Author

Subject: swimming with crocodiles

Donna

10:01 08/05/2003 

I was in Cloncurry swimming in a body of water, either a lake or a river.

It was evening. I enjoyed the swim but when I got out a man said that there was a crocodile in the water. I was extremely fearful of what I had done and also extremely excited by having done it as well.

Note:

The dream occurred on the first leg of a trip to Cloncurry. I had visited a dam there and was told that there had been sightings of a crocodile in it. One of the significant moments of the trip was the awareness that I had travelled from a small town in the south east so far across the state and that with just driving a few more hours I could get to the gulf - virtually the other end of the state.

Dream edited for easier reading - JT, 2005

Jane Teresa Anderson

09:54 09/05/2003 

Hi Donna,

You've basically already got it:

As you said, the waking life trip was quite a feat and gave you the awareness that you "could get to the gulf - virtually the other end of the state."

You obviously saw the parallel with your dream feeling: "I was extremely both fearful of what I had done and also extremely excited by having done it as well."

This is not to say that you were fearful of the waking life drive but the feeling of excitement does seem to have resonance with the thought that you almost drove across the state.

In waking life the notion of the sighted crocodile was given to you. What did it inspire? A hidden mystery surfacing only long enough to remain magical? A fear lurking in the depths of apparent safety?

Your dream has taken the crocodile theme from waking life to further investigate what the image REALLY stirred up and resonated with in your unconscious.

The resonance was strong because something was surfacing (like the crocodile) in your waking life.

Once you've answered the questions above - the next step is to compare the waking life situation with the fear/excitement in the dream.

Many of the challenges our dreams bring us are about identifying a fear and converting it - through love - into an energy we can use positively. The nature of the fear needs to be understood and put to rest through insight into what the fear teaches us about ourself.

There's a lovely waking life symbol in the "other end of the state". The state of what - within you?

The crocodile is a fairly ancient animal in evolutionary terms and this is remembered in the naming of a part of the human brain which is likened to the reptilian brain. It's the part that controls survival responses. Fear results in adrenalin and the fight-flight response, and adrenalin can give a feeling of great excitement - as in your dream.

Crocs can sometimes appear in dreams around times of hormonal change - particularly the menopause - also reflecting survival instincts/issues.

As always, a dream has meaning on all levels: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual - it's wonderful if you can get a handle on them all to see how they interconnect.

Here's food for thought anyway.

Over in the Members' Forum there's been a very lively and very in-depth discussion of a crocodile dream.

Jane Teresa

(Thank you for your feedback on the Dream Sight article. What would be the opposites in this dream?)

Donna

06:24 13/05/2003 

Good morning Jane. Thankyou for your comments. You would think that getting a phone call telling me that after eleven weeks of unemployment I had a new job, would be an occasion for excitement wouldn't you? But all I felt was apprehension and dread. These feelings plus your comments about the dream helped me to recognise a pattern of being. For most of my life fear paraylsed me from doing anything new much, then as I began to come to terms with the past my attitude was to 'feel the fear and do it anyway'. This was a big step forward and has enabled me to make a lot of changes, but it has meant, it seems to me, that I miss a lot of fun and pleasure, it takes too much time and energy to go through the process. This seems to be suggested by the image of driving from one end of the state to the other - With this in mind I tried to maintain a positive self image in regard to the new job and telling myself it was going to be a great experience, I could do it, etc. The result was an excellent first day in which I wasn't conscious of any stress or tension or negative thoughts. Just the opposite in fact. I also recognised the way the dream addressed different levels of meaning, although I am still working out the spiritual dimension. It is always a difficult one I find, because how do we define 'spiritual'. I have considered it as the way we are who we are, but it now seems inadequate. So I guess I have some wondering to do.

Jane Teresa Anderson

11:28 13/05/2003 

Hi Donna,

Congratulations both on getting your new job and on approaching it with new attitude and succeeding.

Your dream and your processing here provide a great example of the power of working with the emotions and feelings in your dreams.

Defining 'spiritual'? I'm sure there are a million views on that one. For myself, the spiritual dimension of the dream/waking life is the highest path of learning about unconditional love which is reflected or manifested in the other levels (physical, mental, emotional).

Jane Teresa

(PS To get paragraph spaces - press the enter bar on your keyboad twice.)

Donna

17:34 13/05/2003 

That understanding of spirituality would suggest that the spiritual dimension is what brings all the other dimensions of our life into relationship.

It underpins or provides the foundations for living. That makes sense to me. I have recently been thinking about my grandparents and how they showed me unconditional love particularly in little things I remember. And actually this ties to a dream I had several years ago in which I heard someone say to me: seek the wisdom of your grandparents.

Part of remembering though involved letting my parent's 'die'. My father already is dead but my mother is not - I think I had to stop expecting or looking for that love from my parents because they were just unable to give it. Once I could accept that and let it go, then I could 'come home' to what nurtured and nourishes me.

Thanks Jane Teresa

Gloria

09:04 14/05/2003 

What a beautiful thread this is, thanks Donna and Jane. I have been part of the discussion in the member's forum on the crocodile dream there and it has been most enlightening. Animals have much to teach us about ourselves.

Love, Gloria

Regina

10:56 14/05/2003 

Ditto, Gloria. Like lovely hot soup on a winters day.

Donna, this has been a rainbow in my day. Thank you and JT for this interlude.

Beth

17:06 14/05/2003 

Very heart warming!

Like animal crackers in my soup, Regina? a la Shirley Temple. I wonder if they had crocodile crackers in the soup?

;-)