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
Last night, I had the oddest dream: I dreamed that I left a camp where my family (father and siblings) were gathered. I carried with me a 22-calibre rifle that I owned as a child.
I walked up a gentle slope to a huge oak tree about 100 yards [approximately 91 metres] away. I sat down beneath the tree with my legs crossed at my ankles. My right hand held the stock of the rifle and the barrel was cradled inside my left arm. A vulture sailed down from the sky and lit on a limb of the oak tree above me.
The vulture faced me. Slowly, I raised the rifle chest-high, and pointed it towards the vulture … then, I squeezed the trigger. A bullet hit the vulture’s head, but it didn’t fall from the tree. A few seconds later, I fired another shot, once again hitting the vulture’s head. This time, the bird quivered and seemed to be dying.
I walked back to camp. Blood—thick, red blood—covered my right hand and a portion of my left arm. I prepared to wash the blood away, and the dream ended there.
DREAMER: Male, U.S.
MAIN SYMBOLS:
Camp — place in mind
Family — familiar aspects of the dreamer
Rifle — tool for change
Tree — subconscious existence
Hand — purpose
Vulture — subconscious thought pattern that feeds of off transformed habits
Blood — life force, chi, prana
INTERPRETATION
Hello,
Examining the symbols of your dream, we have the camp, which speaks to a familiar state of mind from the past. Your father and siblings are known aspects of you—the dreamer. The rifle is a tool for change. The hand symbolizes your purpose. The vulture is a bird that feeds off of dead prey with dead prey symbolizing transformed habits (animals = habits). A bird symbolizes subconscious thought patterns. The blood symbolizes life force, also known as prana or chi.
Putting it all together: A day or two prior, you were in a state of mind that’s familiar to you, one that’s from the past. You were interacting with known parts of yourself. There were subconscious thought patterns connected to transformed habits (vulture) that you were forcefully transforming (shooting the vulture with the rifle). The blood on your hand reflects the need for you to pay attention to the purpose of whatever habitual ways of being the vulture symbolizes.
APPLICATION
The vulture is very significant in your dream. What habit does it symbolize, that you’re wanting to forcefully transform? By examining your waking life 24 to 48 hours prior to the dream, you could determine this habitual way of being. One thing I need to point out is that this is a way of being that operates within your inner subconscious mind, so it might be something that isn’t too obvious for you to observe and identify.
It’s important to remember that not all habits are bad. We can engage in productive habits like brushing our teeth every morning. The more aware we become, the more everything we engage in becomes a choice, rather than a habit.
In order to upgrade our habitual ways of being, it’s better to not so much eliminate them, but rather, replace them with more beneficial and productive patterns of behavior. Not only do we want to introduce more beneficial ways of being into our existence, we also want them to have a deeper meaning. We want them to have a purpose, as a purpose allows us to retain an understanding.
Living from a place of learning and building permanent understandings within the soul allows us to live a truly fulfilling life. Any physical experience is temporary, but the learning we retain within is everlasting. Your dream is asking you to pay more attention to your purpose when partaking in any activity, especially the one symbolized by the vulture.
If it were my dream, I’d examine my habitual ways of being and evaluate which behaviours feed my soul and which ones impede my growth and inner peace.
Small changes bring about massive transformations. All we need is a decision in order to make a change and upgrade our habits.
May your dreams illuminate the inner and outer you…