Dodgson's family was predominantly northern English, with Irish connections. Conservative and High Church Anglican, most of Dodgson's ancestors were army officers or Church of England clergymen. His great-grandfather, also Charles Dodgson, had risen through the ranks of the church to become a bishop. His grandfather, another Charles, had been an army captain, killed in action in 1803 during the Napoleonic Wars, when his two sons were hardly more than babies. His mother's name was Frances Jane Lutwidge.
The elder of these sons — yet another Charles — was Carroll's father. He reverted to the other family business and took holy orders. He went to Rugby School, and thence to Christ Church, Oxford. He was mathematically gifted and won a double first degree, which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead he married his first cousin in 1827 and became a country parson.
Young Charles' father was an active and highly conservative clergyman of the Anglican church who later became Archdeacon of Richmond and involved himself, sometimes influentially, in the intense religious disputes that were dividing the Anglican church. He was High Church, inclining to Anglo-Catholicism, an admirer of Newman and the Tractarian movement, and did his best to instill such views in his children. Young Charles was to develop an ambiguous relationship with his father's values and with the Anglican church as a whole.
Dodgson was born in the little parsonage of Daresbury near Warrington, Cheshire, the eldest boy but already the third child of the four-and-a-half-year-old marriage. Eight more children were to follow. When Charles was 11, his father was given the living of Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, and the whole family moved to the spacious Rectory. This remained their home for the next twenty-five years.
To see the outside of the church in your dream, signifies sacredness and spiritual nourishment. It is representative of your value system and the things you hold sacred.
To dream that you are inside a church, suggests that you are seeking for spiritual enlightenment and guidance. You are looking to be uplifted in some way. Perhaps you have made some past mistakes which have set you back on your path toward your goals. With proper support, you will get on the right track again. Alternatively, the dream may also mean that you are questioning and debating your life path and where it is leading. You are reevaluating what you want to do.
To dream of seeing a church in the distance, denotes disappointment in pleasures long anticipated.
To enter one wrapt in gloom, you will participate in a funeral.
Dull prospects of better times are portended.
Seeing the outside of the church in your dream means sacredness and spiritual nourishment. It is representative of your value system and the things you hold sacred. Dreaming that you are in a church, suggests that you are seeking for some spiritual enlightenment and guidance. You are looking to be uplifted in some way. Perhaps you have made some mistakes in the past which have set you back on your path toward your goals. With proper support, you will get on the right track again. Alternatively, it may also mean that you are questioning and debating your life path and where it is leading. You are reevaluating what you want to do.
Dreaming about being in a church is more common than most people realise. This may be so due to the fact that most of us went to church as children. From a very early age we had to go to church and were taught that there was a God. This was important in our life and to our families. Dreaming about churches, cathedrals, synagogues, or any other place of worship may represent our childhood associations with religion. At times, the dream may be a muddled childhood memory. The church could represent a need for greater spirituality in the dreamer's life. It may express religious beliefs, everyday occurrences, issues of safety, security and strength through community and religious expression. None of us can escape the age-old questions, "Who am I?" and, "What is the meaning of life?". Coping with our own physical mortality is a very big deal. Both our conscious, and unconscious minds are continually working and bringing issues of relevance and concern into our awareness. If you dream that you are praying in a church, you could be in need of comfort. Think about the details of your dream and make an attempt to honestly understand its meaning.
The father-image, closely linked with the symbolism of the masculine
principle, corresponds to consciousness as opposed to the maternal implications
of the unconscious. The symbolic representation of the father is based upon the
Elements of air and fire, and also heaven, light, thunderbolts and weapons (56).
Just as heroism is a spiritual activity proper to the son, so dominion is the power
peculiar to the father (17). Because of this, and also because he stands for the
force of tradition (32), he represents the world of moral commandments and
prohibitions restraining the forces of the instincts (31) and subversion.
To see your father in your dream, symbolizes authority and protection. It suggests that you need to be more self-reliant. Consider also your waking relationship with your father and how aspects of his character may be incorporated within yourself.
To dream that your father is dead, forewarns that you need to proceed with caution in conducting your business.
To dream that you are hitting your father, represents a desperate need for greater closeness with your father. You feel that he is not listening to you. In particular, if you are hitting your father with a rubber object, indicates that whatever you are doing or telling him has no significant effect on him. Things just literally bounces off him.
To dream of your father, signifies that you are about to be involved in a difficulty, and you will need wise counsel if you extricate yourself therefrom.
If he is dead, it denotes that your business is pulling heavily, and you will have to use caution in conducting it.
For a young woman to dream of her dead father, portends that her lover will, or is, playing her false.
Father loves you. If the father is dead, it shows a sign of affliction.
Seeing your father in your dream, symbolizes authority and protection. It suggests that you need to be more self-reliant. Consider also your waking relationship with your father. Dreaming that your father is dead, forewarns that you need to proceed with caution in conducting your business. Dreaming that you are hitting your father. represents a desperate need for greater closeness with your father. You feel that he is not listening to you. In particular, if you are hitting your father with a rubber object indicates that whatever you are doing or telling him has no significant effect on him. Things just literally bounces off him.
Dreams with fathers in them can be looked at on several different levels. You may be dreaming about your father and expressing your feelings about him in a safe way. Traditionally, a father dream can be seen as symbolizing authority and power. In the dream you may be expressing your attitude about strengths and weaknesses as they relate to your position in life and your general attitude toward society. Your father dying in a dream can represent your taking on more responsibility or power. The image of the father could also represent the "collective consciousness," the traditional spirit, and the yang.
To see your own family in your dream, represents security, warmth and love. It could also symbolize bitterness, jealousy, or rivalry, depending on your relationship with your family. Alternatively, it could mean that you are overly dependent on your family, especially if the family members are in your recurring dreams .Consider also the significance of a particular family member or the relationship you have with them.
