In our weekly Mindful Dreams column, Aneta Baranek of the School of Metaphysics is offering free dream interpretations to The Mindful Word readers, as well as articles on dreams in general.
If you’ve ever been curious about deciphering the cryptic contents of your subconscious mind, here’s your chance! If you would like Aneta to interpret your dream, fill out this form. She will respond with your dream interpretation through this column, published every Thursday. Aneta would love to receive more comments for the dreams interpreted. If you can relate to a dream posted here or have any insights to add, you can post them as comments to the interpretation, or email her at aneta@themindfulword.org.
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DREAM
Hi Aneta,
I had a dream that three shadow figures were standing at the foot of our bed. I felt a huge panic build inside of me, although they were going to harm only me and not my husband. I woke and could still see them. I eventually started screaming, and couldn’t stop until my husband turned on the light and calmed me down. (I don’t drink excessively, and didn’t drink on this night in question, nor do I take drugs.)
Once before, I had a similar experience, but it was only one faceless shadow figure that came. I don’t think this is a positive dream, as I’m still sleeping with the hall light on and the door wide open to let the maximum amount of light in. I’ve moved our bed to a new position in the room, with the hope that this might calm my fears.
– Jan
DREAMER: Female, 48, Ireland
MAIN SYMBOLS:
Three — the number three symbolizes creation
Shadow figure — unknown aspect of the dreamer
Bed — place of assimilation
Husband — committed, known inner aspect of the dreamer
INTERPRETATION
Hello Jan,
Thank you for sharing your dream. I can see why you could be scared by it.
A dream such as yours could be interpreted on two levels. One level would be to interpret it as an inner-mind experience. Oftentimes, in a semi-dream state, a person can perceive things existing within the subconscious mind.
Subconscious Mind is a vast area of existence where life continues without the physical forms we’re accustomed to in our daily physical experience. Using this approach, we could presume that you perceived non-physical beings that you felt were there to harm you.
I would like to, however, offer you a different interpretation using the Universal Language of Mind, and interpret this dream as a symbolic message from your subconscious mind. Using this approach, the dream can be viewed as a reflection of your thoughts in regard to creation (symbolized by the number three).
The shadow figures symbolize unknown aspects of you, the dreamer. The bed symbolizes a place of assimilation. To put it all together, the dream is conveying that there are unknown parts of you, engaging in the creation process, that you aren’t yet familiar with and are afraid of. These parts of you have to do with your outer expression.
APPLICATION
This dream is a wonderful example of the dichotomy between the darkness and the light that exists within all of us.
Oftentimes, we consider what we don’t know about ourselves dark and scary, and yet, darkness also has receptive qualities. We may need to redefine how we view those dark aspects of ourselves. Just because some of our parts are unknown, it doesn’t mean that they’re scary or bad.
There are a lot of unknown qualities within us that bring about our innate talents and skills. It’s how we view those unknown parts of ourselves that determines our ability to grow and change. We can choose to get stuck in fear, or we can call upon our courage to face the unknown parts within ourselves.
Having said that, there are also dark parts of ourselves that are often referred to as the “shadow.” These are aspects that bring about “negative” qualities such as jealousy, self-righteousness, and so on. We all have them, to some extent, and it’s through the journey of life that we have the opportunity to expose them and cause healing.
Shining our light of attention onto either the unknown aspects of ourselves, or the shadow parts within, brings about a more wholistic picture of who we truly are. More often than not, the shadow aspects are simply remnants of our social programming that, once brought into the light of our awareness, can easily be left behind.
We all need to remember that we’re born out of love, and we’re expressions of love and light from the Source. Our life experiences, and how we perceive them, are what taints our own self-image. It’s our responsibility to seek out the Truth and allow the Light in.
May your dreams illuminate the inner and outer you
