Disturbing Images Have Meaning

This column is intended as entertainment. But psychologists who work with clients’ dreams say that dreams can hold a tremendous amount of significance; a particularly disturbing or repetitive dream may indicate the need to see a therapist.

Dear Nancy: Lately I have had several dreams that include this scene. Can you help me understand it? - Mary Ann

I am riding on a motorcycle down a mountain road. I am aware that I have a loose tooth, a molar, and I am working it loose with my tongue. When it finally falls out, the rest of my teeth begin to crumble. I wake up feeling like I have chalk in my mouth.

Dear Mary Ann: Many people experience loss of teeth in their dreams and it is quite disturbing. Since chewing your food is the first part of the digestive process, losing one’s teeth shows lack of ability to recognize and digest (understand) a problem or situation. There is also a loss of vitality and of the ability to “sink your teeth” into a dilemma.

Is there a situation in your life in which you are losing your vitality and energy? The dream shows you working that first tooth until it falls out. Are you nagging or pushing a person or circumstance so much that you may lose more than you bargain for?

Riding the motorcycle shows a need for balance and freedom in your life. Be sure to take time for recreation and relaxation.

I hope I have given you some ideas on this particular scene. By studying your dream, having patience, and being honest with yourself, you will uncover the situation this dream is referring to.

Dear Nancy: This dream was very disturbing. Can you help me understand it? - CJ

In the absence of a minister, I am in a church giving a sermon and really bungling it. Later, I am lying on a bed outside the church, covered with a blanket. The church is filled with napping people.

A man walks around the church and I stand up and say “Can I help you?”

He pulls a knife. He looks like he’s crazy or off-balance.

I woke up afraid.

Dear CJ: You were right to be disturbed by this dream. Any building in a dream usually represents the self. Since your building is a church, it is addressing the part of you that feels sacred and safe.

The minister is absent - are you forgetting to tend to your innermost needs? Everyone is napping, not paying attention. This shows lack of awareness and stagnation. Wake up!

The crazy man with the knife shows there is a threat to your own spiritual center. Is there someone or something in your life that feels aggressive or threatening? Does the man represent a destructive side of your own nature?

This dream is a wake-up call. It is a message to you that the safe, spiritual aspect of yourself needs attention.

Note to readers: Remember that only you can truly interpret your own dreams, so, if the definition of a symbol does not feel right to you, keep searching inside yourself to find the true meaning. Your symbols are your own; one person’s frightening monster will be another’s source of mystery and power.

xxxx