I spend much of my dreamtime in Iowa City with Shell and her friends arranging a party along with my grandmother. We intend to smoke with her as she has smoked cigarettes for many years but has never tried pot. My last physical trip to Iowa City was quite an adventure, and this trip quickly follows suit. After a group journey to the grocery store I wander away alone and find myself in a bustling city center. Beautiful. Tiled mosaics cover the floor with troughs and trenches for water to flow through. A preoccupation with these fountains leads me to what appears to be a naturally-occurring lazy river of sorts. It is shallow with a swiftly moving current.
The water is crystal clear in the shallowest places and it almost does not seem deep enough for us to float in, although we never drag our bellies across the rocks. We are surrounded by large boulders and jungle foliage. It is beautiful. There are little eddies where the water gathers and you can see pebbles and such on the river bottom. I allow myself to be swept down the current and I keep a close eye on a very young dark skinned boy who is floating near me. When he gets too far away I reach out and grab his warm little torso to pull him close to me. I feel love between us almost as if he is a young brother or a child of mine.
We happen across a twist in the river which does not feel the same. Stagnant, perhaps. I spot a snake which slithers into the water downstream and call out to the boy as I climb onto one of the many white rocks that surrounds us. There are two dead fish floating in the water. I immediately desire to get away from this scenery and climb up the large white rock, skirting up and around to the other side. There is a deep pool. I can tell because the water is a light sky blue color, almost neon, and the bottom is no where in sight. After a brief moment of hesitation I jump in and we continue to float on down the stream.
Much later I spend some time with my step-mother's sister and her family. Her husband is piloting a helicopter and her son invites me to climb up into it and take a ride with them. I have to climb some sort of a rope to get in and it looks difficult from the ground. I tackle the challenge and find it easier than I expected. As we take off I feel cheated because I can not see out the windows and it feels much like we are simply driving in a van. When we get to the destination there are many people there who I should probably be familiar with, although I can not place them.
They are in need of a photographer. I offer to help but the crowd is too large and no one is listening to me, especially the children. I try to mill around and catch candid photographs since they are unwilling to pose but this also proves very difficult. Later I hear one of the adults mention that I am not a very good photographer and I feel both the sting of the comment and the injustice of being expected to take good photographs of unruly children.
My other recollections are zombie related and as such not particularly interesting. Likely due to my television choices yesterday. Other than the sheer heartpounding fear and exertion of running from these creatures that I know will not stop until they eat me, I remember trying to take shelter in a walmart where one of the employees was letting in the dead on purpose with the intent to rehabilitate them into workers. I also remember leaving the store and picking up a trailing zombie in the parking lot. She was a dark-skinned woman, thin, and babbling to me while she chased me. Something about "Look at her, just trying to eat her pancakes," which she was still holding, rolled up like a cigar, "She's just like you, nothing to be afraid of." I ran back and forth across the interstate attempting to dodge cars and get them to hit her but it never worked out. I woke up out of breath and scared.
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the symbol for water is a wavy line with
small sharp crests, representing the water’s surface. The same sign, when tripled,
symbolizes a volume of water, that is, the primaeval ocean and prime matter.
According to hermetic tradition, the god Nu was the substance from which the
gods of the first ennead emerged (19). The Chinese consider water as the specific
abode of the dragon, because all life comes from the waters (13). In the Vedas,
water is referred to as mâtritamâh (the most maternal) because, in the beginning,
everything was like a sea without light. In India, this element is generally regarded
as the preserver of life, circulating throughout the whole of nature, in the form of
rain, sap, milk and blood. Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning and
the end of all things on earth (60). Although water is, in appearance, formless,
ancient cultures made a distinction between ‘upper waters’ and ‘lower waters’.
The former correspond to the potential or what is still possible, the latter to what
is actual or already created (26). In a general sense, the concept of ‘water’ stands,
of course, for all liquid matter. Moreover, the primaeval waters, the image of
prime matter, also contained all solid bodies before they acquired form and rigidity. For this reason, the alchemists gave the name of ‘water’ to quicksilver in its
first stage of transmutation and, by analogy, also to the ‘fluid body’ of Man (57).
