In my dream I was in a rather big house and I saw some wild angry dogs outside. I rushed to the door trying to keep it shut so that the dogs would not get in. I do not remember the house except it was a big house and a couple of my good friends were staying in this house. But none of them were aware of these angry dogs. Standing at the door I tried really hard to lash the door to keep them out. But as hard as I tried, I did not succeed. The dogs pushed their ways into the house bypassing me. I screamed at the top of my voice trying to warn my friends that danger was coming. I woke up.
Interpretation: the dogs represent the primal instinct in my life that I try to shut out for fear that it may ruin my life or important relationships in my life. I see the house as my very own soul. I like to think that it is not possible to shut off the basic primal from life. It will find the way in. The question is, how to deal with it appropriately?
34 responses so far ↓
Eric // June 25, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I have enjoyed reading your dreams that you have posted along with your interpretations.
sirojs // June 26, 2008 at 12:33 am
I hope you have an interpretation for this. And when you have an interesting one, please share.
Michelle // July 12, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Like someone shared in class, I too believe that God speaks to me through some of my dreams. Then there are other dreams that I don’t pay too much attention to, although I will remember them and sometimes share them with a friend (especially if they featured in the dream). Then other dreams are usually very telling of a situation I may be going through which only serves as a point of direction or comfort to me on how to proceed with the particular situation. So in reading your interpretations it was interesting to me to see the symbolism that different things or people may have in your personal life. Thanks for candidly sharing your dreams with us.
Kay's Mom // July 12, 2008 at 7:35 pm
It’s interesting that the subject of dreams came up while having breakfast out this morning with a friend. She asked my husband, who always has the correct answer for any question ever posed, what he thought was the source of dreams. Of course he is a skeptic & a firm non-believer in anything meta-physical & so all of his “extensive” research (probably done 30 years ago by reading an article in “Scientific” American) has lead him to believe that dreams are nonsense, absolutely meaningless, a veritable “screen saver” for the brain… Oh God help me!
When I managed to get about 10 or so words in edgewise, I reiterated what we had talked about in class on Thursday, that certain types of dreams, like breaking off your front teeth, & showing up at the airport for a trip & suddenly realizing you’re buck naked, seem to be universal & the meanings are also similarly significant. The same with recurring dreams, or theme dreams. I have always thought there was something to this, but have never stopped to investigate it myself.
My husband is probably partially right, that some dreams probably don’t mean anything at all, but I also agree with Michelle & with Ketheesha that other dreams can be given to us by God for the purpose of warning us, or giving us instruction or understanding in a complicated life dilemma. I have experienced these & I know many others who have as well, people whom I have great respect for.
But what I am learning from our reading is that our subconsciousness is constantly trying to churn up information which may be extremely helpful to our conscious endeavors, awake or asleep. Either way, I’ll take it, as you can tell, I need all the help I can get! Anyway, dream analysis is a fascinating subject. (I’d still like to know why you think Lara dreamed that the world is really inside her boyfriend’s belly!)
sirojs // July 12, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Michelle, yes…in dreams you may have both personal elements in the unconscious self or something more archetypal and universal. I remember some of my dreams that consist of the theme of crucifixtion…this is definitely archetypal. And some are very personal with no universal meaning.
sirojs // July 12, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Dianne, (Kay’s Mom)…there certainly are those who do not believe that dreams have anything singnificant at all. How can we ever prove? It is more personal but it is worth considering when their are recurring themes that seem to be rather common among many people and at the same time parallel their live experiences. Falling, flying, chasing dreams and dreams of being half naked in a public place. Jung always warns us against general interpretation without looking into the personal life of the people. Lara’s dream…that’s a complicated one…but interesting indeed.
Avigail // July 13, 2008 at 1:36 am
It is very interesting to read about your dreams. It makes me wan to write down the dreams I have and be able to make sense out of them. I believe that through our dreams, our brain has an opportunity to process our fears, deisres and anything else of significance that is going on in our life. Our dreams can possibly be a reflection of things that are going on in our lives, or things in our subconcious that we are trying to process and figure out.
Jaime // July 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm
My dreams were not always bad but I must admit that they tend to be negative such as the example above. I remember those dreams about my Ex. They seemed at the time indicate the relationship was doomed! And they were right! Maybe if I would have written them down and trried to make sense of them, I would have left that toxic relationship behind and not have lost valuable time…..:0 Anyways, other dreams have been frightening to the point of were I needed to leave the lights on a couple of nights after they occurred. However, I always have intense dreams that in the past have caused me to talk, shout and get up walk to the kitchen! But they are not too bad, I feel sorry for my roommate that has to put up with my loud snoring!
