Last night i had a vivid dream at the onset of falling asleep. It wasn't very long but filled with information. At the start there was a discussion over a white object which housed a concept about the way dreams function. The dream progresses quickly and now me and a female friend are in pursuit, "follow the man with the white coat" i say. Griping our four hands together we jump down a well of some kind. Spinning, we land, there is several people, i am trying to follow the white coat, it appears to have turned from a man wearing a coat to a woman (wearing a white dress?). I am thrust back up the well, with no fear i jump into the well again, falling through the darkness a sharp thrust pierces through my abdomen, i have been painfully stabbed with a sword blade. Knowing the solution, i open my eyes from the darkness to escape to reality. There is a lingering sensation of holding my breath from the terror of being impaled, and a dissatisfaction as i forget the details of the concept of which i was perusing.
In Christian symbolism the well falls within the group of ideas associated with the concept of life as a pilgrimage, and signifies salvation (4). The well
of refreshing and purifying water is symbolic of sublime aspirations, or of the
‘silver cord’ which attaches man to the function of the Centre. Demeter and other
deities were shown standing beside a well (15). But this symbol is found not only
in the higher cultures of Antiquity but also among the primitives. Schneider has
noted that, in the medicinal rites of peoples at the animistic level, the centre of the
scene is taken up by a lake or well in whose water the sick wash their hands,
breast and head. At the water’s edge, reeds grow and shells are to be found, and
both are signs of the waters of salvation (51). In particular, the act of drawing
water from a well is—like fishing—symbolic of drawing out and upwards the
numinous contents of the deeps (31). To look into the waters of a lake or well is
tantamount to the mystic attitude of contemplation. Finally, the well is also a
symbol of the soul, and an attribute of things feminine (32).
To dream that you are employed in a well, foretells that you will succumb to adversity through your misapplied energies. You will let strange elements direct your course.
To fall into a well, signifies that overwhelming despair will possess you.
For one to cave in, promises that enemies' schemes will overthrow your own.
To see an empty well, denotes you will be robbed of fortune if you allow strangers to share your confidence.
To see one with a pump in it, shows you will have opportunities to advance your prospects.
To dream of an artesian well, foretells that your splendid resources will gain you admittance into the realms of knowledge and pleasure.
To draw water from a well, denotes the fulfilment of ardent desires.
If the water is impure, there will be unpleasantness.
To see a well in your dream, represents your hidden abilities and talents that have not yet come to the surface or not yet recognized. The well is also symbolic of the depth of your emotions. It may serve as a depository for your emotions and how you are trying to suppress them. Alternatively, the dream may be a pun on how you are doing "well".
To dream that you fall into the well, indicates losing emotional control.
To dream that the well is dry, suggests that there is an emotional void in your life. You feel empty inside and need to be fulfilled.
Seeing a well in your dream, refers to your willingness to share.
To see your own stomach in your dream, refers to the beginning of new changes in your life. The dream may highlight the difficulties you have with accepting these changes. It is also indicative of how you can no longer tolerate or put up with a particular situation, relationship, or person, as in being able to "stomach" something. Alternatively, the stomach is often seen as the center of emotions. Thus the dream may be about how you process or handle your emotions.
Seeing your own stomach in your dream, suggests the beginning of new changes in your life. The dream may highlight your difficulties with accepting these changes. It is also indicative of how you can no longer tolerate or put up with a particular situation, relationship, or person. The stomach is often seen as the center of emotions.
The stomach often symbolizes your emotional center and a dream about the stomach can refer to repressed emotions.
If your stomach is exposed in your dream, you may be feeling vulnerable. If a woman dreams that her stomach is exposed, she may want to become pregnant.
Being injured in your stomach can mean that you have been wounded emotionally.
A dream about your stomach can refer to something you can't accept, or "can't stomach."
Your navel can stand for your self or your soul.
Traditionally, a dream about your stomach is a sign that someone is going to be faithful. A swollen stomach is a sign of good luck, while a shriveled stomach means that someone is being deceptive.
To see a blade in your dream, suggests that you are making some difficult and important decisions. You need to be able to make clear distinctions between your choices. It also indicates that you are walking on a thin line and need to balance aspects of your life carefully.
Dreaming of a blade, suggests that you are making some difficult and important decisions. You need to be able to make clear distinctions between your choices. It also indicates that you are walking on a thin line and need to balance aspects of your life carefully.
