In Dream, Too, The Butler Did It

Dear Nancy: I have just been through a difficult divorce. Financially, it’s been devastating. I am now waiting for the final paperwork to come through. This has been an exhausting year and yet I feel excited and ready to get on with my life. I woke up puzzled from this dream. - Steve

I’m at my office and someone tells me I have a patient in room 2. I enter the room to start the evaluation and find my whole staff there and Mick Jagger sitting in the middle waiting for me. A beautiful, heavy-set actress is with him. I have good feelings about both of them.

Mick is injured in the left leg and tells me his butler ran into him with the Rolls-Royce. I realize I can’t begin the evaluation because I have no chart or paper to write on. I ask my staff (all women) to help me find the paper, but they ignore me. I run to the store to buy paper. As I run back to the office I hope someone will stop for me. I know many of the people in the cars, but no one stops. I have to start walking because I’m too tired to run. I’m sad that I won’t be able to evaluate Mick Jagger.

Dear Steve: As we spoke about Mick Jagger, it became obvious that he represents the part of you that feels wild and free. His leg is injured and requires treatment. Legs are our foundation, what we stand on. They also mobilize us and carry us forward in life. Are you feeling restricted and unable to go forward with your plans? The beautiful, heavy-set actress may be someone who carries a lot of weight (importance) in your life. Do you have a new girlfriend?

Being hit by the Rolls-Royce is a great indicator of your feelings about the financial aspect of your divorce. The butler drove the Rolls and this suggests that what had served you in the past (the butler) is now causing you injury. Is your former affluent lifestyle now causing you pain and costing you an “arm and a leg?”

The absence of the paper is the big problem. This is, no doubt, a symbol of your final divorce papers. You can’t help your own wild and free nature until you have that paper. The dream suggests that you may have to sit back and wait a little longer. There’s no one to help you and no need to run. You’re tired and may just need to rest.

Dear Nancy: I am a married, retired schoolteacher. Many years ago on Christmas Day, I had a dream that told me of my father’s death. This last Christmas I woke up crying after having the following dream. - Lynne

I am standing on a wooden pier or bridge, looking down at a river with wild currents. A wide, wooden plank appears below with my daughter lying on it, crying my name and trying to reach for me. I try in desperation to get hold of her hand, but I can’t. She is carried away by the current.

Dear Lynne: I can understand your fear that this might be a precognitive dream, but it could be about something else. On the telephone, you spoke of the sadness and loss you felt when your daughter chose to have Christmas with friends instead of with you. The bridge or pier provides you with an overlook, a place to see what is happening. The river below is fast and wild. This shows the flow of life and the wild currents suggest emotional disturbance. Is your daughter experiencing a time in her life that feels out of control? Is she reaching out to you for help in some way? I suggest that you call her and share this dream with her. Ask if she needs your help or support.

If she seems to be having no particular difficulties, perhaps the dream is addressing your own fears of losing your connection and relationship with her. By contacting her and having an honest, heart-to-heart talk, you will foster the connection you most likely both need.

xxxx