Julia // July 14, 2008 at 4:17 am
This is all very fascinating for me. Thank you for sharing your deep and transparent thinking of your dreams. As I shared in class I very seldom remeber my dreams and I feel like I am missing out. Dreams I do remember seem to be more like jumbled nonsense. I do wonder about interpreting these symbols universally. I tend to think more that there is particular and unique
applications for each individual. I do have friends that have had God speak to them in their
dreams, I am envious of that as well. I am going to practice being intentional about trying to remember them first thing when I wake up as you suggested.
I do think your dreams are vivid and probably revelatory. You push yourself hard toward perfection. I would like to encourage you to extend yourself some grace, perfection is an elusive goal. I would however like to gain some insight for myself from my dreams. So any other hints would be appreciated. Thank you again for sharing yourself in this way. Julie
Stephanie // July 14, 2008 at 6:21 pm
The point of this dream that stands out most to me is that even after your attempts to shut the dogs out, they still got past you but did not harm you. Your biggest concern was to protect your friends who were unaware of the danger. Perhaps you are more worried about others than yourself.
Ketsia // July 15, 2008 at 1:59 am
I have always been fascinated with dreams and their interpretation. There are a number of dreams recorded in the Bible as God communicating to inividuals. I am also interested in what Jung had to say about dreams and the interaction between the unconscious and the conscious. What I am coming away with is that there are many things God wants to communicate to me and one of the ways He does so is through my dreams. Therefore, God works through my unconscious to bring things up to my conscious awareness. When I able to remember a dream upon waking up, that is my signal to pay attention, make a note of it and seek to understand its meaning. Sometimes I write down my dreams and other times I don’t. What I know for certain is that God is limitless in His ability to tell me what I need to know…
Jaime // July 15, 2008 at 2:40 am
I always thought of my dreams as a place to escape. I world that had no boundrys. Some one once told me much of our life is like a dream because of our weaknesses and fragile state. I think that whatever exists deep in the psyhe, its release and then quick catpure is what may be happening. But who knows?
Jaime // July 15, 2008 at 2:41 am
I always thought of my dreams as a place to escape. I world that had no boundrys. Some one once told me much of our life is like a dream because of our weaknesses and fragile state. I think that whatever exists deep in the psyhe, its release and then quick catpure is what may be happening. But who knows? Maybe its all not real?
Greg D // July 15, 2008 at 3:26 am
Dr. -
If I may take the liberty of providing my own interpretation of this dream within the context of my limited classroom experience with you. I admit this interpretation is a function of my own projections and are whimsical at best
The barking dogs are symbolic of your students and/or teaching responsibilities, with the barking representing the attention you feel you need to give to each of them. The house represents the protective nature of your personal life, and the fact that the dogs are trying to get in I feel represents the struggle between maintaining adequate balance between your personal and academic responsibilities. The fact that the good friends reside inside I feel represents the fact that the people close to you in your life may not be aware of the pressures of responsibility that you feel from your academic life, and the fact that the dogs have gotten inside are a function of the fear that your academic responsibilities may have gotten a bit too overwhelming.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 4:01 am
Avigail,
I think you are right. Dream is therapeutic in itself…I think. It is the subconscious mind attempting to process what is experienced in the psyche.
Jaime,
Your dreams are fascinating. The theme itself is worth exploring. I think your reflection about dream and toxic relationship is really a good understanding of the dream process..in my opinion.
Julia, hope you succeed with your intentionality. Would love to know how it works out. thanks for extending grace. I think that is much needed.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 4:06 am
Stephanie,
Your interpretation is very affirming. It is really nice to know the altruistic side that may still be there in the midst of fear and anxiety.
Ketsia,
there is something about dreams and revelation. I think this happened much more in the past because we’ve become skeptical. There is much to be said and to explore.
Jaime,
I think it is not so much a place to escape but a place where we move away from the illusion of life and face the reality within oneself and it can be scarely.
Greg,
I do permit you to project!
I have never really thought of it from the academic perspective but come to think of it, it is very possible and that these dogs can represent the pressure that one has to contantly fight in order to maintain balance and sometime itis possible, sometime not.
Chisato // July 15, 2008 at 5:48 am
Wow, this is quite interesting..! Thank you so much for sharing your dream.
