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…

Truffles usually symbolise some hidden revelations and in this dream, it seems that Annie is being too self critical of her talents in waking life.

The Reverend Richard Coles (@RevRichardColes) has also been dreaming about truffles too.

Sonia is a great host and we always have a really entertaining and informative programme.

There are lots of different dream subjects covered in this Nodcast, particularly death dreams.

Good Morning Ian, At least here in the states it is still the morning. I am intrigued by your website and thought I’d try to see if I couldn’t get some help interpreting a dream that has many aspects to it.

In the dream I am away at a resort/hotel sitting out on a patio enjoying myself with all of the wives of my bosses (who I also consider friends & are all part of one large family). I notice that the cobblestone paths and roadway are not level and very bumpy, I then begin to notice that just about all of the construction is of a lesser quality as far as the plastering, painting etc. I go in the hotel to my room and when I come back out to join the others downstairs, I have to go down a black metal spiral staircase to the lobby area. As I try to proceed down the stairs they keep collapsing and moving as I try to decend. Although I am frightened, I decide that I am able to essentially climb down the structure as if it were a ladder by grabbing onto pieces of metal and climb down hand/foot backward. I am successful in getting to the lobby without any further problems and begin to warn the others but they seem to not care or arent’ listening.
Thank you for considering this interpretation. Dawn .

Dream Meaning
Dreaming about a hotel or resort usually indicates that you are reflecting on a temporary identity that you show to others, a persona. Being on the patio would suggest that it is about your involvement within a specific social or work environment.

You begin by feeling very connected and comfortable with the feminine aspects of your nature and the sense of enjoyment, empathy and community that brings. Your awareness then shifts to the paths and roadways, which are often seen as our potential directions in life, opportunities or career paths, perhaps you are beginning to see the possibility of a rocky ride ahead. This also fits with the disillusion about the façade that has been presented to you.

Your growing awareness triggers a retreat to your room, a more private thoughtful place where you feel most comfortable. From there you realise that in order to reach others in a deeper way, instigate any action or change, or to open more doors of opportunity (all reflected in the need to get to the lobby) you must first tangle with a rigid, controlling and perhaps gloomy framework that is already in place. When you try to move forward upon it, it collapses and moves, this may be symbolic of some restructuring or perhaps an unwieldy structure that you are finding unsupportive.

Then you show great courage and determination, by engaging with your autonomous, creative and assertive self, you take a more unconventional approach revealing a lighter perspective and a less dominating presence (a ladder as opposed to a staircase) and by taking a step back, you are finally able to move forwards.

You are successful, and show a desire to share your experiences with others, it would seem that this particular social or work group are not as receptive as they perhaps first appeared. This dream may be revealing a desire to be part of a group that relate to each other in a more meaningful, connected and open way.