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101 Dreams ...

Interpreted by Jane Teresa Anderson

(Real dreams collected worldwide)

DREAM #36

RETURNING TO ENGLAND

I return to England, which is my country of birth. I have been in Australia for 6 years but people won’t let me return here. I also have no money and all my old friends won’t have anything to do with me. I can’t contact any one here and all my belongings are in my house in Australia. I feel stranded.

INTERPRETATION

I’m a little confused about the details. I take it you return to England but that you are not permitted to come back to Australia, and that your English friends won’t acknowledge you and you can’t contact anyone in Australia. My interpretation is based on this understanding.

As you say, you feel stranded in the dream. When you are raised in one culture and then make your home in another you can end up feeling torn between the two. Instead of feeling one hundred percent at home in one culture, the other calls. With roots in both places you can end up feeling stranded between the two.

There must be times when your Australian friends do not understand some of your Englishness, for example, your sense of humour perhaps. And there will be times when your English friends do not understand the differences you have acquired due to living in the Australian culture. In dreams you return to your country of origin to look at the sources of your attitudes and beliefs, to understand them more clearly.

People in dreams represent your own feelings and beliefs, so your dream suggests you have an inner conflict about belonging. Your English friends are your old English beliefs, rejecting your Australian attitudes. Your lack of money in England probably symbolises your feelings of lack of value. You are caught between valuing your English and Australian values and end up feeling as if neither are strong enough to count. Your dreams suggest you feel something of value has been lost – perhaps your English nature.

The people who will not let you return to Australia represent your own beliefs that you do not deserve to belong in Australia. You are not giving yourself permission to belong even though, in the dream, all your belongings are in your Australian house. I wonder if you feel unable to give yourself full permission to be who you want to be, part English, part Australian, a wonderful blend of the two.

DREAM ALCHEMY PRACTICE

Artwork:

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side list all the things you consider to be English about you, or things you like about English attitudes and values.

On the other side do the same for your Australian nature and the things you like about Australian attitudes and values.

Notice where there are contradictions and think about how you can balance and blend these into your own unique values.

Then take another piece of paper and draw a large circle. Inside the circle paint, draw or collage symbols or words representing the blending of your two cultures. Keep in mind a sense of belonging. The circle represents wholeness. It is a mandala. Display it in a prominent place to remind yourself of your unique place in the world, of where you belong and of the special values you contribute.

How to do this:

Do your artwork dream alchemy practice alone. This is your contemplation time. Exploring your feelings as you do your artwork is an important part of the alchemy.

How does this work?

By working with dream elements and symbols in art form you are communicating with your unconscious mind in its own language to create change, to explore your feelings or to resolve past issues.

More details on Artwork as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy” by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 333-334.

Jane Teresa Anderson

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