Winter, Child, Hunter - All Symbols

We all experience those “big” dreams - the ones we continue to replay in our minds long after we dreamed them, wondering what they were about and knowing at gut level there is something for us to find and know.

Memory of these dreams can last for years; sometimes a lifetime. They typically remain as fresh, as detailed, and as emotionally charged as they were upon awakening from them.

Dear Nancy: This dream came to me about four years ago, during a time that was extremely difficult for me. I was experiencing deep depression and grieving, sometimes not even getting out of bed.

I had taken early retirement from a career in education, which gave me the opportunity to attend to my inner-self. I have confronted my parents and family about my childhood abuse and their attempts to ostracize me, and I’m feeling much freer and lighter. - Jim

I’m sitting on top of a hill in a stone building. Instead of windows of glass, it has openings through which I watch a cold, snowy scene. Coming down a trail, I see a man returning from hunting, carrying a string of birds. The man has forgotten the boy following him.

The snow is deep on the trail, too deep for the boy. The man walks on ahead and enters a hut in the village. Suddenly I’m aware that the boy is missing. I run down the hill, frantically looking for him.

I finally find him in the sea, lying face down in a kelp bed. I wade out to save him, but he is dead. The water is very cold. The ambulance comes, but it’s too late. I feel incredibly sad and wake up.

Dear Jim: Dreams commonly reveal our mental and emotional states. Feelings of separateness during your depression may have caused your psyche to depict you sitting in the stone building watching the heart-wrenching winter scene below. The deep snow and coldness offer more indication of the inhospitable emotional state you were experiencing.

Children in dreams often are symbols of our own childlike nature - playful and innocent, and yet full of potential.

In your dream, the child is forgotten and ignored. Is this the way you were treated as a child? Were you neglected and forgotten? Do you ignore the needs of your inner-child? Perhaps the dream is calling your attention to healing the wounded child within you.

Perhaps the hunter is the part of yourself that’s the breadwinner. Did you ignore your children while pursuing your career? Have you forgotten your own inner-child in the effort to be successful?

Birds often represent our spiritual nature and higher wisdom. The hunter is successful. The birds are dead; had your spirituality died in some way?

In your dream, the child’s death feels like a tragedy. But death in dreams is not always negative and often indicates a cycle of renewal is at hand. Death gives way to birth and new growth. But when a person is depressed, this is hard to see.

Perhaps this dream was a “wake-up call.” By allowing yourself to feel the pain of your childhood and facing your parents, healing began. By nurturing your inner child your peace and sense of joy will grow.

xxxx