in waking life. Biscuits don’t often give us a huge amount of nourishment, they are more of an incidental food that helps to lift us up and keep us going. They are also a food that we share readily with others like the information we share in a magazine article.

The biscuits in your dream represent some of the journalistic pieces that you write. You spend ages on these pieces, trying to get the balance of what you are saying to be just right. You also sometimes find it challenging to find the best places to publish your pieces, as they sometimes don’t fit in with a cookie-cutter approach or the in-trays of conventional publications.

When we dream of grandparents, we are reflecting on our own accumulated wisdom and a drawer usually symbolises stored memories and information. The animals and witches represent your deeper and darker perceptiveness. Darkness is not bad or evil; it often contains a tremendously powerful energy that illuminates our true purpose. Your older and wiser self is realising that you have the talent to create more powerful and profound pieces of writing but you are neglecting this talent, just letting it crumble away. You are surprised by the realisation that you possess this powerful and profound talent.

This dream is encouraging you to make a new, fresh start by acknowledging your deeper talents to create more powerful and profound writing. You can start this transformation by letting go of old ways of thinking that no longer nourish you. This will give you the energy to step into a shiny new future that you can share with your readers to feed their minds and nourish their dreams.

If you need any more information or would like to discuss anything else, please just let me know.

Ian

…and here’s what appeared in the Daily Express…

“You start off dreaming about magazines you’ve written for, and then it changes to biscuits – but these still represent the articles you write. Biscuits are enjoyable and meant for sharing; they’re often brightly coloured but they’re not essential, just like a magazine article. You work hard at your pieces, trying to get the balance just right, and it’s not always easy to find the right places to publish them, as they don’t always fit in with a cookie-cutter approach.
When we dream of grandparents, we are reflecting on our own accumulated wisdom, and a drawer usually symbolises stored memories and information. The animals and witches represent your deeper and darker perceptions. Darkness is not bad or evil: it often contains a tremendously powerful energy that illuminates our true purpose. This dream is encouraging you to make a fresh start by acknowledging your deeper talents to create powerful and profound work. You can start this transformation by letting go of old ways of thinking that no longer nourish you.”

…quite a different interpretation due to the editing involved and makes much less sense. I used to think that one of the most important skills in dream interpretation was articulating the meaning of the dream to the dreamer. However, after analysing over 100,000 dreams, I now realise that it is even more important to ensure that the meaning has actually been received and not lost in translation, especially when working with the media.

From the perspective of a practicing psychologist, I also feel it is unprofessional to provide any material for general publication that may be too intimate or uncomfortable for the dreamer. For example, I may have hypothetically identified issues from this dream that indicate tensions in self worth and intimate relationships, but from an ethical viewpoint, I would prefer to discuss these confidentially with the dreamer.

Filed Under: Dream Diary
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