The sword is in essence composed of a blade and a guard; it is
therefore a symbol of ‘conjunction’, especially when, in the Middle Ages, it takes
on the form of a cross. Among many primitive peoples it was the object of much
veneration. The Scythians used to make an annual sacrifice of several horses to
the blade of a sword, which they conceived as a god of war. Similarly, the Romans
believed that iron, because of its association with Mars, was capable of warding
off evil spirits (8). The belief still persists in Scotland (21). Founders of cities, in
the ancient Che-King tales of China, wear swords (7). As a religious symbol, it is
still in use as part of the ceremonial dress of oriental bishops. Its primary symbolic meaning, however, is of a wound and the power to wound, and hence of
liberty and strength. Schneider has shown that, in megalithic culture, the sword is
the counterpart of the distaff, which is the feminine symbol of the continuity of
life. The sword and the distaff symbolize, respectively, death and fertility—the
two opposites which constitute the basic symbolism of the mountain (Schneider
suggests that in the animal world the equivalents are the phallic fish and the frog)
(50). Furthermore, given the cosmic sense of sacrifice (that is, the inversion of the
implied realities of the terrestrial and the celestial orders), the sword is then seen
as a symbol of physical extermination and psychic decision (60), as well as of the spirit and the word of God, the latter being a particularly common symbol during
the Middle Ages (4). In this connexion, Bayley draws attention to the interesting
relationship between the English words sword and word. There can be no doubt
that there is a sociological factor in sword-symbolism, since the sword is an
instrument proper to the knight, who is the defender of the forces of light against
the forces of darkness. But the fact is that in rites at the dawning of history and
in folklore even today, the sword plays a similar spiritual rôle, with the magic
power to fight off the dark powers personified in the ‘malevolent dead’, which is
why it always figures in apotropaic dances. When it appears in association with
fire and flames—which correspond to it in shape and resplendence—it symbolizes purification. Schneider bears this out with his comment that whereas purification goes with fire and the sword, punishment goes with the lash and the club
(51). In alchemy, the sword is a symbol for purifying fire. The golden sword—
Chrysaor in Greek mythology—is a symbol for supreme spiritualization (15).
The Western type of sword, with its straight blade, is, by virtue of its shape, a
solar and masculine symbol. The Oriental sword, being curved, is lunar and
feminine. Here one must recall the general meaning of weapons, which is the
antithesis of the monster. The sword, because of its implication of ‘physical
extermination’, must be a symbol of spiritual evolution, just as the tree is of
involution; that is, the tree stands for the development of life within matter and
activity. This dualism between the spirit on the one hand and life on the other was
resolved by Ludwig Klages, for his part, by opting for life, but Novalis has well
expressed the contrary opinion with his observation that ‘life is an infirmity of
the spirit’. It is a duality which is well illustrated by the opposing characteristics
of wood (which is feminine) and metal. If the tree corresponds to the process of
proliferation, then the sword represents the inverse. At least Conrad Dinckmut’s
Seelen Wurzgarten (Ulm, 1483), like many other similar works, has a 15thcentury illustration of Christ with a branch or a tree on the left side of his face,
whereas symmetrically opposite there is a sword. This association of the sword
with the tree is of great antiquity: we ourselves have seen a prehistoric Germanic
relief depicting two figures, one being feminine and bearing a branch, the other
masculine, with a sword. One may also see here an allegory of War and Peace;
certainly the mediaeval illustration may allude to the olive branch, but there is
nothing of this in the Germanic relief. Evola maintains that the sword is related to
Mars, but with additional vertical—and horizontal—symbolisms, alluding, that
is, to life and death. It is also linked with steel as a symbol of the transcendent
toughness of the all-conquering spirit. To quote from Emilio Sobejano, Swords of
Spain, in Arte Español, XXI (1956): ‘Among the Germanic races, as Livy observed, the sword was at no time very common; on the contrary, it served as a
symbol befitting high command and the loftiest rank; one only has to think of the
dignity and pomp which characterized the institution of the Comes Spatharius,
created by the Emperor Gordian the Younger around the year 247. . . . The sword
is almost exclusively the prerogative of high dignitaries. There is an Arabic tradition to the effect that it was the Hebrews who invented the sword, and that the
place where it was first made—a tragic sign of how the idea first came into the
world—was mount Casium, on the outskirts of Damascus, which was to become
famous throughout Islam on account of its steel, and where, according to the
ancient belief, Cain slew his brother. There, by an accident of fate, settled the first
artificers of the newly invented weapon.’ The sword of fire bears testimony to
the intrinsic relationship between the symbols of the sword, steel (or iron), Mars
and fire, all of which have a ‘common rhythm’. On the other hand, it emphasizes
the heat of the flame and the coldness of the bare metal; hence, the sword of fire
is a symbol implying an ambivalent synthesis, like the volcano (gelat et ardet),
and also a symbol of the weapon which severs Paradise (the realm of the fire of
love) from earth (the world of affliction).
