Author

Subject: Collecting Mail

Anne

08:56 31/01/2002 

I was walking down a street I didn’t recognise (in the middle of the road) to collect a lady's mail which I could see sticking out of the letterbox.

I walked passed the house and then realised that I had, turned and walked back. Walking a little way passed the house again I turned and went over to the letterbox.

But when I got there, there wasn't a letterbox I could see. I seemed to walk around a large shrub or something and then saw a very large terracotta pot with letters stuck in the plant.

Just as I reached down for the letters, a man asked me what I was doing. I said I have come to collect Mrs C's mail (an unusual name that I had been working on in my genealogy research, some time ago). He handed me two brown envelopes, one big, one small.

As I looked at these envelopes, I saw they were badly damaged and not for her. The small one with almost no envelope at all, had the contents sticking out the end, although intact.

The big envelope had at least half of the back of it in tatters. At first I thought a dog had got hold of them, but then realised it must have been snails (must have been mighty big snails).

I had come to think that there was more than one person or family living there. I said to the man, ‘You'd better take these inside, as they’re not Mrs C's and they're so badly damaged’. He said ‘No, just leave them there’. I tried to argue with him saying it wouldn't be safe. I then awoke.

Dream edited for easier reading - JT, 2005

2004

Jane Teresa's View

Jane Teresa Anderson

Overview Interpretation & Dream Alchemy Practice suggestion

OVERVIEW INTERPRETATION

Hi Anne,

I wonder why you went to collect mail for Mrs C. Where was she? On holiday, in hospital?

Although you saw the mail, you mistakenly walked past the house twice before approaching the letterbox as if delaying the deed. The next obstacle to collecting the mail was that the letterbox seemed to have disappeared and then there was a physical obstacle in the shape of a shrub.

When the letters were finally in reach yet another obstacle appeared: the man, questioning you. When he handed over the mail it looked like success at last, but no, these were not the right letters. Instead you received mail that had been badly damaged by creatures with a reputation for being very slow: snails. Was this a dream pun on ‘snail mail’ (so slow in comparison to email) or was your dream reflecting your own slow progress in collecting Mrs C’s mail?

There is a sense of avoidance in your dream. Remember that everything in a dream represents a belief, feeling or experience of the dreamer, either consciously or unconsciously. Your dream suggests you unconsciously create your own obstacles, slowing down your progress, but why?

Mail is about communication, getting the message, or not getting the message in this case. Why might you be unconsciously avoiding getting the message about something? Could it be because you don’t want to discover a truth?

You didn’t spell out Mrs C’s name, but you know the name. Is it a pun? What clues does her name give you? Mrs C represents a belief within you. She is also not getting her mail/ message! You associate her surname with your genealogy research. What motivates you to trace your family history? What truths are there to discover? What would you like to discover about your family? Why? Are you looking for endorsement of some kind, or a sense of belonging, of roots? What do you NOT want to discover about your family? (What might you fear discovering?)

If you can identify what Mrs C and your genealogy research mean to you then ask yourself why you might be unconsciously sabotaging your progress. For example, if you conclude that your research symbolises an interest in your genetics, then what might you be fearful of discovering? Discovering a hereditary disease, for example, could be unsettling.

You didn’t get Mrs C’s letters but you DID find two other letters. They were “badly damaged” and you rejected them. I wonder who they were for and what messages they contained? I wonder if they WERE for Mrs C but your delaying, sabotaging tactics in the dream created another obstacle: wrong name on the envelope. Perhaps the message was delivered after all: “something is being badly damaged by slow progress”, but you rejected the message.

The man did argue the point with you, thinking the letters were in the right place. Could you be unconsciously sabotaging (badly damaging) the truth you are consciously seeking? You tell the man that you feel the letters are not safe where they are. Could it be that, deep down inside, you feel safer NOT knowing?

What is badly damaged in your world? Do you have a physical ailment (damaged health) or have you suffered some hurtful emotional situations? I wonder if you may be sabotaging your physical or emotional recovery because you feel safer as you are? Do you fear discovering your health issues are hereditary, for example? If so, you could be keeping yourself sick with worry, imagining what is actually not the case.

You may find it helpful to read ‘Late for the appointment’ in Dream Alchemy, pages 76-81.

DREAM ALCHEMY PRACTICE

Affirmation:

Here’s an affirmation using your dream symbols:

“I give Mrs C all her letters and she reads them. All is well and I am well.”

How to use your affirmation/ and how often:

Say your affirmation out loud and with feeling 30 times a day for the first week. From the second week say your affirmation out loud and with feeling once in the morning and once before you go to sleep for three more weeks.

How does this work?

This works by communicating directly with your unconscious mind using its own language, to transform the belief your dream is revealing.

More details on Affirmation as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy”, by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 331-333.

Jane Teresa Anderson

You can consult with Jane Teresa or her Dream Team and receive your interpretation by email within five working days.

ORIGINAL THREAD

Below is the original forum discussion on this dream, contributed before Jane Teresa's 2004 interpretation.

Lena

10:06 02/02/2002 

Hi Anne,

I feel that there's something about taking the middle road over an issue to do with female sexuality and ownership.

A safety issue and owning damaged goods?

Just a couple of thoughts.

Tingting*

21:41 04/02/2002 

Hi Annie,

Usually, I like to interpret letters as symbols of communication.

Perhaps the falling contents out of the envelope symbolise communication that is breaking down or falling apart. You don't want to take the letters into Mrs. C either, perhaps you don't want to face that your communication or relationship is deteriorating.

Good luck deciphering the dream.

Ting

Anne

16:48 05/02/2002 

Hi Lena & Ting, thank you for your thoughts.

Owning damaged goods? A few days after starting to use my new blender, in the late afternoon of Feb 2nd, the blender suddenly started throwing sparks everwhere & I thought it was going to catch fire.

Although I know that letters are a form of communication, I cannot see any problem with my communications.

Angela

01:15 06/02/2002 

Hi Anne, Lena and Ting,

Anne, what about taking this a little deeper and 'blending' your outside world connections to the dream to your inside ones? Is something causing a few sparks in your emotions these days? Or firing you up?

The unconscious often uses wonderful word-play puzzles to attempt to get messages of what's going on inside to our consciousness. We will see them play out in syncrhonicities from time to time if the message is getting urgent, or we will sometimes reflect on them in later events, like the blender, (or previous ones like your precognitive dreaming) because greater emphasis is begging to be paid to areas from within.

Dreams draw attention to both the inside world and the outside world -- the outer wolrd being a reflection of the inner one.

So if letters as communication doesn't resonate for you, how about 'mail' as 'male'? Perhaps your masculine energy? Do you get ripped to 'tatters' when you act assertively or aggressively? Do you end up feeling exposed (with your contents sticking out)? Are you inclined to leave things left unsaid or undone even though you feel it does more damage that way?

Could Mrs. C be something that you have perhaps 'missed seeing'?

Good luck! Great dreaming!

Angela.

Anne

07:44 07/02/2002 

Thank you for your input Angela, I am really trying, sorry, but nothing gels. I only used the initial, as I didn't want to put the full name on line, as it is an unusual, fairly unique name.

The only things I leave unsaid are to an elderly relative (not parent), as would be big damage if said.

Only thing I get fired up about lately, is my internet connection on non browsing mode, as has been this morning for the last couple of hours.

I am getting strange dreams of late, again a strange dream last night, about a man with a gun & a train, but don't want to hog the site.