A person, husband or boyfriend and I went away for the weekend to a block of land in the country that my family owns. There was a baby there as well. The baby was extremely young - less than one year old.
I don't remember being inside the caravan. All I remember is being outside trying to run away from this person with a long gun, near the water tank, and being shot at. I remember hiding underneath the tank (I had no place else to go - I was stuck), and begging the black, what looked like either Indian or Middle East man, to stop shooting at me. Having said that, he went inside and shot at my hubby / boyfriend/ friend. I don't know if our baby survived. That's all I remember.
What do these dreams about war and fighting, killing mean? Because every-so-often, this is what I dream about. There is always me, a husband, or a boyfriend, and a baby running from these men!
In general, dreams of war and fighting reflect your own inner wars and fights: your conflicts and struggles. These dreams may appear at times when there is obvious conflict in your life or at times when your progress in life is being obstructed by conflicting inner beliefs of which you may be unaware.
Killing, or the threat of being killed, usually reflects the killing off of some of your beliefs or ways of being in the world. If you want positive change in life, this usually involves needing to let go (let die) old beliefs or attitudes that are holding you back. Sometimes, though, we deny life to beliefs that would be good for us, and this can also show up in a dream as a death. The details in each dream help to identify the area of your life the dream is addressing.
Your dream starts with you and a partner going to a block of land that your family owns. Dreams use word play, and the block of land most likely refers to a block, or obstacle, in your life. As the family owns this block, it sounds like a family belief that you have taken on, or a belief that you have as a result of your experiences within your family.
The baby was less than a year old. Usually the age of a dream baby reflects the age of something in your life. What began in your life less than a year ago? Sometimes a dream baby symbolises yourself at that age. It’s possible that your dream is about a belief that has been with you since before you were one year old, and that this belief is blocking your progress in life because it is conflicting with what you want to achieve.
If your dream is about an experience you had before you were one year old, it is possible that every new thing you begin in life experiences the same energy as it approaches one year. For example, if you felt abandoned at one year old, then you may find that after one year in a new job, relationship or study course you either feel abandoned or you are tempted to abandon the situation. In this example, the belief that “abandonment comes after one year” or “I am not safe and loved after the first year” lives on. Looking back on your life, can you see any patterns where conflict beings just before the end of the first year?
In your dream you went away for the weekend, supposedly for time out. You certainly didn’t get it. Instead you felt threatened. How does your family approach leisure time? What are their feelings and beliefs about work? Do you relax easily? What challenges come up for you when you take time out?
You titled your dream Terrorist Invasion. When you have this dream, ask yourself where, in your life, you are feeling invaded. Are people imposing their opinions and expectations on you, invading your personal space or crowding out your peace of mind? Are people undermining your sense of security?
Invasion dreams can come up shortly before sickness. The unconscious mind picks up on a bacterial or viral invasion before the infection builds to a level where you feel ill. As your lymph glands and antibodies start working to fight the invasion, your dreams may reflect this process as war. But remember, sickness – even when bacteria and viruses are present – often begins in the mind. If you do tend to fall sick often, look to your war dreams for clues about the beliefs you are fighting then think of alternative, healing actions such as changing those beliefs.
Water in dreams usually symbolises your emotions. In your dream they are confined in a tank. You try to take shelter there, but you are underneath the tank, not in the water. You may be avoiding emotional issues, or defending them (tanks are also war vehicles) rather than working with them.
In your dream you saved your life by begging the person who was threatening you, but although your life was saved your husband’s was lost and the baby’s may also have been lost. Where in your life do you feel subservient to someone or something that threatens you? Where do you feel you have to beg instead of being deserving of equality? Your dream suggests you may give up your power to be equal in certain situations in a misguided attempt to save your skin, but, as the dream shows, loss still occurs. All the time a dream recurs without resolution, the issue remains.
Everyone in a dream reflects a belief you hold or an experience you have had. The threatening terrorist was dark skinned. He is most likely your shadow (dark) side, not dark as in bad, but dark as in unseen, unknown, kept tucked away in the dark of your unconscious mind. As a man he is your Yang (your left brain, your approach to the outer world). At the end of your dream your shadow Yang shot your known Yang (husband). Here is your inner conflict, your struggle. Think of these men as being your outer world – probably your work – and notice that you keep, deep down, a feeling of threat, a terror (terrorist) that fights to protect itself, that needs to exert its power and that may need to kill off one year old ventures because of a fearful experience around that age. This inner terrorist could be your inner saboteur. It’s time to get to know him and heal this stand off.
Consult me confidentially about your dream.
Dialogue
Your dialogue is between you and the terrorist. Start with you saying, “If your bullets could speak, what would they say?” and see what the terrorist automatically answers. Keep it going for 20 minutes.
How to do this
Give yourself no longer than 20 minutes. When you do this exercise do NOT think! Don’t plan ahead. Just let whatever happens happen. Let the two entities speak to each other on paper using whatever words come up. It’s a bit like writing a film script or play – but without the brain being involved.
How does this work?
By not thinking, by keeping the words flowing, you are letting your right brain and unconscious mind do most of the work. They created the original dream so they know what these symbols mean for you. They will reveal. You will be surprised.
More details on Dialogue as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy” by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 321-4 and 333.
Jane Teresa Anderson