To dream that you wear a sword, indicates that you will fill some public position with honor.
To have your sword taken from you, denotes your vanquishment in rivalry.
To see others bearing swords, foretells that altercations will be attended with danger.
A broken sword, foretells despair.
To dream that you are wielding a sword, represents your strength, ambition, competitive nature decisiveness and willpower. You are looking to hold a position of prestige, authority, and distinction. Alternatively, the sword may be seen as a phallic symbol and thus represent masculine power.
Dreaming that you are wielding a sword, represents your ambition, competitive nature decisiveness and will power.. You seek to hold a position of prestige, authority, and distinction. Alternatively, the sword can be seen as a phallic symbol and thus represent masculine power.
Dreaming that you have been stabbed means your struggle with power. You may be experiencing feelings of inadequacy and defensiveness. Alternatively, you may be feeling betrayed as the popular phrase goes, "being stabbed in the back". Dreaming that you stab someone indicates your fear of betrayal and your untrusting nature. You may be too much on the defensive.
To see or wear a coat in your dream, symbolizes your protectiveness and defensive persona. You may be isolating yourself. Consider also the color, appearance, and type of coat for additional significance.
To dream that a coat is old, worn, or shabby, then it suggests that you are feeling down on yourself.
To see or wear a fur coat in your dream, symbolizes prosperity and luxury. It also indicates your need for attention and your need to be admired.
To dream of wearing another's coat, signifies that you will ask some friend to go security for you. To see your coat torn, denotes the loss of a close friend and dreary business.
To see a new coat, portends for you some literary honor.
To lose your coat, you will have to rebuild your fortune lost through being over-confident in speculations.
Seeing or wearing a coat in your dream, symbolizes your protectiveness and defensive persona. You may be isolating yourself. Consider also the color, appearance, and type of coat for additional significance. Dreaming that a coat is old, worn, or shabby, then it suggests that you are feeling down on yourself. Seeing or wearing a fur coat in your dream, symbolizes prosperity and luxury. It also indicates your need for attention and your need to be admired.
Man comes to see himself as a symbol in so far as he is conscious of his
being. Hallstatt art, in Austria, shows fine examples of animal-heads with human
figures appearing above them. In India, in New Guinea, in the West as well, the
bull’s or ox’s head with a human form drawn between the horns is a very common
motif. Since the bull is a symbol for the father-heaven, man comes to be seen as
both his and the earth’s son (22), also, as a third possibility, the son of the sun and
the moon (49). The implications of Origen’s remark: ‘Understand that you are
another world in miniature and that in you are the sun, the moon and also the
stars’, are to be found in all symbolic traditions. In Moslem esoteric thought, man
is the symbol of universal existence (29), an idea which has found its way into
contemporary philosophy in the definition of man as ‘the messenger of being’;
however, in symbolic theory, man is not defined by function alone (that of
appropriating the consciousness of the cosmos), but rather by analogy, whereby
he is seen as an image of the universe. This analogical relationship is sometimes
expressed explicitly, as in some of the more ancient sections of the Upanishads—
the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya for instance—where the analogy between the human organism and the macrocosmos is drawn step by step by means
of correspondences with the organs of the body and the senses (7). So, for
example, the components of the nervous system are derived from fiery substance, and blood from watery substance (26). These oriental concepts first
appear in the West during the Romanesque period: Honorius of Autun, in his Elucidarium (12th century) states that the flesh (and the bones) of man are
derived from the earth, blood from water, his breath from air, and body-heat from
fire. Each part of the body relates to a corresponding part of the universe: the
head corresponds to the heavens, the breath to air, the belly to the sea, the lower
extremities to earth. The five senses were given analogies in accordance with a
system which came to Europe, perhaps, from the Hebrews and the Greeks (14).