Dream is always something very mysterious and esoteric to me. It is almost like sanctity existing in us as if God put it in us for his inheritance. It is just because I know dream reflects our unconscious thoughts, fear, desire, etc. so I feel most dream reveal the truth of who and what I am. It is very interesting and I like to interpret dream, but at the same time, I sometimes wonder what if there is a very serious meaning that I never realize in myself before. At the time, I get very scared and try not to seek the meaning. Especially, when the dream was about someones’ death, I am easily intimidated and start praying it does not mean anything and will come to the reality either.
Chisato // July 15, 2008 at 5:49 am
* will not come to the reality either.
Lara Brabham // July 15, 2008 at 6:19 am
This dream reminded me of a dream that I had a long time ago. I was walking my neighbor’s dog (which I never actually did in real life) and as I was coming down the last little stretch, wolves came over this little hill onto my street. I was fumbling with the key ring which had a lot of keys on it. I kept trying different keys and I couldn’t get them to work because my hands were shaking so bad. I gave up and threw the keys over my neighbor’s fence so that they would still have all their keys but I let the dog’s leash go and ran to my house. I ran up the steps to my house (which were quite a few because the house was on a hill) and the wolves turned off the street and followed me. I then began fumbling with my own keys and, again, had difficulty because of the shaking. I was able to get the door open, but one of the wolves was right behind me at that point. I was in the doorway and closing the door, but I woke up before I could tell if I got the door shut or if the wolf bit me.
I came up with an interpretation at the time, but I don’t remember exactly what it was. It was during high school so I think it had something to do with being uncertain about who I was choosing to be and feeling like I was being attacked by the outside world. The fact that the dream was open ended as to whether I got to safety or was bitten, I felt at the time if I remember right, was that I needed to choose to either be secure in myself or let the people at school get to me.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 6:43 am
Chisato, I think you are very right that dreams do reveal lots about us, about who we are at the unconscious level. And dreaming about death is rather common. There was a study showing that dreaming of death people is very common among hospice patients. Dreams about death, as far as I am concerned, is not always bad. It may mean an end to something and a new beginning to another.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 6:45 am
Lara, your dream and mine are very similar and I think the content resemble in many ways. The house, I was told, represents our soul, the essence, the core of us. The question is often what are we running away from, what is so scarely about them. What will it be like to face them? I often thought what it would be like to face all these bad elements but in a dream I oftan ran….one day I shall try to stop running. Waking up from such a dream can be very tiring.
Melissa Wigginton // July 15, 2008 at 6:49 am
Dreams have always boggled my mind. I usually only remember the majority of them for about 5 minutes after I wake up, and then I think about them all day trying to remember what the dream was about. The only dreams I remember are dreams of things chasing me. I have actually had several dreams where dogs were chasing me… Or people, random weird animals, you name it. But I am always outrunning them. I never get caught. Which I always found odd. But I have never interpreted my dreams, so I have no idea what they stand for… I always just thought that I dreamt about running (or being chased) because I am a runner, but perhaps there is some significance to the object or person chasing me… I have no clue. But thank you for the interpretations, it gives me more insight into dreams… And it makes for an interesting story
Andres // July 15, 2008 at 9:33 am
It seems to me that some dreams are much more powerful than others. Even though the content seems ordinary in the light of day, I’m always fascinated by the effect a dream can have on me, especially the type of dream that leaves me thinking about it for days afterward. It seems that way with this dream, Siroj, if you decided to write a blog post about it. It’s hard to impress upon the reader just how intense this dream is to a person, but I can see that that dream left an impression on you.
I had to keep a dream journal for a class some years ago, and I found that my dreams were more a reflection of what was preoccupying me: starting a new school, friendships and roommates, and being away from home. If anything, my dreams were non-sensical windows into what life was like for me as a freshman in college. Perhaps the dream about the dogs provides a way of showing what’s been preoccupying you, either consciously or subconsciously. I would guess there’s some sort of problem/argument that you were struggling with, but that’s just me.
April Hamilton // July 15, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I really liked reading all of your dreams! They were so interesting and I think it is awesome you can remember them when you wake up. When I can remember my dreams, which is not often…not sure why, I often wonder what they mean. Do they have significance? Are they related to what’s going on in my life right now? My fears? I think it is great to document them like you do because maybe looking back you can see what you were going through in that time of your life and if your dreams relate to that time.