This ‘fluid body’ is interpreted by modern psychology as a symbol of the unconscious, that is, of the non-formal, dynamic, motivating, female side of the personality. The projection of the mother-imago into the waters endows them with
various numinous properties characteristic of the mother (31). A secondary meaning of this symbolism is found in the identification of water with intuitive wisdom. In the cosmogony of the Mesopotamian peoples, the abyss of water was
regarded as a symbol of the unfathomable, impersonal Wisdom. An ancient Irish
god was called Domnu, which means ‘marine depth’. In prehistoric times the
word for abyss seems to have been used exclusively to denote that which was
unfathomable and mysterious (4). The waters, in short, symbolize the universal
congress of potentialities, the fons et origo, which precedes all form and all
creation. Immersion in water signifies a return to the preformal state, with a sense
of death and annihilation on the one hand, but of rebirth and regeneration on the
other, since immersion intensifies the life-force. The symbolism of baptism,
which is closely linked to that of water, has been expounded by St. John
Chrysostom (Homil. in Joh., XXV, 2): ‘It represents death and interment, life and
resurrection. . . . When we plunge our head beneath water, as in a sepulchre, the
old man becomes completely immersed and buried. When we leave the water, the
new man suddenly appears’ (18). The ambiguity of this quotation is only on the
surface: in this particular aspect of the general symbolism of water, death affects
only Man-in-nature while the rebirth is that of spiritual man. On the cosmic level,
the equivalent of immersion is the flood, which causes all forms to dissolve and
return to a fluid state, thus liberating the elements which will later be recombined
in new cosmic patterns. The qualities of transparency and depth, often associated with water, go far towards explaining the veneration of the ancients for this
element which, like earth, was a female principle. The Babylonians called it ‘the
home of wisdom’. Oannes, the mythical being who brings culture to mankind, is
portrayed as half man and half fish (17). Moreover, in dreams, birth is usually
expressed through water-imagery (v. Freud, Introduction to Psycho-Analysis).
The expressions ‘risen from the waves’ and ‘saved from the waters’ symbolize
fertility, and are metaphorical images of childbirth. On the other hand, water is, of
all the elements, the most clearly transitional, between fire and air (the ethereal
elements) and earth (the solid element). By analogy, water stands as a mediator
between life and death, with a two-way positive and negative flow of creation and
destruction. The Charon and Ophelia myths symbolize the last voyage. Death
was the first mariner. ‘Transparent depth’, apart from other meanings, stands in
particular for the communicating link between the surface and the abyss. It can
therefore be said that water conjoins these two images (2). Gaston Bachelard
points to many different characteristics of water, and derives from them many
secondary symbolic meanings which enrich the fundamental meaning we have described. These secondary meanings are not so much a set of strict symbols, as
a kind of language expressing the transmutations of this ever-flowing element.
Bachelard enumerates clear water, spring water, running water, stagnant water,
dead water, fresh and salt water, reflecting water, purifying water, deep water,
stormy water. Whether we take water as a symbol of the collective or of the
personal unconscious, or else as an element of mediation and dissolution, it is
obvious that this symbolism is an expression of the vital potential of the psyche,
of the struggles of the psychic depths to find a way of formulating a clear message
comprehensible to the consciousness. On the other hand, secondary symbolisms
are derived from associated objects such as water-containers, and also from the
ways in which water is used: ablutions, baths, holy water, etc. There is also a
very important spatial symbolism connected with the ‘level’ of the waters, denoting a correlation between actual physical level and absolute moral level. It is
for this reason that the Buddha, in his Assapuram sermon, was able to regard the
mountain-lake—whose transparent waters reveal, at the bottom, sand, shells,
snails and fishes—as the path of redemption. This lake obviously corresponds to
a fundamental aspect of the ‘Upper Waters’. Clouds are another aspect of the
‘Upper Waters’. In Le Transformationi of Ludovico Dolce, we find a mystic
figure looking into the unruffled surface of a pond, in contrast with the accursed
hunter, always in restless pursuit of his prey, implying the symbolic contrast
between contemplative activity—the sattva state of Yoga—and blind outward
activity—the rajas state. Finally, the upper and lower waters communicate reciprocally through the process of rain (involution) and evaporation (evolution).
Here, fire intervenes to modify water: the sun (spirit) causes sea water to evaporate (i.e. it sublimates life). Water is condensed in clouds and returns to earth in
the form of life-giving rain, which is invested with twofold virtues: it is water, and
it comes from heaven (15). Lao-Tse paid considerable attention to this cyclic
process of meteorology, which is at one and the same time physical and spiritual,
observing that: ‘Water never rests, neither by day nor by night. When flowing
above, it causes rain and dew. When flowing below, it forms streams and rivers.
