Parallels Are Closely Drawn Here

Dear Nancy: I am unmarried, live alone and feel content and balanced in my personal life right now.

I work in a public agency where there has always been a high level of friction and conflict between the supervisors and staff. It is truly a toxic atmosphere. I have recently been appointed to a committee charged with making recommendations for improving this situation.

This dream was so strong for me because the odor was overwhelming. - Kate

I am in a large house with many rooms. A group of musicians arrive to get together for a practice session. I am connected to them in some way and I’m accepted as part of the group. A box of chocolate cookies is delivered to the house anonymously. They look good but we wonder if they are safe to eat. I bite into one and smoke fumes pour out of the cookie and into my mouth. The odor is strong and acidic, like chemical fumes.

I’m aware that eating cookies that are suspected of being poisonous isn’t very smart. I’m not in any pain and I’m not worried or afraid.

The musicians are angry and upset. They wonder who could have sent us the poison cookies.

Dear Kate: Most dreams come to communicate information about ourselves and our personal issues. Others come to inform us of events and circumstances we may not be aware of on a conscious level. Warning dreams may be taken literally or can depict our fears.

The house may represent the agency with the different rooms illustrating various departments.

Musicians are people who are in tune with each other. Their job is to create harmony just as your committee was formed to do.

The cookies are delivered from outside of the building. Is there someone in your group who has been recently recruited? You mentioned on the telephone that a facilitator from outside the agency had been hired.

The cookies, which look like a gift, are actually poison. There is deceit and duplicity here. Is the committee being deceived in some way? Is there someone in the agency who would rather continue the conflict than see it resolved?

The poison could be the negative thinking that surrounds you. The acidity of the smell suggests this negativity could corrode and debilitate the people involved.

It’s difficult for people to change when they have been locked in fear and judgment for long periods of time.

The dream does have resolution, however. The poison is discovered in time with no harm done. I would be very watchful, Kate, for some corrupting influence within the group. And, if a gift of chocolate cookies arrives at a meeting, don’t eat any!

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.

, DataTimes MEMO: Nancy Huseby Bloom has studied dreams for 16 years. Dreams may be sent to her c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax, (509) 459-5098. Please send a short summary of the circumstances in your life and include your name, address and phone number. Due to the volume of mail, Nancy is not able to use every dream. If your dream is not chosen for this column, you can have a personal phone consultation for $30 per dream. Dream work for use in this column is free.

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