To dream of one's family as harmonious and happy, is significant of health and easy circumstances; but if there is sickness or contentions, it forebodes gloom and disappointment.
Seeing your own family in high spirits in your dream, symbolizes harmony and happiness. Seeing them gloomy, foretells of disappointment and sadness.
The first people in your life with whom you have any social interaction are the members of your family. Therefore, a dream about a family member can represent any waking life social situation. For example, if you are arguing with your mother or father in a dream, you may be having a problem with another authority figure, such as an employer, in your waking life. If you dream that an older sibling is teaching you how to do something, you may be hoping that you will receive assistance with something from someone else in your waking life.
A family can also represent security and community.
The meaning of a dream about family will largely depend upon your personal experiences with your own family members.
To see the army in your dream, symbolizes an overpowering force working against you. You may feel outnumbered or pressured and are unable to deal with this situation.
To dream that you join the army, suggests your feelings of superiority. You feel that no one is any match for you.
Dreaming of an army can have two opposite meanings: if you are part of an army, you are feeling strong, protected and superior. But if you are seeing a foreign army and you do not join it, it means that you feel surrounded by hostile presence and you can't measure up to it. You need to have more trust in yourself and in your resources.
The basic theme of an army in one’s dream is a struggle against the forces of evil, against the monsters and demons that threaten us. An army is an overwhelming force, irresistible and indestructible. It is a nameless power. It can represent the forces of our emotions and our basic instincts as a whole. If you dream about an army it is almost always connected with suffering from an internal conflict. A marching army shows that you are about to be overwhelmed by your subconscious. If there are two armies battling each other, it is a clear sign that there is conflict within the dreamer. There is a duality of thoughts, emotional stress and probably anxiety. If you dream that an army is marching forward, you may believe that you will ultimately achieve success, but if it is retreating, it can be a sign that you are afraid that you are doomed to failure.
To dream of young persons indicates enjoyment. If you are young, it indicates your
sickness. You may die quickly
To dream of seeing young people, is a prognostication of reconciliation of family disagreements and favorable times for planning new enterprises.
To dream that you are young again, foretells that you will make mighty efforts to recall lost opportunities, but will nevertheless fail.
For a mother to see her son an infant or small child again, foretells that old wounds will be healed and she will take on her youthful hopes and cheerfulness. If the child seems to be dying, she will fall into ill fortune and misery will attend her.
To see the young in school, foretells that prosperity and usefulness will envelope you with favors. Yule Log.
To dream of a yule log, foretells that your joyous anticipations will be realized by your attendance at great festivities.
To see young people in your dream, indicates a fresh outlook on your life. It may also represent a more youthful aspect of yourself. Perhaps you need to be more playful and carefree.
To dream that you are young again, indicates that you are behaving childish or immaturely. Alternatively, it represents your failed attempts to rectify past mistakes. You are dwelling too much on past regrets and lost opportunities. It is time to move on toward the future.
Seeing young people in your dream, symbolizes an end to your worries and a fresh outlook on life will be gained. It may also represent the younger aspect of yourself. Dreaming that you are young again, symbolizes your failed attempts to rectify past mistakes and lost opportunities.
To see children in your dream, signify an aspect of yourself and your childlike qualities. You may be retreating back to a childlike state and longing for the past. You are trying to still satisfy repressed desires and unfulfilled hopes. Perhaps there is something that you need to see grow and nurture. Take some time off and cater to the inner child within. Alternatively, the dream may be highlighting your innocence, purity, simplicity, and carefree attitude. If you are fighting with children, then it implies that you are repressing your inner child. The children could represent someone in your waking life (coworker, mate, sibling, etc.) who is acting like a child. If you see children fighting in your dream, then it means that your sense of morality and character are in conflict.
To forget about your child or children, suggests that you are feeling overwhelmed by your waking responsibilities. The dream is telling you that you are overly fixating on minor details and overlooking the important things on your life. You need to re-prioritize your time and focus on what matters. To dream that your own grown children are still very young, indicates that you still see them as young and dependent. You want to feel needed and significant.
To dream that you are watching children but they do not know you are there, is a metaphor for some hidden knowledge or some latent talent which you have failed to recognize.
To save a child in your dream, signifies your attempts to save a part of yourself from being destroyed. If you dream that you are separated from your children, then it symbolizes failure in some personal endeavor or a setback in some ideal you had.
``Dream of children sweet and fair,
To you will come suave debonair,
Fortune robed in shining dress,
Bearing wealth and happiness.''
To dream of seeing many beautiful children is portentous of great prosperity and blessings.
For a mother to dream of seeing her child sick from slight cause, she may see it enjoying robust health, but trifles of another nature may harass her.
To see children working or studying, denotes peaceful times and general prosperity.
To dream of seeing your child desperately ill or dead, you have much to fear, for its welfare is sadly threatened.
To dream of your dead child, denotes worry and disappointment in the near future.
To dream of seeing disappointed children, denotes trouble from enemies, and anxious forebodings from underhanded work of seemingly friendly people.
To romp and play with children, denotes that all your speculating and love enterprises will prevail.
Seeing children in your dream means your own childlike qualities or a retreat back to a childlike state. It is an extension of your inner child during a time of innocence, purity, simplicity, and a carefree attitude. You may be longing for the past and the chance to satisfy repressed desires and unfulfilled hopes. Take some time off and cater to the inner child within. Perhaps there is something that you need to see grow and nurtured. Dreaming that your own grown children are still very young indicates that you still see them as young and dependent. You want to feel needed and significant. Dreaming that you are watching children but they do not know you are there, is a metaphor for some hidden knowledge or some latent talent which you have failed to recognize. To save a child means your attempts to save a part of yourself from being destroyed.