Water is outstanding in doing good. If a dam is raised against it, it stops. If way is
made for it, it flows along that path. Hence it is said that it does not struggle. And
yet it has no equal in destroying that which is strong and hard’ (13). When water
stands revealed in its destructive aspects, in the course of cataclysmic events, its
symbolism does not change, but is merely subordinated to the dominant symbolism of the storm. Similarly, in those contexts where the flowing nature of water is
emphasized, as in the contention of Heraclitus that ‘You cannot step twice into
the same river; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.’ Here the reference is not to water-symbolism as such, but to the idea of the irreversible flow along a
given path. To quote Evola, in La tradizione ermetica: ‘Without divine water,
nothing exists, according to Zosimus. On the other hand, among the symbols of
the female principle are included those which figure as origins of the waters
(mother, life), such as: Mother Earth, Mother of the Waters, Stone, Cave, House
of the Mother, Night, House of Depth, House of Force, House of Wisdom,
Forest, etc. One should not be misled by the word “divine”. Water symbolizes
terrestrial and natural life, never metaphysical life.’
This indicates birth (of some person).
To dream of clear water, foretells that you will joyfully realize prosperity and pleasure.
If the water is muddy, you will be in danger and gloom will occupy Pleasure's seat.
If you see it rise up in your house, denotes that you will struggle to resist evil, but unless you see it subside, you will succumb to dangerous influences.
If you find yourself baling it out, but with feet growing wet, foreshadows trouble, sickness, and misery will work you a hard task, but you will forestall them by your watchfulness. The same may be applied to muddy water rising in vessels.
To fall into muddy water, is a sign that you will make many bitter mistakes, and will suffer poignant grief therefrom.
To drink muddy water, portends sickness, but drinking it clear and refreshing brings favorable consummation of fair hopes.
To sport with water, denotes a sudden awakening to love and passion.
To have it sprayed on your head, denotes that your passionate awakening to love will meet reciprocal consummation.
The following dream and its allegorical occurrence in actual life is related by a young woman student of dreams:
``Without knowing how, I was (in my dream) on a boat, I waded through clear blue water to a wharfboat, which I found to be snow white, but rough and splintry. The next evening I had a delightful male caller, but he remained beyond the time prescribed by mothers and I was severely censured for it.'' The blue water and fairy white boat were the disappointing prospects in the symbol.
To see water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. To dream that water is boiling, suggests that you are expressing some emotional turmoil. Feelings from your unconscious are surfacing and ready to be acknowledged. You need to let out some steam.
To see calm, clear water in your dream, means that you are in tune with your spirituality. It denotes serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation.
To see muddy or dirty water in your dream, indicates that you are wallowing in your negative emotions. You may need to take some time to cleanse your mind and find internal peace. Alternatively, the dream suggests that your thinking/judgment is unclear and clouded. If you are immersed in muddy water, then it indicates that you are in over your head in a situation and are overwhelmed by your emotions.
To dream that water is rising up in your house, suggests that you are becoming overwhelmed by your emotions.
To hear running water in your dream, denotes meditation and reflection. You are reflecting on your thoughts and emotions.
To dream that you are walking on water, indicates that you have total control over your emotions. It also suggests that you need to "stay on top" of your emotions and not let them explode out of hand. Alternatively, the dream is symbolic of faith in yourself.
Seeing water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. Seeing calm, clear water in your dream means that you are in tune with your spirituality. It indicates serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation. Seeing muddy or dirty water in your dream indicates that you are wallowing in your negative emotions. You may need to devote some time to clarify your mind and find internal peace. Alternatively, it suggests that your thinking/judgment is unclear and clouded. If you are immersed in muddy water, then it indicates that you are in over your head in a situation and are overwhelmed by your emotions. Dreaming that water is rising up in your house means your struggles and overwhelming emotions. Hearing running water in your dream indicates meditation, reflection and pondering of your thoughts and emotions. Dreaming that you are walking on water, suggests that you have supreme and ultimate control over your emotions. It may also suggest that you need to "stay on top" of your emotions and not let them explode out of hand. Alternatively, it is symbolic of faith in yourself.
An ambivalent symbol since it corresponds to the creative power both
of nature and of time. On the one hand it signifies fertility and the progressive
irrigation of the soil; and on the other hand it stands for the irreversible passage of
time and, in consequence, for a sense of loss and oblivion (8, 60).
Rapid and flowing muddy river indicates great troubles and difficulties. But a river
with calm glassy surface foretells happiness and love.
