Theresa Cheung - The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams - The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams

Dreams about earthquakes, landslides and volcanoesall point to inner turmoil or emotional conflict that is shaking the foundation of the dreamer’s world. The dream may often come close to being a nightmare, but such dreams are warning you about something that is going on in your waking life to which you need to pay attention. A dream about a natural disasteris unlikely to be prophetic; it is more likely to be referring to something dangerous in your waking life. For example, an avalanchedream may refer to oppressive forces in waking life threatening to overwhelm you—an avalanche of responsibility, for example, that accompanies the birth of a new child. If you are swept awayin the dream, you are being urged to find something, or someone, to hold onto in waking life to regain stability. If you dreamed that the earth was cracking open beneath you, this threat may be echoed in changes at work or insecurity within a relationship.

An explosionmay reflect sudden changes in waking life or the release of emotion. What damage has the explosion inflicted in the dream? If anything was broken, interpret its symbolism; if someone was clinging on to you in the dream, who are they? If you dreamed you were in danger of thunder or lighting, again this may refer to emotional turmoil in waking life; but a dream about being struck by lightingcould refer to sudden insight. If you dream that you are falling into a dark hole, is there some situation in waking life out of which you feel you cannot climb?

Dreams featuring alarmsmay be caused by car or house alarms that go off in the night; if there is no external stimulus of this sort, and your dream features a house alarm, does this allude to your family? Does someone need protection at this time? Was the alarm effective in the dream? If the alarm failed to go off, this is an extremely significant symbol. If your dream features a car alarm, this may allude to some kind of rash behavior and, as men often equate cars with sexuality, you may want to consider it in this context.

Dreams can also often warn of dangers of which we may be unaware in waking life. For example if you dream of overspending, this may suggest you are expending too much emotion on a particular person. If you dream of escaping from a prison to a happy landscape, this may be a warning that you need to relax more. There are other practical warning dreams. For example, you may dream that your car brakes failand in waking life find that this is indeed the case. There is usually a simple explanation as your unconscious mind may have registered the fault, but this kind of dream should not be ignored ( see ACCIDENTS, ACTION AND ADVENTURES). Similarly dreams of bodily aches and pains and other signs of poor healthare also worth taking note of. See also SICKNESS AND HEALTH.

Dreams that feature some kind of disobedience, mutiny and rebellionare about conflict with authority, such as a parent, a teacher, a corporation or even the government. If you were disobedient or rebelliousin your dream, whose authority were you up against? To whom is it that you feel you need to assert your individuality and independence? On the other hand, your unconscious may have simply allowed you to give vent to feelings of resentment in the safety of the dream world. If you dreamed that you refuse to comply with your boss, or with someone who gives you directions in waking life, this may reflect your mounting anger or exhaustion in the face of demands and responsibilities being placed upon you.

If you felt liberated in your dream, perhaps this is a sign that you need to stand up for yourself more in waking life. If you were involved in a mutiny, do you long to rebel against authority? If you went on strike, such a dream may reflect feelings of frustration and exhaustion in waking life. If you found yourself engaged in arm wrestling, are you engaged in a real-life battle of wills? An alternative explanation for dreams of rebellion against an enemy, known or unknownis that you are in revolt against some part of yourself. Try to remember what you rebelled against in your dream and why, and see if you can draw a parallel in waking life.

Drowning in deep watersuggests floundering in the depths of the unconscious. As with dreams of pursuit or being chased, this dream alerts you to areas of your unconscious that are creating conflict and need to be examined with care. Falling and jumping in an attempt to escape from hostile pursuersin a dream is a desperate escape mechanism and suggests that you might have more success if you turn at the last minute to face your enemies, having found the strength to confront them. Dreams in which you are trying to run from something or someonebut find you cannot—perhaps because your feet are weighed down or stuck in the mud—can be interpreted in much the same way.

Crawling through a narrow space, tunnel or small enclosure, or trying to squeeze through a tiny corridor or hallpoints to your creative energies struggling to find expression; these are, however, also common-place dreams expressing anxiety about a challenging and imminent event such as a review at work, an examination or even the birth of a new baby. Being chased, not knowing who or what is out there in the darkness, or vainly trying to push through the crowds in a busy bar, street or department storealso suggest that certain repressed aspects of your personality, or unexamined aspects of the self, demand to be dealt with. To be trappedin a dream signifies that you feel you are trapped by outside circumstances. To be aware of trapping something or someoneis to try to hold onto them, and if you trap a butterfly or animal, you are trying to capture your inner self. Feeling trapped in dreams also suggests an inability to break free from old patterns of thought and behavior without outside help. See also NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.

If you are fighting an unknown enemyin your dream, this may represent a struggle with the shadow side of your nature and the unwelcome aspects of your personality. For example, there might be a battle between your moral code and your sexual desire, or between your intellect and your emotional needs. Conflict can also occur between your personal drives and social, political and economic drives. The fight may also represent a battle between yourself and another person, and your conscious and unconscious needs. If the enemy is someone you know, perhaps you have unsuspected feelings of animosity towards them. A fight between a younger and an older personin your dream may suggest a rivalry between the dreamer and authority.

A fight between people of the same agemay represent the struggle for recognition or sibling rivalry. Similar interpretations can be applied to any kind of strugglein your dream. Such fights usually depict a fight for freedom, independence or the truth. Your unconscious may also be urging you to work out why there is a conflict, and may be suggesting that there is a more subtle way of dealing with it than with fists. According to Freudians, the struggle depicts the battle between your father or mother for the attention of the other parent.