Hello 

Ian

I’m in a room which (although it & nothing in it is familiar in real life) I know for certain is mine. It has a lovely wooden floor – varnished, warm coloured wood. There are a couple of other people in the room who I know (again, only in the dream, no-one I could identify as knowing in real life). I’m aware that the floor is starting to disappear and start to remove items that are valuable to me. The other people help and by the time the floorboards are reduced to short lengths jutting out around the edges, I’m happy that I’ve retrieved everything I want already. Through the whole process I feel quite calm and it’s all very methodical, there’s no sense of rush and it’s almost as if the hole is only growing to match the pace at which I’m able to remove what I need.

I can see down that the hole is deep – easily 3 or 4 storeys down. I know I have to end up down there at some point but again feel no fear about this. The hole isn’t dark, gloomy or menacing, it’s actually very brightly lit (I don’t remember seeing lighting as such) and it looks like a large cavern, the rock is a warm terracotta/sandy colour. I’m aware of other people down there, not many, but enough to give me a good idea of the scale of the hole.

I move out of the room & open the door to another which has my bed in it and my ex partner is in there smiling away. I’m very irritated by this & tell him to bugger off! (When I woke up I felt most indignant that the toerag had dared appear in my dream full stop – I haven’t had any contact with this person for several years in real life and have no compulsion to do so in any form. I have a fabulous partner now & we have a fantastic relationship). 

I go back to the room with no floor & I know I have to drop through the hole at some point. I still feel no fear, more an accepting calm curiosity. I woke up before I took the step.

Everything I’ve read about disappearing floors & large holes seemed very negative and also related to darkness, the hole in my dream was the very opposite, almost inviting.

I’m hoping you can make sense of it where I haven’t been able to.

Thanks 

Dream Meaning
When we dream about the floor of a room, we are usually thinking about our own belief structures and about where we stand, it can also have a very physical aspect to it as well, for example an actual change of circumstance in our waking life.

As the floorboards start to disappear, or as your viewpoint starts to shift, you busy yourself gathering the valuable resources you feel you need to prepare for this change. You are contented that you have everything you want and the process seems quite straightforward and methodical. As the hole appears it is quite literally creating the space for this rich transformation to occur.

When the cavern is revealed, it is brightly lit and very deep, the light will signify that of your own growing awareness and the cavern may be seen as an invitation opening up for you to go deeper into previously unexplored aspects of your nature.

Moving to the other room you find your ex-partner in your bed smiling away. Our bed is the place where we feel most relaxed and of course dream. Your ex-partner will represent an aspect of your character imbued with particular qualities of his, it is this part of you that is enjoying the widening opportunities being brought to light and although you feel no fear about what is happening, a part of you can feel irritated and indignant about the seemingly smug appearance of that aspect.

In essence your dream seems to reflect a change in your personal circumstances that you know has to happen. Deep down you feel quite contented that everything is progressing the way it should, but where there is change there is inevitably some readjustment to be done, this dream seems to encourage you to let go and enjoy the richness of your newfound depths.

Hi Dr Wallace,
I don’t know if you can help me with my recurring dream. I hope so because it is a nasty one.
I am in a castle tunnel which is about 3 feet wide, and has steps and doors to go through. The only way out is through a hole in the stone floor which is obviously too small to get through, but I try anyway. I always go down head first with my arms to my side and get stuck. I try to wriggle backwards but end up getting tighter and tighter.
I wake up and have to get dressed and go for a walk around the block because I have difficulty getting my breath. My sister used to lock me in the cupboard, down the cellar and trap me under the blankets when I was 4 or 5 years old and wondered if it was something to do with that.
Can you cast a light or give me any idea why I have this dream.

Many thanks

Dream Meaning
Experiencing recurring dreams is often an indication that we may be habitually repeating certain behaviors in our waking lives that no longer feel appropriate for our own healthy progress. Once we change our relationship to these behaviors or beliefs these dreams should no longer have any reason to reappear.

When we dream about a castle we are often contemplating our own self (as when dreaming about a house), however a castle signifies a more robust or defended self and may also encompass familial influences, as castles often housed extended family.

In your dream you are in the narrow tunnels of the castle, indicating that you are exploring some belief structures that have been fundamental to your development in the past but now appear to be self-limiting. The steps and doors may be reflecting steps to take and thresholds to cross in your waking life.

The hole in the stone floor reveals itself to you as an opportunity to move through these limitations and to come out the other side. You take this opportunity and ‘always go down head-first’, implying that you always use your head, maybe creating theories or concepts to try to resolve this tension. Arms usually represent our ability to take action, so having your arms by your side, shows that you are perhaps not following through with the action needed to support your theories. Having made a start, you realize that you are not expressing yourself fully in this way and you try to ‘wriggle’ out of it, maybe backtracking but find yourself becoming more and more restricted.

This dream reflects a desire to express yourself fully and break free from limiting beliefs. Acting upon your new outlook has the potential to be a very empowering experience, enabling you to see the light at the end of the tunnel and walk boldly into an expansive future!

Hi Ian, 
Thank you if you get time to read this and help me to understand it. 
I’ve been going through a major transition in my life for the past few years now and I’m hoping that this dream is telling me I can be ok eventually.
I used to work on yachts and in this dream I have to take a small inflatable boat down the coast from France to Italy to deliver something. I think it will be a fun trip and take my older brother along. After delivering the package we set off back but I’m not really paying attention, just enjoying the trip.
Suddenly I look up and realise that it’s getting dark, we’re a long way from shore and I don’t think we have enough fuel to get back.
I feel sick at how careless I’ve been and at putting my brother into danger. I head for shore but we get the motor caught up in a load of fisherman’s nets and can’t move. I’m very frightened and cross with myself for being so stupid and not paying attention.
In the end a beautiful yacht comes to rescue us. The Captain pulls me on board but then they set off without my brother. I say we must go back for him and the Captain says we will but my brother needs to understand that it’s my boat and I’m allowing him on and he needs to respect that.
I feel really happy that we’re safe and that I own this fabulous boat that I never knew about and it feels like all my problems are over.

