You Have Control In Driver’S Seat

In vehicle dreams, it’s always important to note who is driving.

Happy New Year everyone!

Dear Nancy: I retired recently, and I’m in search of a new direction. Although I had this dream a couple of months ago, it has stuck with me. - Johnna

I’m traveling in a car. My brother, who is a priest, is driving. I’m in the passenger seat, and an old woman and a man are in the back seat. The roads are icy, and it’s snowing. Twice we come to dead-ends and have to back up to the main road. Frustrated, I decide to drive and ask the woman for a map. Suddenly, we are moving along the edge of a river. Under its clear, crystalline water are thousands of bright shiny pennies. I stop, thinking we should pick them up.

Dear Johnna: Dream vehicles often show how we move through life. Automobiles depict the way we see ourselves, our freedom to come and go, our power to accomplish, our driving desires or course of action.

You told me your brother is a priest and you were a nun for many years. After leaving the convent, you became much more independent, relying less on traditional roles and models, and began to explore new ways of thinking and believing. Perhaps your dream’s dead-end roads reflect the old ways of relating to your spirituality. In vehicle dreams, it’s always important to note who is driving.

In your dream, your brother is at the wheel first. In our conversation, you said that in the past you looked to him for help and guidance.

Have you had a tendency to let him be in the driver’s seat and make decisions for you? Could he represent the family patterns and traditions that once influenced you?

According to your dream, this is changing. You’re taking the driver’s seat. You want control of your own life.

We can also look at the dream as if your brother symbolizes a part of yourself. What are your brother’s most outstanding characteristics? For example, is he loving, generous, depressed or intellectual?

Perhaps these traits of yours are leading you to dead ends. What do you need to do differently?

It’s the wise old woman who guides you. She has the map. Although she could represent a real person or the archetype of the wise old woman, I believe she’s the part of you that has made the decision to follow an older spiritual map, one in which women are honored, nature is respected, and gifts of the spirit are welcomed. Only you know the meaning of your dream, but I would say that this new pathway is right for you and will lead to your treasure.

Dream tip: Water is most often a symbol of the dreamer’s emotional life. When it appears in dreams in the form of ice or snow, it indicates that the dreamer may be experiencing frozen emotions, such as fear, apathy or other constraints that block the flow of life energy.

When the emotions flow again, they often appear as a beautiful river or creek, such as the one in Johnna’s dream.

Look through your dream journal and find the dreams containing water. Do you have plenty or not enough? Is it clear or muddy, frozen or flowing, warm or cold? What does this say about your emotional state?