Thus, Hildegard of Bingen, living in the same period, states that man is disposed
according to the number five: he is of five equal parts in height and five in girth; he
has five senses, and five members, echoed in the hand as five fingers. Hence the
pentagram is a sign of the microcosmos. Agrippa of Nettesheim represented this graphically, after Valeriano, who drew the analogy between the five-pointed star
and the five wounds of Christ. There is a relationship, too, between the organic
laws of Man and the Cistercian temple (14). Fabre d’Olivet, following the Cabala,
maintains that another number closely associated with the human being is nine—
the triple ternary. He divides human potentialities into three planes: those of the
body, of the soul or life and of the spirit. Each of these planes is characterized by
three modes: the active, the passive and the neutral (43). In the Far East, also,
speculation about the symbolism of man began very early. The same kind of
triple ternary organization is to be seen in the ancient teachings of the Taoists
(13). It is also interesting to note that there is a relationship between the human
being and the essential or archetypal animals (the turtle, the phoenix, the dragon
and the unicorn) who appear to bear the same relation to man—who is central—
as the tetramorphs do to the Pantokrator. Now, between man as a concrete
individual and the universe there is a medial term—a mesocosmos. And this
mesocosmos is the ‘Universal Man’, the King (Wang) in Far Eastern tradition,
and the Adam Kadmon of the Cabala. He symbolizes the whole pattern of the
world of manifestation, that is, the complete range of possibilities open to mankind. In a way, the concept corresponds to Jung’s ‘collective unconscious’. According to Guénon, Leibniz—perhaps influenced by Raymond Lull—conceded
that every ‘individual substance’ must contain within itself an integral reproduction of the universe, even if only as an image, just as the seed contains the totality
of the being into which it will develop (25). In Indian symbolism, Vaishvânara, or
the ‘Universal Man’, is divided into seven principal sections: (1) The superior,
luminous spheres as a whole, or the supreme states of being; (2) the sun and the
moon—or rather, the principles to which they pertain—as expressed in the right
and the left eye respectively; (3) the fire-principle—the mouth; (4) the directions
of space—the ears; (5) the atmosphere—the lungs; (6) the intermediary zone
between earth and heaven—the stomach; (7) the earth—the natural functions or
the lower part of the body. The heart is not mentioned, because, being the ‘centre’
or dwelling-place of Brahma, it is regarded as being beyond the ‘wheel’ of things
(26). Now, this concept of the ‘Universal Man’ implies hermaphroditism, though
never specifically. For the concrete, existential human being, in so far as he is
either a man or a woman, represents the dissected ‘human’ whole, not only in the
physical sense but also spiritually. Thus, to quote the Upanishads: ‘He was, in
truth, as big as a man and a woman embracing. He divided this atman into two
parts; from them sprang husband and wife.’ In Western iconography one sometimes finds images which would seem to be echoes of this concept (32). A human
couple, by their very nature, must always symbolize the urge to unite what is in
fact discrete. Figures which are shown embracing one another, or joining hands, or growing out of roots which bind them together, and so on, symbolize ‘conjunction’, that is, coincidentia oppositorum. There is a Hindu image representing the
‘joining of the unjoinable’ (analogous to the marriage of fire and water) by the
interlinking of Man and Woman, which may be taken to symbolize the joining of
all opposites: good and bad, high and low, cold and hot, wet and dry, and so on
(32). In alchemy, Man and Woman symbolize sulphur and mercury (the metal).
In psychology, level-symbolism is often brought to bear upon the members of the
body, so that the right side corresponds to the conscious level and the left to the
unconscious. The shapes of the parts of the body, depending upon whether they
are positive or negative—whether they are protuberances or cavities—should be
seen not only as sex-symbols but also in the light of the symbolism of levels. The
head is almost universally regarded as a symbol of virility (56). The attitudes
which the body may take up are of great symbolic importance, because they are
both the instrument and the expression of the human tendency towards ascendence
and evolution. A position with the arms wide open pertains to the symbolism of
the cross. And a posture in the form of the letter ‘X’ refers to the union of the two
worlds, a symbol which is related to the hour-glass, the ‘X’ and all other symbols
of intersection (50). Another important posture is that of Buddha in the traditional iconography of the Orient, a posture characteristic also of some Celtic gods
such as the so-called ‘Bouray god’ or the famous Roquepertuse figure. This
squatting position expresses the renunciation of the ‘baser part’ and of ambulatory movement and symbolizes identification with the mystic centre.
To see a man in your dream, denotes the aspect of yourself that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. Perhaps you need to incorporate these aspects into your own character. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him.
If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, then it suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality. It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man.
To see an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness. The old man may be a archetypal figure who is offering guidance to some daily problem.