The being lost and at sea and tangled in the nets sort of makes me sense to me but I don’t know what the boat represents.

Thank you again if you get a chance to help me with this.

Dream Meaning
When we dream about the sea we are contemplating the emotional realms and boats often signify how we navigate them.

Your dream suggests that you have been ‘coasting’ along rather effortlessly, going with the flow and enjoying the ride. However this seems to have led you to becoming distracted from the tack your life, or perhaps your health, has been taking.

In your dream you ‘suddenly’ become aware that it’s getting dark and you’re a long way from shore. This sudden awareness reflects the realisation of your actual predicament or transition in waking life, that the way ahead perhaps doesn’t looking quite as bright as you were expecting and that you no longer feel quite as sure-footed as you would like.

When we dream about older brothers we are often reflecting on the older, wiser aspects of ourselves, the part we aspire to be. Once you realize that your aspirations are in jeopardy you tend to become frightened and cross with yourself for not having considered your journey more carefully in waking life. You instinctively head for a more stable vantage point but become caught up in the fisherman’s nets, they may be indicative of some emotional entanglements or restrictions that you felt caught up in causing you to feel helpless at the time.

The Captain coming to the rescue in his beautiful yacht may represent someone in an authoritative position in your waking life that you feel has quite literally rescued you, but he will also have qualities (such as fore planning, decision making, being responsible, commanding respect) that you possess and are being asked to connect with in order to steer your life back on course and once again be on board with your future aspirations. The beautiful yacht will also give you a much sturdier platform from which to navigate the ocean of your future.

Hello Ian, thank you for taking the time to read my message to you. I have been having a recurring dream now for the last 10 years or so and would really love to know it’s meaning. In my dream I return to an ex lover (in real life he dumped me for another woman with no explanation) anyway in the dream he comes back into my life weak and begging forgiveness and I fall straight back in love with him, I dream of us making love and then straight after he’s gone and then I’m left feeling very low at which point I shave of all my head hair. Please help me to better understand why this dream keeps recurring because the dream effects me emotionally afterwards. thanks again for reading my message.

Dream Meaning
Ian often says that Dreams do not happen to the dreamer but that dreamers happen to the dream. This understanding reminds us that we are the ones creating and reflecting upon our own experiences, therefore empowering us to fully embrace all the aspects of our dreams and ultimately ourselves.

By getting back together with your ex, it would seem that you are reconnecting with an aspect of yourself that you have perhaps previously believed was a less attractive side to your nature and as a consequence may have attempted to ‘dump’.

This characteristic appears to you as male, weak and begging forgiveness in order to be accepted. This could indicate that you are trying to find forgiveness for, and unite with a part of yourself that is perhaps usually quite a masculine, strong, assertive maybe even an angry aspect of your nature that you may have found difficult to accept.

Our hair grows from our heads, so dreaming about hair often means that we are contemplating our thoughts or ideas, and in a deeper way, reflecting on the strength and nature of our beliefs. So by shaving all your head hair off this may be reflecting your desire to free yourself from the habitual thought patterns that keep you from embracing yourself fully and have left you feeling quite low and disconnected at times.

When we have dreams reoccur in our lives they are often showing us that we are repeating a particular way of behaving in our waking lives that is out of sync with our own true nature. You might try asking yourself some of the following questions as a way to work with and gain insights about this dynamic, allowing you to shed this dream once and for all.

1. Is there a part of yourself that you sometimes want to get rid of?

2. How might you express what you truly believe?

3. What situations/ people in your life empower and excite you?

We covered lots of spooky topics and I had a minor artistic strop when Kath asked if I would ‘take a quick stab’ at interpreting the first dream, rather than providing my learned and expert opinion.

Paul’s dream about his grandfather-in-law’s visitation was particularly good.

Hi Ian

Dream Meaning
The language of dreams is imaginal and not often literal, so dreaming about your fish dying is unlikely to reflect the loss of your actual fish in waking life.

When we dream about fish it usually means that we are contemplating aspects of our own intuitive nature. Water is associated with our emotions, so as fish inhabit, and are able to navigate the water, we are made aware of the link to our intuitive knowledge that arises through our emotions. Dreaming about a beloved pet that has died is often about some instinct that needs to be nurtured and has in some way felt neglected or unattended to.

The fact that you care well for your fish in your waking life seems to indicate a natural affinity with your intuitive and emotional nature. This is also reflected in your dreams, however, internally you have observed quite a different outcome. Your dreams may be revealing that you have a huge amount to gain from nurturing your intuitive self-expression and by doing so you may inspire (rather than expire) and find it to be a rewarding experience.

To get an idea of how your instincts can be encouraged to surface perhaps you could try asking yourself ‘If I were one of my fish, what sort of environment would support me to flourish?’ By exploring dream metaphors in this way, we are able to reveal a lot about ourselves that perhaps we didn’t even know we knew.

We cover a wide range of topics, including why dreams don’t happen to us, we happen to dreams.We also explore where dream meanings come from and how they emerge, rather than being formally defined.

Some great calls from the listeners and a good discussion about dream symbolism and characters in dreams.

We look at Laura’s tidal wave dream, a disc jockey nightmare from Alex and discuss where dream imagery emerges from and how it’s all around us in waking life.

The whisky dream is particularly interesting as the dreamer doesn’t even like whisky in real life. The clown dream involves tea throwing but uncharacteristically, no big shoes, wonky cars or buckets of confetti…