To see a clear and calm river in your dream, indicates that you are just going with the flow. You are allowing your life to float away. It is time to take a more decisive role in directing your life. Alternatively, a river symbolizes joyful pleasures, peace, prosperity and fertility. If you are crossing a river in your dream, then it represents an obstacle or issue that you need to deal with in order to move closer toward your goal. It is also reflective of a new stage in your life. If the river is muddy, then it indicates that you are in turmoil.
To see a raging river in your dream, signifies that your life is feeling out of control. You are feeling emotionally unsettled. Alternatively, a river means you are ready to confront life's challenges and life's twists and turns.
To dream that a river is comprised of flowing red chili, refers to the raw emotion, and intense passion or anger that is flowing through you and yearning to be expressed. meanings by DreamMoods.com
To dream that you are bathing in a river, represents purification and cleansing.
If you see a clear, smooth, flowing river in your dream, you will soon succeed to the enjoyment of delightful pleasures, and prosperity will bear flattering promises.
If the waters are muddy or tumultuous, there will be disagreeable and jealous contentions in your life.
If you are water-bound by the overflowing of a river, there will be temporary embarrassments in your business, or you will suffer uneasiness lest some private escapade will reach public notice and cause your reputation harsh criticisms.
If while sailing upon a clear river you see corpses in the bottom, you will find that trouble and gloom will follow swiftly upon present pleasures and fortune.
To see empty rivers, denotes sickness and unusual ill-luck.
Seeing a clear, calm-flowing river in your dream means that you are allowing your life to float away and it is time that you take a more decisive hand in directing your life. A river also symbolizes joyful pleasures, peace and prosperity. Seeing a raging river means that your life is feeling out of control. Seeing a muddy and/or raging river means tumultuous times and jealousy in your life. Seeing empty rivers in your dream, forewarns of sickness and unexpected bad luck.
Water sustains life and is the most abundant compound in all living things. It may represent the flow of your energies, the path of your life, or the passage of time. It also may be symbolic of your emotional happiness. Examine the details of your dream. Is the water clear or murky? Is it rapid, turbulent, or stagnant? Are you just floating along its currents or actively controlling your movements? Consider these factors and see how they can be associated with daily life.
To dream that you are climbing up something (ladder, rope, etc.), signifies that you are trying to or you have overcome a great struggle. It also suggests that your goals are finally within reach. Climbing also means that you have risen to a level of prominence within the social or economic sphere.
To dream that you are climbing down something, indicates that you need to acknowledge and take notice of your unconscious. You are expressing some hesitance and reservation with delving into your more negative feelings. Alternatively, it suggests that you may be feeling low or emotionally drained.
Dreaming that you are climbing up something (ladder, rope, etc.) means that you are trying to or you have overcome a great struggle. It also suggests that your goals are finally within reach. Climbing also means that you have risen to a level of prominence within the social or economic sphere. Dreaming that you are climbing down a cliff, indicates that you need to acknowledge and take notice of your unconscious. You are expressing some hesitance and reservation with delving into your more negative feelings. Alternatively, it suggests that you may be feeling low or emotionally drained.
To dream that you are in a jungle, signifies aspects of yourself and your personality that may be inhibited. You may be experiencing some chaos and unpredictable circumstances in your waking life. Consider the phrase "it's a jungle out there!"
If you are lost or trapped in a jungle, then it indicates that your negative feelings are hindering your progress. You need to come to terms with aspects of your unconscious.
Dreaming that you are in a jungle means aspects of yourself and your personality that may have been inhibited
The jungle could represent your confusing and overwhelming thoughts regarding daily life. If you dream you are in an impenetrable jungle, your unconscious may be revealing to you the anxiety you have about a particular situation, a current difficulty, or the future. If you find yourself freely exploring the jungle, it is a positive dream image that might be encouraging you to go on a new adventure and discover unexplored areas of your own psyche.
Up to a certain point it corresponds to landscape-symbolism in general,
of which it forms one representational aspect, embracing the important symbols
of level and space, that is, height and situation. With the dawning of history there
arose, according to René Guénon, a true, ‘sacred geography’ and the position,
shape, doors and gates, and general disposition of a city with its temples and
acropolis were never arbitrary or fortuitous, or merely utilitarian. In fact, cities
were planned in strict accord with the dictates of a particular doctrine; hence the
city became a symbol of that doctrine and of the society which upheld it (28).