To dream of a man, if handsome, well formed and supple, denotes that you will enjoy life vastly and come into rich possessions. If he is misshapen and sour-visaged, you will meet disappointments and many perplexities will involve you.
For a woman to dream of a handsome man, she is likely to have distinction offered her. If he is ugly, she will experience trouble through some one whom she considers a friend.
Seeing a man in your dream indicates the masculine aspect of yourself - the side that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him. If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality . It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man. Seeing an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness.
All different kinds of people clutter our dream landscape. The men in your dream may include family members or total strangers. You may dream about your father, son, husband, or friend and should interpret the dream according to its details. A man, particularly the father figure, may represent collective consciousness and the traditional human spirit. He is the Yang and his energy, when mobilised, creates the earthly realities. Depending on the details of the dream, the masculine figure could be interpreted as the Creator or Destroyer. At times, women dream about men that are strangers to them. These men may represent the women's unconscious psychic energy. At times, a strange and ominous man in men's dreams could represent their "shadow" or their negativity and darker sides of personality.
Dreams about falling are very common anxiety dreams that can represent underlying fears and feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. Interpret your dream by considering your primary fears, current difficulties, and situations in your life that seem to be on a downward spiral, especially those situations that seem outside of your control (financial, romantic, etc.). Some people believe that if you keep falling in your dream and don't wake up that you will die at the point of impact. This is absolutely not true. In a falling dream you wake up out of fear and not because of danger of dying.
You could be falling from anywhere, a high rise building, from a mountain, from a plane, or even from your bed.
This is a very common dream, and is sometimes accompanied by muscle jerks, which may jolt you, awake.
The dream can occur due to:
* The posture of a limb dangling off the bed
* Lowering of your blood pressure
* Movement of fluid in the middle ear
After the fall, you may be hurt, you may be unharmed, or you wake up before you hit the ground.
At an emotional level the dream probably signifies a fear of fall from position/moral/ethical values, sexual inadequacy, fear of losing your job, the way your dream ends tells you how you would handle such a situation.
One interesting theory of a falling dream goes way back when man made his house on trees?
Recurring falling dreams could mean that your emotional strength is not at an optimum level. Trying to relax, by listening to music , visualizing tranquil scenes, can help you avoid falling dreams.
Equated with matter, with the maternal and germinant, but it preexists the differentiation of matter (9). The dualism of light/darkness does not
arise as a symbolic formula of morality until primordial darkness has been split
up into light and dark. Hence, the pure concept of darkness is not, in symbolic
tradition, identified with gloom—on the contrary, it corresponds to primigenial
chaos. It is also related to mystic nothingness, and, in consequence, Hermetic language is an obscurum per obscurius, a path leading back to the profound
mystery of the Origin. According to Guénon, light is the basic principle behind
differentiation and hierarchical order. The gloom which preceded the Fiat Lux
always, in traditional symbolism, represents the state of undeveloped potentialities which give rise to chaos (29). Hence, the darkness introduced into the world,
after the advent of light, is regressive; hence, too, the fact that it is traditionally
associated with the principle of evil and with the base, unsublimated forces.
To dream that darkness comes upon you, signifies failure in some work that you are attempting. Darkness is synonymous with ignorance, the unconscious, evil, death, and fear of the unknown. If the sun breaks through the darkness, then you will overcome your failures. If you feel safe in the dark, then it suggests that you like not knowing about certain things. As some might say, ignorance is bliss.
To dream that you cannot find someone in the darkness, signifies that you need to keep your temper in check. You have the tendency to let your emotions get out of control and lose your temper.
To dream that you are lost in the darkness, denotes feelings of desperation, depression, or insecurity.
To dream that you are groping around in the darkness, indicates that you have insufficient information to make a clear decision. Do your research and do not rush into making choices.
Dreaming that darkness comes upon you means failure in work you may attempt. Darkness is synonymous with ignorance, the unconscious, evil, death, and fear of the unknown. If the sun breaks through the darkness, then you will overcome your failures. If you feel safe in the dark, then it suggests that you like not knowing about certain things. As some might say, ignorance is bliss. Dreaming that you cannot find someone in the darkness means that you need to keep your temper in check. You have the tendency to let your emotions get out of control and lose your temper. Dreaming that you are lost in the darkness indicates feelings of desperation, depression, or insecurity. Dreaming that you are groping around in the darkness indicates that you have insufficient information to make a clear decision. Do your research and do not rush into making choices.