The only dream that still stands out to me is from childhood. It is a man with wild white hair chasing me and he was trying to kill me. I woke up with a start and couldn’t go back to sleep. I was probably not older than 10 or 11 years old. So I went and slept in my parents room on the floor for the rest of the night. The dream has never left me because I can still remember it pretty vividly. Then, of course, I had no idea what the dream meant, but now it would be interesting to interpret it. I must have been scared of something?
Lina // July 15, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I can definitely see how you arrived at your interpretation about your dream…have you ever considered it might also be your intuitive side telling you about something more immediate in your life? Perhaps warning you about a decision you have made or are intending to make? Although I believe dreams can shed light on life forces, I also think they are a way for the unconscious to send warnings or advice regarding immediate issues…
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Melissa, Chasing dream is very common among most of us and according to some it represents anxiety or fear that we are tryin to cope with. That which we are running away from may be some part of us that we fearful of.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Andres, it is interesting that you keep a dream journal. And your interpretation of the dreams as reflective of your experience while you were in your first year of college. You are very right to say that the dog represents a struggle for me. Come to think of it, it may represent a level of anger that I have a hard time dealing with.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 4:04 pm
April, I was told that to remember dreams you have to go to bed being intentional and the moment you wake up, to record your dreams otherwise you will not remember it. Your dream is very interesting first because it has such an impact, second because you still remember it so vividly, and third it may have some archetypal symbolism to it. The question is, what do old man with white hair presents to you as a c hild.
sirojs // July 15, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Lina, I have a sense that you believe dreams tell you something that you need to take care of within your life and not something about your psyche along. Would love to hear more.
Rajan // July 15, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I haven’t paid that close attention to my dreams. I don’t remember very many dreams, and when I do I can usually tie up the threads to reality and my unconscious. I think there is value to paying attention to my dreams, however I tend to put my energy towards conscious life. I do like thinking about dreams, but I just don’t live in them. I like to look at the interesting things in my dreams, but it doesn’t really influence me that much. I don’t place a lot of emphasis on them. Maybe I’m just shallow in that regard.
Suranee // July 15, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I think dreams that include people or places that we try to block out of our lives are the most interesting. For example, my boyfriend and I have known each other for eight years now, and have been dating for about four years, with the exception of one year. So this one year, we decided to take a break (super long story that I won’t get into here) but I dreamt about him so so often, almost every night. Some dreams would involve us talking about what was going on with us, and some would be like nothing had changed and we were still together.
I took this as a sign that through all that time, he was still a big important part of my life.
We are back together now and very happy, I think the year off was necessary and really showed us alot about our relationship.
Kanchi // July 15, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I really enjoyed reading the dreams that have been posted here! They are quite fascinating. Unfortunately, I often do not remember the contents of my dreams . However, I do recognize that I am usually freaked out when I wake up from seeing one. Maybe the content of my dreams are often so scary that I repress them unconsciously before I wake up…? I not sure. Anyway, next time I have a dream and remember it, I will be sure to post it here.
Bryan Da Silva // July 16, 2008 at 7:24 am
I unfortunately do not remember many of my dreams. Personally I believe you have to wake up and think about it right away otherwise you will forget it. And knowing me, I most likely fall asleep right after I wake so I never remember them. As such, I am sorry I do not have my own dream to share.
Another reason I feel bad about not remembering my dreams for a while now is that it is hard for me to think that they have a much deeper meaning. So without the personal experience (its been a long time really) I have no connection with what could be a meaningful dream.
As for your dream, much of what I write is probably redundant but if I were to look at the dream (coming from recently reading a lot of Jung) I would think the dog’s are your shadow. Maybe it is not just fear that it will get out of hand but that you cannot keep the shadow (dogs) around your friends in the open for fear you would have to watch over it (them) the whole time. So you thought it better to keep them outside (not let them see your shadow at all).
husin // July 20, 2008 at 3:49 pm
you are the best person to interprate your dreams. most of the dreams are symbolic. the house as your soul or your ‘heart’ for example. Those angry dogs also symbolise something that you yourself could interprate more accurately. What are angry dogs to you? Is it your own uncontrollable anger for example. And your two friends in your house or heart, their names would shed more meanings into this. And as usual, the final outcome of the dream, is always left hanging. Will the dogs attack your friends or will the dogs fail? Your brute force have been overpowered but the two characters inside may have the fighting strength. Orientation of effort in our waking life could probably dictate the final outcome…
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