The city walls had magic powers since they were the outward signs of dogma,
which explains and justifies Romulus’s fratricide. Ornamental reliefs on capitals,
lintels, and tympana of the Middle Ages often depict the outlines of a walled city,
although in a way which is more emblematic than symbolic. These ornaments are
a kind of prefiguration of the heavenly Jerusalem. An angel armed with a sword is
sometimes to be seen at the city gate (46). Jung sees the city as a mother-symbol
and as a symbol of the feminine principle in general: that is, he interprets the City
as a woman who shelters her inhabitants as if they were her children; that is why
the two mother-gods Rhea and Cybele—as well as other allegorical figures derived from them—wear a crown after the pattern of a wall. The Old Testament
speaks of cities as women (31).
To see a city in your dream, signifies your social environment and sense of community. If you dream of a big city, then it suggests that you need to develop closer ties and relationships. You are feeling alienated and alone. To dream that you are in a deserted city, indicates that you feel rejected by those around you.
To dream of a city in ruins, denotes that you are neglecting your social relationships and allowing them to deteriorate.
To dream of an underground or underwater city, represents your unconscious and how through deeper understanding of yourself, you find commonality and shared experiences with others.
To dream that you are in a strange city, denotes you will have sorrowful occasion to change your abode or mode of living.
Seeing a city in your dream means a sense of community and your social environment. Dreaming that you are in a deserted city or that you feel alienated from the activity of the city, then it suggests that you feel rejected by those around you. Seeing a city in ruins means that you are neglecting your social relationships and allowing them to deteriorate.
To dream that you are feeling lazy, means that you are feeling emotionally drained; you need to take a break from life. The dream may be an actual reflection of your waking state.
To dream that others are lazy, indicates feelings of resentment. You feel that you are doing the work, while others are not pulling their own weight.
To dream of feeling lazy, or acting so, denotes you will make a mistake in the formation of enterprises, and will suffer keen disappointment.
For a young woman to think her lover is lazy, foretells she will have bad luck in securing admiration. Her actions will discourage men who mean marriage.
Dreaming that you are feeling lazy means that you will make a terrible error in a business deal resulting in bitter disappointments. Dreaming that you lover is lazy means that you will have many rocky and insecure love relationships.
To dream that you find something, suggests that you are coming into contact with some aspect of your psyche or unconscious. You are recognizing a part of yourself that was previously repressed or undeveloped. Alternatively, it represents change.
To dream that you find someone, indicates that you are identifying new facets of a relationship. You may be taking the relationship to a new level and/or direction.
Dreaming that you find something, suggests that you are coming into contact with some aspect of your psyche or unconscious. You are recognizing a part of yourself that was previously repressed or undeveloped. Alternatively, it represents change. Dreaming that you find someone indicates that you are identifying new facets of a relationship. You may be taking the relationship to a new level and/or direction.
To dream that you trip on something, indicates that something is out of order in your life. Things are not going as smoothly as you want, especially when you are faced with obstacles. The dream may forewarn that you are about to make a mistake in some waking decision.
To dream that you are going on a trip, suggests that you are in need of a change of scenery. You are feeling overworked and need to take time out for yourself for some fun and relaxation. Alternatively, the dream means that you are looking to explore a different aspect of yourself.
To dream that you are on a business trip, suggests that you are having a difficult time trying to relax and being at ease. You may be feeling overwhelmed.
To see/notice an ocean or river current in your dream, represents the direction of your life and the decisions you have made along the way. It also represents your influences and how they work in guiding you through your life's path. The dream may also be a metaphor for some current events or for something that is going on in your life at the moment.
Seeing or noticing an ocean or river current in your dream, represents the direction of your life and the decisions you have made along the way. It also represents the influences in your life and how they work in guiding you through your life's path. The dream may also be a metaphor for the current events or something that is going on in your life at the moment.
Dreaming that you are floating, implies acceptance, letting go of your problems or worries and just going with the flow. You are experiencing new-found freedom. It also means that you will prove victorious in your obstacles that may presently seem overwhelming. Dreaming that you are floating, but are afraid to move, suggests that you are questioning your own abilities. You are experiencing doubts in yourself.
To see a rock in your dream, symbolizes strength, permanence, stability and integrity, as conveyed in the common phrase "as solid as a rock". The dream may also indicate that you are making a commitment to a relationship or that you are contemplating some changes in your life that will lay the groundwork for a more solid foundation. Alternatively, a rock represents stubbornness, disharmony and unhappiness.
To dream that you are climbing a rock, signifies your determination, ambition and struggle. If the rock is particularly steep, then it refers to obstacles and disappointments.
To dream of rocks, denotes that you will meet reverses, and that there will be discord and general unhappiness.
To climb a steep rock, foretells immediate struggles and disappointing surroundings.